Quod fervent trepido subsellia vestra tumultu;

Pompa loci, et vani fugiatur scena timoris.

Ausonius in Protreptico ad Nepotem [vv. 24-33].

Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise,—

We love the play-place of our early days;

The scene is touching, and the heart is stone

That feels not at that sight—and feels at none.

The wall on which we tried our graving skill;

The very name we carved subsisting still;

The bench on which we sat while deep employ'd,