Its wondrous span to me doth seem

The bridge described in Mirza’s dream,

On which the good alone might tread,

Whilst others fell and perished.

Alas, in modern Babylon,

There’s not a soul that can pass over;

No, not a single holy one,

Endowed with virtue to discover

The step by which to tread the ridge

Of Hungerford’s aërial Bridge!