LINES IN A FLYLEAF OF “CHRISTABEL”

Inhospitably hast thou entertained,

O Poet, us the bidden to thy board,

Whom in mid-feast, and while our thousand mouths

Are one laudation of the festal cheer,

Thou from thy table dost dismiss, unfilled.

Yet loudlier thee than many a lavish host

We praise, and oftener thy repast half-served

Than many a stintless banquet, prodigally

Through satiate hours prolonged; nor praise less well

Because with tongues thou hast not cloyed, and lips

That mourn the parsimony of affluent souls,

And mix the lamentation with the laud.