NANCY TALKING TO THE NURSE by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS

Four times the surgeons, military-firm
And fateful-grim, have sternly summoned me,
Have haled me, prone and shrinking, to that room,
The white, mysterious, oppressive cell, --
The lethal home of Ether merciful.
There Nancy waits, and kisses trembling-dear,
And says good-by. And then the cone is pressed,
And I breathe deeply, cough and breathe again
Industrious. I hear the nurses move,
And one is bantering an orderly,
While from the operating-room beyond
Come voices of the surgeons manly loud;
And still I draw the choking ether in,
Breathe, breathe the unnatural air, persistent breathe,
When sudden comes a chasm, -- and I sink.

Then instantly I catch my falling soul,
And snatch a square of light, and subtly feel
A bed beneath me stretching clean and smooth,
While, just beyond the thinnest veil of sense,
I hear dear Nancy talking to the nurse, --
Sweet homely talk about her sewing work,
Then about me, and what the surgeons said,
And how I shall be well, oh, very soon.
So there I lie, and hug me to myself,
Hearing the pleasant talk, and comforted
To know the thing is over, and well done.
I chuckle inwardly, and at a turn
Where it fits in, I join the talk myself,
And say, "Why, I have heard you all along!"

So, if the wise Director shall ordain
That Nancy go before me to our Home,
To help prepare the Home, as women do;
Then I in turn, the Operation o'er,
Will lie, God grant! upon some heavenly couch,
And hear dear Nancy talking to the Nurse
About some household matter, may it be,
Some sweet home topic of the other world,
Perhaps of me, and how soon I shall wake.
Then will I lie and hug me to myself,
And listen happily a little while,
Knowing the thing is over once for all,
And I am well, and well for evermore.
Then will I watch my chance and join their talk
At some fine opening, and, laughing, say,
"Why, Nancy, I have heard you all along!"

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