THE

DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM.

"Twas in the prime of summer time,

An evening calm and cool,

And four-and-twenty happy boys

Came bounding out of school:

There were some that ran and some that leapt, Like troutlets in a pool.

Away they sped with gamesome minds,

And souls untouched by sin;

To a level mead they came, and there
They drave the wickets in:

Pleasantly shone the setting sun

Over the town of Lynn.

Like sportive deer they cours'd about,
And shouted as they ran,-

Turning to mirth all things of earth,
As only boyhood can;

But the Usher sat remote from all,
A melancholy man!

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 lean'd his head on his hands, and read

The book between his knees!

Leaf after leaf he turn'd it o'er,

Nor ever glanc'd 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-ey'd,