And having drunk my fill, I stagger home.

No nimble link-boy guides my giddy steps,

But "through the palpable obscure, I grope

My uncouth way;" and if by chance I meet,

In their nocturnal rounds, the watch, I hail them

With soft and gentle speech; then thank the gods

That I've escaped so well, nor felt the weight

Of their hard fists, or their still harder staves.

At length, unhurt, I find myself at home,

And creep to my poor bed, where gentle sleep,