We lodge on the Steyne, in a bow-window’d box,

That beckons up-stairs every Zephyr that knocks;

The sun hides his head, and the elements frown,

But nobody now spends his Christmas in town.

In Billiter Lane, at this mirth-moving time,

The lamp-lighter brought us his annual rhyme;

The tricks of Grimaldi were sure to be seen;

We carved a twelfth-cake, and we drew king and queen.

These pastimes gave oil to Time’s round-about wheel,

Before we began to be growing genteel;