Poor Tom, that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water, that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages, east cow-dung for sallets, swallows the old rat and the ditch-dog, drinks the green mantle of the standing pool; who is whipped from tithing to tithing and stock-punished, and imprisoned; who hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his body,
Horse to ride and weapon to wear;
But mice and rats, and such small deer,
Have been Tom’s food for seven long year.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 3, Scene 4. Asked by Gloucester to identify himself, Poor Tom (Edgar) makes this speech listing his strange diet (frogs, cow dung, pond scum), punishments (whippings, put in stocks, imprisoned) and nomadic lifestyle, as befits a wandering lunatic. Tom’s mad speech is in answer to Gloucester’s question, "What are you there?" He is trying to conceal his true identity as Gloucester’s son.