Beside the clock two spaniels stand,
Two china spaniels golden-spotted;
On a lace d'oyley (contraband)
Beams a red-faced geranium (potted).
Framed portraits rest on woollen mats,
Black-bearded smugglers with their spouses;
The gentlemen wear bowler hats,
The ladies sport their Sunday blouses.
Two pictures decorate the wall,
Vesuvius spouting sparks and ashes,
The brig _Calypso_ in a squall,
Full-sailed despite the lightning flashes.
Without, the dark Atlantic flings
Against the cliff its booming surges,
And, as a shell, the snug room rings
With its reverberating dirges.
Against the door the night winds rave
Like outcast dogs, their lot deploring;
Triumphant over wind and wave
Rises my landlord's lusty snoring.