Shoveller, Shoveller

“Shoveller, shoveller, what do you shovel?”

“I'm shovelling the muck outside your hovel.”

“Shoveller, shoveller, please desist!
I love my muck, it will be much missed!”

“Peasant, oh peasant, the muck is not yours.
I'm shovelling it off for a greater cause.
The cause of the princeling who owns your muck,
As he owns you, your hovel and your duck
And your pot and your pan and your hay and your straw.
The princeling needs your muck for the war.”

“Shoveller, shoveller, what war is that?”

“It is the war of the princeling's hat.”