You have asked for a verse,—the request

In a rhymer 'twere strange to deny,

But my Hippocrene was but my breast,

And my feelings (its fountain) are dry.

Were I now as I was, I had sung

What Lawrence has painted so well;

But the strain would expire on my tongue,

And the theme is too soft for my shell.

I am ashes where once I was fire,

And the bard in my bosom is dead;