When a felon's not engaged in his employment

Or maturing his felonious little plans

His capacity for innocent enjoyment

Is just as great as any honest man's

Our feelings we with difficulty smother

When constabulary duty is to be done

Taking one consideration with another

A policeman's lot is not a happy one

When constabulary duties to be done, to be done

A policeman's lot is not a happy one

When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling

When the cutthroat isn't occupied in crime

He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling

And listen to the merry village chime

When the coster's finished jumping on his mother

He loves to lie a-basking in the sun

Taking one consideration with another

A policeman's lot is not a happy one

When constabulary duty's to be done, to be done

A policeman's lot is not a happy one

When the drunkard shows no sign of where the drink went

He nobly bids all alchohol farewell

When the juvenile delinquent to the clink went

He hung his mother's picture in his cell

When the cardshark's finished wiping out his brother

He buys a rattle for his little son

Taking one consideration with another

A policeman's lot is not a happy one

When constabulary duties to be done, to be done

A policeman's lot is not a happy one