That creepeth o’er the ruins old;

Of right choice food are his meals I ween,

In his cell so lonely and cold.

The wall must be crumbled, the stone decay’d

To please his dainty whim;

And the mouldering dust that years have made,

Is a merry meal for him.

Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings,