This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896. Excerpt: ... JULIAN"S VISION Julian was now in the full bloom of youth: Hope burned within his heart with ardent flame To achieve in life"s brief day some lasting fame; And in his mild eyes shone the light of truth; And many a bright vision to him came, But them to body forth in numbers smooth He wholly failed; his lips could nothing frame But grotesque pictures of them and uncouth: Wherefore his heart within him oft was full Of weariness, and life was cold and dulL So looked he on the world with mind perplexed: The trivial things which other men employed, Their business and their pleasures him annoyed, Yet with this same annoyance was he vext, Since life it seemed could never be enjoyed In this world; and he doubted if the next Would not be equally of pleasure void In spite of many a hope-inspiring text. From earth and heaven alike he stood apart, And from each equally reserved his heart. Thus did he wander many a weary day Through all the quiet haunts that he could find In search of rest for his distracted mind; Oft earnestly, but vainly, did he pray That something somehow would the coils unwind, That on his stifled spirit clinging lay, And which, though slender seeming, yet did bind It with strong cords fast to its house of clay, So that though conscious of a nobler birth It could not free itself from bonds of earth. And like a busy spider working, still His mind kept ever weaving, thread by thread, Meshes of thoughts, which o"er it cloud-like spread In ever thicker, denser layers, till The light of heaven was rarely through it shed; And cobweb-like did gradually fill With lifeless hopes and fancies like the dead And withered insects on a window-sill, Till virtue seemed a dream, and all advance And progress of man"s race a thing of chance. Still ever through his br...