With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,

Confusion worse confounded.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book ii. Line 995.

Wedlock, indeed, hath oft compared been

To public feasts, where meet a public rout,—

Where they that are without would fain go in,

And they that are within would fain go out.

Sir John Davies (1570-1626): Contention betwixt a Wife, etc.

He sees that this great roundabout

The world, with all its motley rout,

Church, army, physic, law,

Its customs and its businesses,

Is no concern at all of his,

And says—what says he?—Caw.

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Jackdaw. (Translation from Vincent Bourne.)