A Drunken A.B. Poem by James Ephraim McGirt

One cold wet winter evening
I was hurrying to my home,
I passed a drunkard lying in the mire;
The sleet was falling fastly,
My heart for him was moved;
I thought it best to aid him to the fire.

Then from the ground I raised him,
And bore him to my home,
Which was a little distance from the place;
And when my home I entered,
The light had shone around,
There I beheld the beauty of his face

A fair young man in prime,
Who wore a classic brow;
The rays of light were gleaming from his eyes,
And on his vest a medal
With signature to show
In college he had won it as a prize.

Soon he was sleeping soundly
In a chair before the fire,
The medal from his breast I took and read:
I saw he was an A. B.
The poet of his class—
A valedictorian the medal said.

'Twas then my soul was lighten'd,
I gazed into his face,
I knew it was a genius I had found;
I thought, who threw the arrow
That pierced his manly heart,
And brought the noble victim to the ground?

At first I deemed it rum
That brought him to this state,
And then I thought, what caused him first to drink?
Then he was sleeping soundly,
Myself I did not know,
And through the night the cause I'd only think.

Next morning soon I rose,
His breakfast was prepared;
To have him dine with me I thought a treat.
To him we all were strangers,
At first he did refuse;
At last we all prevailed with him to eat.

Around our family table,
He seated at the head,
And while he ate, our hearts did eager yearn;
We knew he was a genius,
Though fallen from the state,
And much the cause we all desired to learn.

I told him where I found him,
His face began to change;
I asked him what had brought him to this state;
The tears were falling fastly,
''Twas Mary,' he replied.
This story then to me he did relate:

'After I finished college
I was doing fairly well,
In Chicago I was cashier of a bank;
One day there came a letter
From the girl that had my heart—
An arrow! Oh, it pierced me, and I sank.

''Twas from my early childhood
This girl had won my heart,
Before our God she promised to be mine;
When time for invitations
To comrades should be sent,
The vow she sent this letter to decline.

'I'll ne'er forget that day;
Yea, time can ne'er erase
The hour I the letter did receive;
At first I was dumbfounded,
It seemed my heart would break—
Somehow the message I could not believe.

'I was standing at my window,
The letter come to hand;
I knew the man to whom I was dealing change.
I tried to bear it bravely,
But all could plainly see
With me that there was something going strange.

'The boy that brought the letter
Stood gazing in my face,
I bade him go—the answer not to wait;
I read the letter over,
And mused out to myself:
'To-night I'll call and make the matter straight.'

'Each moment seemed an hour,
Thought night would never come;
My assistant I called to take my place—
Then from the bank I darted,
I hastened to her home;
I wanted just to gaze into her face.

'She was standing by the window,
And saw me as I came—
She felt her guilt, and to a closet fled;
At the door her servant met me,
Instructed what to say,
'There's no one here but me,' he quickly said.

'Quite well I knew t'was false;
I knew not what to do,
Had I the means, death might have been my fate.
I thought and then departed.
I knew well she was there—
I saw her when I entered through the gate.

'Back to my home I struggled,
And sat in deepest grief;
I tried in vain to pass the time away.
Of course it was then evening—
I thought I'd call at night.
A moment then to me did seem a day.

'Sometimes 'twould seem too hard;
Some way the grief I bore,
I called again before the sun went down—
To be deceived again,
She took the early train,
And with my heart departed from the town.

'At the door her mother met me,
And the story she did tell;
It was then the arrow stung me,
And you found me where I fell.

'Then I did not cease to love her,
But with her desired to go;
For the way I prayed her mother,
But she vowed she did not know.

'All that night around her mother
I wept and tried her heart to win;
On my knees I knelt and prayed her
For her daughter she might send.

'True, my mother did weep with me,
From her the way I could not plead;
I decided then to seek her
Anywhere my heart should lead.

'Soon I left her house next morning,
And to the bank I went again;
But my heart was filled with sadness,
It seemed all my hope was vain.

'Then I gave up my position
Until the next ensuing year;
For my heart was stolen from me—
I have sought it far and near.

'Then I told my friend the story,
He, too, wept when he did hear;
Then he gave to me some brandy,
Said my grief 'twould help to bear.

'Since that day I've sadly wondered
If my lover I could find,
Since that day the thirsting spirit
To the brandy seems to bind.

'Eight months to-day—I've not returned,
And neither she, this letter said;
And since that day I've been wondering
If the girl I loved is dead?'