XII + 

But now our minds are mystified + 

And Virtue acts as a narcotic, + 

Vice in romance is glorified + 

And triumphs in career erotic. + 

The monsters of the British Muse + 

Deprive our schoolgirls of repose, + 

The idols of their adoration + 

A Vampire fond of meditation, + 

Or Melmoth, gloomy wanderer he, + 

The Eternal Jew or the Corsair + 

Or the mysterious Sbogar. + 

Byron’s capricious phantasy + 

Could in romantic mantle drape + 

E’en hopeless egoism’s dark shape. + 