LESSON XLII.

I.-The Bridge.

ebb'-ing-tide, back-flowing tide. sym'-bol, sign or token.

I STOOD on the bridge at midnight,
As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose o'er the city,

Behind the dark church tower.

And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A flood of thoughts came o'er me,
That filled my eyes with tears.

How often, oh! how often,

*

In the days that had gone by,
I had stood on that bridge at midnight,
And gazed on that wave and sky!

How often, oh! how often,

I had wished that the ebbing-tide,
Would bear me away on its bosom,
O'er the ocean wild and wide!

For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me

Seemed greater than I could bear.

But now it is fallen from me,
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws its shadow over me.

Yet whenever I cross the river,

On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odour of brine from the ocean,
Comes the thought of other years.

*

And for ever and for ever,

As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;

The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,

And its wavering image here.

*

QUESTIONS:-1. Where the person speaking said to be standing? 2. When? 3. What does he hear? 4. What does he see? 5. To what does he compare his thoughts? 6. What did these thoughts cause him to do? 7. When thinking of the past, what did it cause him to wish? 8. What does he say about his heart? 9. What about his life? 10. Was he in a merry mood? 11. What would you say his condition was? 12. That was in the past, what does he say of his present state? Repeat the lines that tell it. 13. What effect had the crossing of the river upon him at all times? 14. What does he say that the moon, its reflections and its shadows, will always be to him a symbol or token of?

lis'-ten-ing, hearkening, hear- throb'-bing, beating.

ing.

quiv'-er-ing, trembling.

spell, a charm.

treas'-ur-ed, laid it up, valued

it.

I LOVE it, I love it! and who shall dare

To chide me for loving that old arm-chair?

I've treasured it long as a sainted prize,

I've bedew'd it with tears, I've embalm'd it with sighs;

'Tis bound by a thousand bands to my heart; Not a tie will break, not a link will start, Would you know the spell ?—A mother sat there And a sacred thing is that old arm-chair.

In childhood's hour I linger'd near

The hallow'd seat with listening ear;
And gentle words that mother would give
To fit me to die and teach me to live.

She told me that shame would never betide,
With truth for my creed and God for my

guide;

She taught me to lisp my earliest prayer

As I knelt beside that old arm-chair.

I sat and watched her many a day,

When her eye grew dim, and her locks were grey; And I almost worshipp'd her when she smiled, And turn'd from her Bible to bless her child. Years roll'd on, but the last one sped,

My idol was shatter'd,-my earth-star fled! I learnt how much the heart can bear,

When I saw her die in her old arm-chair.

'Tis past, 'tis past! but I gaze on it now,

With quivering breath and throbbing brow; 'Twas there she nurs'd me, 'twas there she died, And memory flows with lava tide.

Say it is folly, and deem me weak,

While scalding drops start down my cheek;
But I love it, I love it! and cannot tear
My soul from a mother's old arm-chair.

"Bedew'd it with tears."-Wept at the sight of it.

"Embalm'd it with sighs."-Cherished the sorrowful thoughts which it awakened.

"A thousand bands."—A great many dear memories.

"My idol was shatter'd.”—Her mother she loved so much was dead.

“ "My earth-star fled."-Another expression with the same meaning as above-death of her mother.

66 Memory flows with lava tide.”—The meaning is, that as lava when flowing down the sides of a volcano is burning hot, so the memory of her loved mother brought tears into her eyes-these tears are the "scalding drops " that ran down her cheeks.

QUESTIONS:-1. What is the subject of the poem? 2. What does "to chide" mean? 3. What is meant by "treasured"? 4. And 66 sainted prize"? 5. Why was this old arm-chair so much loved?

com'-fort-a-ble,happy,cheerful. pro-bos'-cis, snout, trunk.

cun'-ning, skilful, showing so-ci'-e-ty, company,

method.

de-priv'-ed, suffered loss.

munity.

spe'-cies, sort, kind.

com

do-mes'-tic, tame, not foreign.

u'-su-al-ly, commonly.

THE honey-bee never lives alone, but always in a family or society. The wild bees provide their own dwelling; but very nice hives are built for the domestic bees, where they find a comfortable home.

The city of the bee is built within the hive. Here we must look for her cunning work,-the streets and houses for a large population.

The family or society in each hive is always composed of three classes of bees-the queen, the