A DIRGE

I took the Book of Punishment,
And ran its columns down;
I started with an open brow
And ended with a frown;
I dropped on 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 O my heart was pained
To 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!

" O give me back my youth again! "
Doc Faustus used to say:
I only wish the Powers would give
My boyhood for a day.
A Model Boy! Beloved of Girls!
Despised by boys and men!
But it comforts me to think that I've
Made up for it since then.