AT EURUNDEREE SCHOOL
A DIRGE
I took the book of punishment,And ran its columns down;I started with an open browAnd ended with a frown;I noted long-forgotten names--They took me unaware;I noted old familiar names.But my name wasn't there!
I thought of what I might have been,And Oh! my heart was painedTo find, of all the scholars there,That I was never caned!I thought of wasted childhood hours,And a tear rolled down my cheek--I must have been a model boy,Which means a little sneak!
"Oh, give me back my youth again!"Doc Faustus used to say--I only wish the Powers could giveMy boyhood for a day.A model boy! Beloved of girls!Despised by boys and men!But it comforts me to think that I'veMade up for it since then.