To try the edge of his faculty upon,
Prove how much common sense he 'll hack and hew
I' the critical moment 'twixt the soup and fish!
These were my patrons: these, and the like of them
Who, rising in my soul now, sicken it,—
These I have injured! Gratitude to these?
The gratitude, forsooth, of a prostitute
To the greenhorn and the bully—friends of hers,
From the wag that wants the queer jokes for his club,
To the snuffbox-decorator, honest man,