And far in the hazy distance

Of that dripping April day,

My snug hearth fire gleam'd redder and higher,

Because I was far away.

The rattle of wheels rang round me,

With a quaint and wooden roar,

And groups of the fair, with dishevelled hair,

Were lying about on the floor.

E'en I, in a moment of madness,

Had snatched at the fatal cup.