Boyhood

Ah, then how sweetly closed those crowded days! The minutes parting one by one, like rays   That fade upon a summer’s eve. But O, what charm or magic numbers Can give me back the gentle slumbers   Those weary, happy days did leave? When by my bed I saw my mother kneel,   And with her blessing took her nightly kiss;   Whatever time destroys, he cannot this;— E’en now that nameless kiss I feel.