I'd take a flight on another bard's wings,

Turning his rhymes into extravaganza,

Laugh at his harp—and then pilfer its strings!

When a poll-parrot can croak the cadenza

A nightingale loves, he supposes he sings!

Oh, never mind, I will pick up a stanza,

Laugh at his harp—and then pilfer its strings!

What though you tell me each metrical puppy

Might make of such parodies two pair a day;

Mocking birds think they obtain for each copy