On a fair prospect some have looked, And felt, as I have heard them say, As if the moving time had been A thing as steadfast as the scene On which they gazed themselves away.
Note 1. The original edition (London, 1819, 8vo) had the following as the fourth stanza from the end of Part i., which was omitted in all subsequent editions:
Is it a party in a parlour? Crammed just as they on earth were crammed, Some sipping punch, some sipping tea, But, as you by their faces see, All silent and all damned. [back]