Strophe

1   1|      the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy
2   2|    forth, would have become a mere United States' security
3   3| merrier than before, from the mere relief of Scrooge the Baleful
4   3|  tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing: you might learn
5   4|      and what I thought was a mere excuse to avoid me; turns