THE DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM 'T was in the prime of summer time, And evening calm and cool, And four-and-twenty happy boys Came bounding out of school; There were some that ran, and some that leapt Away they sped with gamesome minds To a level mead they came, and there Like sportive deer they coursed about, As only boyhood can; But the usher sat remote from all, His hat was off, his vest apart, To catch heaven's blessed breeze; For a burning thought was in his brow, And his bosom ill at ease, So he leaned his head on his hands, and read The book between his knees. Leaf after leaf he turned it o'er, Nor ever glanced aside, For the peace of his soul he read that book In the golden eventide; Much study had made him very lean, And pale, and leaden-eyed. At last he shut the ponderous tome; "O God! could I so close my mind, Then leaping on his feet upright, Now up the mead, then down the mead, And past a shady nook, And, lo! he saw a little boy "My gentle lad, what is 't you read,Romance or fairy fable? Or is it some historic page, Of kings and crowns unstable?" The young boy gave an upward glance,— "It is "The Death of Abel.'' The usher took six hasty strides, And, long since then, of bloody men, Of lonely folk cut off unseen, And how the sprites of injured men He told how murderers walked the earth, With crimson clouds before their eyes, For blood has left upon their souls "And well," quoth he, "I know for truth, Their pangs must be extreme,— Woe, woe, unutterable woe, Who spill life's sacred stream! For why? Methought, last night, I wrought A murder, in a dream! "One that had never done me wrong A feeble man and old; I led him to a lonely field, The moon shone clear and cold: Now here, said I, this man shall die, And I will have his gold! "Two sudden blows with a ragged stick, And one with a heavy stone, One hurried gash with a hasty knife,— "Nothing but lifeless flesh and bone, And yet I feared him all the more, There was a manhood in his look, "And lo! the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame,— "O God! it made me quake to see For every clot a burning spot Was scorching in my brain! "My head was like an ardent coal, My wretched, wretched soul, I knew, A dozen times I groaned,- the dead "And now, from forth the frowning sky, I heard a voice, the awful voice 'And I took the dreary body up, "Down went the corse with a hollow plunge, And it vanished in the pool; Anon I cleansed my bloody hands, And washed my forehead cool, "O Heaven! to think of their white souls, 'Mid holy cherubim! "And peace went with them, one and all, And drew my midnight curtains round, "All night I lay in agony, In anguish dark and deep; My fevered eyes I dare not close, "All night I lay in agony, From weary chime to chime, "One stern tyrannic thought, that made -- Did that temptation crave,Still urging me to go and see The dead man in his grave! "Heavily I rose up, as soon And I saw the Dead in the river bed, "Merrily rose the lark, and shook For I was stooping once again Under the horrid thing. "With breathless speed, like a soul in chase, I took him up and ran; There was no time to dig a grave Before the day began: In a lonesome wood, with heaps of leaves, I hid the murdered man! |