'T was midnight—Donna Julia was in bed,

Sleeping, most probably,—when at her door

Arose a clatter might awake the dead,

If they had never been awoke before,

And that they have been so we all have read,

And are to be so, at the least, once more;—

The door was fastened, but with voice and fist

First knocks were heard, then "Madam—Madam—hist!