XXII.

For some we loved, the loveliest and the best That from his Vintage rolling Time hath prest, Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before, And one by one crept silently to rest.

The inspiration for this quatrain is found in C. 185.

All my sympathetic friends have left me, One by one they have sunk low at the foot of Death. In the fellowship of souls they were cup-companions, A turn or two before me they became drunk.

_Ref._: C. 185, L. 381, B. 377, P. ii. 4, B. ii. 141.--W. 219, V. 379.