An over-sated banquet to digest;

And not a few, whom least of all we choose,

Come to the play from reading the Reviews.

They drift to us as to a masquerade;

Mere curiosity wings their paces;

The ladies show themselves, and show their silks and laces,

And play their parts well, though they are not paid.

What dream you of, on your poetic height?

A crowded house, forsooth, gives you delight!

Look at your patrons as you should,