In Californian* mountains A hunter bold was he : * Keen his eye and sure his aim As any you should see. A little Indian * boy * Follow'd him everywhere, And when the bird or deer To help with right good-will. With hunger fierce and fell, Right down the narrow dell. * The boy turn'd round with screams, One of the pair of savage beasts The hunter raised his gun,- The other on George Nidiver The hunter stood unarm'd, And met him face to face. I say unarm'd he stood. Against those frightful paws George Nidiver stood still And look'd him in the face; * California, a moun. tainous country of North America, on the Pacific coast. Keen, sharp or quick. Aim, to point or level a gun at some particular object. Indian, name given to the ancient inhabitants of America. Eager, earnest desire. Skill, cleverness. Cleft, a narrow rocky passage between mountains or hills. Questing, searching, looking for. Unawares, suddenly, Shrieking, screaming, crying out very loudly. Pursuing, running after. Foe, the person or thing one is fighting with, an enemy. Rifle butt, the wooden stock of a gun. Amazed, astonished, surprised. Slackening, becoming slower and slower. JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER.*—Byron. LORD BYRON (1788-1824) was born in London, and died at Missolonghi in Greece, whither he had gone to aid in the struggle for Grecian independence. He was one of the greatest English poets, but it is greatly to be regretted that he degraded his genius in his last poem. Chief poems: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers; Childe Harold, one of the greatest poems of the century; The Prisoner of Chillon; Manfred; and Don Juan. Sire, father. Vow, a solemn promise. Mourning, sorrowing for the dead. Ere, before. Soothes, comforts. * SINCE Our country, our God-O my sire! * And the voice of my mourning* is o'er, And of this, O my father! be sure- And the last thought that soothes * me below. 5 ΙΟ Jephtha, one of the judges of Israel. Before going to battle with the Ammonites he swore that on his return, if he gained the victory, he would offer in sacrifice the first thing he met coming out of his house-it happened to be his own daughter. Though the virgins of Salem * lament, Be the judge and the hero unbent! 15 I have won the great battle for thee, And my father and country are free! When this blood of thy giving hath gush'd,* 20 And forget not I smiled as I died! "HE NEVER SMILED AGAIN."—Mrs. Hemans. FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS (1793-1835), a distinguished English poetess, was born at Liverpool, but spent her early life in Wales. Her best poem is the Forest Sanctuary, but her minor pieces are most popular, such as The Graves of a Household, The Voice of Spring, &c. She died at Dublin. THE bark* that held a prince went down, 5 He lived, for life may long be borne Bark, also spelt barque, meaning small ship. a Son, Prince William, son of Henry I., drowned in 1120, on his return from Normandy, a province in France. Break its chain, before death, comes and ends one's grief and sufferings. Proud forms, persons of high birth or title. Reckless, not caring for consequences. Festal, in the midst of mirth and joy, as at a feast. Minstrel, a man who sang verses, accompanying himself on the harp. Tourney's, tournament, a mock fight, in which knights fought to show their skill in arms. Knightly ring, a company of knights. Knighthood was the highest distinction for those who followed; the profession of arms. Blent, mingled or mixed. Strain, sound, song, Graves which true love had bathed with tears Fresh hopes were born for other years: He, Henry I., who died in 1135. * He never smiled again! THE FIRE OF DRIFT-WOOD. WE sat within the farm-house old, Port, a harbour, a Not far away we saw the port, The strange, old-fashioned, silent town,- a The wooden houses, quaint * and brown. fore stripped of its We sat and talked until the night, cannon, &c. Quaint, odd. Gloom, partial dark ness. Secret, unknown, hidden. Descending, filled the little room; Our voices only broke the gloom.* We spake of many a vanished scene, Of what we once had thought and said, And all that fills the hearts of friends, When first they feel, with secret* pain, The first slight swerving of the heart, And leave it still unsaid in part, Or say it in too great excess. Tones, the sounds of The very tones* in which we spake our voices. Had something strange, I could but mark 30 5 10 15 20 25 ; 30 35 40 45 Oft died the words upon our lips, As suddenly from out the fire The flames would leap and then expire. And, as their splendour* flashed and failed, The windows, rattling in their frames,- * The gusty blast,-the bickering * flames,— Until they made themselves a part Of fancies floating through the brain,— O flames that glowed!* O hearts that yearned ! * The drift-wood fire without that burned, Strand, to run ashore, to be wrecked. Splendour, bright ness. Dismasted, ships whose masts had been torn away by the storm. Hail, to call to at a distance. Beach, the shore of the sea. Gusty, stormy, tempestuous. Bickering, to burn with an unsteady light. Vaguely, without certainty, not sure. Glow, to shine with Yearn, to feel an The thoughts that burned and glowed within, closely, relationship. THE HOMES OF ENGLAND.-Mrs. Hemans. O'er all the pleasant land! 5 The deer across their greensward bound ΙΟ Through shade and sunny gleam, And the swan glides* past them with the sound The merry Homes of England! What gladsome looks of household love There woman's voice flows forth in song, Or childhood's tale is told; 15 Or lips move tunefully along Some glorious page of old.* |