WHEN I was a lad, I got cause to be sad,
⁠My grandmother I did lose, O;
I'll bet you a can, you have heard of the man,
⁠His name it was Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O Robinson Crusoe!
⁠O Robinson Crusoe!
⁠Tink a tink tang, tink a tink tang,
⁠O poor Robinson Crusoe!

Perhaps you’ve read in a book of a voyage he took,
⁠And how the whirlwind blew, so,
That the ship, with a shock, drove plump on a rock
⁠Near drowning poor Robinson Crusoe
⁠O poor Robinson &c.

Poor soul! none but he remain’d on the sea,
⁠Ah, Fate! Fate, how could you do so?
Till ashore he was thrown on an island unknown;
⁠O poor Robinson Crusoe!
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

He wanted to eat, and he sought for some meat,
⁠But the cattle away from him flew, so,
⟨That⟩, but for his gun, he’d been surely undone;
⁠⟨O!⟩ my poor Robinson Crusoe!
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

​But he sav'd from aboard, an old gun and a sword,
⁠And another odd matter or two, so
That by dint of his thrift he manag’d to shift;
⁠Well done Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

And he happen’d to save from the merciless wave,
⁠A poor parrot, I assure you, 'tis true, so
That when he came home from a merciless roam,
⁠She cry'd, poor Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

He got all the wood that ever he could,
⁠And stuck it together with glue, so
That he made him a hut, wherein he did put
⁠The carcase of Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

He us’d to wear a cap, and a coat with long kaap,
⁠With a beard as long as a Jew, so
That, by all that is civil, he look'd like a devil.
⁠More than poor Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

And then his man, Friday, kept the hut neat & tiddy,
⁠To be sure 'twas his business to do so;
And, friendly together, less like servant than brother,
⁠Liv'd Friday and Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.

At last an English sail came within hail,
⁠Then he took to his little canoe, so
That, on reaching the ship, they gave him a trip
⁠Back to the country of Robinson Crusoe.
⁠O poor Robinson, &c.