All soberness is past & gone
the reign of gravity is done
frivolity comes in its place
light smiling sits in every face

gone is that grave & gorgeous light
which every page illumind bright
a flimsy torch glare in the stead
of a bright golden sun now fled

Foolish romances now employ
each silly senseless girl & boy
O for the strong hand of the law
to stop it with its powerful claw

at night I lay my weary head
upon my sofa or my bed
in the dark watches of the night
does flash upon my inward sight

visions of times now pass'd away
when dulness did the sceptre sway
then to my troubled mind comes peace
would those bright dreams did never cease

thus sang a lawyer in his cell
when suddenly the midnight bell
rang out a peal both loud & deep
which told it was the hour of sleep