Brothers

How lovely the elder brother'sLife all laced in the other's,Lóve-laced!—what once I wellWitnessed; so fortune fell.When Shrovetide, two years gone,5Our boys' plays brought onPart was picked for John,Young Jóhn: then fear, then joyRan revel in the elder boy.Their night was come now; all10Our company thronged the hall;Henry, by the wall,Beckoned me beside him:I came where called, and eyed himBy meanwhiles; making mý play15Turn most on tender byplay.For, wrung all on love's rack,My lad, and lost in Jack,Smiled, blushed, and bit his lip;Or drove, with a diver's dip,20Clutched hands down through clasped knees—Truth's tokens tricks like these,Old telltales, with what stressHe hung on the imp's success.Now the other was bráss-bóld:25Hé had no work to holdHis heart up at the strain;Nay, roguish ran the vein.Two tedious acts were past;Jack's call and cue at last;30When Henry, heart-forsook,Dropped eyes and dared not look.Eh, how áll rúng!Young dog, he did give tongue!But Harry—in his hands he has flung35His tear-tricked cheeks of flameFor fond love and for shame.Ah Nature, framed in fault,There 's comfort then, there 's salt;Nature, bad, base, and blind,40Dearly thou canst be kind;There dearly thén, dearly,I'll cry thou canst be kind.