Dibdin's Ghost.

Dear wife, last midnight while I read     The tomes you so despise,     A specter rose beside the bed     And spoke in this true wise;     "From Canaan's beatific coast     I've come to visit thee,     For I'm 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 'twere 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 didn'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.