The Ghost[26] and Death’s head,[27] and that terrible host,
Would but scare all the guests”—Here the Emperor lost,
[p15]
For a moment, his patience, and cried to his spouse,
“If thus you proceed, ma’am, my anger you’ll rouse.
Like th’ Egyptians of old, I’ll have at my feast
A figure of death, or his cross-bones at least,
To remind all our guests of the limited span
That to moths is allotted, as well as to man,
And how e’en in the midst of enjoyment’s gay hour,