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THE 
 
 TEACHER'S Dream 
 
 W. H. VENABLE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 182 Fifth Avenue 
 
 1881 
 

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 By G. p. Putnam's Sons 
 
TO 
 
 MY TEACHERS 
 
 AND 
 
 PUPILS 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 DESIGNED BY H. F. FARNY. 
 
 The Sower Engraved by Speer 7 
 
 Coming Home from School 
 
 The Teacher 
 
 Barren Field 
 
 The Senator 
 
 Boy Declaiming , 
 
 The Preacher 
 
 Boy at Blackboard 
 
 Author 
 
 Idlest Boy 
 
 Mother 
 
 Careless Child 
 
 School-House 
 
 Walking Home 
 
 Wheat Field 
 
 Speer 9 
 
 Heinemann 11 
 
 Speer. 13 
 
 Smiihwiek &r' French . 15 
 
 Heinemann 17 
 
 Sniithiuick ^ French. 19 
 
 Smithwick i^' French. 21 
 
 Speer. 23 
 
 Hurley 25 
 
 Heinemann 27 
 
 Harley . . . 29 
 
 Speer. 31 
 
 Harley 33 
 
 Barley 35 
 
THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The weary teacher sat alone 
 While twlliaht grathered on ; 
 
 And not a sound was heard around, 
 The boys and girls were gone. 
 
 The weary teacher sat alone, 
 Unnerved and pale was he ; 
 
 Bowed 'neath a yoke of care, he spoke 
 In sad soliloquy : 
 
THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 " Another round, another round 
 Of labor thrown away, — 
 
 Another chain of toil and pain 
 Dragged through a tedious day. 
 
 " Of no avail is constant zeal. 
 
 Love's sacrifice is loss, 
 The hopes of morn, so golden, turn 
 
 Each evening, into dross. 
 

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THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 " I squander on a barren field, 
 My strength, my life, my all ; 
 
 The seeds I sow will never grow. 
 They perish where they fall." 
 
 He sighed, and low upon his hands 
 
 His aching brow he prest ; 
 And o'er his frame erelong there came 
 
 A soothing sense of rest. 
 
14 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 And then he lifted up his face, 
 
 But started back aghast, — 
 The room by strange and sudden change 
 
 Assumed proportions vast. 
 
 It seemed a Senate hall, and one 
 Addressed a listening throng ; 
 
 Each burning word all bosoms stirred, 
 Applause rose loud and long. 
 
i6 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The wildered teacher thought he knew 
 The speaker's voice and look, 
 
 " And for his name," said he, " the same 
 Is in my record book." 
 
THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The stately Senate hall dissolved, 
 A church rose in its place, 
 
 Wherein there stood a man of God, 
 Dispensing words of grace ; 
 
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THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 And though he spoke In solemn tone, 
 
 And though his hair was gray, 
 The teacher's thought was strangely wrought, 
 
 " I whipped that boy to-day." 
 
iinyi ijiiii I Hill Hi ituitii 1 
 
THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The church, a phantasm, vanished soon 
 What saw the teacher then ? 
 
 In classic gloom of alcoved room 
 An author plied his pen. 
 
24 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 " My idlest lad ! " the teacher said, 
 Filled with a new surprise — 
 
 " Shall I behold /izs name enrolled 
 Among the great and wise ? " 
 
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26 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The vision of a cottage home 
 The teacher now descried ; 
 
 A mother's face illumed the place 
 Her influence sanctified. 
 
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THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 " A miracle ! a miracle ! 
 
 This matron, well I know, 
 Was but a wild and careless child 
 
 Not half an hour a2"o. 
 
 *S5 
 
 " And when she to her children speaks 
 
 Of duty's golden rule, 
 Her lips repeat, in accents sweet, 
 
 My words to her at school." 
 
30 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 The scene was changed again, and lo, 
 The school-house rude and old, 
 
 Upon the wall did darkness fall, 
 The evening air was cold. 
 
3 J THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 " A dream ! " the sleeper, waking, said, 
 Then paced along the floor, 
 
 And, whistling slow and soft and low, 
 He locked the school-house door. 
 
34 THE TEACHER'S DREAM. 
 
 And, walking home, his heart was full 
 Of peace and trust and love and praise; 
 
 And singing slow and soft and low, 
 He murmured, " After many days." 
 
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