A Man that laboured in the wood     Had lost his honest livelihood;
      That is to say,
  His axe was gone astray.
  He had no tools to spare;
  This wholly earn'd his fare.
  Without a hope beside,
  He sat him down and cried,
  "Alas, my axe! where can it be?
  O Jove! but send it back to me,
  And it shall strike good blows for thee."
  His prayer in high Olympus heard,
  Swift Mercury started at the word.
  "Your axe must not be lost," said he:
  "Now, will you know it when you see?
  An axe I found upon the road."
  With that an axe of gold he show'd.
  "Is't this?" The Woodman answer'd, "Nay."
  An axe of silver, bright and gay,
  Refused the honest Woodman too.
  At last the finder brought to view
  An axe of iron............