The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1827-05-31
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THE IDIOT BOY.

BY l.. T.. l..
There is little vale, made beautiful
By its blue gliding river, and IT'S hei,!s
of toll green grass, wherein thc lark has built
Her little ones nest; its orchards hung
with crimson fruit, cherries Ike Beauty's lip,
ITS lowy cottages, with their thatchrd roots
Eohghcr than the willing rose can rcac''i
There seems so much of quiet happiness
In the white walls DER which the honeysnckle
Has wandered in its sweetness, and above
The door has formcda porch, mixing It's white
And pink-veined punches with the scarlet howers
And broad leaves of the bean! A little raised
From the ascending ground, is one that stal,as
Close to the rest vet different from them ALI !
For it is desolate!--the honeysuekie
Darkens the broken lpttices with boughs
Heavy with unpruned leaves; the summer stock
In the small garden Of flowers and fruit
Is trodden down and wasted, and the weeds
Are many like the evils Of this worlds
The stool, where yet the straw hive stands, IS
left,
Deserted by the bees, for the bincweed
Has choked the entrance with its matted leaves
And cold pale blossoms. 1T is autumn now,
And all the trees are loaded. saving one,
Which stands with neither foliage, fruit nor How
crs,
Leafless and hfehess. And beside its trunk
There sits pad Boy, with thin white lips,
Ana, spectre ike, MS manu- 10 WI boS
As meagre as himself, the only thing
That he will let to share his solitude.
This was not always so;--whcn the last Spring
Gave her first kiss to summer, there were none
More happy than his Father and that Boy
He had i Father then! and there was not
A neater cottage, or garden where
Were fruit or flowers more plenty, in the vale.
They were not poor;-can that be poverty
Where each day brings its owa There IS no
food
Like that ourselves have gained, no sleep like
that
Which is the rest of labour. 1t was worth
A day oftoil to sit, as they would sit,
Through the long winter evenings, by hire
Less bright than the glad face Of the fair Child
Who sat beside his Father, listening
With eager eyes to the strange tales which he,
A sailor in his youth, could tell; or else,
In gentlcr tones, heard how his mother died
The very day that first he lisp'd her name.
And yet more pleasant on summer exc
To sit in the cool shade of their own door,
While Edward, quite fprgetfu ofhow tired
He had been in the morning, would start up
And JON and WIN his young companlons race,
His father watching, proud of each fleet step.
They never seemed apart, for Edward was
Ills own dear parents shadow-labour was
A pleasure by his side; and oftentimes
He would leave all his sports, and fondly steal
To his most happy father, whose whole lie
Was centred but in his. There is no tie
Like that last holest link Of love. which binds
The lonely child to its MORE lonely parent.
One day young Edward sought the neighbour
ing town
With charge and promise of swift returns
And when the sunshine ofa July noon
Fell hot upon the earth, his father lett
Ills solitary labor; the blue sky
Was darkened with a shadow, and the air
Weighed heavy on the brow, and made breat
painful.
lie entered the low cottage TO prepare
Their meal for his tired boy, when suddenly
He heard the sound of thunder from the hills
Roll DER the valley; looking out he saw
black cloud on the sun. While yet he gazec
Like an imprisoned spirit bursting FORTH
Swep. blue food of lightning DER the sky
His Edward-whcre was Edward'-.out b
rushed,
Looked wistfully to the low garden gate,-
Shouted-then listened-tll the heavy peal
Echoed him as in mockery. On rise,
Inc limits ofhis little gardens stretch,
There stood a cherry tree, now rich with truit,-
It owe Rocked the land for miles around,
and from its branches he could see the path
Down which his child must come. He clmoe
the tree,
But never looked around; the bolt came dow
And struck him in its anger,-he lay dead
Inc storm sank into silence, ana lhe ioy,
Dsenched, but unliarned, came home;-with OF
light bound,
Youth, health and happiness step on the wind,
he sprang beneath the porch. Was it surpris
Offsar, or augury, that made him turn
raie unto sickness as he looked around
Inc Inc cottage was quite empty, yet the door
Was open wide, the rain had washed the floor.
Inc Inc dinner lay untouched, and on the hearth
Inc embers had burnt out and stranger STILL
ms fathers hat hung up. And Edward cried
Aloud in agony, and :. long howl
answered him from the garden, and he ram.
Led by the sound,-it was his dog had found
Ills masters corpse, and Edward knew his
ther
Dim night fell round the Boy,-hope, JOY, lo'
fear,
ana every other sense but memory, fled,
and that chained, like prisoner, to one thong
III n,, ms spoke not and knew no one, took no too
.il natural hunger made him ravenous,
M Mho then he ate unthankfully, and showed
r uo sign Of notice to the hand which fed.
: ''e s'aid beneath that tree through heat, throu
4 cold;
~ uot from that hour he saw his father dead,