that the lights are to be turned down, and the house left to
silence and the dark."--_Daily Chronicle_.]

I.

Lo! 'tis a gala night
Within the "Rational" latter years!
A female throng, dowdy, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sits in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
Whilst the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.

II.

Mimes, dressed in fashion now gone by,
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly:
Mere puppets they who come and go
At the bidding of a huge formless Thing
That shifts the scenery to and fro,
Ruling the World from flat and wing--
Paris and Pimlico!

III.

That motley drama--oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore