A slumberous man, in whom the lamp of life

Had never quite been lighted for the strife

And turmoil of the world, but flickered down

In an uncertain twilight of its own,

With an occasional flash, that only made

A deeper shadow for its world of shade.

When he returned to England, all admired

The taste of his collections, and inquired

To whose fair fortunate head the lot should fall

To wear these gems and jewels after all.

But years went by, and still unclaimed they shone,

13

A snare and stumbling-block to more than one,

Till in his fiftieth year 'twas vaguely said,

Lord L. already had too long delayed.

Be it as it may, he abdicated life

The day he took Griselda to his wife.

And then Griselda loved him. All agreed,

The world's chief sponsors for its social creed,

That, whether poor Lord L. was or was not

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