'A jolly place,' said he, ' in times of old! But something ails it now; the spot is curst. 'You see those lifeless stumps of aspen woodSome say that they are beeches, others elmsThese were the bower; and here a mansion stood, The finest palace of a hundred realms ! 'The arbour does its own condition tell; 'There's neither dog nor heifer, horse nor sheep, 'Some say that here a murder has been done, 'What thoughts must through the creature's brain have past! Even from the topmost stone upon the steep, 'For thirteen hours he ran a desperate race; And in my simple mind we cannot tell What cause the Hart might have to love this place, And come and make his death-bed near the well. I 'Here on the grass, perhaps, asleep he sank, ‘In April here beneath the flowering thorn, 'Now here is neither grass nor pleasant shade; Till trees, and stones, and fountain all are gone.' 'Grey-headed Shepherd, thou hast spoken well ; ‘The Being that is in the clouds and air, 'The pleasure house is dust, behind, before, 'She leaves these objects to a slow decay, That what we are, and have been, may be known; But at the coming of a milder day, These monuments shall all be overgrown. One lesson, Shepherd, let us two divide, Taught both by what she shows and what conceals, Never to blend our pleasure or our pride, With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.' W. Wordsworth LX THE SUMMER SHOWER Before the stout harvesters falleth the grain, But yonder aslant comes the silvery rain, Adown the white highway like cavalry fleet, And the boy crouches close to the blackberry wall. The swallows alone take the storm on their wing, And, taunting the tree-sheltered labourers, sing, Like pebbles the rain breaks the face of the spring, While a bubble darts up from each widening ring; And the boy in dismay hears the loud shower fall. But soon are the harvesters tossing their sheaves; The robin darts out from his bower of leaves; The wren peereth forth from the moss-covered eaves; And the rain-spatter'd urchin now gladly perceives That the beautiful bow bendeth over them all. T. B. Read LXI THE MOUSE'S PETITION Oh, hear a pensive prisoner's prayer, And never let thine heart be shut For here forlorn and sad I sit, And tremble at the approaching morn, If e'er thy breast with freedom glowed, Oh, do not stain with guiltless blood Nor triumph that thy wiles betrayed The scattered gleanings of a feast The cheerful light, the vital air, Beware, lest in the worm you crush, And tremble lest thy luckless hand Or if this transient gleam of day So may thy hospitable board With health and peace be crowned; And every charm of heartfelt ease Beneath thy roof be found. So when destruction works unseen, A. L. Barbauld LXII THE GRASSHOPPER Happy insect! what can be Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing, Happier than the happiest king! |