Classic Poem

[1850ÔÇô1894]

Sultry and brazen was the August day
When Sister Stanislaus went down to see
The little boy with the tuberculous knee.

And as she thought to find him, so he lay:
Still staring, through the dizzy waves of heat,
At the tall tenement across the street.

But did he see that dreary picture? Nay:
In his mind's eye a sunlit harbor showed,
Where a tall pirate ship at anchor rode.

Yes, he was full ten thousand miles away!
The Sister, when she turned his pillow over,
Kissed " Treasure Island " on its well-worn cover.