I have typhus in my body
And I
Will shortly bite your flesh
Excrete my faeces in the wound
And wait for you to scratch.

In dark, damp crowded cells
I thrive
Amongst rodents, fat and fast.
Oh! The filthy floors
Your open sores
Thin wasting muscles, chains,
Fleas and mites
What misery!
But your loss is my gain!

I’m a human body louse
And I
Will shortly bite your flesh
Excrete my faeces in the wound
And wait for you to scratch.

In dark, damp crowded cells
I thrive
Watch convicts cough and sweat
The rash emerge
The headaches start
Then chills, the stupor, sores
Five thousand of you dead each year
It’s gaol fever!
And I’m the cause!

The typhus in my body
Will quickly reach your flesh
I’ll excrete my faeces in the wound
And watch you while you scratch.

I’ve bitten you now
Thin fingers reach up
Massage faeces into pale skin
You have fourteen days left
Perhaps fewer than that
‘Till the devilish fevers begin…

In dark, damp crowded cells
I thrive
While you decay and die
Sick and feeble, cold and sad
No water, warmth or bed
And it won’t be long
Before you wish
That you’d been hung
Instead.