"Passans, contemplez le malheur
D'Absalom pendu par la nuque;
Il aurait evité ce malheur,
S'il eut porté une perruque."
The lines lose some of their piquancy when rendered into English as follows:—
"The wretched Absalom behold,
Suspended by his flowing hair:
He might have 'scaped this hapless fate
Had he chosen a wig to wear."