III.
Well: what with perils upon the prairies,
And haunted ruins and ghosts in white,
And wars with giants and gifts from fairies,
At last I came to be craz'd outright.
And many a time, in my nightly slumbers,
Bearing a glove as a lady's———-
I held the lists against countless numbers,
After the style of the darkest———-
I am chang'd at present; the olden fever
Has left my brain in a sounder state;
In common-place I'm a firm believer,
And hunt for figure and fact and date.
I have lost a lot of my old affection,
For books on which I was wont to————
But still I can thrill at the recollection
Of mystery, magic, and martial ————