Perhaps thou wert a mason, and forbidden,
By oath to tell the mysteries of thy trade:
Then say what secret melody was hidden
In Memnon’s statue which at sunrise played?
Perhaps thou wert a priest, and hast been dealing
In human blood, and horrors past revealing.
Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat,
Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass;
Or dropped a halfpenny in Homer’s hat,
Or dofted thine own to let Queen Dido pass,