THE DRAMA OF THE DOCTOR'S

WINDOW

IN THREE ACTS, WITH A PROLOGUE

"A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus,
And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.”
-MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM,

PROLOGUE

"WELL, I must wait!"

room,

The Doctor's

Where I used this expression,
Wore the severe official gloom
Attached to that profession;
Rendered severer by a bald
And skinless Gladiator,
Whose raw robustness first appalled

The entering spectator.

No one would call "The Lancet" gay,-
Few could avoid confessing

That Jones, "On Muscular Decay,"
Is as a rule depressing:

So, leaving both, to change the scene,
I turned toward the shutter,
And peered out vacantly between
A water-butt and gutter.

Below, the Doctor's garden lay,
If thus imagination

May dignify a square of clay
Unused to vegetation,

Filled with a dismal-looking swing-
That brought to mind a gallows-
An empty kennel, mouldering,
And two dyspeptic aloes.

No sparrow chirped, no daisy sprung,
About the place deserted;
Only across the swing-board hung
A battered doll, inverted,
Which sadly seemed to disconcert
The vagrant cat that scanned it,
Sniffed doubtfully around the skirt,
But failed to understand it.

A dreary spot! And yet, I own,
Half hoping that, perchance, it
Might, in some unknown way, atone
For Jones and for "The Lancet,"
I watched; and by especial grace,
Within this stage contracted,
Saw presently before my face
A classic story acted.