I WAS sixteen, and I had the most terrible dreams, And specks before my eyes, and nervous weakness. And I couldn't remember the books I read, Like Frank Drummer who memorized page after page. And my back was weak, and I worried and worried, And I was embarrassed and stammered my lessons, And when I stood up to recite I'd forget Everything that I had studied. Well, I saw Dr. Weese's advertisement, And there I read everything in print, Just as if he had known me; And about the dreams which I couldn't help. So I knew I was marked for an early grave. And I worried until I had a cough, And then the dreams stopped. And then I slept the sleep without dreams Here on the hill by the river. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EARTH'S IMMORTALITIES: FAME by ROBERT BROWNING ANTIMENIDAS by ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE A PRAYER by EDNA MAY APPLEGATE THE CENTAUR'S FAREWELL by WILLIAM ROSE BENET THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON SIR W. TRELOAR'S DINNER FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN TO ROBERT SOUTHEY by MARIA GOWEN BROOKS |