And darkness reigns where lamps once brightened;
Shutters are closed, and blinds drawn down—
Untrodden door-steps go unwhitened!
The echoes of some straggler’s boots
Alone are on the pavement ringing
While ’prentice boys, who smoke cheroots,
Stand critics to some broom-girl’s singing.
I went to call on Madame Sims,
In a dark street, not far from Drury;
An Irish crone half-oped the door.