"O God! it made me quake to see

Such sense within the slain;
But, when I touched the lifeless clay,
The blood gushed 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 groaned,-the dead
Had never groaned 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,—

The sluggish water black as ink,
The depth was so extreme:-
My gentle boy, remember, this
Is nothing but a dream!

108

114

120

126

"Down went the corse with a hollow plunge,

And vanished in the pool;

Anon I cleansed my bloody hands,

And washed 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 seemed,

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 fevered eyes I dared not close,
But stared aghast at Sleep:

132

138

144

For Sin had rendered unto her

The keys of hell to keep!

150

66

All night I lay in agony,

From weary chime to chime; With one besetting horrid hint

That racked me all the time,A mighty yearning, like the first Fierce impulse unto crime,—

156

"One stern tyrannic thought, that made All other thoughts its slave! Stronger and stronger every pulse

Did that temptation crave,Still urging me to go and see

The dead man in his grave!

"Heavily I rose up, as soon
As light was in the sky,

And sought the black accursed pool
With a wild, misgiving eye;
And I saw the dead in the river-bed,
For the faithless stream was dry.

"Merrily rose the lark, and shook
The dew-drop from its wing;
But I never marked its morning flight,
I never heard it sing:

For I was stooping once again

Under the horrid thing.

162

168

174

"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!

"And all that day I read in school,

But my thought was otherwhere;

As soon as the midday task was done,
In secret I was there,-

180

And a mighty wind had swept the leaves, And still the corse was bare!

"Then down I cast me on my face,
And first began to weep,

For I knew my secret then was one
That earth refused to keep,-
Or land or sea, though he should be
Ten thousand fathoms deep.

"So wills the fierce avenging sprite,
Till blood for blood atones!
Ay, though he 's buried in a cave,
And trodden down with stones,

And years have rotted off his flesh,

The world shall see his bones!

186

192

198

"O God! that horrid, horrid dream Besets me now awake!

Again-again, with dizzy brain,

The human life I take;

And my red right hand grows raging hot,

Like Cranmer's at the stake.

204

"And still no peace for the restless clay

Will wave or mould allow ;

The horrid thing pursues my soul,

It stands before me now!"

The fearful boy looked up, and saw
Huge drops upon his brow.

210

1829.

That very night, while gentle sleep
The urchin eyelids kissed,

Two stern-faced men set out from Lynn
Through the cold and heavy mist;
And Eugene Aram walked between,
With gyves upon his wrist.

216

Thomas Hood.

THE STATUE AND THE BUST

THERE's a palace in Florence, the world knows well,

And a statue watches it from the square,

And this story of both do our townsmen tell. 3

Ages ago, a lady there,

At the farthest window facing the East
Asked, "Who rides by with the royal air?" 6

The bridesmaids' prattle around her ceased;
She leaned forth, one on either hand;
They saw how the blush of the bride in-
creased-

They felt by its beats her heart expand-
As one at each ear and both in a breath
Whispered, "The Great-Duke Ferdinand."

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