STORY, ROBERT, the author of the following poem, was born in
Scotland in 1790, and died there in 1859. The poem is much more
famous than its author, having been reprinted time and again, and
sometimes under the wrong author's name. It is one of those pieces
that are called "fugitive," which means that it has no particular
abiding place in type, but makes its home in collections, being, as
it were, an only child. Simple as it is, it has stood the test of
time and is here given for this reason, no less than for its
appropriateness.