Beneath the lamps, and with the ladies talk;
While other ladies for their pleasure sing, -
Oh! ’tis a glorious and a happy thing:
They would despise me, did they understand
I dare not look upon a scene so grand;
Or see the plays when critics rise and roar,
And hiss and groan, and cry - Encore! encore!
There’s one among them looks a little kind;
If more encouraged, I would ope my mind.”
Alas! poor Stephen, happier had he kept