Yet Byron never made tea as you do, who fill the pot so that when you put the lid on the tea spills over. There is a brown pool on the table--it is running among your books and papers. Now you mop it up, clumsily, with your pocket-hankerchief. You then stuff your hankerchief back into your pocket--that is not Byron; that is so essentially you that if I think of you in twenty years' time, when we are both famous, gouty and intolerable, it will be by that scene: and if you are dead, I shall weep.

Summary

This quote is an observation about the uniqueness and characteristic of an individual's behavior when making tea, in contrast to the renowned poet Lord Byron. The speaker mentions that Byron never made tea in the same manner as the person being addressed, who tends to pour too much water, causing the tea to spill over and create a mess. The act of clumsily mopping it up and putting the handkerchief back in the pocket is described as something specifically characteristic of the person being addressed. The quote implies that this scene, seemingly ordinary and somewhat clumsy, is emblematic of the person's individuality, and it holds a future sentimental value even in the face of fame, old age, and mortality.

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