Inhospitably hast thou entertained, <br />O Poet, us the bidden to thy board, <br />Whom in mid-feast, and while our thousand mouths <br />Are one laudation of the festal cheer, <br />Thou from thy table dost dismiss, unfilled. <br />Yet loudlier thee than many a lavish host <br />We praise, and oftener thy repast half-served <br />Than many a stintless banquet, prodigally <br />Through satiate hours prolonged; nor praise less well <br />Because with tongues thou hast not cloyed, and lips <br />That mourn the parsimony of affluent souls, <br />And mix the lamentation with the laud.<br /><br />William Watson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lines-in-a-flyleaf-of-christabel/
