And various other potent smells,

I strive to fumigate the vaults

In which the devastator dwells.

I pull my hair out by the root—

I dash my head against the door—

It only makes the hateful brute

A trifle noisier than before.

Then tell me not that Joy's bright flow'r

Upon this canker'd heart may bloom,

Like toadstools on a time-worn tow'r,