XIII + 

My friends, what means this odd digression? + 

May be that I by heaven’s decrees + 

Shall abdicate the bard’s profession, + 

And shall adopt some new caprice. + 

Thus having braved Apollo’s rage + 

With humble prose I’ll fill my page + 

And a romance in ancient style + 

Shall my declining years beguile; + 

Nor shall my pen paint terribly + 

The torment born of crime unseen, + 

But shall depict the touching scene + 

Of Russian domesticity; + 

I will descant on love’s sweet dream, + 

The olden time shall be my theme. + 