Away they sped with gamesome minds,
And souls untouch'd 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 coursed 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 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;
With a fast and fervent grasp
He strain'd the dusky covers close,
And fix'd the brazen hasp:

'O Heav'n, could I so close my mind,
And clasp it with a clasp !'

Then leaping on his feet upright,
Some moody turns he took;

Now up the mead, then down the mead,

And past a shady nook:

And lo he saw a little boy

Tha pored upon a book!

'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,
As smit with sudden pain;
Six hasty strides beyond the place,
Then slowly back again :

And down he sat beside the lad,
And talked with him of Cain;

And long since then, of bloody men,
Whose deeds tradition saves;

Of lonely folk cut off unseen,
And hid in sudden graves;
Of horrid stabs in groves forlorn,
And murders done in caves;

And how the sprites of injured men
Shriek upward from the sod-
Aye, how the ghostly hand will point
To show the burial clod;

And unknown facts of guilty acts

Are seen in dreams from God!

He told how murderers walk'd 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 stain!

‘And well,' quoth he, ‘I know, for truth, Their pangs must be extreme

Wo, wo, unutterable wo

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,
And then the deed was done :
There was nothing lying at my feet,
But lifeless flesh and bone!

'Nothing but lifeless flesh and bone,
That could not do me ill;

And yet I fear'd him all the more,
For lying there so still :

There was a manhood in his look

That murder could not kill!

'And lo! the universal air

Seem'd lit with ghastly flame— Ten thousand, thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame : I took the dead man by the hand, And call'd upon his name!

'Oh me, it made me quake to see
Such sense within the slain!
But when I touch'd the lifeless clay,
The blood gush'd out amain!
For every clot, a burning spot
Was scorching in my brain!

'My head was like an ardent coal, My heart as solid ice;

My wretched, wretched soul, I knew,
Was at the devil's price:

A dozen times I groan'd; the dead
Had never groan'd but twice!

'And now from forth the frowning sky, From the heaven's topmost height,

I heard a voice-the awful voice
Of the blood-avenging sprite :
"Thou guilty man, take up thy dead,
And hide it from my sight!"

'I took the dreary body up
And cast it in a stream-
A sluggish water, black as ink,
The depth was so extreme.
My gentle boy, remember this
Is nothing but a dream!

'Down went the corse with a hollow plunge,

And vanish'd in the pool;

Anon I cleansed my bloody hands,

And wash'd my forehead cool, And sat among the urchins young That evening in the school!

'O heaven, to think of their white souls,
And mine so black and grim!

I could not share in childish prayer,
Nor join in evening hymn :
Like a devil of the pit I seem'd,

'Mid holy cherubim !

'And peace went with them, one and all,
And each calm pillow spread ;
But Guilt was my grim chamberlain
That lighted me to bed,

And drew my midnight curtains round,

With fingers bloody red !

'All night I lay in agony,

In anguish dark and deep;

My fever'd eyes I dared not close,
But star'd aghast at Sleep;

For sin had render'd unto her
The keys of hell to keep!

'All night I lay in agony,

From weary chime to chime, With one besetting horrid hint, That rack'd me all the timeA mighty yearning, like the first Fierce impulse unto crime !