And when encircled by the band,
Lingering torments, public shame,
Severity's most ruthless hand
Lacerates his manly frame:

When many a hardy Soldier weeps,
And grieves that he's compell'd to stay;
Who perforce his station keeps,
Or would soon be far away;

Yet see beyond the circling guard,
Idle gazers flocking round,
To see and hear are pressing hard,
As if the spot were fairy ground.

What is it that a charm imparts?
Why do they press to hear and see?
Can it be that human hearts
Delight in human misery?

When the inexorable hour
Chills the hopeless convict's blood;
When sunk and drown'd his eve'ry power,
In sorrow's overwhelming flood:

To view the scene the many run,
And o'er the hapless wretch to sigh:
Nor once enquire the crime he' has done; ...
They only come to see him die.