Which, unless the sound of the circulation,

Or of Thoughts in the process of fabrication,

By a Spinning-Jennyish operation,

It's hard to say what buzzing it is.

However, except that ghost of a sound,

She sat in a silence most profound—

The cat was purring about the mat,

But her Mistress heard no more of that

Than if it had been a boatswain's cat;

And as for the clock the moments nicking,