True, she said little—'twas the rest that broke

Forth into universal epigram;

But then 'twas to the purpose what she spoke:

Like Addison's "faint praise,"[806] so wont to damn,

Her own but served to set off every joke,

As music chimes in with a melodrame.

How sweet the task to shield an absent friend!

I ask but this of mine, to——not defend.