s: Nor fame, nor power, nor love, nor leisure;


s: Smiling they live, and call life pleasure;


s: To me that cup has been dealt in another measure.


s: Till death like sleep might steal on me,


s: Breathe o'er my dying brain its last monotony.


s: My thoughts are with the Dead; with them


s: Their virtues love, their faults condemn,


s: And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom:


s: And feed deep thought with many a dream,


s: Fond wretch! as if her step disturb'd the dead!


s: That Death nor heeds nor hears distress:


s: We watch'd her breathing thro' the night,


s: "The blackening wave is edged with white;


s: The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite,


s: Whose screams forbode that wreck is nigh.


s: 'Twas broader than the watch-fire's light,


s: Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair--


s: There are twenty of Roslin's baron's bold


s: But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung


s: Extinct, with scarce the sense of dying:


s: So soon to exchange the imprisoning womb


s: A clear beam forth, then straight up shut


s: (With her nine moons' long workings sicken'd)


s: That should thy little limbs have quicken'd?


s: That has his day; while shrivell'd crones


s: Though thou want'st not, thou shalt have them,


s: Loving hearts were they which gave them.


s: To have despair'd, have hoped, believed,


s: And blasts of heaven will aid their flight;


s: Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling,


s: When 'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd;


s: Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound?


s: Or while the wings aspire, are heart and eye


s: Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground?


s: Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will,


s: Those quivering wings composed, that music still!


s: To the last point of vision, and beyond,


s: Mount, daring warbler!--that love-prompted strain


s: --'Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond--


s: Thrills not the less the bosom of the plain:


s: Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege! to sing


s: Leave to the nightingale her shady wood;


s: Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood


s: Type of the wise, who soar, but never roam--


s: True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!


s: In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.


s: And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.


s: Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.


s: Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight:


s: Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there.


s: The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflow'd.


s: As from thy presence showers a rain of melody.


s: To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not:


s: With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower:


s: Among the flowers and grass, which screen it from the view:


s: Makes faint with too much sweet those heavy-wingéd thieves.


s: Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass.


s: That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.


s: A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.


s: What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?


s: Thou lovest; but ne'er knew love's sad satiety.


s: Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?


s: Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.


s: I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.


s: Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!


s: The world should listen then, as I am listening now!


s: Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed


s: And birds and flowers once more to greet,


s: While birds, and butterflies, and flowers


s: My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains


s: My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,


s: Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains


s: One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:


s: But being too happy in thine happiness,--


s: That thou, light-wingéd Dryad of the trees,


s: Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,


s: Singest of summer in full-throated ease.


s: O for a draught of vintage, that hath been


s: Cool'd a long age in the deep-delvéd earth,


s: Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!


s: Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,


s: That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,


s: And with thee fade away into the forest dim:


s: Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget


s: What thou among the leaves hast never known,


s: Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;


s: Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,


s: Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;


s: Where but to think is to be full of sorrow


s: Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,


s: Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.


s: And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,


s: Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;


s: Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown


s: Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.


s: I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,


s: Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,


s: But, in embalméd darkness, guess each sweet


s: The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;


s: White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;


s: Fast-fading violets cover'd up in leaves;


s: The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,


s: The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.


s: I have been half in love with easeful Death,


s: Call'd him soft names in many a muséd rhyme,


s: Now more than ever seems it rich to die,


s: To cease upon the midnight with no pain,


s: While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad


s: Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain--


s: Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!


s: The voice I hear this passing night was heard


s: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path


s: Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,


s: Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam


s: Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.


s: To toll me back from thee to my sole self!


s: Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades


s: Past the near meadows, over the still stream,


s: Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep


s: Fled is that music:--do I wake or sleep?


s: Earth has not anything to show more fair:


s: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by


s: The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,


s: Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie


s: All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.


s: In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;


s: Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!


s: The river glideth at his own sweet will:


s: And all that mighty heart is lying still!


s: Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone


s: Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand


s: Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown


s: And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command


s: Tell that its sculptor well those passions read


s: Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,


s: The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed;


s: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"


s: Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare


s: The lone and level sands stretch far away.


s: Degenerate Douglas! O the unworthy lord!


s: Whom mere despite of heart could so far please


s: And love of havoc (for with such disease


s: Fame taxes him) that he could send forth word


s: Leaving an ancient dome, and towers like these


s: Beggar'd and outraged!--Many hearts deplored


s: The fate of those old trees; and oft with pain


s: The traveller at this day will stop and gaze


s: On wrongs, which Nature scarcely seems to heed:


s: For shelter'd places, bosoms, nooks, and bays,


s: And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed,


s: And the green silent pastures, yet remain.


s: Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye!


s: --The lovely cottage in the guardian nook


s: Hath stirr'd thee deeply; with its own dear brook,


s: Its own small pasture, almost its own sky!


s: Intruders who would tear from Nature's book


s: --Think what the home would be if it were thine,


s: Even thine, though few thy wants!--Roof, window, door,


s: The very flowers are sacred to the Poor,


s: The roses to the porch which they entwine:


s: Yea, all that now enchants thee, from the day


s: On which it should be touch'd would melt away!


s: And these grey rocks, this household lawn,


s: These trees--a veil just half withdrawn,


s: At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears


s: Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:


s: Poor Susan has pass'd by the spot, and has heard


s: In the silence of morning the song of the bird.


s: 'Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees


s: A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;


s: Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,


s: And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside.


s: Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale


s: Down which she so often has tripp'd with her pail;


s: And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's,


s: The one only dwelling on earth that she loves.


s: She looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade


s: The mist and the river, the hill and the shade;


s: The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise,


s: And the colours have all pass'd away from her eyes!


s: Has track'd your steps and served your will.


s: From which, beneath Heaven's fairest star,


s: That floats on high o'er vales and hills,


s: Loose types of things through all degrees,


s: Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest;--


s: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!


s: Conspiring with him how to load and bless


s: With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;


s: To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,


s: And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;


s: To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells


s: With a sweet kernel; to set budding more


s: And still more, later flowers for the bees,


s: Until they think warm days will never cease;


s: For Summer has o'erbrimm'd their clammy cells.


s: Who hath not seen Thee oft amid thy store?


s: Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,


s: Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;


s: Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,


s: Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook


s: Spares the next swath and all its twinéd flowers;


s: And sometime like a gleaner thou dost keep


s: Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.


s: Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?


s: Think not of them,--thou hast thy music too,


s: While barréd clouds bloom the soft-dying day


s: And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;


s: Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn


s: Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;


s: And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;


s: Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft


s: The redbreast whistles from a garden croft;


s: And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.


s: The young Spring smiled with angel-grace;


s: Her bright-hair'd sire, who bade her keep


s: The Queen of vintage bow'd before his throne;


s: The shaft that drives him to his northern fields,


s: Thy horror-breathing agues cease to lend,


s: Or start, ye demons of the midnight air,


s: At shrieks and thunders louder than your own?


s: --Strange words they seem'd of slight and scorn;


s: The treasured dreams of times long past,


s: For when we're there, although 'tis fair,


s: "If care with freezing years should come


s: And is this--Yarrow?--This is the Stream


s: And, through her depths, Saint Mary's Lake


s: Fair scenes for childhood's opening bloom,


s: There lay the glade and neighbouring lawn,


s: It is a beauteous evening, calm and free;


s: Breathless with adoration; the broad sun


s: Dear child! dear girl! that walkest with me here,


s: If thou appear untouch'd by solemn thought


s: Thy nature is not therefore less divine:


s: Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;


s: And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,


s: God being with thee when we know it not.


s: Of climbing heaven, and gazing on the earth,


s: Among the stars that have a different birth,--


s: That finds no object worth its constancy?


s: One after one; the sound of rain, and bees


s: Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,


s: Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky;--


s: I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie


s: Sleepless; and soon the small birds' melodies


s: Must hear, first utter'd from my orchard trees,


s: Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay,


s: And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth:


s: Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth?


s: Come, blesséd barrier between day and day,


s: Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!


s: Our bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lower'd,


s: And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;


s: And thousands had sunk on the ground overpower'd,


s: The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.


s: When reposing that night on my pallet of straw


s: At the dead of the night a sweet Vision I saw;


s: And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again.


s: Methought from the battle-field's dreadful array


s: Far, far, I had roam'd on a desolate track:


s: 'Twas Autumn,--and sunshine arose on the way


s: To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.


s: I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft


s: In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;


s: I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft,


s: And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung.


s: Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore


s: From my home and my weeping friends never to part;


s: My little ones kiss'd me a thousand times o'er,


s: And my wife sobb'd aloud in her fulness of heart.


s: "Stay--stay with us!--rest!--thou art weary and worn!"--


s: And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;--


s: But sorrow return'd with the dawning of morn,


s: And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away.


s: I dream'd that, as I wander'd by the way


s: Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring,


s: Along a shelving bank of turf, which lay


s: Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling


s: Its green arms round the bosom of the stream,


s: But kiss'd it and then fled, as Thou mightest in dream.


s: There grew pied wind-flowers and violets,


s: Daisies, those pearl'd Arcturi of the earth,


s: The constellated flower that never sets;


s: Faint oxlips; tender blue-bells, at whose birth


s: The sod scarce heaved; and that tall flower that wets


s: Its mother's face with heaven-collected tears,


s: When the low wind, its playmate's voice, it hears.


s: And in the warm hedge grew lush eglantine,


s: Green cow-bind and the moonlight-colour'd May,


s: And cherry-blossoms, and white cups, whose wine


s: Was the bright dew yet drain'd not by the day;


s: With its dark buds and leaves, wandering astray;


s: And flowers azure, black, and streak'd with gold,


s: There grew broad flag-flowers, purple prankt with white,


s: And floating water-lilies, broad and bright,


s: Which lit the oak that overhung the hedge


s: With moonlight beams of their own watery light;


s: And bulrushes, and reeds of such deep green


s: As soothed the dazzled eye with sober sheen.


s: Methought that of these visionary flowers


s: That the same hues, which in their natural bowers


s: Kept these imprison'd children of the Hours


s: Within my hand;--and then, elate and gay,


s: I hasten'd to the spot whence I had come


s: That I might there present it--O! to Whom?


s: To pace the ground, if path there be or none,


s: While a fair region round the Traveller lies


s: Pleased rather with some soft ideal scene


s: --If Thought and Love desert us, from that day


s: Let us break off all commerce with the Muse:


s: With Thought and Love companions of our way--


s: Whate'er the senses take or may refuse,--


s: The Mind's internal heaven shall shed her dews


s: Through the thought still spread beyond her:


s: And thou shalt quaff it;--thou shalt hear


s: With their love the breath between them;


s: Make the cold air fire; then screen them


s: Through the veil which seems to hide them,


s: Through thin clouds, ere they divide them;


s: Its dim shapes are clad with brightness,


s: In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts


s: Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,


s: She seem'd to live; her thoughts her own;


s: There came a youth from Georgia's shore--


s: Who quit their fold with dance and shout,


s: Their blossoms, through a boundless range


s: --Of flowers that with one scarlet gleam


s: "What days and what bright years! Ah me!


s: This Stripling, sportive, gay, and bold,


s: The beauteous forms of Nature wrought,--


s: And stately, needs must have their share


s: Whose heart with so much nature play'd--


s: God help thee, Ruth!--Such pains she had


s: That shaped her sorrow, rocks and pools,


s: The vernal leaves--she loved them still,


s: Sore aches she needs must have! but less


s: Like gray shades, till the eastern heaven


s: Till all is bright, and clear, and still


s: O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,


s: Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead


s: Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,


s: Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,


s: The wingéd seeds, where they lie cold and low,


s: Each like a corpse within its grave, until


s: Thine azure sister of the spring shall blow


s: Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill


s: (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)


s: With living hues and odours plain and hill:


s: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;


s: Thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion,


s: Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed


s: Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,


s: Angels of rain and lightning; there are spread


s: On the blue surface of thine airy surge,


s: Like the bright hair uplifted from the head


s: Of some fierce Maenad, ev'n from the dim verge


s: The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge


s: Of the dying year, to which this closing night


s: Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!


s: Thou who didst waken from his summer-dreams


s: Lull'd by the coil of his crystalline streams,


s: Quivering within the wave's intenser day,


s: All overgrown with azure moss and flowers


s: So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou


s: For whose path the Atlantic's level powers


s: Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below


s: The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear


s: Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear


s: And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!


s: If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;


s: If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;


s: A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share


s: The impulse of thy strength, only less free


s: The comrade of thy wanderings over heaven,


s: As then, when to outstrip the skyey speed


s: Scarce seem'd a vision, I would ne'er have striven


s: As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.


s: I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!


s: A heavy weight of hours has chain'd and bow'd


s: One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.


s: Make me thy lyre, ev'n as the forest is:


s: What if my leaves are falling like its own!


s: Will take from both a deep autumnal tone,


s: Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,


s: Drive my dead thoughts over the universe


s: Like wither'd leaves to quicken a new birth!


s: Scatter, as from an unextinguish'd hearth


s: Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!


s: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?


s: _Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, painted by


s: I was thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile!


s: Four summer weeks I dwelt in sight of thee:


s: Whene'er I look'd, thy image still was there;


s: How perfect was the calm! It seem'd no sleep,


s: No mood, which season takes away, or brings:


s: I could have fancied that the mighty Deep


s: Was even the gentlest of all gentle things.


s: Ah! then if mine had been the painter's hand


s: To express what then I saw; and add the gleam,


s: The light that never was on sea or land,


s: The consecration, and the Poet's dream,--


s: I would have planted thee, thou hoary pile,


s: Beside a sea that could not cease to smile;


s: On tranquil land, beneath a sky of bliss.


s: No motion but the moving tide, a breeze,


s: Or merely silent Nature's breathing life.


s: Such picture would I at that time have made;


s: And seen the soul of truth in every part,


s: A steadfast peace that might not be betray'd.


s: So once it would have been,--'tis so no more


s: A power is gone, which nothing can restore;


s: The feeling of my loss will ne'er be old;


s: This, which I know, I speak with mind serene.


s: Then, Beaumont, Friend! who would have been the friend


s: This work of thine I blame not, but commend;


s: This sea in anger, and that dismal shore.


s: O 'tis a passionate work!--yet wise and well,


s: That hulk which labours in the deadly swell,


s: This rueful sky, this pageantry of fear!


s: And this huge Castle, standing here sublime,


s: I love to see the look with which it braves,


s: --Cased in the unfeeling armour of old time--


s: The lightning, the fierce wind, and trampling waves.


s: Farewell, farewell the heart that lives alone,


s: Housed in a dream, at distance from the Kind!


s: But welcome fortitude, and patient cheer,


s: And frequent sights of what is to be borne!


s: Such sights, or worse, as are before me here:


s: Not without hope we suffer and we mourn.


s: Of shapes that haunt Thought's wildernesses.


s: The World is too much with us; late and soon,


s: Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;


s: We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!


s: This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,


s: The winds that will be howling at all hours


s: And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers,


s: For this, for everything, we are out of tune;


s: It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be


s: So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,


s: Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;


s: Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;


s: Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.


s: Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense,


s: With ill-match'd aims the Architect who plann'd


s: Of white-robed Scholars only) this immense


s: --Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore


s: So deem'd the man who fashion'd for the sense


s: These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof


s: Self-poised, and scoop'd into ten thousand cells


s: Where light and shade repose, where music dwells


s: Lingering and wandering on as loth to die--


s: Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof


s: This breathing house not built with hands,


s: Like those trim skiffs, unknown of yore,


s: Nought cared this body for wind or weather


s: Flowers are lovely; Love is flower-like;


s: O! the joys, that came down shower-like,


s: And tears take sunshine from thine eyes!


s: And Matthew stopp'd, he looked, and said,


s: And, to the church-yard come, stopp'd short


s: "No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears,


s: Let loose their carols when they please,


s: The household hearts that were his own,--


s: When joys have lost their bloom and breath


s: Heaven gives our years of fading strength


s: Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;


s: There are four seasons in the mind of Man:


s: He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear


s: Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves


s: His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings


s: On mists in idleness--to let fair things


s: Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook:--


s: He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,


s: Or else he would forego his mortal nature.


s: Trembling at that where I had stood before;


s: When will return the glory of your prime?


s: Fresh spring, and summer, and winter hoar


s: Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight


s: There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,


s: It is not now as it hath been of yore;--


s: The things which I have seen I now can see no more!


s: Look round her when the heavens are bare;


s: That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth.


s: Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,


s: To me alone there came a thought of grief:


s: A timely utterance gave that thought relief,


s: The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep,--


s: No more shall grief of mine the season wrong:


s: I hear the echoes through the mountains throng,


s: The winds come to me from the fields of sleep,


s: Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy


s: Ye blesséd creatures, I have heard the call


s: The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;


s: The fulness of your bliss, I feel--I feel it all.


s: Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,


s: And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm:--


s: A single field which I have look'd upon,


s: Both of them speak of something that is gone:


s: Where is it now, the glory and the dream?


s: Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;


s: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,


s: Shades of the prison-house begin to close


s: But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,


s: The youth, who daily farther from the east


s: At length the man perceives it die away,


s: Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;


s: Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind,


s: And, even with something of a mother's mind,


s: To make her foster-child, her inmate, Man,


s: And that imperial palace whence he came.


s: Behold the Child among his new-born blisses,


s: See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies,


s: Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,


s: With light upon him from his father's eyes!


s: See, at his feet, some little plan or chart,


s: Some fragment from his dream of human life,


s: Shaped by himself with newly-learnéd art;


s: To dialogues of business, love, or strife;


s: Filling from time to time his "humorous stage"


s: With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,


s: That life brings with her in her equipage;


s: Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie


s: Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep


s: That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep,


s: Which we are toiling all our lives to find;


s: In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;


s: Broods like the day, a master o'er a slave,


s: Thou little child, yet glorious in the might


s: Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height,


s: Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke


s: Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife?


s: Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight,


s: Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!


s: The thought of our past years in me doth breed


s: For that which is most worthy to be blest,


s: With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast:


s: High instincts, before which our mortal nature


s: Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised:


s: Are yet the fountain-light of all our day,


s: Are yet a master-light of all our seeing;


s: Uphold us--cherish--and have power to make


s: Our noisy years seem moments in the being


s: Of the eternal silence: truths that wake,


s: Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour


s: Our souls have sight of that immortal sea


s: And see the children sport upon the shore,


s: And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.


s: Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song!


s: What though the radiance which was once so bright


s: Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;


s: In years that bring the philosophic mind.


s: Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;


s: To live beneath your more habitual sway;


s: I love the brooks which down their channels fret


s: Even more than when I tripp'd lightly as they;


s: The innocent brightness of a new-born day


s: The clouds that gather round the setting sun


s: That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;


s: Another race hath been, and other palms are won.


s: Thanks to the human heart by which we live,


s: Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,


s: To me the meanest flower that blows can give


s: Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.


s: And so thy thoughts, when Thou art gone,


s: allusions, because they illustrate the character of the Grecian


s: A fine example of the high-wrought and conventional Elizabethan


s: _The clear_: is the crystalline or outermost heaven of the old


s: _that fair thou owest_: that beauty thou ownest.


s: _the star Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken_:


s: apparently, Whose stellar influence is uncalculated, although his


s: _Crooked eclipses_: as coming athwart the Sun's apparent course.


s: Pandion in the ancient fable was father to Philomela.


s: _Eliza_: Elizabeth; _twins of Jove_: the stars Castor and Pollux;


s: A fine example of a peculiar class of Poetry;--that written by


s: _whist_: hushed; _Pan_: used here for the Lord of all; _Lars and


s: _unshower'd grass_: as watered by the Nile only.


s: Cromwell returned from Ireland in 1650. Hence the prophecies, not


s: _the blind Fury_: Atropos, fabled to cut the thread of life.


s: _Camus_: the Cam; put for King's University.


s: _moist vows_: either tearful prayers, or prayers for one at sea.


s: _The great Vision_:--The story was that the Archangel Michael had


s: unfamiliar to English ears), are named,--_Namancos_ now Mujio in


s: _ore_: rays of golden light. _Doric lay_: Sicilian, pastoral.


s: Vaughan's beautiful though quaint verses should be compared with


s: Pensiveness is the daughter of Sorrow and Genius.


s: _the mountain nymph_: compare Wordsworth's Sonnet, No. 210.


s: _Cynthia_: the Moon: her chariot is drawn by dragons in ancient


s: _great bards_: Ariosto, Tasso, and Spenser, are here intended.


s: _frounced_: curled; _The Attic Boy_: Cephalus.


s: _The Bard_.: This Ode is founded on a fable that Edward I., after


s: _Arvon_: the shores of Carnarvonshire opposite Anglesey.


s: _bristled boar_: the badge of Richard III.


s: The Highlanders called the battle of Culloden, Drumossie.


s: _Thracia's hills_ supposed a favourite resort of Mars.


s: Perhaps the noblest stanzas in our language.


s: smothered; _crouse and canty_: blythe and gay.


s: It is a lesson of high instructiveness to examine the essential


s: qualities which give first-rate poetical rank to lyrics such as


s: The most tender and true of Byron's smaller poems.


s: "marvellous boy" in a much higher sense than Chatterton. If the


s: A masterly example of Byron's command of strong thought and close


s: This battle was fought Dec. 2, 1800, between the Austrians under


s: _correi_: covert on a hillside; _Cumber_: trouble.


s: Two intermediate stanzas have been here omitted. They are very


s: ingenious, but, of all poetical qualities, ingenuity is least in


s: _interlunar swoon_: interval of the Moon's invisibility.


s: _Arcturi_: seemingly used for _northern stars_.


s: _Ceres' daughter_: Proserpine; _God of Torment_: Pluto.


s: _Maenad_: a frenzied Nymph, attendant on Dionysus in the Greek


s: All thoughts, all passions, all delights


s: Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?


s: At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears


s: At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly


s: Avenge, O Lord! Thy slaughter'd Saints, whose bones


s: Being your slave, what should I do but tend


s: Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed


s: Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy


s: Bright Star! would I were steadfast as thou art


s: Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren


s: Calm was the day, and through the trembling air


s: Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night


s: Cyriack, whose grandsire, on the royal bench


s: Daughter to that good earl, once President


s: Degenerate Douglas! O the unworthy lord!


s: Doth then the world go thus, doth all thus move?


s: Earth has not anything to show more fair


s: Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing


s: Four Seasons fill the measure of the year


s: If women could be fair, and yet not fond


s: I have had playmates, I have had companions


s: In the downhill of life, when I find I'm declining


s: It is a beauteous evening, calm and free


s: I've heard them lilting at our ewe-milking


s: I was thy neighbour once, thou rugged Pile!


s: Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son


s: Let me not to the marriage of true minds


s: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore


s: Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour


s: Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold


s: My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains


s: My lute, be as thou wert when thou didst grow


s: My true-love hath my heart, and I have his


s: Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note


s: O Friend! I know not which way I must look


s: Of this fair volume which we World do name


s: O if thou knew'st how thou thyself dost harm


s: O me! what eyes hath love put in my head


s: Once did She hold the gorgeous East in fee


s: O talk not to me of a name great in story


s: Our bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lower'd


s: O Wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being


s: Poor Soul, the centre of my sinful earth


s: Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea


s: Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part


s: Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king


s: Sweet stream, that winds through yonder glade


s: Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense


s: That time of year thou may'st in me behold


s: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day


s: The last and greatest Herald of Heaven's King


s: The poplars are fell'd! farewell to the shade


s: The World is too much with us; late and soon


s: The World's a bubble, and the Life of Man


s: There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away


s: There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream


s: They that have power to hurt, and will do none


s: This is the month, and this the happy morn


s: Thy hue, dear pledge, is pure and bright


s: Tired with all these, for restful death I cry


s: To me, fair Friend, you never can be old


s: Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie


s: We watch'd her breathing thro' the night


s: When he who adores thee has left but the name


s: When I have borne in memory what has tamed


s: When I have fears that I may cease to be


s: When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced


s: When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes


s: When the sheep are in the fauld, and the kye at hame


s: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought


s: Why art thou silent? Is thy love a plant


s: Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye!


s: Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more


s: Poem 274--"like a green see" to "like a green sea"


s: Palgrave's Notes--Poem 62: "mythe" to "myth"


s: Palgrave's Notes--Poem 85: "Parliamant" to "Parliament"


s: Palgrave's Notes--Poem 140: "Acolian lyre" to "Aeolian lyre"


s: Palgrave's Notes--Poem 140: "were Cytheria" to "where Cytheria"


s: Palgrave's Notes--Poem 275: "Geeek" to "Greek"


s: Matthew Arnold, explaining why those were his most popular poems


s: which dealt with his canine pets, Geist, Kaiser, and Max, said


s: that while comparatively few loved poetry, nearly everyone loved


s: The literature of the Anglo-Saxon is rich in tributes to the


s: dog, as becomes a race which beyond any other has understood and


s: developed its four-footed companions. Canine heroes whose


s: intelligence and faithfulness our prose writers have celebrated


s: start to the memory in scores--Bill Sykes's white shadow, which


s: refused to be separated from its master even by death; Rab,


s: savagely devoted; the immortal Bob, "son of battle"--true souls


s: all, with hardly a villain among them for artistic contrast.


s: Even Red Wull, the killer, we admire for his courage and lealty.


s: Within these covers is a selection from a large body of dog


s: verse. It is a selection made on the principle of human appeal.


s: Dialect, and the poems of the earlier writers whose diction


s: strikes oddly on our modern ears, have for the most part been


s: omitted. The place of such classics as may be missed is filled


s: by that vagrant verse which is often most truly the flower of


s: The Dead Boy's Portrait and His Dog _Gerald Massey_


s: Mercy's Reward                      _Sir Edwin Arnold_


s: Charity's Eye                       _William Rounseville Alger_


s: The Miser's Only Friend             _George Crabbe_


s: Old Matthew's Dog                   _Anonymous_


s: Cæsar, King Edward's Dog            _O. Middleton_


s: Why Strik'st Thou Me?               _Nathan Haskell Dole_


s: Why the Dog's Nose is Cold          _Margaret Eytinge_


s: A Dog's Loyalty                     _Anonymous_


s: Sal's Towser and My Trouser         _Anonymous_


s: A Dog's Epitaph                     _Lord Byron_


s: A Retriever's Epitaph               _Robert C. Lehmann_


s: _"What other nature yours than of a child


s: Whose lives I turn to profit, and whose mute


s: And constant friendship links the man and brute?"_


s: Still half in dream, upon the stair I hear


s: And after that a cry, half sneeze, half yapping,


s: And next a scuffle on the passage floor,


s: And then I know the creature lies to watch


s: Until the noiseless maid will lift the latch.


s: That gains its power by being tightly stayed,


s: Melts into light, and window blinds are rolled,


s: I feel a creeping toward me--a soft head,


s: This is the way, you know, that dogs embrace--


s: And on my hand, like sun-warmed rose-leaves flung,


s: The least faint flicker of the warmest tongue


s: --And so my dog and I have met and sworn


s: Four sleek, round puppies, with fringy ears.


s: He was lost!--Not a shade of doubt of that;


s: But stood in the square where the wind blew raw,


s: With a drooping ear, and a trembling paw,


s: And a mournful look in his pleading eye,


s: That begged as plain as a tongue could sue,


s: Oh, the saddest of sights in a world of sin


s: Is a little lost pup with his tail tucked in!


s: Well, he won my heart (for I set great store


s: On my own red Bute, who is here no more)


s: Now he shares my board, and he owns my bed,


s: And he fairly shouts when he hears my tread.


s: Then if things go wrong, as they sometimes do,


s: And the world is cold, and I'm feeling blue,


s: With a warm, red tongue and a nice, cold nose,


s: When we rove the woods for a league about


s: He's as full of pranks as a school let out;


s: For he romps and frisks like a three-months colt,


s: And he runs me down like a thunder-bolt.


s: Oh, the blithest of sights in the world so fair


s: Is a gay little pup with his tail in air!


s: My brindle bull-terrier, loving and wise,


s: With his little screw-tail and his wonderful eyes,


s: With his white little breast and his white little paws


s: Which, alas! he mistakes very often for claws;


s: With his sad little gait as he comes from the fight


s: When he feels that he hasn't done all that he might;


s: Oh, so fearless of man, yet afraid of a frog,


s: My near little, queer little, dear little dog!


s: He shivers and shivers and shakes with the cold;


s: He huddles and cuddles, though three summers old.


s: And forsaking the sunshine, endeavors to rove


s: With his cold little worriments under the stove!


s: At table, his majesty, dying for meat,--


s: Yet never despising a lump that is sweet,--


s: Sits close by my side with his head on my knee


s: And steals every good resolution from me!


s: How can I withhold from those worshipping eyes


s: A small bit of something that stealthily flies


s: As I tell my dear neighbor of life in the South.


s: My near little, queer little, dear little dog,


s: So fearless of man, yet afraid of a frog!


s: The nearest and queerest and dearest of all


s: The race that is loving and winning and small;


s: The sweetest, most faithful, the truest and best


s: Dispenser of merriment, love and unrest!


s: The day-long bluster of the storm was o'er,


s: The sands were bright; the winds had fallen asleep,


s: And, from the far horizon, o'er the deep


s: The sunset swam unshadowed to the shore.


s: High up, the rainbow had not passed away,


s: When, roving o'er the shingle beach, I found


s: The shining waters kissed him as he lay.


s: In some kind heart thy gentle memory dwells,


s: I said, and, though thy latest aspect tells


s: Thy master's self might weep and smile to see


s: His little dog stretched on these rosy shells,


s: _"A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in


s: health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where


s: the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he


s: can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no


s: food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in


s: encounter with the roughness of the world. When all other


s: friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and


s: reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the


s: sun in its journey through the heavens."_


s: I am quite sure he thinks that I am God--


s: Since he is God on whom each one depends


s: For life, and all things that his bounty sends--


s: My dear old dog, most constant of all friends;


s: Not quick to mind, but quicker far than I


s: To him whom God I know and own; his eye,


s: Deep brown and liquid, watches for my nod;


s: Than I, when God his wise corrections sends.


s: He looks love at me deep as words e'er spake,


s: And from me never crumb or sup will take


s: But he wags thanks with his most vocal tail.


s: And when some crashing noise wakes all his fear


s: So, faithful, mindful, thankful, trustful, he


s: If I was sad, then he had grief, as well--


s: Seeking my hands with soft insistent paw,


s: Searching my face with anxious eyes that saw


s: More than my halting, human speech could tell;


s: Eyes wide with wisdom, fine, compassionate--


s: Dear, loyal one, that knew not wrong nor hate.


s: If I made merry--then how he would strive


s: To show his joy; "Good master, let's to play,


s: The world is ours," that gladsome bark would say;


s: "Just yours and mine--'tis fun to be alive!"


s: Our world ... four walls above the city's din,


s: Whate'er my mood--the fretful word, or sweet,


s: The swift command, the wheedling undertone,


s: His faith was fixed, his love was mine, alone,


s: His heaven was here at my slow crippled feet:


s: Oh, friend thrice-lost; oh, fond heart unassailed,


s: Ye taught me trust when man's dull logic failed.


s: By birth most surely, since the creature can


s: By breeding. Since the walks of life he trod


s: By pride. He looks you squarely in the face


s: Assertion such as upstarts often flaunt.


s: By tenderness. The littlest girl may tear


s: And pinch his silken, flowing ears, the while


s: He smiles upon her--yes, I've seen him smile.


s: Has come to prove his friendship's worth to me.


s: He does not fear the master--knows no fear--


s: But loves the man who is his master here.


s: By countenance. If there be nobler eyes,


s: In finer head, on broader shoulders found,


s: Was stripped from off her weeping face, and pale


s: Her shamed cheeks were, and wild her fixed eye,


s: And her lips drawn with terror at the cry


s: Of the harsh people, and the rugged stones


s: Borne in their hands to break her flesh and bones;


s: For the law stood that sinners such as she


s: Perish by stoning, and this doom must be;


s: High noon it was, and the hot Khamseen's breath


s: Blew from the desert sands and parched the town.


s: The crows gasped, and the kine went up and down


s: With lolling tongues; the camels moaned; a crowd


s: Pressed with their pitchers, wrangling high and loud


s: Nigh dead with thirst, lay where he yelped and fell,


s: This woman from her foot her shoe did draw,


s: Of the heel's hollow, and thus let it sink


s: Until it touched the cool black water's brink;


s: So filled th' embroidered shoe, and gave a draught


s: To the spent beast, which whined, and fawned, and quaffed


s: Her kind gift to the dregs; next licked her hand,


s: With such glad looks that all might understand


s: He held his life from her; then, at her feet


s: He followed close, all down the cruel street,


s: Riding within his litter, marked this thing,


s: Of that parched hound: "Take off her chain, and place


s: The veil once more about the sinner's face,


s: And lead her to her house in peace!" he said.


s: "The law is that the people stone thee dead


s: For that which thou hast wrought; but there is come


s: Not heard upon thy trial; this brute beast


s: Testifies for thee, sister! whose weak breast


s: Death could not make ungentle. I hold rule


s: In Allah's stead, who is 'the Merciful,'


s: And hope for mercy; therefore go thou free--


s: But still the prize, though nearly caught,


s: Charmed with the sight, "The world," I cried,


s: He shone, th' example de luxe of how a cur


s: The records all for sheer insulting "bunk;"


s: No dog had ever breathed who was so punk!


s: That had he been an angel bright and fair


s: The homage paid him had been less; you see


s: The red-haired boy who owned him had a bee--


s: The dog, the only dog on earth, because--


s: Because a red-haired boy who likes his dog,


s: Exists--and that, my friends, is loyalty,


s: There beams more love than mortals know;


s: How strange if things were quite reversed--


s: One evening Jesus lingered in the marketplace,


s: Teaching the people parables of truth and grace,


s: When in the square remote a crowd was seen to rise,


s: And stop with loathing gestures and abhorring cries.


s: The Master and his meek disciples went to see


s: What cause for this commotion and disgust could be,


s: And found a poor dead dog beside the gutter laid--


s: Revolting sight! at which each face its hate betrayed.


s: One held his nose, one shut his eyes, one turned away,


s: "Detested creature! he pollutes the earth and air!"


s: "His eyes are blear!" "His ears are foul!" "His ribs are bare!"


s: "In his torn hide there's not a decent shoestring left,


s: No doubt the execrable cur was hung for theft."


s: Then Jesus spake, and dropped on him the saving wreath:


s: "Even pearls are dark before the whiteness of his teeth."


s: The pelting crowd grew silent and ashamed, like one


s: Rebuked by sight of wisdom higher than his own;


s: And one exclaimed: "No creature so accursed can be


s: But some good thing in him a loving eye will see."


s: For that one heart which, leal and true,


s: And whither he went thrailed the ould friend,


s: And he'd gnaw thro' a rope in the night-time,


s: He'd shwim thro' a lough in the winther,


s: And the two, faith, would share their last bannock;


s: They'd share their last collop and bone;


s: And loose hung the flanks av the ould hound


s: And he'd take himself off to the village,


s: But be Michaelmas, faith, it was whispered


s: And I met him be chance at the cross-roads,


s: And I says to him, "How's the ould hound?"


s: There watched a cur before the miser's gate--


s: A very cur, whom all men seemed to hate;


s: Gaunt, shaggy, savage, with an eye that shone


s: Like a live coal; and he possessed but one.


s: His master prized him much, and Fang his name,


s: His master fed him largely, but not that


s: Nor aught of kindness made the snarler fat.


s: Flesh he devoured, but not a bit would stay--


s: He barked, and snarled, and growled it all away.


s: His ribs were seen extended like a rack,


s: And coarse red hair hung roughly o'er his back.


s: Lamed in one leg, and bruised in wars of yore,


s: Such was the friend of him who could not find,


s: Nor make him one, 'mong creatures of his kind.


s: Brave deeds of Fang his master often told,


s: From Snatch and Rabid sprung; and noted they


s: In earlier times--each dog will have his day.


s: The notes of Fang were to his master known


s: And dear--they bore some likeness to his own;


s: For both conveyed, to the experienced ear,


s: "I snarl and bite because I hate and fear."


s: None passed ungreeted by the master's door,


s: Fang railed at all, but chiefly at the poor;


s: And when the nights were stormy, cold and dark,


s: But though the master loved the growl of Fang


s: There were who vowed the ugly cur to hang,


s: Whose angry master, watchful for his friend,


s: As strongly vowed his servant to defend.


s: In one dark night, and such as Fang before


s: To his protector's wonder now expressed,


s: The wond'ring master sought the silent yard,


s: Left Phoebe sleeping, and his door unbarred,


s: Nor more returned to that forsaken bed--


s: But lo! the morning came, and he was dead.


s: Fang and his master side by side were laid


s: In grim repose--their debt to nature paid.


s: The master's hand upon the cur's cold chest


s: Was now reclined, and had before been pressed,


s: As if he sought how deep and wide the wound


s: That laid such spirit in a sleep so sound;


s: And when he found it was the sleep of death


s: A sympathizing sorrow stopped his breath.


s: Close to his trusty servant he was found,


s: As cold his body, and his sleep as sound.


s: On the green banks of Shannon, when Sheelah was nigh,


s: No harp like my own could so cheerily play,


s: And wherever I went was my poor dog Tray.


s: When at last I was forced from my Sheelah to part,


s: She said (while the sorrow was big at her heart)


s: "Oh, remember your Sheelah when far, far away,


s: And be kind, my dear Pat, to our poor dog Tray."


s: Poor dog! he was faithful and kind, to be sure,


s: And he constantly loved me, although I was poor;


s: When the sour-looking folks sent me heartless away,


s: I had always a friend in my poor dog Tray.


s: When the road was so dark, and the night was so cold,


s: And Pat and his dog were grown weary and old,


s: How snugly we slept in my old coat of gray,


s: And he licked me for kindness--my poor dog Tray.


s: Though my wallet was scant, I remembered his case,


s: Nor refused my last crust to his pitiful face;


s: But he died at my feet on a cold winter's day,


s: And I played a lament for my poor dog Tray.


s: Where now shall I go, poor, forsaken and blind?


s: Can I find one to guide me so faithful and kind?


s: To my sweet native village, so far, far away,


s: I can ne'er more return with my poor dog Tray.


s: "God bless him," breathed I soft and low,


s: Little white dog with the meek brown eyes,


s: Would a juicy bone meet your heart's desire?


s: Is the worn-out ball you have always near


s: The dearest of all the things held dear?


s: The dream of bliss to your doggish mind?


s: But the little white dog just shook his head


s: As if "None of these are best," he said.


s: A boy's clear whistle came from the street;


s: There's a wag of the tail and a twinkle of feet,


s: And the little white dog did not even say,


s: "Excuse me, ma'am," as he scampered away;


s: That beast is fierce, but this is brave.


s: Few men of him to do great things have learned,


s: And when they're done to be so unconcerned.


s: Five years we've tramped through wind and weather,


s: And slept out-doors when nights were cold,


s: And ate and drank--and starved--together.


s: We've learned what comfort is, I tell you!


s: The paw he holds up there's been frozen),


s: (This out-door business is bad for strings),


s: Then a few nice buckwheats hot from the griddle,


s: Well, something hot, then,--we won't quarrel.


s: He's thirsty, too,--see him nod his head?


s: He understands every word that's said,--


s: And he knows good milk from water-and-chalk.


s: But he sticks by, through thick and thin;


s: And this old coat with its empty pockets,


s: He'll follow while he has eyes in his sockets.


s: Would do it, and prove, through every disaster,


s: No, Sir!--see him wag his tail and grin!


s: We'll have some music, if you're willing,


s: And Roger (hem! what a plague a cough is, Sir!)


s: Shall march a little--Start, you villain!


s: Paws up! Eyes front! Salute your officer!


s: (Some dogs have arms, you see!) Now hold your


s: March! Halt! Now show how the rebel shakes


s: Five yelps,--that's five; he's mighty knowing!


s: The night's before us, fill the glasses!--


s: Quick, Sir! I'm ill,--my brain is going!--


s: Some brandy,--thank you,--there!--it passes!


s: But I've gone through such wretched treatment,


s: Sometimes forgetting the taste of bread,


s: And there are times when, mad with thinking,


s: At your age, Sir, home, fortune, friends,


s: A dear girl's love,--but I took to drink,--


s: The same old story; you know how it ends.


s: If you could have seen these classic features,--


s: You needn't laugh, Sir; they were not then


s: Such a burning libel on God's creatures:


s: If you had seen _her_, so fair and young,


s: If you could have heard the songs I sung


s: When the wine went round, you wouldn't have guessed


s: 'Twas better for her that we should part,--


s: I have seen her? Once: I was weak and spent


s: Who kissed the coin that her fingers dropped!


s: It makes me wild to think of the change!


s: 'Twas well she died before.--Do you know


s: I wonder, has he such a lumpish, leaden,


s: He is sad sometimes, and would weep, if he could,


s: No doubt remembering things that were,--


s: I'm better now; that glass was warming.--


s: For supper and bed, or starve in the street.--


s: But soon we shall go where lodgings are free,


s: And the sleepers need neither victuals nor drink:--


s: The sooner, the better for Roger and me!


s: For still thou grumblest like a masty dog,


s: In that for which all men despise a dog?


s: But, Cineas, I have often heard thee tell


s: 'Tis like enough; and, faith, I like it well;


s: So, idle and dreaming, stretched out I lay


s: In the welcome warmth of the summer sun,


s: Dream? Yes, indeed; though I am but a dog.


s: Don't I dream of the partridge I sprung by the log?


s: Of the quivering hare and her desperate flight,


s: Of the nimble gray squirrel secure in his height,


s: Far away in the top of the hickory tree,


s: Looking down safe and saucy at Matthew and me,


s: Till the hand, true and steady, a messenger shot,


s: And the creature upbounded, and fell, and was not?


s: Old Matthew was king of the wood-rangers then;


s: And the quails in the stubble, the ducks in the fen,


s: The hare on the common, the birds on the bough,


s: For all we can harm them, old master and I.


s: We have had our last hunt, the game must go by,


s: While Matthew sits fashioning bows in the door,


s: For time, cold and hardship have stiffened his knee,


s: And since little Lottie died, often I see


s: His hands tremble sorely, and go to his eyes,


s: For the lost baby daughter, so pretty and wise.


s: Oh, it's sad to be old, and to see the blue sky


s: To feel the fleet foot growing weary and sore


s: That in forest and hamlet shall lag evermore.


s: I am going--I hear the great wolf on my track;


s: Already around me his shadow falls black.


s: One hunting cry more! Oh, master, come nigh,


s: And lay the white paw in your own as I die!


s: Oh, come to me, master; the last hedge is passed--


s: Our tramps in the wildwood are over at last;


s: Stoop lower, and lay my head on your knee.


s: What! Tears for a useless old hunter like me?


s: You will see little Lottie again by and by.


s: I shan't. They don't have any dogs in the sky.


s: Tell her, loving and trusty, beside you I died,


s: And--bury me, master, not far from her side.


s: For we loved little Lottie so well, you and I.


s: Ha, master, the shadow! Fire low--it is nigh--


s: There was never a sound in the still morning heard,


s: But the heart of the hunter his old jacket stirred.


s: As he flung himself down on the brute's shaggy coat,


s: And watched the faint life in its quivering throat


s: Till it stopped quite at last. The black wolf had won,


s: And the death-hunted hound into cover had run.


s: But long ere the snow over graves softly fell,


s: Old Matthew was resting from labor as well;


s: While the cottage stood empty, yet back from the hill


s: The voice of the hound in the morn echoed still.


s: He lay on the porch or chased the stray--


s: For a dog's true heart for that household beat


s: At morning and evening, in cold and heat.


s: To cherish his wife and his children fair.


s: His heart grew callous, its love-beats rare,


s: He thought of himself at the close of day,


s: To the club, the lodge, the store, the show.


s: So's folks they will shake hands some more.


s: Where 'tis you've heard that sound before


s: He's "tramp-mans" an' will come right in;


s: 'Cause "he wa'n't 'spectin' dogs was there."


s: An' curled his back up 'gainst th' wall--


s: The horse and the dog had tamed a man and


s: Said the horse to the dog: "For the life of


s: In letting him have the thumbs that grow at


s: And the dog looked solemn and shook his head,


s: The poor man groaned and tried to get loose,


s: You will rob me of things for which I have


s: You will spoil my looks, you will cause me


s: As I am, God made me, and He knows best!


s: The dog laughed out, and the horse replied,


s: We'll have a hot iron to clap right on, as you


s: God gave you your thumbs and all, but still,


s: To do the artistic thing, as he did in the


s: So they bound the man and cut off his thumbs,


s: And they seared the stumps, and they viewed


s: their work through happy and dazzled eyes.


s: "How trim he appears," the horse exclaimed,


s: For the life of me I cannot see why the Lord


s: "Still it seems to me," the dog replied, "that


s: His ears look rather too long for me, and how


s: And if you apply your knife to them, you'll


s: "But you didn't disfigure me, you know," the


s: So they let him moan and they let him groan


s: And they praised his looks when they let him


s: Such things are ended, now, you know; we've


s: The ears and thumbs God gave to man are his


s: And the cruel horse and dog look on, and


s: Yes, I went to see the bow-wows, and I looked at every one,


s: Proud dogs of each breed and strain that's underneath the sun;


s: But not one could compare with--you may hear it with surprise--


s: A little yellow dog I know that never took a prize.


s: Of that plain little yellow dog that never took a prize.


s: Suppose he wasn't trained to hunt, and never killed a rat,


s: And isn't much on tricks or looks or birth--well, what of that?


s: That might be said of lots of folks whom men call great and wise,


s: It isn't what a dog can do, or what a dog may be,


s: That hits a man. It's simply this--does he believe in me?


s: And by that test I know there's not the compeer 'neath the skies


s: Oh, he's the finest little pup that ever wagged a tail,


s: And followed man with equal joy to Congress or to jail.


s: Since ours the faith, "Love lives in space,"


s: But some nights he would sleep very still.


s: And he always would come when you'd call;


s: He would play dead, roll over and speak,


s: But the postman, he barked at him first.


s: When the wheel hit him right in the side,


s: And curled up and stretched out and died.


s: He was just our dog, mister--that's all.


s: With feeling and regard and capable of woe.


s: Oh, yes, I know you were a dog, but I was just a man.


s: The place was strange--you quivered, but stayed on,


s: No other fellow could make you follow him,


s: Always I heard the patter of your feet upon the oaken stairs;


s: And whether I'd been bad or good that day


s: And stuck by me through thick and thin--


s: That 'mongst all earthly friends the fewest


s: And thoughtful look of speechless feeling


s: And fern, the highland, and the thistle?


s: We heard the bright-eyed woodcock whistle


s: The snipe, their cunning wiles o'ercoming;


s: We'll stroll where trees and vines are growing,


s: And see birds warp their southern flight


s: At sundown, when the Day King's throwing


s: When flashed the robber's steel against thee,


s: That glooms the torrent thou didst slide,


s: Thou there had perished maimed and helpless


s: For thee, too, will the days soon darken


s: When wise Ulysses, from his native coast


s: Long kept by wars, and long by tempests tost,


s: Arrived at last--poor, old, despised, alone,


s: To all his friends, and e'en his queen, unknown,


s: Changed as he was, with age, and toils, and cares,


s: Furrowed his rev'rend face, and white his hairs,


s: In his own palace forced to ask his bread,


s: Scorned by those slaves his former bounty fed,


s: His faithful dog his rightful master knew!


s: Like an old servant, now cashiered, he lay;


s: And though ev'n then expiring on the plain,


s: Touched with resentment of ungrateful man,


s: And longing to behold his ancient lord again,


s: Him when he saw, he rose, and crawled to meet


s: ('Twas all he could), and fawned, and kissed his feet,


s: Owned his returning lord, looked up, and died.


s: "What makes the dog's nose always cold?"


s: The camels, goats, and cats, and donkeys,


s: The tall giraffes, the beavers, monkeys,


s: Our Towser is the finest dog that ever wore a collar,


s: We wouldn't sell him--no, indeed--not even for a dollar!


s: I understand his language now, 'cause honest, it appears


s: When I come home from school he meets me with a joyous bound,


s: If Towser will not beat it while he's busy greeting me.


s: Then when he sees me get my hat, but thinks he cannot go,


s: Attachment never to be weaned or changed


s: Against unkindness, absence, and neglect;


s: Can move or warp; and gratitude for small


s: _Course, hunt, in hills, in valley or in plain--


s: He joys to run and stretch out every limb,


s: To please but thee he spareth for no pain,


s: His hurt (for thee) is greatest good to him.


s: In fields abroad he looks unto thy flocks,


s: Keeping them safe from wolves and other beasts;


s: Of some odd thief that many a fold infests._


s: Just look 'ee here, Mr. Preacher, you're a-goin' a bit too fur;


s: There isn't the man as is livin' as I'd let say a word agen her.


s: Think of my soul? I do, sir. Think of my Saviour? Right!


s: Tell me about my Saviour--tell me that tale agen,


s: I've thumbed it out in the Bible, and I know it now by heart,


s: And it's put the steam in my boiler, and made me ready to start.


s: I ain't not afraid to die now; I've been a bit bad in my day,


s: As make me so fond o' my dawg, sir; especially now I'm wus;


s: For a-savin' o' folks who'd kill us is a beautiful act, the which


s: 'Twas five years ago come Chrismus, maybe you remember the row,


s: There was scares about hydryphoby--same as there be just now;


s: And the bobbies came down on us costers--came in a reggerlar wax,


s: But I had a friend among 'em, and he come in a friendly way,


s: I wasn't a-goin' to lose her, I warn't such a brute, you bet,


s: As to leave her to die by inches o' hunger, and cold, and wet;


s: I never said now't to the missus--we both on us liked her well--


s: But I takes her the follerin' Sunday down to the Grand Canell.


s: I gets her tight by the collar--the Lord forgive my sin!


s: And, kneelin' down on the towpath, I ducks the poor beast in.


s: My knees slipped over the towpath, and into the stream I rolled;


s: Down like a log I went, sir, and my eyes were filled with mud,


s: I gave myself up for lost then, and I cursed in my wild despair,


s: I can't tell yer 'ow she done it, for I never knowed no more


s: Till somebody seized my collar, and give me a lug ashore;


s: What did I do with her, eh? You'd a-hardly need to ax,


s: But I sold my barrer a Monday, and paid the bloomin' tax.


s: I'm weaker, an' weaker, an' weaker; I fancy the end ain't fur,


s: But you know why here on my deathbed I think o' the Lord and her,


s: 'Ull pardon me linkin' him like with a dawg as forgave like mine.


s: That dog had fought in the fierce onslaught,


s: That are hung in this place of mourning,


s: Huntsman, take heed; they stop in full career.


s: Yon crowding flock, that at a distance gaze,


s: Have haply foil'd the turf. See that old hound!


s: How busily he works, but dares not trust


s: His doubtful sense; draws yet a wider ring.


s: Hark! Now again the chorus fills. As bells,


s: Sally'd awhile, at once their paean renew,


s: And high in air the tuneful thunder rolls,


s: Recovering all they lost! That eager haste


s: Some doubling wile foreshows. Ah! Yet once more


s: They're checked, hold back with speed--on either hand


s: They flourish round--e'en yet persist--'tis right.


s: Away they spring. The rustling stubbles bend


s: Beneath the driving storm. Now the poor chase


s: Begins to flag, to her last shifts reduced.


s: From brake to brake she flies, and visits all


s: Her well-known haunts, where once she ranged secure,


s: With love and plenty blest. See! There she goes,


s: She reels along, and by her gait betrays


s: Her inward weakness. See how black she looks!


s: The sweat, that clogs the obstructed pores, scarce leaves


s: See! See! She flies! Each eager hound exerts


s: His utmost speed, and stretches every nerve;


s: How quick she turns! Their gaping jaws eludes,


s: And yet a moment lives--till, round enclosed


s: By all the greedy pack, with infant screams


s: She yields her breath, and there, reluctant, dies.


s: I know that the world, the great big world,


s: For my heart will beat, while it beats at all,


s: He looks in my face when the wind blows cold,


s: And wandering flocks that roam and bleat.


s: The hound was smeared with gouts of gore,


s: "Hell-hound! By thee my child's devoured!"


s: Nor scratch had he, nor harm, nor dread,


s: (A Washington woman has made a loud outcry to the Secretary of


s: War to reprimand the soldiers at the Government Aviation Station


s: for burying their faithful dog, Muggsie, wrapped in the Stars


s: While boys in fear stop short their song,


s: 'Twas in those dreadful times there dwelt


s: When they were boys, his children's mate,


s: And there she crouched, fond, faithful creature!


s: "Poor wretch, there enter if thou wilt."


s: Expired too soon--the friends must part--


s: That deadly stroke, she hears them plain,


s: Her cold head on the cold earth pressed,


s: Mute, motionless, her sad watch keeping;


s: Would have believed her dead or sleeping.


s: Night fell--and still she failed to come.


s: He called, caressed her, would have led--


s: Tried threats--then coaxing words again--


s: And there the cord lay, gnawed in twain--


s: And, vexed, he cried, "Perverse old creature!


s: For she had worked the long night through,


s: But death's cold, stiffening frost benumbs


s: But see! those last faint strokes uncover


s: And eyes were strained, and ears were bent,


s: He cheered us through those hours of gloom;


s: And thus, when peace returned once more,


s: With ranks re-filled, our hearts were sick,


s: There, with brave names and deeds entwined,


s: For whom each lost one's fane but shines,


s: And mists that spread the flying shroud,


s: But that enormous barrier binds it fast.


s: This dog had been through three months' space


s: How nourished here through such long time


s: And gave that strength of feeling, great


s: _Traveler._ Begone, you, sir! Here, shepherd, call your dog.


s: _Shepherd._     Be not affrighted, madame. Poor Pierrot


s: Will do no harm. I know his voice is gruff,


s: _Traveler._             Well, call him, then.


s: I do not like his looks. He's growling now.


s: _Shepherd._ Madame had better drop that stick. Pierrot,


s: _Traveler._                    Such a fierce look!


s: _Shepherd_.        Ah, bless poor Pierrot's teeth!


s: Good cause have I and mine to bless those teeth.


s: Come here, my Pierrot. Would you like to hear,


s: Madame, what Pierrot's teeth have done for me?


s: _Traveler._     Torn a gaunt wolf, I'll warrant.


s: On that high ledge a cross of wood that stands


s: _Traveler._   Just where the cliff goes down


s: I've often wondered who was brave to plant


s: _Shepherd._                       Myself, madame,


s: That the good God might know I gave him thanks.


s: One night, it was November, black and thick,


s: The fog came down, when as I reached my house


s: Our four year Louis, so she cried, was lost.


s: I called Pierrot: "Go, seek him, find my boy,"


s: To call the neighbors. They and I, we searched


s: All that dark night. I called Pierrot in vain;


s: Whistled and called, and listened for his voice;


s: He always came or barked at my first word,


s: But now, he answered not. When day at last


s: Broke, and the gray fog lifted, there I saw


s: On that high ledge, against the dawning light.


s: That edge that as I looked his red barette


s: Fell from his nodding head down the abyss.


s: And there, behind him, crouched Pierrot; his teeth,


s: His good, strong teeth, clenching the jacket brown,


s: Holding the child in safety. With wild bounds


s: Swift as the gray wolf's own I climbed the steep,


s: And as I reached them Pierrot beat his tail,


s: And looked at me, so utterly distressed,


s: With eyes that said: "Forgive, I could not speak,"


s: But never loosed his hold till my dear rogue


s: Madame forgives your barking and your teeth;


s: _Traveler._           Come here, Pierrot, good dog,


s: Come here, poor fellow, faithful friend and true,


s: "Come, wife," said good old farmer Gray,


s: "Poor Spot," said he, "did want to come,


s: He'll guard the barn, and guard the cot,


s: "I'm not so sure of that," thought Spot,


s: "Your money or else your life," says he;


s: He dragged him down in the mire and dirt,


s: While his hands and feet the farmer bound,


s: I felt thee seized where thou'rt most loose,--


s: Had trooped to church when the church bell rung.


s: The windows were open, and breezes sweet


s: Fluttered the hymn books from seat to seat.


s: Right in the midst of the minister's prayer


s: There came a knock at the door. "Who's there,


s: I wonder?" the gray-haired sexton thought,


s: The boys on the back seats turned around.


s: Had any one knocked at the old church door.


s: The minister paused (though his head was bowed).


s: The girls are peeping, and laughing too!


s: So the sexton tripped o'er the creaking floor,


s: Till I wagged my tail and bumped the floor.


s: The poor little girl hid her face and cried!


s: But the big dog nestled close to her side,


s: The dog being large (and the sexton small),


s: He sat through the sermon, and heard it all,


s: And instead of scolding, the minister said,


s: As he laid his hand on the sweet child's head,


s: Two better list'ners than Rover and you!"


s: Or, wild with glee, the fields to roam--


s: Would poor speech prove my soul's delight,


s: Now, small, invinc'ble friend, your love


s: The cats that feared, their hearts are high,


s: And they have drowned thee then at last! poor Phillis!


s: The burden of old age was heavy on thee,


s: And yet thou shouldst have lived! What though thine eye


s: Was dim, and watched no more with eager joy


s: The wonted call that on thy dull sense sunk


s: Might still have cheered thy slumber; thou didst love


s: To lick the hand that fed thee, and though past


s: Was comfort. Poor old friend! How earnestly


s: Would I have pleaded for thee! thou hadst been


s: Still the companion of my childish sports:


s: And as I roamed o'er Avon's woody cliffs,


s: From many a day-dream has thy short quick bark


s: Recalled my wandering soul. I have beguiled


s: Soured by some little tyrant, with the thought


s: Thy faithful fondness: for not mean the joy,


s: Sometimes have I remarked the slow decay,


s: Feeling myself changed, too, and musing much,


s: Ah, poor companion! when thou followedst last


s: Thy master's parting footsteps to the gate


s: Which closed forever on him, thou didst lose


s: Thy truest friend, and none was left to plead


s: But fare thee well! Mine is no narrow creed;


s: And He who gave thee being did not frame


s: Of merciless man! There is another world


s: For all that live and move--a better one!


s: Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine


s: 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark


s: Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home;


s: 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark


s: Our coming, and look brighter when we come.


s: Here lies poor Nick, an honest creature,


s: My dog! The difference between thee and me


s: Between th' Instinctive lamp, ne'er known to fail,


s: And that less steady light, of brighter ray,


s: The soul which animates thy master's clay;


s: My look thy life, my death thy sign to die.


s: No, when that feeling quits thy glazing eye


s: 'Twill live in some blest world beyond the sky.


s: When some proud son of man returns to earth,


s: The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of wo,


s: And storied urns record who rests below;


s: Not what he was, but what he should have been,


s: But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,


s: The first to welcome, foremost to defend,


s: Whose honest heart is still his master's own,


s: Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,


s: Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth,


s: Denied in Heaven the soul he held in earth;


s: While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,


s: And claims himself a sole, exclusive Heaven.


s: Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,


s: Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,


s: Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.


s: Ye! who perchance behold this simple urn,


s: Pass on--it honors none you wish to mourn;


s: To mark a friend's remains these stones arise--


s: Have spent their light of truth so soon;


s: But well I know, when I whistle the call,


s: He will come with a rush, and his soft brown eyes


s: Oh, Warder of Gates, in the far-away land,


s: Throw wide your doors that this faithful friend


s: And our scientific brethren scoff at you.


s: And clinch it with their learned "point of view."


s: And reject you from Man's final heav'nly goal:


s: You're not upon the mighty Judgment Roll.


s: Yet the truth shines from your eyes, my faithful friend,


s: And your faithfulness doth that of men transcend;


s: To save the man you loved--and meet your end.


s: When my heart was almost breaking, Roderick Dhu,


s: And not a human friend was half so true.


s: And would I, reasoning wisely, pronounce you just a beast?


s: Your actions "automatic," not "conscious" in the least?


s: And toss you but a bone while I shall feast?


s: My bonnie Collie, such wrong there shall not be,


s: Not for me to grasp at Heav'n and leave the Dark for thee,


s: But whatsoe'er thy fate, the same for me.


s: Played with us, fed with us, felt with us,


s: His friends he loves. His fellest earthly foes--


s: Cats--I believe he did but feign to hate.


s: Mine eyes the tail that wagged contempt at Fate.


s: While patient, hopeful, cheerful meeting


s: Is there not something in the pleading eye


s: Of the poor brute that suffers, which arraigns


s: A claim for some remembrance in the book


s: That fills its pages with the idle words


s: Bleeding and aching in the potter's hand,


s: And when he will to cast it at his feet,


s: Shattered, dishonored, lost for evermore?


s: My dog loves me, but could he look beyond


s: His earthly master, would his love extend


s: To Him who--hush! I will not doubt that He


s: Is better than our fears, and will not wrong


s: The least, the meanest of created things.


s: A rollicksome, frolicsome, rare old cock


s: A gleesome, fleasome, affectionate beast,


s: A wit among dogs, when his life 'gan fail,


s: One couldn't but see the old wag in his tail,


s: When his years grew long and his eyes grew dim,


s: And his course of bark could not strengthen him.


s: Never more now shall our knees be pressed


s: By his dear old chops in their slobbery rest,


s: Nor our mirth be stirred at his solemn looks,


s: As wise, and as dull, as divinity books.


s: Our old friend's dead, but we all well know


s: He's gone to the Kennels where the good dogs go,


s: Where the cooks be not, but the beef-bones be,


s: And his old head never need turn for a flea.


s: He lies in the soft earth under the grass,


s: And his grave is under a tall young lime,


s: In whose boughs the pale green hop-flowers climb;


s: But his spirit--where does his spirit rest?


s: It was God who made him--God knows best.


s: From ill thou knew'st thou didst refrain,


s: The good thou knew'st thou strove to do,


s: Man's keenest spurs, urged thee thereto.


s: Beneath this turf, that formerly he pressed


s: Him, as he sleeps, no well-known sound shall stir,


s: The rabbit's patter, or the pheasant's whir;


s: The keeper's "Over"--far, but well defined,


s: That speeds the startled partridge down the wind;


s: The whistled warning as the winged ones rise


s: Large and more large upon our straining eyes,


s: Till with a sweep, while every nerve is tense,


s: The chattering covey hurtles o'er the fence;


s: The dinting thud of birds whose course is done--


s: These sounds, delightful to his listening ear,


s: None stauncher, till the drive was done, defied


s: Temptation, rooted to his master's side;


s: None swifter, when his master gave the word,


s: Leapt on his course to track the running bird,


s: And bore it back--ah, many a time and oft--


s: His nose as faultless as his mouth was soft.


s: How consciously, how proudly unconcerned,


s: Straight to his master's side he then returned,


s: Wagged a glad tail, and deemed himself repaid


s: As in that master's hand the bird he laid,


s: If, while a word of praise was duly said,


s: The hand should stroke his smooth and honest head.


s: Through spring and summer, in the sportless days,


s: Cheerful he lived a life of simpler ways;


s: Chose, since official dogs at times unbend,


s: The household cat for confidante and friend;


s: With children friendly, but untaught to fawn,


s: Romped through the walks and rollicked on the lawn,


s: Rejoiced, if one the frequent ball should throw,


s: To fetch it, scampering gaily to and fro,


s: Content through every change of sportive mood


s: If one dear voice, one only, called him good.


s: Such was my dog, who now, without my aid,


s: Hunts through the shadowland, himself a shade,


s: Or crouched intent before some ghostly gate,


s: Waits for my step, as here he used to wait.


s: slave-men of the plantations throughout the


s: South, Daddy's contemporaries all, who during


s: the war while their masters were away fighting


s: in a cause opposed to their emancipation,


s: brought their blankets and slept outside their


s: mistresses' doors, thus keeping night-watch


s: over otherwise unprotected women and children--a


s: annals of those troublous times record no


s: Even so late as this year of grace, a full half century after


s: "emancipation," there are still to be found on many of the larger


s: But Daddy's place among the gentle Knights and Ladies of the


s: As an example of his rambling talk, much of which seems at least


s: semivagarious on transcription, I recall one of his meandering


s: But more than as philosopher, satirist or seer was the old man


s: But Daddy's moralizing, besides its saving grace of imagery, was


s: And then he added with a mischievous smile:


s: "You-all smarty undergrowth, you ain't chawed life yit. You jes


s: But perhaps we cannot get nearer the soul of the old man than by


s: recalling a conversation which occurred during an invasion of the


s: But I'm well, praise Gord, dis mornin'."


s: Ef de hoa'se ol' rooster wouldn't crow so loud


s: He mought pass for yo'ng in de barn-yard crowd;


s: But he strives so hard an' he steps so spry


s: Dat de pullets all winks whilst he marches by.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: But 'er wings dey was heavy, an' 'er head too light;


s: So she riz in de air, 'ca'ze she see she was made


s: Jes' to fly in de sun in de beauty parade.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--


s: She's a citizen-bird, Sis little brown Wren,


s: She nests in de spring an' de fall again;


s: 'Ca'ze she's good for 'er ten little wrens a year.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself, my ladies, in dat--


s: But de darkie rates it twice-t mo' sweet,


s: 'Ca'ze it's ap' to b'long to de yether man,


s: An' it's mighty hard to lif' by sleight o' han'.


s: An' it ain't by itself, made sweet like dat--


s: So he nuver pondered or studied or trained,


s: You'd s'pose dey was nobody roun' but him;


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Wid so much Christian blood in 'is veins,


s: You'd think Br'er 'Skitty would take some pains


s: To love 'is neighbor an' show good will,


s: But he's p'izenin' an' back-bitin' still.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Was bleeged to swim close-t to de groun'


s: But you ain't by yo'self, Br'er Whale, in dat--


s: Dey's some things square an' some things round,


s: An' little game cocks ain't sol' by de pound;


s: Dey's weighed by sand an' pluck an' grit


s: An' de number o' dead dey leave in de pit.


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in rank like dat--


s: Ef you keep yo' eyes on Br'er Carrion Crow,


s: You'll wonder huccome he kin carry on so!


s: He flies in high circles an' chooses meat


s: Ef you quiz Br'er Mule, you'll find dat he


s: Gits mixed on de subjec' of 'is fam'ly tree;


s: He'll brag about 'is mammy with a noble neigh,


s: An' deny 'is own daddy wid a ginuine bray.


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: An' swings in 'is shroud on a evergreen vine,


s: But you ain't by yo'self, Br'er Worm, in dat--


s: But you ain't by yo'self, ol' man, in dat--


s: Plenty po' relations all aroun' 'im in de bog;


s: Dan to hold a conversation wid a "low-life" frog!


s: But dey's whupped our birds off'n dis plantation,


s: Tell we craves to constric' dey immigration.


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--


s: Wid dem suctious foots, seem lak Br'er Fly


s: Mought draw down health ef he trod de sky;


s: Dat he's got 'isself screened out o' quality homes.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself outcas' like dat--


s: Steps mighty high while he picks all about;


s: Never sees de egg-shell layin' in 'is track,


s: Much less the little piece stickin' on 'is back.


s: Br'er Scare-crow's built to suit 'is job


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Dey's a sweet plantation, yaller-buff rose


s: Whar she stood an' bloomed by de love-vine gate


s: An' I ain't by myself in dreams like dat--


s: Sis' Twis'-horn Brindle is a bothersome cow,


s: She's boun' to raise a ruction an' she don't keer how;


s: She craves to be de bell-cow an' lead off wid a clang,


s: So it's all a man kin do to make 'er gallup wid de gang.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--


s: De sugar-cane stands so proud an' smart,


s: You'd nuver suspicion it sweet at de heart,


s: But to prove its sweets it yields its will


s: To be tried by fire an' ground in de mill.


s: Sence he los' 'is brains to git 'is smile,


s: Brer Jack-o-lantern grins lak a wilderin' chile


s: An' de lighter in de head de broader 'is grin


s: Ef you let 'im come in, he'll make too free;


s: He'll chase yo' dog till he makes 'im pant,


s: An' he'll take yo' skin for a restaurant.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Ef de Wul o' de Wust would cuss an' swear


s: Like de changeable expression of a mystery shine.


s: An' it ain't by its ghostly self in dat--


s: An' he gits whar he gwine wid a trustful tread,


s: An' he'll nuver view de skies whar glory melts.


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: In de horg-lot down to de littles' runt,


s: Lak as ef he'd 'nounce whilst he gulps 'is swill,


s: "A pompious horg is as big as 'is will."


s: An' he takes high pride in de capers he cuts,


s: While folks draps picayunes into 'is han'


s: An' he ain't by 'isself, misled like dat--


s: Dat three-name chicken wid de feathery legs


s: Wha' 'merged f'om de ten dollar settin' of eggs,


s: Is a lonesome bird an' I s'picion he frets


s: 'Ca'ze he can't outgrow dem pantalettes.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: An' he'll bow 'isself out, an' nuver turn roun'.


s: "I could stand de hook," says de angleworm,


s: "An' a lily-brook wouldn't make me squirm,


s: But I can't help wrigglin' ag'in' my fate;


s: It breaks me all up to be used for bait."


s: Wid 'is nest in de flue whar de suctions blow,


s: Like a pusson ableeged to dodge bofe ways.


s: Little picaninnies, fishin' in de doodle-bug holes.


s: Wid a "spit for luck," an' straws for poles,


s: Show pyore delight in de fisherman's aim


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--


s: Sis' Porcupine, wid 'er bristles all set


s: An' she can't understan', whilst she puckers 'er mug,


s: De sca'city o' kisses an' de absent hug.


s: But she ain't by 'er lonesome self in dat--


s: But dey hoa'ds for deyselves f'om day to day


s: An' dey stings any man wha' gits in de way.


s: An' dey ain't no new co'poration in dat--


s: Dat roams f'om 'er eyes tel it p'ints to 'er toes,


s: To turn off attention f'om de shape of 'er face.


s: An' you ain't by yo'self, Sis' Polly, in dat--


s: Br'er Rattle-snake rattles befo' he springs,


s: But he warns too late to 'scape 'is stings;


s: His high-class manners don't count for much


s: 'Ca'ze dey grafted on to a sarpent's touch.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: An' it's ol' an' swiveled 'fo' it's fit to eat!


s: But it ain't by itself, sharp chillen, in dat--


s: In de hay-wagon, sho is a mixtious pair;


s: But dey's pulled so long th'ough wind an' weather


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--


s: De little yaller cage-bird preems 'is wings


s: An' he mounts 'is pyerch an' sings an' sings;


s: An' you ain't by yo'self, little bird, in dat--


s: An' he sho is dressed in scrumptious style,


s: But he keeps 'is own hat off de quality rack


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: 'Les' needles could see an' potatoes, too;


s: Would be classed as a sin dat no lady'd do.


s: But it's keepin' yo' eyes turned to'des de right,


s: An' to'des de wrong jes' shettin' 'em tight--


s: But it's shettin' yo' ears to heartless speech,


s: An' strivin' to practise mo' 'n to preach--


s: An' tattle an' brag de long day th'ough;


s: But it's gyardin' yo' tongue f'om talk dat's wrong,


s: Said de mammy alligator, wid a motherly grin:


s: "I nuver liked babies wid dey dimples tucked in,


s: Like its mammy's an' its daddy's, is de fam'ly pride."


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--


s: An' to name whar she sprung f'om ain't polite;


s: But she spreads 'erself wuss'n me or you,


s: An she ain't by er new-come self in dat--


s: She saw--she saw--_her wibbly wabbly calf_!


s: "Haw-haw! Haw-haw!" How dat--who dat laugh?


s: An' de last to see de joke was _wibbly wabbly calf_!


s: An' th'ows out hints o' de rich man's table,


s: An' he h'ists his tail an' spreads it wide,


s: But he ain't by 'isself in pride like dat--


s: When de cabbage got ambitiom, in a uppish hour


s: Wid 'is brains outside, an addled, at dat--


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Sis' Dominick follers her brood o' ducks


s: To de bayou's edge, an' she clucks an' clucks:


s: But she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: An' now he ain't nothin' but a ol' dead thief.


s: Br'er mockin'-bird sings in de live-oak shade,


s: He'll take off a pa'tridge, a robin, or a jay,


s: But he'd nuver make a name no other way.


s: An' rich for de table, dat goes to was'e


s: An' it ain't by itself condemned like dat--


s: When Br'er Measurin'-worm strikes out so brave,


s: Makin' tend he kin measure you for yo grave,


s: He can't measure mo'n 'is own little len'th.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself made cheap like dat--


s: Hit's a proper pride in Sis' Top-knot's breast


s: On de count o' dat innercent tufted head.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself pursued lak dat--


s: So it's banished out for its sociable sin


s: Whilst shots goes whizzin' over 'is head.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in a bluff like dat--


s: In de dark o' de moon, like night-owls do,


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves in dat, in dat--


s: An' he borries his colors where dey's "room to stan'";


s: He mought keep solid as a county candidate,


s: But you couldn't sca'cely find 'im on a map o' de State.


s: But he ain't by 'isself lost out, like dat--


s: Whilst she eats de groun' f'om onder 'er feet,


s: Sis' Caterpillar's weavin' 'er windin'-sheet;


s: But 'er red eyes shine an' 'er grass-green-hair,


s: An' 'er short life's bright, so she don't care.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--


s: Would part wid 'is gait an' 'is shimmerin' back


s: To perscribe a _crowin'-powder_ an' nuver say "Quack!"


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Wid mighty fine clo'es, an' vain at dat;


s: He'll answer yo' glance wid col' surprise


s: But dey ain't no inducemint in his smile;


s: Whilst he ain't no race-horse, yit dey say


s: A little alligator goes a mighty long way.


s: Br'er Tarrapin draws in 'is head so knowin',


s: You can't tell whether he's comin' or goin',


s: But _his_ mind ain't mixed--he's layin' low


s: Tel he sees which way he's obleeged to go.


s: Wid a look in its face like a sassy tongue,


s: Den it grows light-headed wid self-conceit


s: An' it ain't by itself, pert chillen, in dat--


s: "Life's give an' take," Sis' Cow, she laugh.


s: So I gives my milk an' dey takes my calf."


s: And you ain't by yo'self, Sis' Cow, in dat--


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: De little white chicken dat's petted too much


s: Gits stunted in growth f'om de sp'ilin' touch.


s: An' she'll nuver make a hen so brave an' good


s: As ef she went a-pickin', an' worked wid de brood.


s: An' she ain't by 'erself in dat, in dat--


s: Wid 'er red boot chicks, she cuts a dash,


s: An' calls 'er neighbors "_Po' trash! Po' trash!_"


s: Dey say Sis' Moon daresn't shine at night


s: Cep'n by Marse Sun's allowance o' light,


s: An' whilst he's away whar de yether moons are


s: De Hen-roost Man he'll preach about Paul,


s: He's afeard he'll hear dat rooster crow.


s: Dat little yaller pup 's got so many lickin's


s: For pesterin' all de ducks an' chickens,


s: Dat whenever he hears any barn-yard strife,


s: He looks over his shoulder an' runs for 's life.


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Br'er Bat flaps out in de gloomin' dark,


s: An' even ef he's boun' for a harmless lark,


s: He favors de devil an' he keeps sech hours


s: Dat he seems in cahoot wid de evil powers.


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Dem inkybator chickens dat's hatched by de clock,


s: Dey feeds in droves, but dey envies de others


s: Dat scratches for grubs wid any ol' mothers.


s: An' dey ain't by deyselves, po' orphans, in dat--


s: Br'er Lightnin'-bug is a gay yo'ng spark,


s: He shines for 'isself in 'is zigzag flight,


s: An' he's middlin' sho he's de sou'ce of light.


s: Wid de shape of a flower an' de thought of a plume,


s: But its prickle-y ways turn friendship down;


s: So it stands all alone, in its velvet gown.


s: An' it ain't by its lonesome self in dat--


s: Wid friends an' foes an' chillen an' wife;


s: He snatches dat nut, to appear in de book.


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Look out for Mister Bee in de punkin-flower!


s: Mighty close tie 'twix' wings an' stings


s: White-face bumblebee--white folks' ways--


s: But don't you trus' de black-face, no matter what he says!


s: When Sis' Rose th'ows open her heart _too proud_,


s: She blooms mighty brief in Beauty's crowd;


s: 'Ca'ze the rains beat in an' de bees make free


s: An' you ain't by yo'self, Sis' Rose, in dat--


s: Don't mean nothin' but lettin' off steam,


s: But wid so much wrackage behin' 'er back,


s: Seem like she say: "Git out o' my track!"


s: An' she ain't by 'erself, old Mis, in dat--


s: No matter how much she strive to 'spire,


s: Sis' Nannie Goat's measured 'g'inst some'h'n' higher;


s: "First cousin to a sheep" an' "de po' man's cow,"


s: An' she ain't by 'erself helt down like dat--


s: But de honey-lip fig in de blazin' light


s: Is a battle-ground whar de varmints fight.


s: Dat frizzledy chicken, he steps so spry,


s: An' he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Whilst I sings _about_ my song _jes so_.


s: He couldn't squirm out ef he nuver ventured in,


s: An' he resks his all when he resks his skin.


s: But he ain't by 'isself in dat, in dat--


s: Caze he reads his wisdom f'om de page on high;


s: His mind ain't clogged wid secon'-hand facts,


s: But de moon an' de skies is his almanacs.


s: O' not seein' over 'is neighbor's fence,


s: He'd hear somebody say: "Rubber-neck!!!"


s: For whether I walks for praise or blame,


s: Dey'll call me 'black sheep,' jes de same!"


s: Dat Berkshire horg in de blue ribbon pen


s: Come home wid de heavy-weight prize again;


s: An' we ain't by ourselves in dat, in dat--


s: The guinea-fowl strays away from home and makes her nest in the


s: Scotland, and an eager desire arose to gather up old snatches and


s: Indeed, song in these days does exactly what the Greeks rarely


s: composition. They thus contribute our most pathetic songs--wails


s: What man has an ear so delicate as to hear such music?


s: (Lockhart's are almost the only), sailors, or of any other class.


s: Let the bright foam spring heavenward! 'Up!'


s: We meet with the contrast in the Reformers of the respective


s: nations--Knox and Luther. Knox, ever stern, frowning on all the


s: amusements of the palace and the people, and indifferent to every


s: "He who loves not women, wine, and song,


s: Scotsman are one in this respect. Perhaps we should state it most


s: enunciated the principle, that poetry is not the art suited for


s: There is a curious instance of this in the song, "The Blithesome


s: Sibbald's "Chronicle of Scottish Poetry," vol. iii., p. 193.


s: The auld emigrant's fareweel to Scotland,


s: Oh! our childhood's once delightful hours,


s: talent. Receiving an ordinary elementary education at a school,


s: Cunninghams at Dalswinton, and was forcibly struck with Allan's


s: On the publication of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," in 1805,


s: Encyclopædia;" an introduction, and a few additional lives, for


s: That bent o'er Cluden's loneliest shade;


s: Shall chant the strains their minstrel sung.


s: She 's gane to dwall in heaven, my lassie,


s: "Ye 're owre pure," quo' the voice o' God,


s: Oh, what 'll she do in heaven, my lassie?


s: She 'll mix her ain thoughts wi' angels' sangs,


s: I look'd on thy death-cold face, my lassie,


s: I look'd on thy death-shut eye, my lassie,


s: An' a lovelier light in the brow of Heaven


s: Thy lips were ruddy and calm, my lassie,


s: There 's naught but dust now mine, lassie,


s: Scarce stirr'd the thistle's tap o' down;


s: And heaven seem'd looking through her een,


s: Quo' I, "Sweet lass, will ye gang wi' me,


s: I have look'd lang for a weel-favour'd lass,


s: And the tears were drapping frae her e'e:


s: "Now wha is he wha could leave sic a lass,


s: She stretch'd to heaven her twa white hands,


s: "Sae lang 's my heart kens aught o' God,


s: While woods grow green, and burns rin clear,


s: There 's comely maids on Dee's wild banks,


s: It 's hame, and it 's hame, hame fain wad I be,


s: An' it 's hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie!


s: When the flower is i' the bud, and the leaf is on the tree,


s: The lark shall sing me hame in my ain countrie;


s: The green leaf o' loyalty 's beginning for to fa',


s: The bonnie white rose it is withering an' a':


s: But I 'll water 't wi' the blude of usurping tyrannie,


s: An' green it will grow in my ain countrie.


s: There 's naught now frae ruin my country to save,


s: But the keys o' kind Heaven to open the grave,


s: That a' the noble martyrs who died for loyaltie,


s: May rise again and fight for their ain countrie.


s: And it 's hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie!


s: The great now are gane, a' who ventured to save,


s: The new grass is springing on the tap o' their grave;


s: But the sun through the mirk blinks blithe in my e'e:


s: "I 'll shine on ye yet in your ain countrie."


s: It 's hame, an' it 's hame, hame fain wad I be,


s: An' it 's hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie!


s: The gray-hair'd men were a' i' the streets,


s: The fa' o' the leaf shall co'er me cauld,


s: Trees sprout, flowers spring, and birds sing hie;


s: "But there 's a day," quo' my God in prayer,


s: "When righteousness shall bear the gree;


s: And wauken, in bliss, the gude man's e'e!"


s: Then foul fa' the hands that loose sic bands,


s: Though the wee, wee cot maun be my bield,


s: I wad lap me up rich i' the faulds o' luve,


s: And luve wad winnow owre us his kind, kind wings,


s: The morn-wind is sweet 'mang the beds o' new flowers,


s: The Beuk maun be ta'en when the carle comes hame,


s: That high arch'd eye, that long brown hair,


s: That fair form'd foot, thine angel air,--


s: My heart 's charm'd with a nobler tie,--


s: This heart, which every love could warm,


s: There is the smile to please, where truth


s: My heart's blood warms in stronger flow,


s: With love's soft simplest lay is charm'd,


s: This song, which is a juvenile production of the poet, has been


s: I 've braved the toil of mountain storm,


s: Round the green bosom'd earth, sea-swept,


s: The soldier's steed, gore-fetlock'd, snorts


s: afterwards on his own account commenced business as a draper.


s: Unsuccessful in this branch of business, he subsequently sought a


s: Andrew Picken, the only son of Ebenezer, a person of somewhat


s: Whare the flowers, that fringe the border,


s: Whan Jamie first woo'd me, he was but a youth:


s: Frae his lips flow'd the strains o' persuasion and truth;


s: His suit I rejected wi' pride an' disdain,


s: He aft wad hae tauld me his love was sincere,


s: And e'en wad hae ventured to ca' me his dear:


s: My heart to his tale was as hard as a stane;


s: He said that he hoped I would yield an' be kind,


s: But I counted his proffers as light as the wind;


s: I laugh'd at his grief, whan I heard him complain;


s: He flatter'd my locks, that war black as a slae,


s: And praised my fine shape, frae the tap to the tae;


s: I flate, an' desired he wad let me alane;


s: Repulsed, he forsook me, an' left me to grieve,


s: An' mourn the sad hour that my swain took his leave;


s: Now, since I despised, an' was deaf to his maen,


s: I fear he 'll ne'er offer to woo me again!


s: Oh! wad he but now to his Jean be inclined,


s: My heart in a moment wad yield to his mind;


s: But I fear wi' some ither my laddie is taen,


s: An' sae he 'll ne'er offer to woo me again.


s: Ye bonnie young lasses, be warn'd by my fate,