"Ho, ho!" cried he at length, "I wis, the dross of men is such,
'Tis surfeit, thus to seek for this, it palls me overmuch;
I'll seek a gem of human hearts, and find it, if I can,"—
He sought at home, and foreign parts, to meet an honest man.
In that pursuit, a year and seven, did on his labours fall;
"Heigho!" cried he, "outside of Heaven, they're masks, and faces all!
They're masks, and faces all!" quoth he, and from the world he went
To bide alone, beside the sea, in selfish self-content.
Now, this old sage, thro' many a year, had never thought of self,
Before he used the specs: in fear, his mirror, on a shelf,