s: Her quivering fins and panting gills she hides


s: But spreads her silver arms upon the tides;


s: And shakes her golden tresses o'er the waves.


s: Charm'd round the Nymph, in circling gambols glide


s: _Four_ Nereid-forms, or shoot along the tide;


s: Now all as one they rise with frolic spring,


s: Now all descending plunge beneath the main,


s: And lash the foam with undulating train;


s: Above, below, they wheel, retreat, advance,


s: And twinkle to the sun with ever-changing dyes.


s: Where Andes, crested with volcanic beams,


s: Sheds a long line of light on Plata's streams;


s: Opes all his springs, unlocks his golden caves,


s: Calls her light car, and leaves the sultry bowers;--


s: Love's rising ray, and Youth's seductive dye,


s: Bloom'd on her cheek, and brighten'd in her eye;


s: Her tender breast, as white, as pure, as chaste;---


s: By _four_ fond swains in playful circles drawn,


s: On glowing wheels she tracks the moon-bright lawn,


s: Mounts the rude cliff, unveils her blushing charms,


s: Emerged from ocean springs the vaporous air,


s: Bathes her light limbs, uncurls her amber hair,


s: Incrusts her beamy form with films saline,


s: And Beauty blazes through the crystal shrine.--


s: Her rimy foliage, and her candied stems.


s: So from his glassy horns, and pearly eyes,


s: The diamond-beetle darts a thousand dyes;


s: Mounts with enamel'd wings the vesper gale,


s: Thus when loud thunders o'er Gomorrah burst,


s: And heaving earthquakes shook his realms accurst,


s: An Angel-guest led forth the trembling Fair


s: With shadowy hand, and warn'd the guiltless pair;


s: Speed the quick step, nor turn the lingering eye!"--


s: --Such the command, as fabling Bards indite,


s: When Orpheus charm'd the grisly King of Night;


s: Sooth'd the pale phantoms with his plaintive lay,


s: Wide yawn'd the earth, the fiery tempest flash'd,


s: And towns and towers in one vast ruin crash'd;--


s: Onward they move,---loud horror roars behind,


s: And shrieks of Anguish bellow in the wind.


s: The beauteous wanderer pours her gushing tears;


s: Each soft connection rends her troubled breast,


s: --She turns, unconscious of the stern behest!--


s: "I faint!--I fall!--ah, me!--sensations chill


s: I freeze! I freeze! just Heaven regards my fault,


s: Numbs my cold limbs, and hardens into salt!--


s: Not yet, not yet, your dying Love resign!--


s: This last, last kiss receive!--no longer thine!"--


s: And strain'd the briny column to his breast;


s: Printed with quivering lips the lifeless snow,


s: And wept, and gazed the monument of woe.--


s: So when Aeneas through the flames of Troy


s: With loitering step the fair Creusa stay'd,


s: And Death involved her in eternal shade.--


s: Oft the lone Pilgrim that his road forsakes,


s: Marks the wide ruins, and the sulphur'd lakes;


s: Hears the hoarse bittern, where Gomorrah stood;


s: Recalls the unhappy Pair with lifted eye,


s: Leans on the crystal tomb, and breathes the silent sigh..


s: With net-wove sash and glittering gorget dress'd,


s: Stern ARA frowns, the measured march assumes,


s: Trails her long lance, and nods her shadowy plumes;


s: While Love's soft beams illume her treacherous eyes,


s: And Beauty lightens through the thin disguise.


s: Own'd the soft power of DEJANIRA'S smile;--


s: His lion-spoils the laughing Fair demands,


s: And gives the distaff to his awkward hands;


s: O'er her white neck the bristly mane she throws,


s: Plaits round her slender waist the shaggy vest,


s: And clasps the velvet paws across her breast.


s: Next with soft hands the knotted club she rears,


s: Heaves up from earth, and on her shoulder bears.


s: And trails the brinded ermine o'er the meads;


s: Wolves, bears, and bards, forsake the affrighted groves,


s: And grinning Satyrs tremble, as she moves.


s: CARYO'S sweet smile DIANTHUS proud admires,


s: With sighs and sorrows her compassion moves,


s: The Monster-offspring heirs the father's pride,


s: Mask'd in the damask beauties of the bride.


s: On quivering pinion woos the Queen of flowers;


s: Inhales her fragrance, as he hangs in air,


s: And melts with melody the blushing fair;


s: Half-rose, half-bird, a beauteous Monster springs,


s: Long horrent thorns his mossy legs surround,


s: And tendril-talons root him to the ground;


s: Green films of rind his wrinkled neck o'espread,


s: And crimson petals crest his curled head;


s: And vocal Rosebuds thrill the enchanted grove!--


s: And still Night listens from his ebon ear;


s: While on white wings descending Houries throng,


s: When from his golden urn the Solstice pours


s: O'er Afric's sable sons the sultry hours;


s: When not a gale flits o'er her tawny hills,


s: Save where the dry Harmattan breathes and kills;


s: And writh'd in foamy folds her serpents die;


s: Indignant Atlas mourns his leafless woods,


s: And Gambia trembles for his sinking floods;


s: --Fair CHUNDA smiles amid the burning waste,


s: Her brow unturban'd, and her zone unbrac'd;


s: _Ten_ brother-youths with light umbrella's shade,


s: Or fan with busy hands the panting maid;


s: Clasp'd round her ivory neck with studs of gold


s: Flows her thin vest in many a gauzy fold;


s: O'er her light limbs the dim transparence plays,


s: Where leads the northern Star his lucid train


s: High o'er the snow-clad earth, and icy main,


s: With milky light the white horizon streams,


s: And to the moon each sparkling mountain gleams.--


s: Huge shaggy forms across the twilight stalk;


s: Burst the thick ribs of ice, and thunder round.--


s: There, as old Winter slaps his hoary wing,


s: Pierced with quick shafts of silver-shooting light


s: Fly in dark troops the dazzled imps of night--


s: "Awake, my Love!" enamour'd MUSCHUS cries,


s: "Stretch thy fair limbs, resulgent Maid! arise;


s: Down the white hills dissolving torrents pour,


s: Green springs the turf, and purple blows the flower;


s: His torpid wing the Rail exulting tries,


s: Rise, let us mark how bloom the awaken'd groves,


s: And 'mid the banks of roses _hide_ our loves."


s: Night's tinsel beams on smooth Lock-lomond dance,


s: Impatient ÆGA views the bright expanse;--


s: Wave after wave rolls freightless to the shore.


s: --Now dim amid the distant foam she spies


s: A rising speck,--"'tis he! 'tis he!" She cries;


s: As with firm arms he beats the streams aside,


s: With bended knee she prints the humid sands,


s: Up-turns her glistening eyes, and spreads her hands;


s: Slumber, ye winds; ye billows, cease to move!


s: Ye Swans! ye Halcyons! hover round his head!"--


s: --With eager step the boiling surf she braves,


s: And meets her refluent lover in the waves;


s: Loose o'er the flood her azure mantle swims,


s: So on her sea-girt tower fair HERO stood


s: At parting day, and mark'd the dashing flood;


s: While high in air, the glimmering rocks above,


s: Shone the bright lamp, the pilot-star of Love.


s: She kneels, and guards it from the shifting wind;


s: Breathes to her Goddess all her vows, and guides


s: Wrings his wet hair, his briny bosom warms,


s: Deep, in wide caverns and their shadowy ailes,


s: Daughter of Earth, the chaste TRUFFELIA smiles;


s: Meets her Gnome-husband, and avows her love.


s: And branching gold the crystal roof inlays;


s: With verdant light the modest emeralds glow,


s: Blue sapphires glare, and rubies blush, _below_;


s: Light piers of lazuli the dome surround,


s: In glittering threads along reflective walls


s: The warm rill murmuring twinkles, as it falls;


s: Now sink the Eolian strings, and now they swell,


s: Shake their bright lamps, and shed celestial day.


s: Bosom'd in down, fair CAPRI-FICA dwells;--


s: Erodes with ivory beak the vaulted shell,


s: And quits on filmy wings its narrow cell.


s: So the pleased Linnet in the moss-wove nest,


s: Waked into life beneath its parent's breast,


s: Shakes its new plumes, and tries its tender song.--


s: --And now the talisman she strikes, that charms


s: Her husband-Sylph,--and calls him to her arms.--


s: Quick, the light Gnat her airy Lord bestrides,


s: From crystal steeps of viewless ether springs,


s: Cleaves the soft air on still expanded wings;


s: Darts like a sunbeam o'er the boundless wave,


s: And seeks the beauty in her _secret_ cave.


s: Shoots the electric air its subtle flame.


s: So turns the impatient needle to the pole,


s: Tho' mountains rise between, and oceans roll.


s: Where round the Orcades white torrents roar,


s: Its marble arms, and high in air impends;


s: Basaltic piers the ponderous roof sustain,


s: And steep their massy sandals in the main;


s: Hoarse breathes the wind, the glittering water boils.


s: Here the charm'd BYSSUS with his blooming bride


s: Spreads his green sails, and braves the foaming tide;


s: The star of Venus gilds the twilight wave,


s: Light Cupids flutter round the nuptial bed,


s: And each coy sea-maid hides her blushing head.


s: Where cool'd by rills, and curtain'd round by woods,


s: Slopes the green dell to meet the briny floods,


s: The PROTEUS-LOVER woos his playful bride,


s: To win the fair he tries a thousand forms,


s: Basks on the sands, or gambols in the storms.


s: A Dolphin now, his scaly sides he laves,


s: She strikes the cymbal as he moves along,


s: And wondering Ocean listens to the song.


s: --And now a spotted Pard the lover stalks,


s: Plays round her steps, and guards her favour'd walks;


s: And lays his velvet paw upon her breast,


s: O'er his round face her snowy fingers strain


s: The silken knots, and fit the ribbon-rein.


s: --And now a Swan, he spreads his plumy sails,


s: Pleas'd on the flowery brink with graceful hand


s: She waves her floating lover to the land;


s: Bright shines his sinuous neck, with crimson beak


s: He prints fond kisses on her glowing cheek,


s: And clasps the beauty to his downy breast.


s: A _hundred_ virgins join a _hundred_ swains,


s: And fond ADONIS leads the sprightly trains;


s: Pair after pair, along his sacred groves


s: Each smiling youth a myrtle garland shades,


s: And wreaths of roses veil the blushing maids;


s: Light joys on twinkling feet attend the throng,


s: Weave the gay dance, or raise the frolic song;


s: Promiscuous arrows from the sounding string;


s: And the sly Glance steals side-long from the eye.


s: --As round his shrine the gaudy circles bow,


s: Licentious Hymen joins their mingled hands,


s: And loosely twines the meretricious bands.--


s: Thus where pleased VENUS, in the southern main,


s: Sheds all her smiles on Otaheite's plain,


s: And the Loves laugh at all, but Nature's laws."


s: Here ceased the Goddess,--o'er the silent strings


s: Applauding Zephyrs swept their fluttering wings;


s: Enraptur'd Sylphs arose in murmuring crowds


s: Each Gnome reluctant sought his earthy cell,


s: And each bright Floret clos'd her velvet bell.


s: Then, on soft tiptoe, NIGHT approaching near


s: Hung o'er the tuneless lyre his sable ear;


s: And bad his Nightingales repeat the strain.


s: Saw on his helm, her virgin hands inwove,


s: Bright stars of gold, and mystic knots of love;


s: Green swells the beech, the widening knots improve,


s: So spread the tender growths of culture'd love;


s: Wave follows wave, the letter'd lines decay,


s: So Love's soft forms neglected melt away.


s: _Account of the manner in which the Poison it procured._


s: _Experiments made with the Gum of the UPAS TREE._


s: In the year 1776, in the month of February, I was present at the


s: I thought it necessary to try also the effect of the poison given


s: Of these Marum and Nepeta are delightful to cats


s: The filaments in Meadia, Borago, Cyclamen, Solanum, &c. shewn _by


s: Rudiments of two hinder wings are seen in the class Diptera, or


s: Double flowers, or vegetable monsters, how produced


s: Dispersion of the dust in nettles and other plants


s: Anthoxanthum gives the fragrant scent to hay


s: Males approach the female in Gloriosa, Fritillaria, and Kalmia


s: Contrivances to destroy insects in Silene, Dionæa muscipula, Arum


s: Bird-lime from the bark of Hollies like elastic gum


s: Adansonia the largest tree known, its dimensions


s: Sunflower turns to the sun by nutation, not by gyration


s: Of the nectary, its structure to preserve the honey from insects


s: Curious proboscis of the Sphinx Convolvoli


s: Final cause of the resemblance of some flowers to insects, as the


s: Some parasites do not injure trees, as Tillandsia and Epidendrum


s: Marriages of plants necessary to be celebrated in the air


s: Irritability of plants increased by previous exposure to cold


s: Lichen produces the first vegetation on rocks


s: Madder colours the bones of young animals


s: Colours of animals serve to conceal them


s: Air in the cells of plants, its various uses


s: How Mr. Day probably lost his life in his diving-ship


s: Mushrooms grow without light, and approach to animal nature


s: Invention of letters, figures, crotchets


s: Mrs. Delany's and Mrs. North's paper-gardens


s: Petals of Cistus and Oenanthe continue but a few hours


s: Method of collecting the gum from Cistus by leathern throngs


s: Superstitious uses of plants, the divining rod, animal magnetism


s: Indian fig emits slender cords from its summit


s: Cave of Thor in Derbyshire, and sub-terraneous rivers explained


s: Flower of Fraxinella flashes on the approach of a candle


s: Essential oils narcotic, poisonous, deleterious to insects


s: Dew-drops from Mancinella blister the skin


s: Uses of poisonous juices in the vegetable economy


s: The fragrance of plants a part of their defence


s: Some voluble stems turn E.S.W. and others W.S.E.


s: Tops of white Bryony as grateful as asparagus


s: Fermentation converts sugar into spirit, food into poison


s: Fable of Prometheus applied to dram-drinkers


s: Cyclamen buries its seeds and trifolium subterraneum


s: Pits dug to receive the dead in the plague


s: Wonderful change predicted in the gulph of Mexico


s: Tropeolum, nasturtian, emits sparks in the twilight


s: Long filaments of grasses, the cause of bad seed-wheat


s: Chinese hemp grew in England above 14 feet in five months


s: Roots of snow-drop and hyacinth insipid like orchis


s: Orchis will ripen its seeds if the new bulb be cut off


s: The wax on the candle-berry myrtle said to be made by insects


s: Water-cress and other aquatic plants inhabit all climates


s: Tulip-roots with a red cuticle produce red flowers


s: Fish killed in the sea by dry summers in Asia


s: Conserva ægagropila rolls about the bottom of lakes


s: Lycoperdon tuber, truffle, requires no light


s: Female figs closed on all sides, supposed to be monsters


s: Basaltic columns produced by volcanoes shewn by their form


s: Byssus floats on the sea in the day, and sinks in the night


s: Conserva polymorpha twice changes its colour and its form


s: Some seed-vessels and seeds resemble insects


s: Trees are swarms of buds, which are individuals


s: Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes


s: Wherein our Saviour's birth, is celebrated,


s: The bird of dawning singeth all night long:


s: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;


s: The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,


s: No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,


s: So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.


s: And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.


s: To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.


s: The inn at Bethlehem was not probably one of these great


s: From the hill on which Bethlehem stands, one can see travelers


s: Those to whom they told these things were amazed indeed at the


s: strangeness. What did the marvel mean, they wondered. They could


s: His reign of peace upon the earth began.


s: Whispering new joys to the mild Ocean,--


s: While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.


s: Bending one way their precious influence;


s: Or Lucifer that often warned them thence;


s: Until their Lord himself bespake, and bid them


s: The sun himself withheld his wonted speed,


s: The new-enlightened world no more should need:


s: Than his bright throne or burning axletree could bear.


s: Where one young lamb just lifts his head,


s: The gentle cows breathed fragrant breath


s: While loud and clear, o'er hill and dale,


s: These were Thy neighbors, Christmas Child;


s: 'T was night, but seemed the noon of day;


s: Then peace was spread throughout the land;


s: The wolf and lamb reposed together there.


s: As shepherds watched their flocks by night,


s: An angel, brighter than the sun's own light,


s: Singing in the heavens a loud angelic song?


s: These are they who come with swift and shining feet


s: From round about the throne of God the Lord of Light to greet.


s: Oh, who are these that hasten beneath the starry sky,


s: As if with joyful tidings that through the world shall fly?


s: The faithful shepherds these, who greatly were afeared


s: Who are these that follow across the hills of night


s: A star that westward hurries along the fields of light?


s: Three wise men from the east who myrrh and treasure bring


s: To lay them at the feet of him their Lord and Christ and King.


s: What babe new-born is this that in a manger cries?


s: Near on her lowly bed his happy mother lies.


s: Oh, see the air is shaken with white and heavenly wings--


s: This is the Lord of all the earth, this is the King of kings.


s: Though these hands be rough from shearing


s: "Why grievest thou, maiden?" asked the angel.


s: Out on the endless purple hills, deep in the


s: The shepherds guarded their weary ones--


s: Save one little lamb with its fleece of gray.


s: Out on the hillside all alone, gazing afar with


s: The little gray lamb prayed soft and low, its


s: "O moon of the heavens so fair, so bright,


s: Give me--oh, give me--a fleece of white!"


s: No answer came from the dome of blue, nor


s: But faint came a whisper borne along on the


s: "Little gray lamb that prays this night,


s: Then the little gray lamb of the sleepless eyes


s: prayed to the clouds for a coat of snow,


s: Asked of the roses, besought the woods; but


s: Like a gem unlocked from a casket dark, like


s: Came, softly stealing the clouds between, a


s: Ere hushed were the angels' notes of praise


s: Past rock and shadow, adown the hill, to kneel


s: While, like the spirits of phantom night,


s: Followed their flocks--their flocks of white.


s: And patiently, longingly, out of the night,


s: Came limping and sorrowful, all alone, the


s: And the Christ Child looked upon humbled


s: pride, at kings bent low on the earthen floor,


s: But gazed beyond at the saddened heart of the


s: And he called it up to his manger low and laid


s: While the kings drew golden robes aside to


s: And the fleece of the little gray lamb was blest:


s: For, lo! it was whiter than all the rest!


s: In many cathedrals grand and dim, whose windows


s: Mid the odor of incense raised in prayer, hallowed


s: The infant Saviour is pictured fair, with


s: But his baby-hand rests--not on the gifts, the


s: Of the little gray lamb that was changed to white.


s: The simple shepherds from the star-lit brooks


s: With long pale beards, their gifts upon the ground,


s: So let all earthlies and celestials wait


s: There were seven angels erst that spanned


s: There, on bright hovering wings that tire


s: Spake with strong voice: "We bear to men


s: Since Earth's first morning hath not shone


s: Straight hitherward came troop and star;


s: They see the plume-borne heavenly throng,


s: Had stayed the flow of the crystal stream


s: And of all delights the which, men dream,


s: Breathless the kneeling shepherds heard,


s: Thenceforth where Heaven's lordliest are,


s: Stands with a harp, while Christ doth reign,


s: When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.


s: Three Wise Men out of the East were they,


s: And they travelled by night and they slept by day,


s: For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.


s: The star was so beautiful, large, and clear,


s: And by this they knew that the coming was near


s: Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,


s: Their robes were of crimson silk with rows


s: Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,


s: Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.


s: And so the Three Kings rode into the West,


s: Through the dusk of night, over hill and dell,


s: And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,


s: And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,


s: With the people they met at some wayside well.


s: "Of the child that is born," said Baltasar,


s: "Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;


s: And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,


s: And the people answered, "You ask in vain;


s: We know of no king but Herod the Great!"


s: As they spurred their horses across the plain,


s: Like riders in haste, and who cannot wait.


s: Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,


s: Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;


s: So they rode away; and the star stood still,


s: Yes, it stopped,--it stood still of its own free will,


s: The city of David, where Christ was born.


s: And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,


s: Through the silent street, till their horses turned


s: And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;


s: But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred,


s: In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,


s: For the joy of life and the terror of death


s: And the mother wondered and bowed her head,


s: Of an endless reign and of David's throne.


s: Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,


s: But they went not back to Herod the Great,


s: For they knew his malice and feared his hate,


s: And returned to their homes by another way.


s: But when they were come within two miles of Jerusalem, the star


s: To Him they sought fine herbs they brought,


s: They brought their gifts to Bethlehem town,


s: "O Child, most heavenly, bright, and fair!


s: The third king gave his gift, and quoth:


s: That gave their gifts and went their way;


s: Who is Babouscka? Is she Santa Klaus' wife?


s: Ah, that you can't guess unless you know her sad story.


s: "Who is the Child?" asked the old woman.


s: But the foolish woman shook her head. No, the night was dark and


s: It is a dreadful feeling to realize that one has lost a chance of


s: The palm continued to think aloud, as lonely old people do.


s: "God will surely help us," said the woman.


s: But the man and woman knelt down on their knees and praised God.


s: "Tell your secret to the birds," said one.


s: "Tell your secret to the birds," said the


s: To the first He said: "Look into my heart."


s: Cold was the day, when in a garden bare,


s: Walked the Child Jesus, wrapt in holy thought;


s: His brow seemed clouded with a weight of care;


s: Calmness and rest from worldly things he sought.


s: Soon was his presence missed within his home;


s: Forth then she came to seek where he did roam.


s: Full of sweet words his trouble to allay.


s: Through chilling snow she toiled to reach his side,


s: Forcing her way mid branches brown and sere,


s: Hastening that she his sorrows might divide,


s: Share all his woe, or calm his gloomy fear.


s: Sweet was her face, as o'er his head she bent,


s: Longing to melt his look of saddest grief.


s: With lifted eyes, his ear to her he lent;


s: Her kindly solace brought his soul relief.


s: Then did he smile--a smile of love so deep,


s: Winter himself grew warm beneath its glow;


s: From drooping branches scented blossoms peep;


s: Up springs the grass; the sealèd fountains flow.


s: Summer and spring did with each other vie,


s: Offering to Him the fragrance of their store;


s: Chanting sweet notes, the birds around him fly,


s: Wondering why earth had checkered so her floor.


s: "Three hawthornes also that groweth in Werall


s: Do burge and bere grene leaves at Christmas


s: "'This staff hath borne me long and well,'


s: For aye let it stand in this western land,


s: If there ring not out from this realm about,


s: The air blew keen, and the frost was sheen,


s: Till they pass the well of the fairy spell,


s: But still they fare through the bitter air,


s: And, swift as sight, with blossoms white


s: And, gaunt and chill, on Weary-All-Hill,


s: "Thou art the conqueror of nations?" asked Offero.


s: "That then am I," returned the king, "for truly I fear none."


s: Then returned the knight, "I am he whom thou seekest."


s: Some tossed on shields with brazen clang,


s: Their god would hear the hymns they sang.


s: Seven crosses where the foamswept strand


s: Stars leapt and stared at earth and sea.


s: Not once had bowed his proud young head.


s: Like crows transfixed upon great prongs,


s: To where he thought the white-robe slept,


s: He heard the monk's words rise in prayer.


s: "Speak low," he said, "and tell me this:


s: Though Modred taunts you with his hate:--


s: "Young giant with a child's white heart,


s: Should serve the greatest king there is:


s: The monk's face gladdened. "Go, now, go;


s: He'll leave you stark and still and white.


s: "Thus shall he show, great king and all,


s: There bide, and let thy strength be grace,


s: Green leaves along thy staff shall crawl,


s: The monk's face whitened, like sea-foam:


s: Farewell--my Lord Christ calls me home!"


s: Nial stooped and saw death's final throe.


s: Yet fears this Christ's mysterious hate:


s: "So get you hence, you giant-thewed man:


s: "Now, now," he cried, "Christ's trail I'll trace,


s: The wrath of Christ, the monk's white king:


s: With sword," he said, "and with this staff."


s: The Great Bear through the darkness swung:


s: Three hours Nial walked, three hours and more:


s: Almost he slept once more: then, _Hush_!


s: The thin faint words of a child's voice.


s: He thought, and shrunk, and shook with fright.


s: Keep, ghost-of-the-night, your crown gold-wrought--


s: Nial's heart grew sore, its fear was stilled,


s: King Christ, he knew, would scorn him faint.


s: "Up, up thou coward, thou sluggard, thou,"


s: Nial's heart was filled with joy and pain:


s: To think that drown'd in sleep I've lain


s: When Christ the Child-God crieth in need!"


s: Far o'er the dark flood peered and leant:


s: "O Child," Nial cried, "forbear, forbear!


s: "_Christopher_!" ... low above the noise,


s: That said all things in saying one word--


s: "Christopher ... this thy name shall be!


s: Christ healed and watched him side by side.


s: Christopher woke ... his dream was gone.


s: Christ's love fulfilled the holy hour....


s: A south-wind blew, green leaves did rise


s: While Christ's love fell like healing dew:


s: "But welcome ... welcome ... stranger-guest,


s: And looked and smiled and said, "From far,


s: Upon thee, ere thou sought'st this shore:


s: From thyme-sweet pastures grey with dews


s: The milch-cows came with swinging tails:


s: Screamed o'er the brothers at their pails.


s: The grey-green dunes, the furrowed leas:


s: And let them scan the wandering Deep....


s: Thereat the stranger bowed, and blessed;


s: Then, grave and silent, sought his cell:


s: --No more, for on bowed knees he wept....


s: Worships, flame-winged, the Eternal Son.


s: The poor bare cell was filled with light,


s: That came from the swung moons the Seven


s: And hang like a flower upon the Rood!..."


s: Come here from out the fields o' the sky,


s: The foam-white mew, the green-black scart,


s: With spray and surge and splash appeared:


s: Up from each wrack-strewn, lightless cave


s: The herring-tribes like shimmering glass:


s: "Hearken," he cried, with solemn voice--


s: And call you, Brothers, kith and kin....


s: To-day, Christ's Day, the infinite powers


s: Whose symbol is this Cross-shaped Tree....


s: And wish you nought but Love and Peace!"


s: About the year 650, among the servants in the ancient Abbey of


s: --Adapted from the Latin of Jacopone da Todi.


s: Earl Sigurd, he rides o'er the foam-crested brine,


s: For he yearns to behold gentle Swanwhite, the maid


s: "Earl Sigurd, the viking, he comes, he is near!


s: Among the wild rovers who dwell on the deep,


s: "Oh, hie ye, ye maidens, and hide where ye can,


s: For the wolf of the woods has more pity than he,


s: Thus rang the dread tidings, from castle to hut,


s: Through the length of Sir Burislav's land,


s: As they spied the red pennon unfurled to the breeze,


s: And the galleys that steered for the strand.


s: But with menacing brow, looming high in his prow


s: Was his bright, yellow hair, as it waved in the air,


s: "Up, my comrades, and stand with your broadswords in hand,


s: And the Thunderer proud, how he laughs in his cloud


s: When the Norsemen prepare for the fight!"


s: And the light galleys bore the fierce crew to the shore,


s: And naught good did their coming forebode,


s: And a wail rose on high to the storm-riven sky


s: Then the stout-hearted men of Sir Burislav's train


s: To the gate-way came thronging full fast


s: And the battle-blade rang with a murderous clang,


s: And they hewed and they thrust, till each man bit the dust,


s: Their fierce valor availing them naught.


s: But the Thunderer proud, how he laughed in his cloud,


s: When he saw how the Norsemen had fought!


s: Then came Burislav forth; to the men of the North


s: "O, ye warriors, name me the ransom ye claim,


s: "Oh, what reck I thy gold?" quoth Earl Sigurd, the bold;


s: Give me Swanwhite, the fair, and by Balder I swear


s: "For my vengeance speeds fast, and I come like the blast


s: I forget not thy scorn and thy laugh on that morn


s: When I wooed me the maid that was mine."


s: Then the chief, sore afraid, brought the lily-white maid


s: To the edge of the blood-sprinkled field,


s: And they bore her aloft o'er the sward of the croft


s: But amain in their path, in a whirlwind of wrath


s: With a great voice he cried, while the echoes replied:


s: And white Christ, the strong and gentle,


s: Lo, the blood-stained day of vengeance to the


s: And the dawn of Christ is beaming blessings


s: "See the Cross in splendor gleaming far and


s: While the flaming blade of battle slumbers in


s: And before the lowly Savior, e'en the rider of


s: Sigurd, tamer of the billow, he hath bent the


s: Now at Yule-tide sat he feasting on the shore


s: And his stalwart swains about him watched


s: Huge his strength was, but his visage, it was


s: Ne'er old Norway, heroes' mother, bore a


s: With her maids sat gentle Swanwhite 'neath a


s: As the rarer lily blossoms 'mid the green herbs


s: To and fro their merry words flew lightly


s: Like a shuttle deftly skipping through the


s: And the scalds with nimble fingers o'er the


s: Now the strain in laughter rippled, now with


s: For they sang of Time's beginning, ere the sun


s: Sang as sing the ocean breezes through the


s: Bolder beat the breasts of Norsemen--when


s: Tall his growth, though low he bended o'er a


s: And his stalwart shape was folded in a dun,


s: Straight the Earl his voice uplifted: "Hail


s: Drain with me this cup of welcome: thou shalt


s: Thou shalt sit next to my high-seat e'en


s: For to-night our Lord, the Savior, came a


s: Up then rose the gentle Swanwhite, and her


s: Down the dusky hall she drifted, as a shadow


s: "If my lord would hold me worthy," low she


s: To abide between the stranger and my lord,


s: "Strange, O guest, is women's counsel, still


s: Lifted up her lissome body with a husband's


s: Kissed her brow, and placed her gently in the


s: But the guest stood pale and quivered, where


s: And he clenched the brimming goblet in his


s: Ere I name to thee my tidings, I will taste thy


s: Quoth the merry Earl with fervor: "Courteous


s: While thy worn soul thou refreshest, I will


s: For beneath that dusky garment thou mayst


s: And my hand, though stiff, hath scarcely yet


s: Then the arms so tightly folded round his neck


s: And his heart was stirred within him as the


s: But with eyes of meek entreaty, closely to his


s: While his mighty soul rose upward on the


s: For he sang, in tones impassioned, of the death


s: Sang the song of Christ the glorious, who was


s: How the hosts of heaven victorious joined the


s: Of the kings the starlight guided from the far


s: And anon, with bodeful glamour fraught, the


s: As he sang the law of vengeance and the wrath


s: Sang of gods with murder sated, who had laid


s: But he shook a shower of music, rippling from


s: And bright visions rose of angels and of fair


s: As he sang of heaven's rejoicing at the mild


s: Of the gentle Christ who bringeth peace and


s: While the lay with mighty wing-beats swept


s: For the Christ who worketh wonders as of old,


s: Sent his angel downward gliding on the ladder


s: As the host his song had ended with a last


s: Up then sprang the guest, and straightway


s: There stood Harold, the avenger, Burislav's


s: High he loomed above the feasters in the


s: Shining in his sea-blue mantle stood he, 'mid


s: And each maiden thought him fairest, and each


s: Swift he bared his blade of battle, flung it


s: "Lo!" he cried, "I came to bid thee baleful


s: Thou hast dulled the edge that never shrank


s: Now I come, as comes a brother, swordless unto


s: Dost thou hear their axes clanking on their


s: But a yearning woke within me my sweet sister's


s: "But I knew not of the new-born king, who


s: And whose voice like fragrance blended in the


s: This my vengeance now, O brother: foes as


s: Teach me, thou, the wondrous tidings, and the


s: Touched as by an angel's glory, strangely


s: As he locked his foe, his brother, in a brotherly


s: And each warrior upward leaping, swung his


s: "Hail to Sigurd, hail to Harold, three times


s: The child answered nothing, but looked piteously up in the


s: "Well, I cannot leave thee here. Thou would'st be dead before the


s: The children all pressed round to welcome and gaze at the little


s: "Well, little one," said the Misè, "hast thou finished thy work?"


s: "Beppo!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Beppo! Beppo-o!"


s: How long the little boy stayed in the perilous shelter of the


s: "Nay, sir," answered Félix; "but I trow 't is a great way."


s: "Yes," said Felix, bashfully; "it may be I can help thee."


s: "Well, little forest bird, who taught thee the carver's craft?"


s: As little Wolff, running down to learn the meaning of his aunt's


s: "I wish I had something for you to eat, poor bird," said Pierre,


s: "It is like coming home again!" he murmured, and with his head on


s: "But what then _is_ a man to live for?" asked Avdyeeich.


s: Martin started up from his nap. "Who's there?"


s: "Dost thou expect any one?" asked his guest.


s: Avdyeeich sighed, and said, "And have you no warm clothes?"


s: "I'll forgive him so that he shan't forget the taste of fresh


s: Then the lad began to cry and beg pardon.


s: "Well, that's all right! And now, there's an apple for thee." And


s: The old woman shook her head and sighed.


s: Now just as the old woman was about to hoist the sack on to her


s: shoulder, the lad rushed forward and said:


s: "Martin! Martin! dost thou not know me?"


s: Cataloguer of Children's Books, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh


s: Coleridge, S.T., "Biographia Literaria" ("Everyman's Library").


s: Hazlitt, W., "First Acquaintance with Poets."


s: literature,--a love of natural beauty, of simplicity, and of rude


s: The essential traits of his later character appeared in his early


s: "In the great city, pent 'mid cloisters dim,"


s: "Saw nought lovely but the sky and stars,"


s: Most of the boys at Christ's Hospital, then as now, were given a


s: sensibility" seemed to him the height of poetic feeling; and in


s: Coleridge had hardly taken the step before he repented of it. His


s: Cambridge, tortured apparently between his old love and his new


s: brothers-in-law. Coleridge spent the summer of 1795 in Bristol in


s: On Sundays he would sometimes preach before such Unitarian


s: No other single relation, however, can compare in importance, for


s: long-remembered time for all of them, despite the fact that Mrs.


s: Coleridge "accidentally emptied a skillet of boiling milk" on her


s: fellowship. The Wordsworths did not return to Racedown. "By a


s: "There is no grief, no sorrow, no despair,


s: No absence scarcely can there be, for those


s: exercise of his poetic powers, and for one year in his troubled


s: existence his genius showed itself in all its splendor.


s: The immediate poetic result of their friendship was the "Lyrical


s: Apart from the "Lyrical Ballads" Coleridge conceived and finished


s: "The bloom, whose petals, nipt before they blew,


s: Died on the promise of the fruit, is waste."


s: sleeplessness; in the following November, for relief from violent


s: "Sense of past youth, and manhood come in vain,


s: And genius given, and knowledge won in vain;


s: And all which I had culled in woodwalks wild,


s: And all which patient toil had reared, and all


s: Commune with _thee_ had opened out--but flowers


s: Strewed on my corse, and borne upon my bier,


s: In the same coffin, for the self-same grave!"


s: Coleridge's own account of the genesis of the poem, given in the


s: _Biographia Literaria_ nearly twenty years later, is interesting.


s: influence both in its general structure and in its details of


s: "And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,


s: "The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower


s: "Christabel" to be even deeper here than in the "Lay of the Last


s: Opinion will ever vary as to its poetic worth. Coleridge himself


s: This ode was written in February, 1798, and first printed in the


s: "Christabel" or "The Ancient Mariner," and makes no use of the


s: "In darkness, with the light of youth gone out,"


s: "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,


s: seafaring man, and constrained to hear his tale.]


s: "The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared,


s: The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,


s: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,


s: Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,


s: From the fiends, that plague thee thus!--


s: Why look'st thou so?"--"With my cross-bow


s: And the good south wind still blew behind,


s: 'T was right, said they, such birds to slay,


s: The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,


s: Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,


s: And every tongue, through utter drought,


s: With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,


s: And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,


s: Alas (thought I, and my heart beat loud)


s: Are those her sails that glance in the Sun,


s: Are those her ribs through which the Sun


s: The stars were dim, and thick the night,


s: The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;


s: Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,


s: "Fear me not, fear not, thou wedding-guest!


s: For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky


s: Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,


s: I dreamt that they were filled with dew;


s: And the rain poured down from one black cloud;


s: The thick black cloud was cleft, and still


s: They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,


s: The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;


s: They raised their limbs like lifeless tools--


s: 'T was not those souls that fled in pain,


s: For when it dawned--they dropped their arms,


s: Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths,


s: 'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man?


s: Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high!


s: 'T was night, calm night, the moon was high,


s: The pang, the curse, with which they died,


s: The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,


s: The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,


s: Where are those lights, so many and fair,


s: 'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said--


s: The planks looked warped! and see those sails,


s: Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,


s: Like one that hath been seven days drowned


s: Laughed loud and long, and all the while


s: 'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say--


s: Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched


s: constraineth him to travel from land to land,]


s: He went like one that hath been stunned,


s: 'Tis the middle of night by the castle clock,


s: And the owls have awakened the crowing cock.


s: Four for the quarters, and twelve for the hour;


s: And the Spring comes slowly up this way.


s: For the weal of her lover that's far away.


s: Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak tree.


s: On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.


s: Stretch forth thy hand, and have no fear!"


s: Said Christabel, "How camest thou here?"


s: And the lady, whose voice was faint and sweet,


s: They choked my cries with force and fright,


s: They spurred amain, their steeds were white:


s: Stretch forth thy hand," thus ended she,


s: Then Christabel stretched forth her hand,


s: She rose: and forth with steps they passed


s: This night, to share your couch with me."


s: The gate that was ironed within and without,


s: Where an army in battle array had marched out.


s: They crossed the court: right glad they were.


s: Who hath rescued thee from thy distress!"


s: They passed the hall, that echoes still,


s: The brands were flat, the brands were dying,


s: Save the boss of the shield of Sir Leoline tall,


s: Which hung in a murky old niche in the wall.


s: They steal their way from stair to stair,


s: She trimmed the lamp, and made it bright,


s: Then Christabel knelt by the lady's side,


s: Her fair large eyes 'gan glitter bright,


s: "In the touch of this bosom there worketh a spell,


s: Which is lord of thy utterance, Christabel!


s: Thou knowest to-night, and wilt know to-morrow,


s: This mark of my shame, this seal of my sorrow;


s: And found'st a bright lady, surpassingly fair;


s: And didst bring her home with thee in love and in charity,


s: To shield her and shelter her from the damp air."


s: And both blue eyes more bright than clear,


s: The lady, who knelt at the old oak tree?


s: Thou 'st had thy will! By tairn and rill,


s: The night-birds all that hour were still.


s: From cliff and tower, tu--whoo! tu--whoo!


s: Grows sad and soft; the smooth thin lids


s: Close o'er her eyes; and tears she sheds--


s: Large tears that leave the lashes bright!


s: Just as their one! two! three! is ended,


s: The air is still! through mist and cloud


s: And while she spake, her looks, her air,


s: So quickly she rose, and quickly arrayed


s: But whispering tongues can poison truth;


s: Like cliffs which had been rent asunder;


s: But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder,


s: That they, who thus had wronged the dame


s: For the lady was ruthlessly seized; and he kenned


s: In the beautiful lady the child of his friend!


s: She shrunk and shuddered, and saw again--


s: And drew in her breath with a hissing sound:


s: Such sorrow with such grace she blended,


s: "Ho! Bracy the bard, the charge be thine!


s: And take two steeds with trappings proud,


s: And take the youth whom thou lov'st best


s: "And when he has crossed the Irthing flood,


s: Up Knorren Moor, through Halegarth Wood,


s: Which stands and threatens Scotland's wastes.


s: "Bard Bracy! bard Bracy! your horses are fleet,


s: Ye must ride up the hall, your music so sweet,


s: More loud than your horses' echoing feet!


s: Thy beautiful daughter is safe and free--


s: Sir Leoline greets thee thus through me.


s: White with their panting palfreys' foam':


s: Her face upraised, her eyes o'erflowing;


s: And Bracy replied, with faltering voice,


s: And call'st by thy own daughter's name--


s: Among the green herbs in the forest alone.


s: Save the grass and green herbs underneath the old tree.


s: To search out what might there be found;


s: And what the sweet bird's trouble meant,


s: Close by the dove's its head it crouched;


s: "Sweet maid, Lord Roland's beauteous dove,


s: With arms more strong than harp or song,


s: A snake's small eye blinks dull and shy,


s: And the lady's eyes they shrunk in her head,


s: And with somewhat of malice, and more of dread,


s: Might prove her dear lord's joy and pride!


s: His cheeks they quivered, his eyes were wild,


s: (O sorrow and shame should this be true!)


s: With walls and towers were girdled round:


s: And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills,


s: Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;


s: And here were forests ancient as the hills,


s: But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted


s: Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!


s: As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted


s: And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,


s: As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,


s: Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,


s: Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:


s: And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever


s: Five miles meandering with a mazy motion


s: Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,


s: Then reached the caverns measureless to man,


s: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far


s: A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!


s: And all who heard should see them there,


s: All thoughts, all passions, all delights,


s: That crazed that bold and lovely Knight,


s: And how she wept, and clasped his knees;


s: She blushed with love, and virgin-shame;


s: Ye Clouds! that far above me float and pause,


s: Whose pathless march no mortal may control!


s: Ye Ocean-Waves! that, wheresoe'er ye roll,


s: Ye Woods! that listen to the night-birds' singing,


s: Midway the smooth and perilous slope reclined,


s: Save when your own imperious branches swinging,


s: Through glooms, which never woodman trod,


s: My moonlight way o'er flowering weeds I wound,


s: By each rude shape and wild unconquerable sound!


s: And O ye Clouds that far above me soared!


s: Thou rising Sun! thou blue rejoicing Sky!


s: Yea, every thing that is and will be free!


s: With what deep worship I have still adored


s: When France in wrath her giant-limbs upreared,


s: And with that oath, which smote air, earth, and sea,


s: Stamped her strong foot and said she would be free,


s: Bear witness for me, how I hoped and feared!


s: And when to whelm the disenchanted nation,


s: Like fiends embattled by a wizard's wand,


s: Though dear her shores and circling ocean,


s: Though many friendships, many youthful loves


s: And flung a magic light o'er all her hills and groves;


s: Yet still my voice, unaltered, sang defeat


s: To all that braved the tyrant-quelling lance,


s: And shame too long delayed and vain retreat!


s: I dimmed thy light or damped thy holy flame;


s: But blessed the paeans of delivered France,


s: And hung my head and wept at Britain's name.


s: "And what," I said, "though Blasphemy's loud scream


s: With that sweet music of deliverance strove!


s: Though all the fierce and drunken passions wove


s: A dance more wild than e'er was maniac's dream!


s: Ye storms, that round the dawning east assembled,


s: The Sun was rising, though ye hid his light!"


s: And when, to soothe my soul, that hoped and trembled,


s: The dissonance ceased, and all seemed calm and bright;


s: When France her front deep-scarred and gory


s: Concealed with clustering wreaths of glory;


s: Her arm made mockery of the warrior's ramp;


s: Domestic treason, crushed beneath her fatal stamp,


s: Writhed like a wounded dragon in his gore;


s: Then I reproached my fears that would not flee;


s: "And soon," I said, "shall Wisdom teach her lore


s: In the low huts of them that toil and groan!


s: Shall France compel the nations to be free,


s: Till Love and Joy look round, and call the Earth their own."


s: Forgive me, Freedom! O forgive those dreams!


s: I hear thy voice, I hear thy loud lament,


s: From bleak Helvetia's icy caverns sent--


s: I hear thy groans upon her blood-stained streams!


s: Heroes, that for your peaceful country perished,


s: And ye that, fleeing, spot your mountain-snows


s: With bleeding wounds; forgive me, that I cherished


s: One thought that ever blessed your cruel foes!


s: Of all that made their stormy wilds so dear;


s: To taint the bloodless freedom of the mountaineer--


s: O France, that mockest Heaven, adulterous, blind,


s: Are these thy boasts, Champion of human kind?


s: To mix with Kings in the low lust of sway,


s: Tell in the hunt, and share the murderous prey;


s: To insult the shrine of Liberty with spoils


s: From freemen torn; to tempt and to betray?


s: Slaves by their own compulsion! In mad game


s: They burst their manacles and wear the name


s: But thou nor swell'st the victor's strain, nor ever


s: Didst breathe thy soul in forms of human power.


s: Alike from all, howe'er they praise thee,


s: (Nor prayer, nor boastful name delays thee)


s: And factious Blasphemy's obscener slaves,


s: The guide of homeless winds, and playmate of the waves!


s: And there I felt thee!--on that sea-cliff's verge,


s: Whose pines, scarce travelled by the breeze above,


s: Had made one murmur with the distant surge!


s: Yes, while I stood and gazed, my temples bare,


s: And shot my being through earth, sea and air,


s: Possessing all things with intensest love,


s: Well! If the Bard was weather-wise, who made


s: The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spence,


s: This night, so tranquil now, will not go hence


s: Unroused by winds, that ply a busier trade


s: Than those which mould yon cloud in lazy flakes,


s: Or the dull sobbing draft, that moans and rakes


s: But rimmed and circled by a silver thread)


s: I see the old Moon in her lap, foretelling


s: The coming-on of rain and squally blast.


s: And oh! that even now the gust were swelling,


s: And the slant night-shower driving loud and fast!


s: Those sounds which oft have raised me, whilst they awed,


s: Might now perhaps their wonted impulse give,


s: Might startle this dull pain, and make it move so and live!


s: A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear,


s: Which finds no natural outlet, no relief,


s: To other thoughts by yonder throstle wooed,


s: And still I gaze--and with how blank an eye!


s: And those thin clouds above, in flakes and bars,


s: That give away their motion to the stars;


s: Those stars, that glide behind them or between,


s: Now sparkling, now bedimmed, but always seen:


s: Yon crescent Moon, as fixed as if it grew


s: In its own cloudless, starless lake of blue;


s: I see, not feel, how beautiful they are!


s: To lift the smothering weight from off my breast?


s: On that green light that lingers in the west:


s: I may not hope from outward forms to win


s: The passion and the life, whose fountains are within.


s: Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud!


s: And would we aught behold, of higher worth.


s: To the poor loveless ever-anxious crowd,


s: Ah, from the soul itself must issue forth


s: And from the soul itself must there be sent


s: A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth,


s: Of all sweet sounds the life and element!


s: O pure of heart! thou need'st not ask of me


s: What this strong music in the soul may be!


s: This light, this glory, this fair luminous mist,


s: Joy, virtuous Lady! Joy that ne'er was given,


s: Save to the pure, and in their purest hour,


s: Life, and Life's effluence, cloud at once and shower,


s: Which wedding Nature to us gives in dower,


s: Undreamt of by the sensual and the proud--


s: Joy is the sweet voice, Joy the luminous cloud--


s: And thence flows all that charms or ear or sight,


s: All colours a suffusion from that light.


s: There was a time when, though my path was rough,


s: This joy within me dallied with distress,


s: And all misfortunes were but as the stuff


s: Whence Fancy made me dreams of happiness:


s: For hope grew round me, like the twining vine,


s: And fruits, and foliage, not my own, seemed mine.


s: But now afflictions bow me down to earth:


s: Nor care I that they rob me of my mirth;


s: Suspends what nature gave me at my birth,


s: For not to think of what I needs must feel,


s: From my own nature all the natural man--


s: This was my sole resource, my only plan:


s: Till that which suits a part infects the whole,


s: And now is almost grown the habit of my soul.


s: Hence, viper thoughts, that coil around my mind,


s: I turn from you, and listen to the wind,


s: Which long has raved unnoticed. What a scream


s: That lute sent forth! Thou Wind, that rav'st without,


s: Bare crag, or mountain-tairn, or blasted tree,


s: Or pine-grove whither woodman never clomb,


s: Or lonely house, long held the witches' home,


s: Methinks were fitter instruments for thee,


s: Mad Lutanist! who in this month of showers,


s: Of dark-brown gardens, and of peeping flowers,


s: Mak'st Devils' yule, with worse than wintry song,


s: The blossoms, buds, and timorous leaves among.


s: Thou Actor, perfect in all tragic sounds!


s: With groans of trampled men, with smarting wounds--


s: At once they groan with pain, and shudder with the cold!


s: But hush! there is a pause of deepest silence!


s: And all that noise, as of a rushing crowd,


s: With groans, and tremulous shudderings--all is over--


s: It tells another tale, with sounds less deep and loud!


s: As Otway's self had framed the tender lay,


s: Not far from home, but she hath lost her way:


s: And now moans low in bitter grief and fear,


s: And now screams loud, and hopes to make her mother hear.


s: 'Tis midnight, but small thoughts have I of sleep:


s: Full seldom may my friend such vigils keep!


s: Visit her, gentle Sleep! with wings of healing,


s: And may this storm be but a mountain-birth,


s: May all the stars hang bright above her dwelling,


s: Silent as though they watched the sleeping Earth!


s: Joy lift her spirit, joy attune her voice;


s: To her may all things live, from pole to pole,


s: Their life the eddying of her living soul!


s: Dear Lady! friend devoutest of my choice,


s: Thus mayest thou ever, evermore rejoice.


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: All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair--


s: The bees are stirring--birds are on the wing--


s: Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!


s: Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.


s: Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,


s: Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.


s: Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,


s: For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!


s: With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:


s: And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?


s: Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,


s: Stop, Christian passer-by!--Stop, child of God,


s: And read with gentle breast. Beneath this sod


s: A poet lies, or that which once seemed he.--


s: O, lift one thought in prayer for S.T.C.;


s: That he who many a year with toil of breath


s: Found death in life, may here find life in death!


s: Mercy for praise--to be forgiven for fame


s: word, and in Shakespeare's time both forms were used for the


s: "As what time, after long and pestful calms,


s: Poisoning the vast Pacific, the fresh breeze


s: companions, their muscles stiffened by drought, could show their


s: wide-spread sailor's superstition that has been often used in the


s: "Are those _her_ naked ribs, which fleck'd


s: Jet-black and bare, save where with rust


s: And again after line 198 the first edition had this stanza:


s: Thro' the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth


s: cross-bow!* It was an ancient belief, imaginatively revived by


s: In the editions of 1828 and 1829 Coleridge changed it to the form


s: original than the more familiar _Jesus_. It is often (though not


s: _iwis_, from Old English _gewis_, "certainly."


s: relation of the Second Part of the poem to the Lake country see


s: Introduction. All of the places named in these lines are near the


s: Langdale, on the Cumberland border. Dungeon-Ghyll is a ravine in


s: pleasure" (quoted in the Notes of the Globe edition).


s: imagination of the Christian world from the early Middle Ages.


s: Lactantius described it in the fourth century; the author of the


s: _First Stanza_. An invocation to those objects in Nature the


s: "When slumbering Freedom roused with high disdain


s: With giant fury burst her triple chain!"


s: "Nay, wherefore did I let it haunt my mind,


s: metaphysician--reality is used here in opposition to ideality or


s: "While, 'mid the pelting of that merciless storm,


s: Sunk to the cold earth Otway's famished form!"


s: Nor flowers to make that, nor the husbandrie


s: Each of which will know that it is one of the four


s: Now, let me tell you why I have sketched this incident as an


s: At an early period in the history of Holland, a boy was born in


s: Haarlem, a town remarkable for its variety of fortune in war, but


s: certain regular distances, close the entrance of the canals, and


s: As he went along by the canals, then quite full,--for it was in


s: injunction, and was preparing to quit the ravine in which he was


s: benumbed, and the numbness soon extended to the hand, and thence


s: failures of courage, there might have been during that long and


s: "Boy," he exclaimed, "what are you doing there?"


s: "I am hindering the water from running out," was the answer, in


s: superintendents induced me to make this miniature book.


s: All bound with velvet and edged with gold,


s: And its weight was more than the child could hold;


s: For it said, and she looked at her smiling mother,--


s: It said, "Little children, love one another."


s: She thought it was beautiful in the book,


s: And the lesson home to her heart she took;


s: She walked on her way with a trusting grace,


s: And a dove-like look in her meek young face;


s: Which said, just as plain as words could say,


s: So, mamma, I'll be kind to my darling brother;


s: For 'little children must love each other.'


s: I'm sorry he's naughty, and will not play;


s: But I'll love him still, for I think the way


s: And thus, when I kneel in prayer to-night,


s: I will clasp my hands around my brother,


s: And say, 'Little children, love one another.'"


s: The little girl did as her Bible taught,


s: And pleasant indeed was the change it wrought;


s: His heart was full,--he could not speak;


s: But he pressed a kiss on his sister's cheek;


s: And God looked down on that happy mother


s: Whose "little children loved each other."


s: At Smyrna, the burial-ground of the Americans, like that of the


s: disappointment, and the tears came to her eyes.


s: That still she hears the young birds sing,


s: "Our mother," said the lisping tongue,--


s: She'll love to know they still come near


s: "Heaven shield thee, precious child!" methought,


s: instead, the story which those soft feathers were sent to tell.


s: contained? Why, a great anxious mother-hen, all tawny-colored and


s: sometimes we call her Bella Donna. The other was dressed in white


s: perching, chirping at the door, and tease and tap-tap and "yip-p


s: A most interesting story is told, in a late German paper, of a


s: remarkable woman in Pillau, Prussia, whose heroism of character


s: guardian-angel. All heads are uncovered as she passes along the


s: The island of Rona is a small and very rocky spot of land, lying


s: remorseless billow, "in sight of home and friends who thronged to


s: And their beauty ever the sea-pearls keep;


s: In the snow and the rain-storm bids me to rove,


s: And Famine insult over Plenty and Mirth.


s: Of Him who reigns in the heavens alone;--


s: Wilt, soother, come, and close his eyes,


s: His will must the rain-drop, too, perform.


s: Where the rills in the valley my coming stay;


s: Then "Peace to thee, minstrel," is the rain-drop's farewell.


s: Heathen._--JEZEBEL, _a Messenger._--RUTH, _friend of Rachel and


s: _Rachel._ Eudora! welcome, thrice welcome, to Jerusalem.


s: beautiful, and the songs of David catch a new inspiration.


s: worship, and will not, as of yore, pronounce them false.


s: _Eudora._ I imagined that was his abode. But wherein differs your


s: _Rebecca (coming forward--Jezebel approaches)._ My heart is moved


s: _Eudora._ Your sister, in many hours of precious intercourse, has


s: _Eudora._ And is Jehovah careful about _these_ things?


s: degrading. Jehovah's every word is for his people's prosperity.


s: _Rachel._ Trust in Jehovah, and thou shalt not err.


s: _Rebecca._ Rejoice in Jehovah, and thou shalt be glad for ever.


s: _Rachel._ I come. (_To Eudora._) Let us hasten; for we have long


s: _Martha._ We may do nothing else now, and the meeting with others


s: _Salome._ I may not ask the cause of your grief; for my own soul


s: replies it is the common grief,--our nation's bondage.


s: _Salome._ Yes; two more to weep with us.


s: _Leah._ 'Tis even so. Listen while I tell you. At Bethlehem, last


s: _Anna._ In Bethlehem, did you say? But there is no palace in


s: Bethlehem, where a prince should be born.


s: _Salome._ But have the shepherds seen the babe?


s: _Martha._ Oh! tell us that. Have they seen the babe? and are all


s: _Miriam._ Yes. We met them on their return. They were, with full


s: _Mary._ Then shall we indeed hope! O my people! my people Israel!


s: _Anna._ Well may we wait a little longer, and bear the yoke with


s: Welcome day, oh, welcome day! a Saviour is born!


s: Welcome day, oh, welcome day! no longer we mourn.


s: Sings aloud, now sings aloud,--Oh, welcome this day!


s: Lift your voice, oh, lift your voice! Jehovah is God!


s: Lift your voice, oh, lift your voice! He has lifted the rod.


s: We his people will sing,--Jehovah, is God!


s: Sound it forth, oh, sound it forth! Messias hath come!


s: Sound it forth, oh, sound it forth! through every sad home.


s: He has come, he has come, Messias hath come!


s: Joy is ours, oh, joy is ours! his sword shall defend!


s: Joy is ours, oh, joy is ours! our foes shall now bend.


s: Joy is ours,--we are free,--his sword shall defend!


s: _Rachel._ Not so says he whom John declared to be greater than


s: _Zachariah._ If he be what many claim him, he speaks with more


s: authority on that point than the Pharisees.


s: _John._ That they who believe in him shall never die.


s: _John._ You have seen him: is he like John?


s: _Eudora._ But does he, like the former kings of Israel, combine


s: military ardor with his religious enthusiasm?


s: _Rachel._ He seems, with all his boundless benevolence, formed to


s: _Rebecca._ What talk you of so earnestly?


s: _Rebecca._ He has come, it is said, to set up a new kingdom.


s: _Rebecca._ Then the nation's hope is again blasted, and we are to


s: _Rebecca._ But what freedom can there be greater than from Roman


s: _Jezebel._ Or deliverance, such as mine, from an unholy temper.


s: _Mary._ I, too, have felt his power, and am seeking to join his


s: _Rebecca._ And what think you of all this?


s: _Rebecca (to Mary)._ And did this move you also?


s: _Rebecca._ Why do you say "changed _us_"? _Jezebel_ needed to be


s: _Rebecca._ Such a people must be the chosen of the Lord.


s: _Rebecca._ And may God make us true to this Saviour to the last!


s: How Willy meets the young gleaner in the field--how he pities his


s: How the young gleaner was much frightened, and how happy he was


s: The young musician had a little chamber in the monastery, which


s: Mother, I'm tired, and I would fain be sleeping;


s: But promise me that thou wilt leave off weeping,


s: Because thy tears fall hot upon my cheek.


s: Here it is cold: the tempest raveth madly;


s: But in my dreams all is so wondrous bright;


s: I see the angel-children smiling gladly,


s: When from my weary eyes I shut out light.


s: Mother, one stands beside me now! and, listen!


s: Dost thou not hear the music's sweet accord?


s: See how his white wings beautifully glisten?


s: Surely those wings were given him by the Lord!


s: Green, gold, and red, are floating all around me;


s: They are the flowers the angel scattereth.


s: Should I have also wings while life has bound me?


s: Or, mother, are they given alone in death?


s: Why dost thou clasp me as if I were going?


s: Why dost thou press thy cheek so unto mine?


s: Thy cheek is hot, and yet thy tears are flowing!


s: I will, dear mother, will be always thine!


s: Do not sigh thus--it marreth my reposing;


s: But if thou weep, then I must weep with thee!


s: Ah, I am tired--my weary eyes are closing--


s: Look, mother, look! the angel kisseth me!


s: "Here, give me that little girl, I will adopt her!"


s: Everybody looked at her feet; and when she stepped through the


s: At the church-door stood an old soldier with a crutch, and with a


s: church-door, she saw an angel standing there. He wore long white


s: And away she went boldly; but she had not got farther than the


s: The congregation sat on cushioned seats, and sang out of their


s: Hans Christian Andersen is an excellent allegorist, and has very


s: "What troubles you, dear? Are you thinking of the unfortunate


s: "Do your feet hurt you much, poor boy?" asked Willy, in a very


s: The child was terrified, and replied, "Indeed, indeed, I have not


s: received payment, he delivered the key to him with these words--


s: The voice answered "We will not do thy grass any harm; we and our


s: towards his little neighbors; advised him to burn his hay, and to


s: distress, and want help, come to the oak spring."


s: He nodded his head, and Tony saw him take the steep path up the


s: "And does the brown man send me this as a present?" said the


s: A friend has objected to the title of this book


s: on the ground that, as many of the characters


s: and scenes described are to be found in almost


s: any coast village of the United States, the title might,


s: with equal fitness, be "New Jersey Ballads," or "Long


s: The answer to this is, simply, that while "School-committee


s: Men" and "Village Oracles" are, doubtless,


s: pretty much alike throughout Yankeedom, the


s: particular specimens here dealt with were individuals


s: whom the author knew in his boyhood "down on the


s: The verses in this collection originally appeared in


s: _Harper's Weekly, The Youth's Companion, The Saturday


s: Wheelmen Bulletin_, and the publications of the American


s: Press Association. Thanks are due to the editors


s: of these periodicals for their courteous permission


s: "He's a hero born and bred, but it hasn't


s: "With the big green-coated leader's double-bass."


s: "Do yer 'member how yer fired 'em, slow and


s: "'That was jolly, Guv'nor, now we'll practice every day.'"


s: "I recollect I spent an hour a-tyin' my cravat."


s: "He ain't the sort that the big-bugs sport"


s: "The Grasshopper wore his summer clothes,


s: And stood there kicking his frozen toes."


s: In foam-streaked stretch of hill and dale,


s: Where shrill the north-wind demon yells,


s: To each the chance, the risk, the fight:


s: Oft, driven through the night's blind wrack,


s: He feels the dread berg's ghastly breath,


s: Or hears draw nigh through walls of black


s: _To each his chance, the game with Fate_:


s: Like the far-off hum of a throbbing drum


s: Of the spicy gales that filled the sails


s: But the whispering wave their secret gave


s: The mighty note from the ocean's throat,


s: It bears me back, o'er life's long track,


s: When the Lord breathes his wrath above the bosom of the waters,


s: When the rollers are a-poundin' on the shore,


s: When the mariner's a-thinkin' of his wife and sons and daughters,


s: He's bringin' men from death back ter flesh and blood and breath,


s: He's a-pullin' at an oar that is freezin' to his fingers,


s: He's a-clingin' in the riggin' of a wreck,


s: He knows destruction's nearer every minute that he lingers,


s: But it do'n't appear ter worry him a speck:


s: He's draggin' draggled corpses from the clutches of the combers--


s: But he takes 'em from the wave and he fits 'em fer the grave,


s: And he thinks it's all included in his work.


s: He is rigger, rower, swimmer, sailor, doctor, undertaker,


s: And he's good at every one of 'em the same:


s: He's a hero born and bred, but it hasn't swelled his head,


s: And he's jest the U.S. Gov'ment's hired man.


s: And the mist through the valley has rolled,


s: And the soft velvet clouds ter the west'ard


s: And the frogs with their voices so husky


s: The leaves on the elm-trees are rustling


s: The breeze scatters sweets on the night,


s: And the noise of the frogs and the crickets


s: And the church, with its grand painted skylight,


s: 'Side of my old front porch in the twilight


s: When God's choir sings its "Evenin' Hymn."


s: Just a simple little picture of a sunny country road


s: Leading down beside the ocean's pebbly shore,


s: Where a pair of patient oxen slowly drag their heavy load,


s: And a barefoot urchin trudges on before:


s: Yet I'm dreaming o'er it, smiling, and my thoughts are far away


s: 'Mid the glorious summer sunshine long ago,


s: And once more a happy, careless boy, in memory I stray


s: Down a little country road I used to know.


s: I hear the voice of "Father" as he drives the lumbering steers,


s: And the pigeons coo and flutter on the shed,


s: While all the simple, homelike sounds come whispering to my ears,


s: And again the yoke is creaking as the oxen swing and sway,


s: Then we pass beneath the elm trees where the robin's song is gay,


s: Where the clover blossoms press their dewy kisses on my feet


s: And the honeysuckle scents each shady nook;


s: And my heart leaps gayly upward, like the foam upon the sea,


s: As I watch the breakers tumbling with a roar,


s: And the ships that dot the azure seem to wave a hail to me,


s: And to beckon to a wondrous, far-off shore.


s: Just a simple little picture, yet its charm is o'er me still,


s: And again my boyish spirit seems to glow,


s: And once more a barefoot urchin am I wandering at will


s: Down that little country road I used to know.


s: And the night-hawk whirls in circles overhead;


s: And the old hen calls the chickens in to bed;


s: And the twilight flush is changing into shade;


s: Then the bullfrogs chant their evening serenade:


s: "Deep-deep, deep-deep, deep-deep, deep-deep!


s: Better go '_round!_ Better go '_round!_ Better go '_round,_"


s: And the shrill soprano piping sets the pace;


s: With the big green-coated leader's double-bass.


s: Feel the mighty chorus shaking every blade,


s: To the bullfrogs' summer evening serenade:


s: Better go '_round!_ Better go '_round!_ Better go '_round!"_


s: That the mother hums the baby at her breast,


s: And is sinking, hushed and happy, to its rest


s: Through my dreaming rings the music they have played,


s: Of the bullfrogs' summer evening serenade:


s: From the window of the chapel softly sounds an organ's note,


s: Bear me, dreaming, back to boyhood and its Sunday afternoons:


s: When we gathered in the parlor, in the parlor stiff and grand,


s: Then the quaint old parlor organ with the quaver in its tongue,


s: Seemed to tremble in its fervor as the sacred songs were sung,


s: As we sang the homely anthems, sang the glad revival hymns


s: Of the glory of the story and the light no sorrow dims.


s: While the dusk grew ever deeper and the evening settled down,


s: And the lamp-lit windows twinkled in the drowsy little town,


s: Old and young we sang the chorus and the echoes told it o'er


s: In the dear familiar voices, hushed or scattered evermore.


s: From the window of the chapel faint and low the music dies,


s: Up in the attic I found them, locked in the cedar chest,


s: Quaint little folding cases fastened with tiny hook,


s: Seemingly made to tempt one to lift up the latch and look;


s: Linings of purple velvet, odd little frames of gold,


s: Circling the faded faces brought from the days of old.


s: Grandpa and grandma, taken ever so long ago,


s: Grandma's bonnet a marvel, grandpa's collar a show,


s: Mother, a tiny toddler, with rings on her baby hands


s: Painted--lest none should notice--in glittering, gilded bands.


s: Aunts and uncles and cousins, a starchy and stiff array,


s: Lovers and brides, then blooming,--now so wrinkled and gray:


s: Out through the misty glasses they gaze at me, sitting here


s: Opening the quaint old cases with a smile that is half a tear.


s: Go back to your cedar chamber, your gowns and your lavender,


s: I remember, when a youngster, all the happy hours I spent


s: When to visit Uncle Hiram in the country oft I went;


s: And the pleasant recollection still in memory has a charm


s: Of my boyish romps and rambles round the dear old-fashioned farm.


s: For I knew they'd surely put me where the "comp'ny" always slept,


s: And the vast and lonely grandeur of the best spare room.


s: Ah, the weary waste of pillow where I laid my lonely head!


s: Sinking, like a shipwrecked sailor, in a patchwork sea of bed,


s: Cousin Ruth, who died at twenty, in the corner had a place


s: Near the wreath from Eben's coffin, dipped in wax and in a case;


s: Grandpa Wilkins, done in color by some artist of the town,


s: Of the frightened little sleeper in the best spare room.


s: Every rustle of the corn-husks in the mattress underneath


s: Was to me a ghostly whisper muttered through a phantom's teeth,


s: And the mice behind the wainscot, as they scampered round about,


s: Of a victim buried living by his friends who thought him dead;


s: And I think I know his feelings in the cold and silent tomb,


s: For I've slept at Uncle Hiram's in the best spare room.


s: It's alone in the dark of the old wagon-shed,


s: Where the spider-webs swing from the beams overhead,


s: And the sun, siftin' in through the dirt and the mold


s: Of the winder's dim pane, specks it over with gold.


s: Its curtains are tattered, its cushions are worn,


s: It's a kind of a ghost of a carriage, forlorn,


s: And the dust from the roof settles down like a pall


s: On the sorrowin' shape of the old carryall.


s: It was built long ago, when the world seemed ter be


s: And my mind wanders back to that first happy ride


s: When she sat beside me,--my beauty and bride.


s: Ah, them were the days when the village was new


s: And folks took time to live, as God meant 'em ter do;


s: And there's many a huskin' and quiltin' and ball


s: That we drove to and back in the old carryall.


s: And here in the paint are the marks of the feet


s: Where a little form climbed ter the high-fashioned seat,


s: And soft baby fingers them curtains have swung,


s: And a curly head's nestled the cushions among;


s: And then come the gloom of that black, bitter day


s: When "Thy will be done" looked so wicked ter say


s: As we drove to the grave, while the rain seemed to fall


s: Like the tears of the sky on the old carryall.


s: And so it has served us through sunshine and cloud,


s: Through fun'rals and weddin's, from bride-wreath ter shroud;


s: It's old and it's rusty, it's shaky and lame,


s: But I love every j'int of its rickety frame.


s: And it's restin' at last, for its race has been run,


s: It's lived out its life and its work has been done,


s: And I hope, in my soul, at the last trumpet call


s: I'll have done mine as well as the old carryall.


s: O you boys grown gray and bearded, you that used ter chum with me


s: When yer sniff the burnin' powder, when yer see the banners fly,


s: Do yer 'member how yer bought 'em, weeks and weeks ahead of time,


s: Do yer 'member how yer fired 'em, slow and careful, one by one?


s: I s'pose I hain't progressive, but I swan, it seems ter me


s: Religion isn't nigh so good as what it used ter be!


s: I go ter meetin' every week and rent my reg'lar pew,


s: But hain't a mite uplifted when the sarvices are through;


s: I take my orthodoxy straight, like Gran'pop did his rum,


s: (It never hurt him, neither, and a deacon, too, by gum!)


s: But now the preachin' 's mushy and the singin' 's lost its fire:


s: I 'd like ter hear old Parson Day, with Nathan leadin' choir.


s: Old Parson Day, I tell yer what, his sermons made yer _think_!


s: He'd shake yer over Tophet till yer heard the cinders clink.


s: They didn't chime so pretty, p'r'aps, as does our new quartette,


s: But all them folks was there ter sing, and done it, too, you bet!


s: And racin' the supraners, who was p'r'aps a bar ahead;


s: And all the congregation felt that Heav'n was shorely nigher


s: Whene'er they heerd the chorus sung with Nathan leadin' choir.


s: Rube Swan was second tenor, and his pipes was kinder cracked,


s: But Rube made up in loudness what in tune he might have lacked;


s: And Uncle Elkanah was deef and kind er'd lose the run,


s: And keep on singin' loud and high when all the rest was done;


s: But, notwithstandin' all o' this, I think I'd never tire


s: Of list'nin' ter the good old tunes with Nathan leadin' choir.


s: We've got a brand-new organ now, and singers--only four--


s: But, land! we pay 'em cash enough ter fee a hundred more;


s: I'd like once more ter go ter church and watch old Nathan wave


s: His tunin'-fork above the crowd and lead the glorious stave;


s: I'd like ter hear old Parson Day jest knock the sinners higher,


s: And then set back and hear a hymn with Nathan leadin' choir.


s: My son Hezekiah's a painter; yes, that's the purfession he's at;


s: I wouldn't have b'lieved he could be there, way up on that


s: We used ter think Hezzy would shame us by bein' no good anyhow,


s: Oh! the horns are all a-tootin' as we rattle through the town,


s: And we fellers are a-hootin' and a-jumpin' up and down,


s: And the girls are all a-gigglin' and a-tryin' ter be smart,


s: With their braided pig-tails wigglin' at the joltin' of the cart;


s: And a-bossin' of the picnic of the Baptist Sunday-school.


s: Everybody's got their basket brimmin' full of things ter eat,


s: And I've got one--if yer ask it--that is purty hard ter beat,--


s: Oh, the story-book boy! he's a wonderful youth,


s: A prodigy reeking with goodness and truth;


s: And sharp as a razor, though twelve years of age.


s: His mother is good and she's awfully poor,


s: But he says, "Do not fret, _I'll_ provide for you, sure!"


s: And the hard grasping landlord, who comes to annoy,


s: Is braved to his teeth by the story-book boy.


s: Oh, the story-book boy! when he sees that young churl.


s: The Squire's spoiled son, kick the poor crippled girl,


s: He darts to the rescue as quick as he can,


s: And dusts the hard road with the cruel young man;


s: And when he is sought by the vengeful old Squire,


s: He withers the latter with tongue-lashing ire;


s: For the town might combine his young nerve to destroy,


s: And never once shake him--the story-book boy.


s: Oh, the story-book boy! when the Judge's dear child


s: Is dragged through the streets by a runaway wild,


s: Of course he's on hand, and a "ten-strike" he makes,


s: For he stops the mad steed in a couple of "shakes";


s: And he tells the glad Judge, who has wept on his hat,


s: "I did but my duty!" or something like that;


s: And the very best place in the Judge's employ


s: Is picked out at once for the story-book boy.


s: Oh, the story-book boy! all his troubles are o'er,


s: For he gets to be Judge in a year or two more;


s: And the wicked old landlord in poverty dies,


s: And the Squire's son drinks, and in gutters he lies;


s: But the girl whom he saved is our hero's fair bride,


s: And his old mother comes to their home to abide;


s: In silks and sealskins, she cries, in her joy:


s: "Thank Heaven, I'm Ma of a story-book boy!"


s: Sometimes when we're in school, and it's the afternoon and late,


s: And kinder warm and sleepy, don't yer know;


s: And p'r'aps a feller's studyin' or writin' on his slate,


s: And teacher's sort er lazy, too--why, then there'll come a knock


s: And everybody'll brace up quick's they can;


s: He'll walk in kinder stately-like and say, "How do, Miss Brown?"


s: And teacher, she'll talk sweet as choclate cake;


s: And he'll put on his specs and cough and pull his eyebrows down


s: And look at us so hard 't would make yer shake.


s: We'll read and spell, so's he can hear, and speak a piece or two,


s: He'll git up kinder calm and slow, and blow his nose real loud,


s: And put his hands behind beneath his coat,


s: Then kinder balance on his toes and look 'round sort er proud


s: And give a big "Ahem!" ter clear his throat;


s: And then he'll say: "Dear scholars, I am glad ter see yer here,


s: A-drinkin'--er--the crystal fount of lore;


s: We have ter listen awful hard ter every word of his


s: And watch him jest like kittens do a rat,


s: And laugh at every joke he makes, don't care how old it is,


s: 'Cause he can _boss the teacher_,--think of that!


s: I useter say, when I growed up I 'd be a circus chap


s: And drive two lions hitched up like a span;


s: But, honest, more I think of it, I b'lieve the bestest snap


s: South Pokus is religious,--that's the honest, livin' truth;


s: South Pokus folks are pious,--man and woman, maid and youth;


s: And they listen every Sunday, though it rains or snows or shines,


s: Each one sure his road ter Heaven is the only sartin way,--


s: Fer South Pokus is religious, as I started off ter say.


s: Now the Pokus population is nine hundred, more or less,


s: Which, in one big congregation, would be quite a church, I guess,


s: And the twenty Presbyterians 'll be Calvinists or bust,--


s: Fer South Pokus is religious, as I said along at fust.


s: And the Methodist is buried, when his time comes 'round ter die,


s: In the little weedy graveyard where no other sect can lie,


s: And at Second Advent socials, every other Wednesday night,


s: No one's ever really welcome but a Second Adventite;


s: While the Unitarian brother, as he walks the village streets,


s: Seldom bows unless another Unitarian he meets;


s: And there's only Univers'lists in a Univers'list's store,--


s: Fer South Pokus is religious, as I think I said before.


s: I thought I'd read that Jesus come ter do the whole world good,--


s: But it seems that I'm mistaken, and I haven't read it right,


s: Fer the Pokus way of doin' ain't no use ter God or man.


s: Sis has got her Sunday dress on, and she's frizzin' up her bangs;


s: Pa has shaved as slick as can be, and I'm rigged way up in G,--


s: And it's all because we're goin' ter have the minister ter tea.


s: Oh! the table's fixed up gaudy with the gilt-edged chiny set,


s: And we'll use the silver tea-pot and the comp'ny spoons, you bet;


s: And "Sich awful luck with cookin'," she is sure she never had;


s: Everybody'll be a-smilin' and as good as ever was,


s: Pa won't growl about the vittles, like he generally does,


s: And he'll ask me would I like another piece er pie; but, sho!


s: Ma'll tell how she liked that sermon that was on the Golden Rule,


s: Yes, a boy can eat in comfort with the minister ter tea!


s: Say! a minister, you'd reckon, never 'd say what wasn't true;


s: But that isn't so with ours, and I jest can prove it, too;


s: 'Cause when Sis plays on the organ so it makes yer want ter die,


s: At our house fer good and always, and eat with us every day;


s: Only think of havin' goodies _every_ evenin'! Jimmi_nee_!


s: And I'd _never_ git a scoldin' with the minister ter tea!


s: I've got a little yaller dog, a wuthless kind of chap,


s: Who jest ain't good fer nothin' but ter eat and sleep and "yap."


s: Fer all 'round general wuthlessness I never see his beat,


s: And yet he makes more fuss and noise than all the farm complete.


s: There ain't a mite of sense inside that yaller hide of his;


s: But, as _he_ ain't no good, he likes ter pester them that is.


s: The critters all despise him, but there ain't a one but feels


s: A little mite oneasy when he's "yappin'" round their heels.


s: Yer see, he loves ter sneak around behind 'em, out of sight,


s: And give a sudden snap and snarl as if he meant ter bite;


s: Of course they know he wouldn't hurt, and only means to scare,


s: But still, it worries 'em ter know the little scamp is there;


s: And if they do git nervous-like and try to hit him back


s: He swells up so with pride it seems as if his skin would crack;


s: And then he's wuss than ever, so they find it doesn't pay,


s: But let him keep on "yappin'" till he's tired and goes away.


s: There's lots of people built like him--yer see 'em everywhere--


s: It must be bothersome ter know they'll take that chance ter nip.


s: But there! perhaps it isn't right ter mind 'em, after all;


s: The thorns that prick your fingers 'round the roses of success:


s: Fer, when yer come ter think of it, they never bark until


s: A feller's really started and a good ways up the hill;


s: So, 'f I was climbin' up ter fame I wouldn't care a rap,


s: But I'd think I _was_ somebody when the curs begun ter "yap."


s: That the church was built so's she could run it,


s: But she found 't was a wrong calkerlation


s: She thinks she's the whole upper crust;--


s: "_You_ can have all the paupers yer choose to,"


s: "But if _they_ go ter church _I_ refuse to!"


s: 'Cause she went up ter Jackson's at all.


s: The church has been full of their strife;


s: "_I am Sir Oracle, and when I ope my lips let no dog bark!_"


s: The Lord knows all things, great or small,


s: "Buy your rags fer more 'n they're worth,


s: Our Sary Emma is possessed ter be at somethin' queer;


s: She's allers doin' loony things, unheard of fur and near.


s: One time there wa'n't no limit ter the distance she would tramp


s: Ter get a good-fer-nothin', wuthless, cancelled postage-stamp;


s: Another spell folks couldn't rest ontil, by hook or crook,


s: She got 'em all ter write their names inside a leetle book;


s: But though them fits was bad enough, the wust is nowadays,


s: Fer now she's got that pesky freak, the photygraphin' craze.


s: She had ter have a camera--and them things cost a sight--


s: So she took up subscriptions fer the "Woman's Home Delight"


s: And got one fer a premium--a blamed new-fangled thing,


s: That takes a tin-type sudden, when she presses on a spring;


s: And sence she got it, sakes alive! there's nothin' on the place


s: That hain't been pictured lookin' like a horrible disgrace:


s: She tuk me once a-settin' up on top a load er hay:


s: My feet shets out the wagon, and my head's a mile away;


s: She took her Ma in our back yard, a-hanging out the clothes,


s: With hands as big as buckets, and a face that's mostly nose.


s: A yard of tongue and monstrous teeth is what she calls a dog;


s: The cat's a kind er fuzzy-lookin' shadder in a fog;


s: And I've got a suspicion that what killed the brindle calf


s: Was that he seen his likeness in our Sary's photygraph.


s: She's "tonin'," er "develerpin'," er "printin'," ha'f the time;


s: She's allers buyin' pasteboard ter mount up her latest crime:


s: Our front room and the settin'-room is like some awful show,


s: With freaks and framed outrages stuck all 'round 'em in a row:


s: But soon I'll take them picters, and I'll fetch some of 'em out


s: And hang 'em 'round the garden when the corn begins ter sprout;


s: Be there when "sufferin' Pa gets through";


s: Then moans and says his "breathin''s thick",--


s: And growls and swears from noon to night


s: Just 'cause his dinner ain't cooked right;


s: On the top av a hill be the town av Athione,


s: And the pride av his heart was a batthered trombone,


s: That he played in an iligant style av his own.


s: And often I've heard me ould grandfather say,


s: That, long as he lived, on Saint Patherick's Day,


s: the minute the dawn showed the first streak av gray


s: McCarty would rise and this tune he would play:


s: "Pertaters and fishes make very good dishes,


s: With tootin' and blowin' he kept it a-goin',


s: And thim that were lazy could niver lie aisy,


s: For who could be stayin' aslape with him playin'


s: And thin whin the b'ys would fall in fer parade,


s: McCarty'd be gay with his buttons and braid,


s: And whin he stipped out fer ter head the brigade,


s: Why, this was the beautiful tune that he played:


s: Seemed--ter slip half--down--his throat,


s: Now McCarty he lived ter be wrinkled and lean,


s: But he died wan fine day playin' "Wearin' the green,"


s: And they sould the ould horn to a British spalpeen,


s: And it bu'st whin he tried ter blow "God save the Queen";


s: But the nights av Saint Patherick's Days in Athlone


s: Folks dare not go by the ould graveyard alone,


s: For they say that McCarty sits on his tombstone


s: And plays this sad tune on a phantom trombone:


s: "The harp that wance through Tara's halls


s: And all who've heard the lonesome _keens_


s: I'll write, for I'm witty, a popular ditty,


s: And the only right way one may write one to-day


s: There's "Rosy O'Grady," that dear "steady lady,"


s: But mine shall be nearly original, really,


s: _O Susan Van Doozen! the girl of my choos'n',_


s: While this you're perusin', remember I'm mus'n',_


s: So don't be refus'n' my offer, and bruis'n'_


s: And please be excus'n', not cold and refus'n',--


s: Now through it I'll scatter--a quite easy matter--


s: How "The neighbors all cry as she passes them by,


s: --These lines the dear public would miss--


s: Then chuck a "sweetheart" in, and "never to part" in,


s: _O Susan Van Doozen! before I'd be los'n'


s: I vow I'd quit us'n' tobacco and booz'n',


s: I wear out my shoes, 'n' I'm los'n' my roos'n'_


s: _So please change your views 'n' become my own Susan_,


s: Almost every other evening jest as reg'lar as the clock


s: So she sits, her tongue a-waggin' in the same old mournful tones,


s: I'll just ask 'em to excuse me, an' I'll try the other place.


s: Now Councilman O'Hoolihan do'n't b'lave in annixation,


s: He says thim Phillypynos air the r-r-ruin av the nation.


s: He says this counthry's job is jist a-mindin' av her biz,


s: And imparyilism's thrayson, so ut is, so ut is.


s: But big Moike Macnamara, him that runs the gin saloon,


s: He wants the nomina-a-tion, so he sings a different chune;


s: He's a-howlin' fer ixpansion, so he puts ut on the shlate


s: Thot he challenged Dan O'Hoolihan ter have a j'int debate.


s: _Ho, ho! Begorra! Oi wisht that ye 'd been there!


s: Ho, ho! Begorra! 'Twas lovely, Oi declare_;


s: _The langwudge, sure 't was iligant, the rhitoric was great_,


s: 'T was in the War-r-d Athletic Club we had ut fixed ter hear 'em,


s: And iverybuddy said 't was jist the thing, jist the thing.


s: O'Hoolihan, he shtarted off be sayin', ut was safe


s: Ter say that aich ixpansionist was jist a murth'rin thafe;


s: And, whin I saw big Mack turn rid, and shtart ter lave his sate,


s: Oi knew we 'd have a gor-r-geous toime at our big j'int debate.


s: Thin up jumped Dan O'Hoolihan a-roar-r-in' out "Yez loie!"


s: And flung his b'aver hat at Mack, and plunked him in the eye;


s: Oi niver in me loife have seen sich char-r-min' illycution,


s: The gistures av thim wid their fists was grand in ixecution;


s: We tried to be impar-r-tial, so no favoroite we made,


s: But jist sicked them on tergither, yis indade, yis indade.


s: And nayther wan was half convinced whin Sar-r-gint Leary came,


s: Wid near a dozen other cops, and stopped the purty game;


s: But niver did Oi see dhress-suits in sich a mortial state


s: As thim the or-r-ators had on at our big j'int debate.


s: _Ho, ho! Begorra! Oi wisht that ye'd been there!


s: Ho, ho! Begorra! The foight was on the square_;


s: _Ter see the wagon goin' off, wid thim two on the sate_!--


s: _Oi 'd loike ter shtroike, 'twixt Dan and Moilce_,


s: "Why!" I says, "My sakes, is _that_ him?


s: They said, "Yes," and, "Ain't he cunnin'?"


s: _Won't_ sit up--you can't arrange him,--


s: Me and Billy's in the woodshed; Ma said, "Run outdoors and play;


s: And the parlor's full of women, such a crowd you never see;


s: Every one a-cuttin' patchwork or a-sewin' up a seam,


s: Circus day to hear 'em gabbin', when the Sewin' Circle meets.


s: First they almost had a squabble, fightin' 'bout the future life;


s: Is to be on hand a-waitin' when the Sewin' Circle meets.


s: Up the things there is left over when the Sewin' Circle meets.


s: I guess Pa do'n't like the Circle, 'cause he said ter Uncle Jim


s: That there cacklin' hen convention was too peppery for _him_.


s: And he'll say to Ma, "I'm sorry, but I've really got ter dodge


s: "Seems ter me, I'd get a new one; that excuse is gettin' old!"


s: "Blessed are the poor in spirit": there, I'll just remember that,


s: For when I get home from meetin', Gran'ma'll ask me for the text,


s: Say in', I don't pay attention, and what _am_ I comin' to;


s: Tellin' 'bout when _she_ was little, same as old folks always do.


s: Sis says stonin' birds is wicked, but she's got one on her hat,--


s: Used to be my girl before that--Gee! what was that text about?


s: _We'd_ never thought of takin' 'em,--'t was Mary Ann's idee,--


s: She thought our old melodeon wa'n't good enough fer her,


s: An' them pianners cost so that she said the only way


s: Was ter take in summer boarders till we 'd made enough to pay;


s: So she wrote adver_tis_ements out to fetch 'em inter camp,


s: They're in there week days jest the same as Sunday; I declare,


s: I really think our haircloth set is showin' signs o' wear!


s: They set up ha'f the night an' sing,--no use ter try ter sleep,


s: With them a-askin' folks ter "Dig a grave both wide an' deep,"


s: An' "Who will smoke my mashum pipe?" By gee! I tell yer what:


s: If they want me to dig their graves, I'd jest as soon as not!


s: There ain't no comfort now at meals; I can't take off my coat,


s: Nor use my knife to eat, nor tie my napkin 'round my throat,


s: Nor drink out of my sasser. Gosh! I hardly draw my breath


s: 'Thout Mary Ann a-tellin' me she's "mortified to death!"


s: Before they came our breakfast time was allus ha'f-past six;


s: By thunderation! 't wouldn't do; you'd orter hear the kicks!


s: So jest to suit 'em 't was put off till sometime arter eight,


s: An' when a chap gits up at four that's mighty long ter wait.


s: The idee was that Mary Ann would help her Ma; but, land!


s: She can't be round a minute but some boarder's right on hand


s: Ter take her out ter walk or ride--_she_ likes it well enough,


s: Home from college came the stripling, calm and cool and debonair,


s: With a lazy love of languor and a healthy hate of work


s: And a cigarette devotion that would shame the turbaned Turk.


s: And he called his father "Guv'nor," with a cheek serene and rude,


s: And the trouble reached a climax on the lawn behind the shed,--


s: "Now, I'm gon' ter lick yer, sonny," so the sturdy parent said,


s: But the youth serenely murmured, as he gripped his angry dad,


s: "You're a clever rusher, Guv'nor, but you tackle very bad";


s: Then a cigarette he lighted, as he slowly strolled away,


s: Saying, "That was jolly, Guv'nor, now we'll practice every day";


s: While his father from the puddle, where he wallowed in disgrace,


s: When a chap kin lick _your husband_ he's a mighty able man!"


s: On a log behind the pigsty of a modest little farm,


s: Sits a freckled youth and lanky, red of hair and long of arm;


s: But his mien is proud and haughty and his brow is high and stern,


s: Bow before him, gentle reader, he's the hero we salute,


s: And a youth may bathe in glory, wade in slaughter time on time,


s: When a novel, wild and gory, may be purchased for a dime.


s: And through reams of lurid pages has he slain the Sioux and Ute,


s: Hark, a heavy step advancing,--list, a father's angry cry,


s: Quoth brave Hiram Adoniram Andrew Jackson Shute.


s: "Breast's a-blazin', is it, Sonny?" asks his father with a smile,


s: Weep ye now, oh, gentle reader, for the fallen, great of heart,


s: As ye wept o'er Saint Helena and the exiled Bonaparte;


s: For a picture, sad as that one, to your pity I would show


s: Of a spirit crushed and broken,--of a hero lying low;


s: I'm pretty nearly certain that't was 'bout two weeks ago,--


s: It might be more, or, p'raps 't was less,--but, anyhow, I know


s: 'T was on the night I ate the four big saucers of ice cream


s: That I dreamed jest the horriblest, most awful, _worstest_ dream.


s: With every kind of goody that, I guess, was ever made;


s: With turkey, and with puddin', and with everything,--but, gee!


s: 'T was dreadful, 'cause they was alive, and set and looked at me.


s: And then a great big gobbler, that was on a platter there,


s: He stood up on his drumsticks, and he says, "You boy, take care!


s: For if, Thanksgivin' Day, you taste my dark meat or my white,


s: I'll creep up to your bedroom in the middle of the night;


s: I'll throw off all the blankets, and I'll pull away the sheet,


s: I'll prance and dance upon you with my prickly, tickly feet;


s: And then a fat plum puddin' kind er grunted-like and said:


s: "I'm round and hot and steamin', and I'm heavier than lead,


s: And if you dare to eat me, boy, upon Thanksgivin' Day,


s: I'll come at night and tease you in a frightful sort of way.


s: I'll thump you, and I'll bump you, and I'll jump up high and fall


s: And then, soon as the puddin' stopped, a crusty ol' mince pie


s: Jumped from its plate and glared at me and winked its little eye;


s: I don't know what came after that, 'cause I woke up, you see.


s: You wouldn't b'lieve that talk like that one ever _could_ forget,


s: And tell the folks "good-night" and go a-pokin' off up-stairs;


s: But, oh, my sakes! I dasn't, 'cause I know them things'll be


s: All hidin' somewheres 'round my bed and layin there fer me.


s: A solemn Sabbath stillness lies along the Mudville lanes,


s: Among the crags of Shantytown a peaceful quiet reigns,


s: For down upon McCarty's dump, in fiery fight for fame,


s: The Shanties meet the Mudvilles in the final pennant game;


s: And heedless of the frantic fray, in center field remote,


s: Behind the biggest ash-heap lies O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: The eager crowd bends forward now, in fierce excitement's thrall,


s: But still serene in slumber lies O'Reilly's billy-goat.


s: Alas, alas for Shantytown! the Mudvilles forge ahead;


s: Alas for patriotic hopes! the green's below the red;


s: With one half inning still to play the score is three to two,


s: The Shantys have a man on base,--be brave my lads, and true;