* * the Rev. Charles the * hour; far houseless. rebuked. who wastes his Broken how battles were A man he was to all the country dear, Passing, exceed. 50 And passing * rich with forty pounds a year ; ingly. Remote * from towns he ran his godly race, Forty pounds a place. Goldsmith, poet's father, By doctrines fashioned to the varying, Remote, at a dis55 Far other * aims his heart had learned to prize, tance, removed. More bent * to raise the wretched, than to rise. Fawn, to court favour, to flatter. His house was known to all the vagrant * train ; Far other, He chid * their wanderings, but relieved their different. Bent, inclined. pain. Vagrant, begThe long-remembered beggar was his guest, ging, wandering, 60 Whose beard descending swept his aged breast; Chid, reproved, allowed ; Spendthrift, one The broken soldier,* kindly bade to stay, property. by his fire and talked the night away, soldier, 65 Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, crippled in war. Shouldered his crutch, and showed * how fields Showed, &c., went were won ! through a mimic Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to charge to show glow, * fought and won. And quite forgot their vices, in their woe; Glow, to Careless their merits or their faults to scan, * warm with kindly 70 His pity gave, ere charity began. Scan, to examine carefully. Prompt, &c., alHe watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all : asked or called 75 And, as a bird each fond endearment tries upon to help the Allured, enticed, Beside the bed where parting life was laid, 80 And sorrow, guilt, and pain, by turns dismayed, Reverend, desery. ing respect. heaven. Double sway, this And his last faltering accents whispered praise. practised 85 At church, with meek and unaffected grace, he preached. He His looks adorned the venerable place; taught both by Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway; ample. And fools, who came to scoff,* remained to pray. Scoff, to jeer, to The service past, around the pious man, make game of. Rustic, a country. 90 With ready zeal, each honest rustic * ran; grow interest. poor, invited. came from means that he what man, reverence. 100 * cut flowers. Wile, a sly trick. Even children followed with endearing wile, ** And plucked his gown, to share the good 'man's smile : tressed; But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven : Clif, rock, As some tall cliff,* that lifts its awful * form, Arful, producing Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the wonder, awe, or storm; Though round its breast the rolling clouds are Eternal, unbro spread, ken, perpetual, never-ending. Eternal * sunshine settles on its head. Yon, yonder. Beside yon * straggling * fence that skirts the Straggling, irre. gular, not way, evenly. With blossomed furze * unprofitably gay, Furze, a prickly There, in his noisy mansio skilled to rule, The village master taught his little school. 105 Boding, knowing I knew him well, and every truant knew ; was to happen. Well had the boding * tremblers learned to trace Counterfeited, The day's disasters in his morning face : pretended. Conveyed, &c., Full well they laughed with counterfeited * glee the bad news was At all his jokes, for many a joke had he : whispered from Full well the busy whisper, circling round, Cipher, here is Conveyed * the dismal tidings when he frowned. meant'the use of Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught, figures, or practice of arithmetic. The love he bore to learning was in fault; Presage, to calcu. The village all declared how much he knew 115 'Twas certain he could write and cipher* too; Gauge, to measure the contents Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage, of any vessel. And e'en the story ran that he could gauge. Vanquished, de In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill, They gazed, &c., For e'en though vanquished," he could argue still ; 120 the more they While words of learned length and thundering heard, the more they wondered. sound very spot, Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around : &c., the place And still they gazed,* and still the wonder grew occasions he was That one small head should carry all he knew. victorious in de But past is all his fame. The very spot * 125 Where many a time he triumphed is forgot. beforehand what * ΠΟ one to another. late beforehand. * * feated. The where on many * argu ment. * is old and cannot YOUTH AND AGE.-Coleridge. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834) was the son of a Devonshire clergyman, and was educated at Christ's Hospital and Cambridge. He was strongiy influenced in his poetry by his philosophical studies, and had an intellect of extraordinary range. Chief poems: Genevieve, The Ancient Mariner, Christabel, and Odes. YOUTH, a breeze 'mid blossoms straying, With Nature, Hope, and Poesy, 5 When I was young! means his body, he 10 O'er airy cliffs and glittering sands, move as quickly as he would. How lightly then it flashed along : Grievous, great. Like those trim skiffs,* unknown of yore, Skiff, a small light On winding lakes and rivers wide, boat or ship. That ask no aid * of sail or oar, Yore, olden times. Aid, help. 15 That fear no spite of wind or tide! Nought cared this body for wind or weather, Ere I was old ! Which tells me, Youth's no longer here ! 25 O Youth ! for years so many and sweet, 'Tis known that thou and I were one, Conceit, imagination, fancy. Desper-bell, a 30 And thou wert aye a masker * bold ! tolled in the evening. Aye, always. a reveller, Gait, way or manner of walking 35 But springtide blossoms on thy lips, And tears take sunshine from thine eyes ! 20 bell * Masker, wears * G 40 Dewdrops are the gems of morning, When we are old : Like some poor nigh-related guest, Yet hath outstayed his welcome while, 45 * a * in * a IO * THE BELLS.—E. A. Poe. EDGAR ALLAN POE (1811-1849) was an American poet, and possessed of considerable originality. He was the son of a strolling player, on whose death he was adopted by Mr. Allan, a rich merchant. He died from the effects of intemperance and dissipation. Sledge, carriage HEAR the sledges * with the bells * made for sliding upon Silver bells ! The bells, when heard What a world of merriment * their melody foretells ! the frosty air, How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, havea merry tinkling In the icy air of night! 5 sound. Merriment, rejoicing. While the stars that over-sprinkle All the heavens seem to twinkle Crystalline, clear ; With a crystalline * delight; sparkling like crys Keeping time, time, time, tal. Runicrhyme, a rhyme In a sort of Runic rhyme, peculiar to the lan. To the tintinnabulation * that so musically wells guage of the ancient northern nations. From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Tintinnabulation, Bells, bells, bells, tinkling. From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. Hear the mellow wedding bells, 15 Golden bells ! Harmony, musical What a world of happiness their harmony * foretells ! concoru. Through the balmy air of night And all in tune, What a liquid ditty * floats Gloats, stares with To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats * Eagerness. Euphony, pleasant On the moon ! Voluminously, copi Oh, from out the sounding cells, ously, fully. What a gush of euphony* voluminously * we is! 20 sound. are the bells that in the night with the alarm of fire. 40 * a monstrance. How it swells ! How it dwells On the Future! how it tells 30 Of the rapture * that impels Rapture. very great delight or pleasure. Bells, bells, bells- Hear the loud alarum-bells- Brazen bells, these startle the sleepers tells ! In the startled ear of night Turbulency, tumult, great noise. Out of tune, fire, 45 In a mad expostulation * with the deaf and Expostulation, refrantic * fire, Frantic, furious. By the side of the pale-faced moon. 50 Oh, the bells, bells, bells ! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair ! What a horror they outpour Palpitating, beating quickly, throbbing. Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows ; 60 Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, Of the bells, Clangour, clashing 65 * |