Subject! to whom? To thee, O sovereign Death!

Who hast for thy domain this world immense:

Churchyards and charnel-houses are thy haunts,

And hospitals thy sumptuous palaces;

And, when thou wouldst be merry, thou dost choose

The gaudy chamber of a dying king.

O! then thou dost ope wide thy bony jaws,

And, with rude laughter and fantastic tricks,

Thou clapp'st thy rattling fingers to thy sides:

And when this solemn mockery is o'er,