Praise me if you wish

For yesterdays dish

The meal you did not finish

The sauce your spoon would not tarnish

The dinner you did not touch when it was fresh

Saying now this dish smells of Melville's fish

Do not consume the meal when the chef's gone to bed

Pay me no compliments after the dogs are fed

Who wants recognition after they’re trodden;

After they are gallows led?

Who wishes identification after buzzards fled?

Who wants praise when they are dead?