The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1857-12-23
TilE DREAM OF EUGENE ARAM.
BY THOMAS HOOD.

ITsoMAs HooD, born in London, IN 1898,
was the son of a respectable publisher, Of
tho firm of Vernon, Hood aud Sharpe. He
was brought up an eneraver-he became a
writer of "Whims and Oddities" and he
grew into poet OF great and original power,
The slight partition which divides humor
and pathos vas remarkably exemplifed in
Hood. Misfortune ard feeble health made
him doubly sensitive 10 the ills of his fellow
crea,ures. The sorrows which he has delin-
ea,ed are moi unreal things. He died in lsi5,
his grea; merits have been previously recog-
nised by Sir Robert Peel, who bestowed on
him pension, 10 be continued 10 his wife.
That wife soon followed him 10 The grave
The pension has been continued 10 their chill
dren.]
Twas in the prime Of summer time,
An evening calm and COOL
And lour-and. twenty happy boys
Come bounding out of school:
There were some that ran, and some that
ieap,,
Like ttoubles 10 stream.
Away they sped with eamesome minds,
And souls untouched by sin;
To level mead they came, and there
They drave The wickels in:
Pleasantly shone the setting eun
Over the town OF Lynn.
Like sponive deer they coursed about,
And shouleR as thew ran
Turning TO mirlh all things OF ear,t,
AS only boyhood can
But The usher sat remote from all,
A melancholy man!
His hat was off, his vest apart,
To catch Heavens blessed breeze;
For burning thought was in his brow,
And his bosom i'll at ease:
So he leaned his head OIL his hands and read
The book between his knees!
Leaf after leaf he turned i, o'er,
Nor ever glanced aside;
For the peace Of his soul he read that book
In The golden evenlde:
Much study had made him very lean,
Aud pale, aud lvaden.eyed.
Al last he shut the ponderous tome;
With fast and ferveut grasp
He strained the dusky covers close,
Aud fixed the brazen hasp;
40 God, could 80 close my mind,
And clap II with clasp"
Then eaping on his feet upright,
Some moody turns be took
Now up the mead, now down The mead,
And past a SHADY nook:
And 10 he saw u little boy,
That pored upon a book.
"My gentle lad, what s't you read
Romance OF fairy fablea
Or is i. como ;sis,osia page, ,----.--..----..-.
OF kings and crowns unstable :"
The young boy gave an upward glance
..Ii is The death OF Abel"
The usher took six hasty strides,
As smit with sudden pam;
Six hasly strides beyond the place,
Then slowly back again:
And down he sal beside the lad,
And talked with him of Cain.
And long since tten, of bloody meH,
Whose deeds tradition saves;
oflonely folk cut OF unseen,
And Eid in sudden graves;
OF hotrid slabs, in groves forlorn,
And murders done in caves;
And how The sP,iies of injured men
Shrek upward ifem The sod
Ay, how thu ghoslly hand will poin,
To show the burial clod;
And unknown facts Of guilty acts
Are seen in dreams from God!
He old how murderers walked The earth
Beneath the curse of Cain,
With crimson clouds before their eyes,
And flames about their Brain
For blood has left upon their souls
Its everlasting strain!
'"And we'l,n quoth he, 'I know for truth,
Their panss must be extreme
Wo, wo, unulterable wo-
Who spill life's sacred stream?
For whyi Methoueht last night wrought
a murder IN q dream
"One that had never done me wrong
A feeble man, and old:
led him to lonely field,
The moon shone clear and cold:
Now here, said |, this man shall die,
And will have his gold!
"Two sudden blows with ragged stick,
And one with heavy stone,
One hurried cash with hasty knife
And then the deed was done:
There was nothing lying a, my feet,
But liteless flesh and bone
"Nolhing but lifeless flesh and bone,
That conlt not do me i'll;
And yel feared him all The more
For lying there SO still.
There was manhood in his look,
That murder could nor kill
"And 10 ! the universalai air
Seemed Ii, with ghastly flame
Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes
Were looking down in blame
took the man by the hand,
And called upon mis- name,