An Evening Contemplation in a College.
The Curfew tolls the hour of closing gates;
With jarring sound the porter turns the key,
Then in his dreary mansion slumb’ring waits,
And slowly, sternly quits it—tho’ for me.
Now shine the spires beneath the paly moon,
And thro’ the cloyster Peace and Silence reign;
Save where some fidler scrapes a drowsy tune,
Or copious bowls inspire a jovial strain:
Save that in yonder cobweb-mantled room,