IMITATION OF BYRON.
85
IMITATION OF BYRON.
WITH just enough of happiness to bring
A deadlier poison unto misery's sting,
He lived among the beings whom he met,
Craving that boon, the power to forget.
He gazed on many a one with envious eye,
Which, doubtless, placed their realm of joy too high,
And sighed to think his lot so far beneath,
In happiness, the crowd that live—to breathe.
Oft in his conversation did he seem
To talk and act as he were in a dream—
Unconscious of all mortal things around,
Wrapped in a gloomy reverie profound.
And oftentimes from silence would he start
As if a deadly pang had wrung his heart,
A deadlier poison unto misery's sting,
He lived among the beings whom he met,
Craving that boon, the power to forget.
He gazed on many a one with envious eye,
Which, doubtless, placed their realm of joy too high,
And sighed to think his lot so far beneath,
In happiness, the crowd that live—to breathe.
Oft in his conversation did he seem
To talk and act as he were in a dream—
Unconscious of all mortal things around,
Wrapped in a gloomy reverie profound.
And oftentimes from silence would he start
As if a deadly pang had wrung his heart,
