Oh! Many a time and oft had Harold loved, or dream'd he'd loved since Rapture is a dream. - Lord Byron

Life 's a poor player,' — then 'play out the play,
Ye villains!' above all keep a sharp eye
Much less on what you do than what you say:
Be hypocritical, be cautious, be
Not what you seem, but always what you see.

What Exile from himself can flee?
To Zones, though more and more remote,
Still, still pursues, where e’er I be,
The blight of life — the demon Thought.

I suppose I had some meaning when I wrote it; I believe I understood it then.