But during the silence of attention which now prevailed, the confused noises from the people in the street penetrated more distinctly into the banqueting-room; and at this moment, high above them all--hoarse, raving, terrible, rose the voice of one man.
'Tell me not,' it cried, 'of perfumes wafted from the palace!--foul vapours flow from it!--see, they sink, suffocating over me!--they bathe sky and earth, and men who move around us, in fierce, green light!' Then other voices of men and women, shrill and savage, broke forth in interruption together:--'Peace, Davus! you awake the dead about you!' 'Hide in the darkness; you are plague-struck; your skin is shrivelled; your gums are toothless!' 'When the palace is fired you shall be flung into the flames to purify your rotten carcass!' 'Sing!' cried Vetranio furiously, observing the shudders that ran over the boy's frame and held him speechless.

'Strike the lyre, as Timotheus struck it before Alexander! Drown in melody the barking of the curs who wait for our offal in the street!' Feebly and interruptedly the terrified boy began; the wild continuous noises of the moaning voices from without sounding their awful accompaniment to the infidel philosophy of his song as he breathed it forth in faint and faltering accents.

It ran thus:-- TO GLYCO Ah, Glyco! why in flow'rs array'd?
Those festive wreaths less quickly fade Than briefly-blooming joy! Those high-prized friends who share your mirth Are counterfeits of brittle earth, False coin'd in Death's alloy! The bliss your notes could once inspire, When lightly o'er the god-like lyre Your nimble fingers pass'd, Shall spring the same from others' skill-- When you're forgot, the music still The player shall outlast! The sun-touch'd cloud that mounts the sky, That brightly glows to warm the eye, Then fades we know not where, Is image of the little breath Of life--and then, the doom of Death That you and I must share! Helpless to make or mar our birth, We blindly grope the ways of earth, And live our paltry hour; Sure, that when life has ceased to please, To die at will, in Stoic ease, Is yielded to our pow'r! Who, timely wise, would meanly wait The dull delay of tardy Fate, When Life's delights are shorn?
No! When its outer gloss has flown, Let's fling the tarnish'd bauble down As lightly as 'twas worn.
'A health to Glyco! A deep draught to a singer from heaven come down upon earth!' cried the guests, seizing their wine-cups, as the ode was concluded, and draining them to the last drop.

But their drunken applause fell noiseless upon the ear to which it was addressed.

The boy's voice, as he sang the final stanza of the ode, had suddenly changed to a shrill, almost an unearthly tone, then suddenly sank again as he breathed forth the last few notes; and now as his dissolute audience turned towards him with approving glances, they saw him standing before them cold, rigid, and voiceless.