There was a landau deep and wide,
Cushioned for Sleep's own self to sit on —
The glory of the country-side
From Tanner's End to Marlow Ditton.
John of the broad and brandied cheek
(Well I recall its eau-de-vie hues!)
Drove staid Sir Ralph five days a week
At speeds which we considered Jehu's. . . .

But now poor John sleeps very sound,
And neither hears nor smells the fuss
Of the young Squire's nine-hundred-pound —
Er — Mors communis omnibus .
And I who in my daily stroll
Observe the reckless chauffeur crowd her,
Laudator temporis , extol
The times before the Act allowed her.