Anonymous British

Michaelmas Term Begins

Vacation's gone -- and pleas and strife Begin to blossom into life; And Westminster is overflown With wit peculiarly its own; Chief justices with brethren three Swagger in ermined majesty; Yet these, like other things, declare What short-lived fools we mortals are; For Hilary Term begins to wane To Easter's transitory reign, And Trinity's hot sunbeams now Descend on Michaelmas's snow; Succeeding Terms their loss atone But we, when once our days are flown, With Littleton and Blackstone lie Like records in the Treasury. And who can tell, if we shall stay To earn the fees we touched to-day? For with the wealth we leave behind The uninheritable mind Is what our heirs shall never find.