The ancient spirit is nót

dead;"

Old times, thought I, are breathing there
Proud was I that my country bred
Such strength, a dignity so fair:

She begged an alms like one in poor estate;
I looked at her again nor did my pride abate.

When from these lofty thoughts I woke,
"What is it ?" said I, "that you bear
Beneath the covert of your cloak,

Protected from this cold damp air?"
She answered, soon as she the question heard,
"A simple burden, sir, a little singing bird."

And, thus continuing, she said,
"I had a son, who many a day
Sailed on the seas, but he is dead;
In Denmark he was cast away:

And I have travelled weary miles to see

If aught that he had owned might still remain for me.

"The bird and cage they both were his :
'Twas my son's bird,' and neat and trim
He kept it: many voyages

The singing bird had gone with him;

When last he sailed, he left the bird behind;

From bodings,2 as might be, that hung upon his mind."

CAUTIONS: a. The poem should begin in the ordinary level tone of narration. b. Take great care not to sound the verse-accent on like. Pronounce like-aRoman-matron's nearly as one word. c. A quiet emphasis on not. d. The verse-accent and the sense-accent (or emphasis) both fall on there. e. This line to be said slowly. f. Take great care that the verse-accent does not strike my. MEANINGS: 1. Covert, covering. 2. Bodings, forebodings, anticipations of coming evil.

0

THE SQUALL.

THEN a squall upon a sudden,
Came o'er the waters scudding;
And the clouds began to gather,

And the sea was lashed to lather,
And the lowering thunder grumbled,

And the lightning jumped and tumbled;
And the ship, and all the ocean,
Woke up in wild commotion.
Then the wind set up a howling,

And the poodle dog a yowling,

THE CASTLE BY THE SEA.

And the cocks began a crowing,
And the old cow raised a lowing
As she heard the tempest blowing;
And the fowls and geese did cackle;
And the cordage and the tackle1
Began to shriek and crackle;
And the spray dashed o'er the funnels,
And down the deck in runnels;2
And the rushing water soaks all,
From the seamen in the fo'ksal 3
To the stokers, whose black faces
Peer out of their bed-places;
And the captain' he was bawling,
And the sailors pulling, hauling,
And the quarter-deck tarpauling
Was shivered in the squalling;
And the passengers awaken,
Most pitifully shaken;

And the steward jumps up, and hastens

For the necessary basins.

137

THACKERAY.

CAUTIONS: a. Great care must be taken not to let the voice strike the rhymes at the end of the lines. The sense must have all the reader's attention; the rhymes will take very good care of themselves.

MEANINGS: 1. Cordage and tackle, ropes and rigging. 2. Runnels, little streams. 3. Fo'ksal, the forecastle, the part of the ship devoted to the sailors.

THE CASTLE BY THE SEA.

This is a story of the castle of a king, seen by two different persons at different times-the one (by day) when the castle was full of joy and glee and happiness, the other (by night) when the king had lost his only daughter, and the castle was full of sorrow and gloom.

"HAST thou seen that lordly castle,

That castle by the sea?

Golden and red above it

The clouds float gorgeously."

"Well have I seen that castle,
That castle by the sea-

And the moon above it standing,
And the mist rise solemnly."

"The winds and the waves of ocean,

Had they a merry chime1?

Didst thou hear from those lofty chambers

The harp and the minstrel's rhyme?"

"The winds and the waves of ocean,
They rested quietly;

But I heard on the gale2 a sound of wail,
And tears came to mine eye."

"And sawest thou on the turrets
The king and his royal bride?

And the wave of their crimson mantles ?
And the golden crown of pride?

"Led they not forth

in rapture,

A beauteous maiden there

Resplendent as the morning sun,
Beaming with golden hair ?"

"Well saw I the ancient parents,
Without the crown of pride;

They were moving slow, in weeds of woe;"
No maiden was by their side!"

UHLAND (translated by Longfellow).

CAUTIONS: a. The emphasis is on well and not on have. Read: Well have-seen. b. Avoid the verse-accent upon they. The emphasis is on merry; and the reader should hasten on to that word. c. No emphasis on they; and hasten on to forth. d. This line, and the last, to be read with extreme slowness.

MEANINGS: 1. Chime, sound as of bells ringing in tune. 2. Gale, poetic for wind. 3. Resplendent, brightly shining. 4. Weeds, garments.

HOW HORATIUS KEPT THE BRIDGE.

Tarquin, the wicked King of Rome, was expelled from the city, and fled to a neighbouring king, Lars Porsena of Clusium, the chief of all the Etruscans. The two resolved to march upon Rome and to take it. There was at that time only one bridge-a wooden bridge-on the Tiber. This bridge was held by only three men against the whole of Porsena's army, to give the senate of Rome time to cut it down.

LARS PORSENA of Clusium by the nine gods he swore
That the great house of Tarquin should suffer wrong

a

no more;

By the nine gods he swore it, and named a trysting1 day,
And bade his messengers ride forth,

East and west and south and north,

To summon his array.

The Fathers of the City, they sat all night and day,

For every hour some horseman came with tidings of dismay. 66 Their van will be upon us before the bridge goes down;

And if they once may win the bridge, what hope to save the town?"

Then out spake brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate,—

b

"To every man upon this earth death cometh soon or late:

HOW HORATIUS KEPT THE BRIDGE.

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,' and the temples of his gods?

"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, with all the speed ye may;
I-with two more to help me—will hold the foe in play.

139

In yon strait1 path a thousand may well be stopped by threeNow who will stand on either hand, and keep the bridge with me?”

Then out spake Spurius Lartius-a Ramnian proud was he: "Lo, I will stand at thy right hand, and keep the bridge with thee." And out spake strong Herminius-of Titian blood was he:

66

'I will abide on thy left side, and keep the bridge with thee."

"Horatius," quoth the Consul, "As" thou sayest, so let it be:" And straight against that great array forth went the dauntless

Three.

Now while the Three were tightening the harness on their backs,
The Consul was the foremost man to take in hand an axe;
And Fathers, mixed with Commons, seized hatchet, bar, and crow,
And smote upon the planks above, and loosed the props below.

Meanwhile the Tuscan army, right glorious to behold,

Came flashing back the noonday light, rank behind rank, like surges bright

Of a broad sea of gold.

Four hundred trumpets sounded a peal of warlike glee,

As that great host with measured tread, and spears advanced, and ensigns spread,

Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, where stood the dauntless Three.

The Three stood calm and silent, and looked upon the foes,
And a great shout of laughter from all the vanguards rose.

But meanwhile axe and lever have manfully been plied,
And now
the bridge hangs tottering above the boiling tide.
"Come back, come back, Horatius!" loud cried the Fathers all,
66 Back, Lartius! back, Herminius! back, ere the ruin fall!"

Back darted Spurius Lartius; Herminius darted back;
And, as they passed, beneath their feet, they felt the timbers crack:
But with a crash like thunder fell every loosened beam,
And, like a dam, the mighty wreck lay right athwart 10 the stream:
And a long shout of triumph" rose from the walls of Rome,
As to the highest turret-tops was splashed the yellow foam.
Alone stood brave Horatius,-but constant still in mind,—
Thrice thirty thousand foes before, and the broad flood behind.

"Down with him!" cried false Sextus, with a smile on his pale face. "Now yield thee!" cried Lars Porsena, "now yield thee to our grace."

Round turned he,-as not deigning those craven12 ranks to see; Nought spake he to Lars Porsena, to Sextus nought spake he; But he saw on Palatinus the white porch of his home;

And he spake to the noble river that rolls by the towers of Rome.

"Oh, Tiber! father Tiber! to whom the Romans pray,

A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, take thou in charge this day!" So he spake, and speaking sheathed the good sword by his side, And with his harness on his back, plunged headlong in the tide.

No sound of joy or sorrow

was heard from either bank; But friends and foes in dumb surprise, With parting lips and straining eyes,

Stood gazing where he sank:

And when above the surges they saw his crest appear,
All Rome sent forth a rapturous13 cry,

And even the ranks of Tuscany

Could scarce forbear to cheer.

Never, I ween, did swimmer, in such an evil case,

Struggle through such a raging flood safe to the landing-place; But his limbs were borne up bravely by the brave heart within, And our good father Tiber bare bravely up his chin.

g

And now he feels the bottom; now on dry earth he stands;
Now round him throng the Fathers to press his gory14 hands;
And now, with shouts and clapping, and noise of weeping loud,
He enters through the River Gate, borne by the joyous crowd.

And in the nights of winter, when the cold" north winds blow,
And the long howling of the wolves is heard amidst the snow;
When round the lonely cottage roars loud the tempest's din,
And the good logs of Algidus15 roar louder yet

within;

When the oldest cask is opened, and the largest lamp is lit;
When the chestnuts glow in the embers, and the kid turns on the

close;

spit; When young and old in circle around the firebrands When the girls are weaving baskets, and the lads are shaping bows;

When the goodman mends his armour, and trims his helmet's

plume;

When the goodwife's shuttle merrily goes flashing through the loom ;