DAY-DREAMS.

METHOUGHT* I had been crowned
A monarch great;
And nobles crowded round
To swell my state.
O, proud was I to see
That glittering ring,
As low they bent the knee
Before their king!
I felt life on me throw
Its brightest beam;
But I awoke; and lo!
It was a dream!

Methought I stood upon
A battle-plain,
Cheering my legions on
O’er thousands slain
The vanquished foe had turned
In head-long flight,
And as I saw, I burned
With fierce delight.
But, ‘mid the battle’s smoke, -
They dying’s scream, -
Upstarting I awoke,
Twas but a dream!

Methought I had addressed
A noble band, -
The bravest, wisest, best
Of all the land.
And in the glorious hour,
Entranced they hung
Upon the words of power,
That from my tongue
In flowing music broke,
Like swelling stream.
Alas! again I woke,
And ‘twas a dream!

Upon the bed of death
Methought I lay;
And felt icy struggling breath
Passing away!
The narrow path to heaven
I firm had trod;
And still in all things striven
To please my God.
A moment all was night –
And then a gleam
Burst on my dazzle sight!
Was this a dream?

These angel voices sounding,
My soul to greet;
These angel-forms surrounding,
To guide my feet?
No! worldly pomps and pleasures
May soon decay,
But those bright heavenly treasures
Pass not away.
When every earthly bliss
Shall fleeting seem,
Then shalt thou find that this
Is not a dream!

W.T.J.

*Methought is Past tense of methinks e.g. “It seems to me”. Middle English me thinkes, from Old English me thyncth.