DREAM LIFE: A Fable OF THE SEASONS.
ByIk. Marvel.
——We are such stuff As dreams are made of; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. —TEMPEST.NEW YORK: Charles Scribner,
1851.Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by DONALD G. MITCHELL, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. NEW YORK: STEREOTYPED BY C. W. BENEDICT: 201 WILLIAM ST.
DEDICATORY LETTER
ADDRESSED TO WASHINGTON IRVING.
MY DEAR SIR:I DO not know to whom I could more appropriately dedicate this little book than to one who has been so long my teacher; and who has seemed to be, so long, my friend.
It is true, that until six months ago, I had never the honor of meeting with you: but, there are thousands, Sir, who have never seen you who yet know you, and esteem you, as fully as myself.
page: ii-iii[View Page ii-iii]If I have attained to any facility in the use of language, or have gained any fitness of expression, in which to dress my thoughts,—I know not to what writer of the English language, I am more indebted, than to you. And if I have shown—as I have tried to show—a truthfulness of feeling, that is not lighted by any counterfeit of passion, but rather, by a close watchfulness of nature, and a cordial sympathy with human suffering—I know not to what man's heart, that truthfulness will come home sooner, than to your's.
Believe me, Dear Sir, it is from no wish to associate my name with the names of the great, that I ask your acceptance of this little token of respect. My aims are humbler than this: I would simply pay homage to the Author, who has wrought our language into the most exquisite forms of beauty; and to the man, who has touched our hearts, with the tenderness of a friend.
And if I might hope, that this simple mark of my admiration, and of my esteem, would commend me to your charity—to say nothing of your regard—it is all that I would ask.
DONALD G. MITCHELL.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY.
DREAMS OF BOYHOOD.
- SPRING, 33
- I. RAIN IN THE GARRET, 38
- II. SCHOOL DREAMS, 45
- III. BOY SENTIMENT, 56
- page: vi-vii (Table of Contents) [View Page vi-vii (Table of Contents) ]
- IV. A FRIEND MADE AND FRIEND LOST, 62
- V. BOY RELIGION, 74
- VI. A NEW ENGLAND SQUIRE, 82
- VII. THE COUNTRY CHURCH, 94
- VIII. A HOME SCENE, 103
DREAMS OF YOUTH.
- SUMMER, 113
- I. CLOISTER LIFE, 120
- II. FIRST AMBITION, 132
- III. COLLEGE ROMANCE, 138
- IV. FIRST LOOK AT THE WORLD, 150
- V. A BROKEN HOME, 161
- VI. FAMILY CONFIDENCE, 170
- VII. A GOOD WIFE, 178
- VIII. A BROKEN HOPE, 186
DREAMS OF MANHOOD.
- AUTUMN, 199
- I. PRIDE OF MANLINESS, 204
- II. MAN OF THE WORLD, 211
- III. MANLY HOPE, 219
- IV. MANLY LOVE, 228
- V. CHEER AND CHILDREN 234
- VI. DREAM OF DARKNESS, 243
- VII. PEACE, 251
DREAMS OF AGE.
- WINTER, 261
- I. WHAT IS GONE, 265
- II. WHAT IS LEFT, 271
- III. GRIEF AND JOY OF AGE, 277
- IV. THE END OF DREAMS, 283
