As ere that awful period intervenes
Which lays both men and women on the shelf,
To meditate upon their sins and self.
LXX.
But all this time how slept, or dreamed, Dudú?
With strict inquiry I could ne'er discover,
And scorn to add a syllable untrue;
But ere the middle watch was hardly over,
Just when the fading lamps waned dim and blue,
And phantoms hovered, or might seem to hover,