ALTON LOCKE, TAILOR AND POET. CHAPTER 1. A POET"S CHILDHOOD. I A;l a Cockney among Cockneys. Italy and the TropIcs, the Highlands and Devonshire, I know only in dreams. Even the Surrey hills, of whose loveliness I have heard so much, are to me a distant fairy-land, whose gleaming ridges I am worthy only to behold afar. "Vith the exception of two journeys, never to be forgotten, my knowleJge of England ii" bounded bv the horizon which encircles Richmond hill. 11y eariiest recollections are of a suburban street; of its jumble of little shops and little terraces, each exhibiting some fresh variety of capricious ugliness; the little scraps of garden before the doors, with their dusty, stunted lilacs and balsam poplars, were my only forests; my only wild animals, the dingy, merry sparrows, who quareled fearlessly on my windowsill, ignorant of trap or gun. From my earliest childhood, through long nights of sleepless pain, as the miJllight brightenedAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books" Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org