Ballade of Hell and of Mrs Roebeck

I

I’m going out to dine at Gray’s
With Bertie Morden, Charles and Kit,
And Manderly who never pays,
And Jane who wins in spite of it,
And Algernon who won’t admit
The truth about his curious hair
And teeth that very nearly fit:--
And Mrs Roebeck will be there.

II

And then to-morrow someone says
That someone else has made a hit
In one of Mister Twister’s plays.
And off we go to yawn at it;
And when it’s petered out we quit
For number 20, Taunton Square,
And smoke, and drink, and dance a bit:--
And Mrs Roebeck will be there.

III

And so through each declining phase
Of emptied effort, jaded wit,
And day by day of London days
Obscurely, more obscurely, lit;
Until the uncertain shadows flit
Announcing to the shuddering air
A Darkening, and the end of it:--
And Mrs Roebeck will be there.

Envoi

Prince, on their iron thrones they sit,
Impassible to our despair,
The dreadful Guardians of the Pit:--
And Mrs Roebeck will be there.