256
BIOGRAPHY OF LUCRETIA MARIA DAVIDSON.
Siberia,—father, mother, brothers, sisters, home. Yes, I shall come."
We insert some stanzas written about this time, not so much for their poetical merit as for the playful spirit that beams through them, and which seems like sunbeams smiling on a cataract.
A WEEK BEFORE EXAMINATION.
One has a headache, one a cold,
One has her neck in flannel rolled;
Ask the complaint, and you are told,
"Next week's examination."
One has her neck in flannel rolled;
Ask the complaint, and you are told,
"Next week's examination."
One frets and scolds, and laughs and cries;
Another hopes, despairs, and sighs;
Ask but the cause, and each replies,
"Next week's examination."
Another hopes, despairs, and sighs;
Ask but the cause, and each replies,
"Next week's examination."
One bans her books, then grasps them tight,
And studies morning, noon, and night,
As though she took some strange delight
In these examinations.
And studies morning, noon, and night,
As though she took some strange delight
In these examinations.
The books are marked, defaced, and thumbed,
The brains with midnight tasks benumbed,
Still all in that account is summed,
"Next week's examination."
The brains with midnight tasks benumbed,
Still all in that account is summed,
"Next week's examination."
In a letter, February 10th, she says, "The dreaded work of examination is now going on, my dear mother. To-morrow evening, which will be the last, and is always the most crowded, is the time fixed upon for my entrée upon the field of action. O! I hope I shall not disgrace myself. It is the rule here to reserve the best classes till the last; so I suppose I may take it as a compliment that we are delayed."
