Daughter of earth and water, the vapour of which the clouds are formed is raised from the earth and the water by the heat of the sun. Nursling, child. Pavilion of heaven, the sky; because it appears to be spread out over our heads like a canopy or tent. Convex, curved like the outer surface of a ball or globe. Cenotaph, an empty tomb, or memorial built to a person who is buried elsewhere. I am the daughter of earth and water,* I pass through the pores of the ocean and 75 shores; I change, but I cannot die. For after the rain, when with never a stain And the winds and sunbeams with their con I vex* gleams Build up the blue dome of air, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from I arise and unbuild it again. 80 Thrive, to succeed. ADVICE TO A YOUTH.-Jonson. Bauble, a trifle, a thing of very small value. Foolish brain, a silly person. Rank, here means Respectless, wanting in self-respect. Reputation, character, good name. Courses, habits. Flashing bravery, ex travagance in dress. Affect, pretend. Blaze of gentry, pretending to be in a position superior to that which one holds. Your gentility, the fact of your being a gentleman by birth. * * LEARN to be wise, and practise how to thrive; * of yours, 5 IO 15 20 THE RÉVEILLÉ.*—Bret Harte. BRET HARTE (1835- ) is a popular American writer, and author of some humorous poems. 5 ΤΟ 15 20 25 Freemen, come! Lo, behold, look. Ere your heritage * be wasted," said the quick Heritage, that which alarming drum. "Let me of my heart take counsel :* Who shall stay and reap the harvest When the autumn days shall come?" But the drum Echoed,* one claims by right of birth. Counsel, advice. Echoed, to give back Death shall reap the braver harvest," said the a sound. solemn-sounding drum. "But when won the coming battle, But the drum Answered, "Come! You must do the sum to prove it," said the Yankee-answering drum. Answered, "Come! Better there in death united, than in life a recreant,*-come!" Conquest, that which is obtained by force. Subjugation, to conquer, to bring under power. Bomb, a large hollow * Réveillé, the beat of drum or sound of trumpet at daybreak (Fr. réveiller, to awake, to stir up). Thus they answered,-hoping, fearing, Lo! was dumb, For the great heart of the nation, throbbing, THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS.-Longfellow. IT was the schooner * Hesperus, That sailed the wintry sea; And the skipper * had taken his little daughter Blue were her eyes as the fairy flax, Her cheeks like the dawn of day, And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds That ope The skipper, he stood beside the helm, His pipe was in his mouth; 30 35 5 ΙΟ And he watched how the veering * flaw * did blow "Last night the moon had a golden ring,* And the skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe, Colder and colder blew the wind, And the billows frothed like yeast. Down came the storm, and smote amain 15 20 30 She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed, "Come hither! come hither! my little daughter, And do not tremble so ; For I can weather * the roughest gale, He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat, 35 He cut a rope from a broken spar,* 40 And bound her to the mast. 45 "O father! I see a gleaming light; Oh say, what may it be?" 50 But-the father answered never a word- Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark, The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow Then the maiden clasped her hands, and prayed 55 And she thought of Him who stilled the waves 60 And fast, through the midnight dark and dear, Through the whistling sleet and snow, Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept And ever, the fitful gusts between, Cable, a thick strong rope (240 to hold ships at yards long), used anchor, or to tow vessels in large rivers. Weather, endure. Spar, a small beam. Reef, ridge of rocks in the sea, near the surface. Aisle, a passage in a church, Hist! hush, atten tion, silence, listen. We climbed on the graves, on the stones worn with rains, And we gazed up the aisle* through the 75 small leaded panes. 66 She sate by the pillar; we saw her clear : 66 we are long alone. The sea grows stormy, the little ones moan." But, ah, she gave me never a look, Sealed, fixed with an For her eyes were sealed* to the holy book. attentive gaze. Humming town, at a distance the noise of a town sounds like the humming of bees in & live. Shuttle, an instrument used for shoot ing the thread of the 8a "Loud prays the priest; shut stands the door." Come away, children, call no more. Come away, come down, call no more. Down, down, down, Down to the depths of the sea. She sits at her wheel in the humming town,* Hark, what she sings: "Oh joy, oh joy, 85 For the humming street, and the child with 90 For the priest, and the bell, and the holy well. And the blessed light of the sun." And so she sings her fill, Singing most joyfully, Till the shuttle* falls from her hand, And the whizzing wheel stands still. woof between the She steals to the window, and looks at the sand; threads of the warp in weaving. Anon, soon, quickly, immediately. Sorrow-laden, full of sorrow, weighed down with sadness. Mermaiden, maid of the sea, having the upper part like a woman and the lower like a fish, and supposed to have long golden hair. Hoarse, harsh, disagreeable. Gusts, sudden blasts of wind. And over the sand at the sea; And her eyes are set in a stare; A long, long sigh. * 95 100 105 For the cold strange eyes of a little Mermaiden, Come away, away, children. |