Whirl, to go round and round, to toss about in a confused manner.

120

*

Faithless, false, not true to her promise.

125

*

.

*

We shall see, while above us
The waves roar and whirl,*
A ceiling of amber,
A pavement of pearl.
Singing, Here came a mortal,
But faithless * was she.
And alone dwell for ever
The kings of the sea.”
But, children, at midnight,
When soft the winds blow;
When clear falls the moonlight :
When spring-tides * are low :
When sweet airs come seaward
From heaths starred with broom ;
And high rocks throw mildly
On the blanched * sands a gloom :
Up the still, glistening beaches,
Up the creeks * we will hie; *
Over banks of bright seaweed
The ebb-tide * leaves dry.
We will gaze, from the sand-hills,
At the white, sleeping town ; *
At the church on the hill-side-

And then come back down.
Singing, “ There dwells a loved one,
But cruel is she.
She left lonely for ever
The kings of the sea.'

130

Spring - tides, those which rise higher than ordinary tides, after new and fuli moon. Broom, a wild evergreen shrub, with leafless pointed twigs. Blanched, made white or whitened. Creek, a small inlet of the sea. Hie, to hasten. Ebb-tide, the going back or retiring of the tide. Sleeping town, the in. habitants had retired to rest.

135

140

THE SKY-LARK.-Hogg. JAMES HOGG (1770-1835) was born in Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire. He was a farmer and a shepherd, and hence called the “ Ettrick Shepherd,” but he was more successful as a poet. Chief work: The Queen's Wake, containing the beautiful fairy ballad Kilmeny: he also wrote songs and novels.

BIRD of the wilderness,
Blithesome * and cumberless, *

Blithesome, cheerful,
Sweet be thy matin * o'er moorland and lea !

Cumberless, free from Emblem * of happiness, 5 Blest is thy dwelling-place

Matin, morning song.

Lea, pasture land, a Oh to abide * in the desert with thee!

meadow.

Emblem, sign or
Wild is thy lay * and loud,

figure, a token.

Abide, to live.
Far in the downy cloud :

Lay, & song.

*

gay.

*

care.

*

10

*

Energy, power, strength. Dewy wing, the lark builds its nest on the ground, and consequently when the dew falls at night it gets covered with it. Thy lay is in heaven, the lark soars high into the air, and there warbles forth its song. Fell, a rocky hill. Sheen, brightness, glitter. Cloudlet, a little cloud. Cherub, an angel. Gloaming, twilight, the evening.

15

*

Love gives its energy,* love gave it birth.

Where, on thy dewy wing, *

Where art thou journeying?
Thy lay is in heaven,* thy love is on earth.

O'er fell * and fountain sheen,

O'er moor and mountain green,
O'er the red streamer that heralds the day ;

Over the cloudlet * dim,

Over the rainbow's rim,
Musical cherub,* soar, singing, away!

Then, when the gloaming * comes,

Low in the heather blooms
Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love bes

Emblem of happiness,

Blest is thy dwelling-place-
Oh to abide in the desert with thee!

20

5

*

VISION OF BELSHAZZAR.*—Byron

THE King was on his throne, Satraps, the chier

The Satraps * thronged the hall; governors and nobles.

A thousand bright lamps shone

O'er that high festival.

A thousand cups of gold, In Judah, &c., these

In Judah * deemed divinevessels were set apart Jehovah's vessels hold for the service of the Temple, and were,

The godless Heathen’s wine. therefore, held most sacred.

In that same hour and hall,

The fingers of a hand
Came forth against the wall,

And wrote as if on sand :
The fingers of a man ;-

A solitary hand
Along the letters ran,

And traced them like a wand.

The monarch saw, and shook,

And bade no more rejoice ;
All bloodless * waxed his look,

And tremulous his voice.

Bloodless, &c., he be came pale with fear.

20

*

Men of lore, the
learned men of the
kingdom.
Expound, explain.
Mar, spoil.
Chaldea's seers, the
wise men of Babylon.
No skill, 20 know-
ledge or power.

*

85

30

Lore, learning, know.
ledge.
Sage, wise.

66 Let the men of lore * appear,

The wisest of the earth,
And expound * the words of fear,
Which mar

our royal mirth."
Chaldea's seers are good,

But here they have no skill;
And the unknown letters stood

Untold and awful still.
And Babel's men of age

Are wise and deep in lore;
But now they were not sage,

They saw—but knew no more.
A captive * in the land,

A stranger and a youth,
He heard the King's command,

He saw that writing's truth.
The lamps around were bright

The prophecy * in view ;
He read it on that night,-

The morrow proved it true.
Belshazzar's grave is made,

His kingdom passed away,
He, in the balance weighed,

Is light and worthless clay.
The shroud * his robe of state,
His
canopy

* the stone :
The Mede * is at his gate!

The Persian on his throne !"

A captive, the prophet Daniel, who had been carried captive into Babylon.

35

40

The prophecy, tha$
which foretold what
was about to bappen,
Shroud, the dress with
which a dead body is
covered.
Canopy, the covering
above a throne.
The stone, here means
his tombstone.
The Medes were the
inhabitants of Media,
& district to the north
of Persia.
The Persian, Cyrus,
king of the Medes and
Persians,

45

*

*

THE BATTLE OF HOHENLINDEN.*-Campbell.
On Linden, when the sun was low,

Sun, &c., at sunset.
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow;
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

Fires of death, the

discharge of the artil. But Linden showed another sight,

lery which When the drum beat at dead of nighty death and destruction Commanding fires of death * to light

among the troops.

Scenery, the appearThe darkness of her scenery.

5

carried

*

IO

20

Revelry, the bustle
and din of battle.
Then shook the hills,
the surrounding
country seemed to
shake again with the
dreadful noise made
by the firing of the
artillery.
Riven, torn

asun-
der; here it refers to
the ground being torn
up with the cannon-
balls.
Frank, the ancient
name for the French,
who in the 3d cen-
tury overthrew the
Roman dominion in
Gaul, and settled
there,
Huns, or, as they are
now called, Magyars,
are the inhabitants
of Hungary, and be-
long to the Mongol
race. They form the
chief portion of the
Austrian empire.
Munich, the capital
of Bavaria, on the
river Iser. It is a
very fine city, and in
its palace there is
one of the finest col.
lections of paintings
in Europe.
Sepulchre, a place of
burial, a tonib.

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed,
Each horseman drew his battle-blade;
And furious every charger neighed,

To join the dreadful revelry.*
Then shook the hills* with thunder riven ;*
Then rushed the steed to battle driven ;
And, louder than the bolts of heaven, 15

Far flashed the red artillery.
But redder yet those fires shall glow
On Linden's hills of stained snow;
And bloodier yet shall be the flow

Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
'Tis morn—but scarce yon level sun
Can pierce the war-cloud rolling dun,
Where furious Frank * and fiery Hun *

Shout ’mid their sulphurous canopy.
The combat deepens : On, ye brave ! 25
Who rush to glory or the grave!
Wave, Munich,* all thy banners wave,

And charge with all thy chivalry !
Few, few shall part where many meet !
The snow shall be their winding-sheet; 30
And every turf beneath their feet

Shall be a soldier's sepulchre !

a

*

*

*

5

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.-Longfellow.

UNDER a spreading chestnut-tree Smithy, a black

The village smithy * stands ; smith's shop. Mighty, full of

The smith, a mighty * man is he, strength.

With large and sinewy * hands; Sinewy, strong.

And the muscles * of his brawny * arms Muscles, the fleshy parts of the body by Are strong as iron bands. which it moves. Brawny, strong, full His hair is crisp,* and black, and long ; of muscle, powerful.

His face is like the tan; Crisp, curly. Tan, the bark of the His brow is wet with honest sweat ; oak-tree, means here He earns whate'er he can, that his face was very brown,

And looks the whole world in the face, burnt.

For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,

You can hear his bellows blow;

*

10

and

*

of

20

Wield, to sling with
force.
Sledge, a large heavy
hammer.
Sexton, a man who
has charge

a
church, rings the
bell, digs graves, &..
Forge, a smithy, a
workshop, also
furnace in which
metal is heated.
Chaff, the husks of
corn,
Threshing-floor, the
floor on which grain
is threshed or beaten
out with a flail.

*

*

15 You can hear him wield * his heavy sledge, *

With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton * ringing the village bell

When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school

Look in at the open door ;
They love to see the flaming forge,*

And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly

Like chaff * from a threshing-floor.* 25 He goes on Sunday to the church,

And sits among his boys ;
He hears the parson pray and preach ;

He hears his daughter's voice

Singing in the village choir, * 30

And it makes his heart rejoice :
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,

Singing in Paradise !
He needs

must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies ;
35 And with his hard, rough hand, he wipeg

A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling * -rejoicing-sorrowing,

Onward through life he goes ;

Each morning sees some task begun, 40 Each evening sees its close ;

Something attempted, * something done,

Has earned a night's repose.*
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,

For the lesson thou hast taught ! 45 Thus at the flaming forge of Life

Our fortunes must be wrought !
Thus on its sounding anvil * shaped

Each burning deed and thought!

Choir, a band of
singers; the part in a
church assigned to
the singers.
Rejoice, to be glad.

Toiling, working hard.

Close, end or finish.
Attempted, tried.
Repose, rest.

*

BARBARA FRITCHIE.-J. G. Whittier. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER (1808– ) was born at Havershill, Massachusetts, where his ancestors had long been settled. Many of his poems were devoted to the cause of Abolition. He contributes to all the leadi American Magazines of the present day.

Clustered, crowded together. Up from the meadows, rich with corn, Frederick, or_Fredericksburg, Clear from the cool September morn,

in Virginia, U.S.

Green-walled, &c., surrounded, The clustered * spires of Frederick stand, as by a natural wall, by the hills Green-walled * by the hills of Maryland.

of the Blue Ridge, a branch of the Alleghany Mountains.

*

*