Browning's Shorter Poems

You should have heard the Hamelin people
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple. 
“Go,” cried the Mayor, “and get long poles,
Poke out the nests and block up the holes! 
Consult with carpenters and builders, 150
And leave in our town, not even a trace
Of the rats!”—­when suddenly, up the face
Of the Piper perked in the market-place,
With a, “First, if you please, my thousand guilders!”