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Eugene Field - Dibdin`s Ghost
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Dear wife, last midnight, whilst I read   
  The tomes you so despise,   
A spectre rose beside the bed,   
  And spake in this true wise:   
"From Canaan`s beatific coast 
  I `ve come to visit thee,   
For I am Frognall Dibdin`s ghost,"   
  Says Dibdin`s ghost to me.   

I bade him welcome, and we twain   
  Discussed with buoyant hearts 
The various things that appertain   
  To bibliomaniac arts.   
"Since you are fresh from t` other side,   
  Pray tell me of that host   
That treasured books before they died," 
  Says I to Dibdin`s ghost.   

"They `ve entered into perfect rest;   
  For in the life they `ve won   
There are no auctions to molest,   
  No creditors to dun. 
Their heavenly rapture has no bounds   
  Beside that jasper sea;   
It is a joy unknown to Lowndes,"   
  Says Dibdin`s ghost to me.   

Much I rejoiced to hear him speak 
  Of biblio-bliss above,   
For I am one of those who seek   
  What bibliomaniacs love.   
"But tell me, for I long to hear   
  What doth concern me most, 
Are wives admitted to that sphere?"   
  Says I to Dibdin`s ghost.   

"The women folk are few up there;   
  For `t were not fair, you know,   
That they our heavenly joy should share 
  Who vex us here below.   
The few are those who have been kind   
  To husbands such as we;   
They knew our fads, and did n`t mind,"   
  Says Dibdin`s ghost to me. 

"But what of those who scold at us   
  When we would read in bed?   
Or, wanting victuals, make a fuss   
  If we buy books instead?   
And what of those who `ve dusted not 
  Our motley pride and boast,   
Shall they profane that sacred spot?"   
  Says I to Dibdin`s ghost.   

"Oh, no! they tread that other path,   
  Which leads where torments roll, 
And worms, yes, bookworms, vent their wrath   
  Upon the guilty soul.   
Untouched of bibliomaniac grace,   
  That saveth such as we,   
They wallow in that dreadful place," 
  Says Dibdin`s ghost to me.   

"To my dear wife will I recite   
  What things I `ve heard you say;   
She `ll let me read the books by night   
  She `s let me buy by day. 
For we together by and by   
  Would join that heavenly host;   
She `s earned a rest as well as I,"   
  Says I to Dibdin`s ghost.
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