Alas! for us who, writing life, must know it—
Its sights, its scents, its ladies, lords, and Läises.
Alas! for my refusal to disseminate—
Even in verse—the scholarly-effeminate.
And oh! ten thousand times alas, should Jill
Be recognised in these Parnassian pages.
Woe for the libel action, and the bill
Which he must face who in the law engages.
And ah! thank Heaven for a metric skill
That shields this head from Justice Darling’s rages ...