X + 

Alas! my friends, the years flit by + 

And after them at headlong pace + 

The evanescent fashions fly + 

In motley and amusing chase. + 

The world is ever altering! + 

Farthingales, patches, were the thing, + 

And courtier, fop, and usurer + 

Would once in powdered wig appear; + 

Time was, the poet’s tender quill + 

In hopes of everlasting fame + 

A finished madrigal would frame + 

Or couplets more ingenious still; + 

Time was, a valiant general might + 

Serve who could neither read nor write. + 