Evening Schoolboys

Hark to that happy shout! — the school-house door
Is open thrown, and out the younkers teem;
Some run to leap-frog on the rushy moor,
And others dabble in the shallow stream,
Catching young fish, and turning pebbles o'er
For muscle shells. Look in that sunny gleam,
Where the retiring sun, that rests the while,
Streams through the broken hedge! How happy seem
Those friendly schoolboys leaning o'er the stile,
Both reading in one book! — Anon a dream,
Rich with new joys, doth their young hearts beguile,
And the book's pocketed right hastily.
Ah, happy boys! well may ye turn, and smile,
When joys are your's that never cost a sigh.