A spotless leaf but thought, and care—
And friends, and foes, in foul or fair,
Have "written strange defeature" there.
And Time, with heaviest hand of all,
Like that fierce writing on the wall,
Hath stamp'd sad dates—he can't recall.
And error gilding worst designs—
Like speckled snake that strays and shines—
Betrays his path by crooked lines.
And vice hath left his ugly blot—