There's ne'er a mile in Ireland's Isle where the dirty vermin musters; Where'er he put his dear forefoot he murdered them in clusters. The toads went hop, the frogs went flop, slapdash into the water, And the beasts committed suicide to save themselves from slaughter.

These lines belong to the comic-heroic folklore surrounding St. Patrick’s expulsion of “vermin” from Ireland—an exaggerated, humorous treatment of the saint’s power over the natural world. The verse piles up energetic verbs and sound-effects (“hop,” “flop,” “slapdash”) to turn a miracle legend into slapstick: creatures flee so frantically that they drown themselves rather than face Patrick’s approach. Read as popular song, it also works as a boastful celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, using hyperbole to dramatize purification of the island and the triumph of sanctity over corruption or nuisance. The tone is less theological than performative and entertaining, meant for recitation or singing.