j \ '^< \ -^ y:'^ /^^f-^ Statue of "Poetry." (Grand Opera House, Paris.) &msam 0:^^E TH:oxJSA.isrD EMS OF G-ENIUS IN POETRY AND ART, By Five Hundred Authors, MANY PROSE SELECTIONS, A BIOGEAPHICAL IM)EX OF THE WRITERS, ETC. 3^ By Frederick Saunders, Librarian of the Astor Library, Author of " Salad for the Solitary AND the Social," " Evenings with the Sacred Poets, Etc., Etc., AND M. K. Davis, Author of " Fairy GtOld," "Life of Et. Hon. W.E. Gladstone," " The Lol- lard : A Story of the Wiclifites," Etc., Etc. ILLUSTRATED By Oxe Hundred and Ten Portraits of Authors, Numerous Autograph Stanzas in Fac-Simile, and Many Other Pictures by Eminent Artists and Engravers. ST. LOUIS AND PHILADELPHIA: SCAMMELL & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 1889. nw 6 188\ '^SH.wr^. '"•"•^TTf^Pi^|if!*«lli^«''^i'lt^^^^^^^^^ Copyright, 1888 ^ 1889. BY H. B. SCAMMELL. A II Rights Reserved. HE subject of Poetry has perhaps been discussed by a greater number of thinkers than any other connected with letters; but no one has as yet suc- ceeded in defining the term to the satisfaction of his brother critics. To attempt that wherein so many of skill and experience in the expression of ideas have so signally failed, would be the part of one who has not even studied the subject sufficiently to know where the difficulty lies. It will then, perhaps, be better to be contented with an effort to explain the principles underlying the arrangement of the selections in the following pages; trusting that the reader may discern that not only the verses, but the prose extracts likewise herein given, have been chosen because they possess this same indefinable property which we call Poetry. The most obvious theme for a writer to choose is either a description of what he perceives, or what he feels. Taking first the Emotions as the moving spring, as the power which urges him to expression, the natural question arises : What kind of feelings? Is he to speak of joy or of sorrow? Is he to touch upon the ties that bind him to others ? Is he to put into words the highest aspirations of which man is capable? All these form fitting subjects for the writer, whether he put himself, or some imaginary self, into his pages ; and Joy and Sorrow, The Af- fections, and Religion have for ages been the themes upon which our best and brightest minds have loved to think. But emotion is passive ; there is the result of it which follows naturally as the fruit succeeds the blossom. From mere feeling, deepened and strengthened, comes Passfon, and passion produces Action. The man of letters, then, who has sounded the depths of feeling, turns naturally to its outgrowth, and depicts the stronger powers that control the human soul; painting, with the utmost contrast of light and shade, the image of doing. Turning now to the other subject which has been mentioned as likely to be chosen at first, we can readily perceive the divisions into which the productions of the pen will fall. He may write of Beauty, as it is manifested in nature and art ; of Characters, Persons, and of Places. The last group, it must be understood, comprehends not only the " few, the immortal names, " but the various types of character with which we daily meet, and which are the study of the phil- osopher. Here too may be considered those creations of the mind which have vi PREFACE. impressed the world of readers with their personality ; for when savants gravely discuss the question of Hamlet's sanity, surely we must acknowledge that there may be real men and women who have never trod the earth. But there is more than the expression of emotion and perceptions to deal with; there is the realm in which Thought holds the higher place. In this division, there is, first and foremost, Beflection, or the application of the results of feeling and experience of externals to the inner life, thus aifecting the outer life as well. The mind manifests itself in another, and totally different way, next ; no longer grave and wise, it gives itself up to the wildest dreams; and in these, when cun- ningly imbued with that ''drop of human blood" which is necessary to give interest, we have the pleasing flights of Fancy. Finally, the mental powers, having thus far relaxed their grave efforts, resolve to throw care to the winds, and give themselves up to Wit and the more kindly ^wmor. Such is the theory upon which the arrangement of the selections which follow is based. In practice, however, the classification is often extremely difficult. The broad lines which have here been marked out as dividing the varieties of mental effort are often obliterated in a single page; and the writer will, in the course of a few paragraphs or stanzas, pass from description of beautiful scenes, to the persons who beheld them, and to the emotions aroused in the breasts of these men and women to whom he thus gives existence. Without, then, proposing the arrangement herein adopted as perfect, or even the best that could possibly be made, it is submitted to the reader as the best of which the editor is capable; trusting that the kindliness excited by the sight of so many representatives of favorite authors may lead him to more en- joyment than fault-finding. M. K. Davis. Title. Author. Page. Nature and Song M. K. Davis... Cover LINING Nature and Books M.K.Davis Fly Preface Contents List of Illustrations List of Portraits List of Autograph Fac- similes Good News, or Bad? Sunlight and Shade Under My Window Little Bell Babie Bell's Coming Companionship with Chil- dren The Gambols of Children Mother Nature The Merry Heart The Komance of the Swan's Nest Sonnet: "Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night" Some Murmur When Their Sky is Clear Sonnet; "Life, joy and splendor with the year awake " Selections from "The Prin- cess " The House of Clay A Ballad upon a Wedding On the Threshold Invocation to Sleep M. K. Davis. LEAF V ....vii .xviii . xxiv XXVI .G.Weatherly 29 G. Weatherly 29 T. Westwood 30 T. Westwood 30 T. B. Aldrich 31 N. Hawthorne 31 G. Darley 32 C. Young 33 H. H. Milman 33 E. B. Browning... 33 ,S. Daniel 35 E. C. Trench 35 Anonvmous 35 A Question A. Tennyson 36 Anonymous 36 Sir John Suckling 37 Anonymous 38 Beaumont and Fletcher 39 M. Arnold 39 Title. Author. Page. It Never Comes Again K. H. Stoddard. ..39 Alone E. A. Poe 40 The Baby, G. McDonald 41 At the King's Gate Anonvmous 41 Keys B. Chandler 41 Maidenhood H.W. Longfellow 42 The City of the Living E.A.Allen 43 Beyond the Gate K. M. Kice 43 Eest A. J. Ryan 44 The World Goes Up and the World Goes Down C. Kingsley 44 Song, "When the dimpled water shppeth" J. Ingelow 44 Sonnet: "Come, Sleep, O Sleep, the certain knot" ....Sir Philip Sidney.. .45 A Dream A. A. Procter 45 Driving Home the Cows K. P. Osgood 46 The World's Indifference W. M. Thackeray 46 Waiting Anonymous 47 The Lady's Dream T. Hood 48 Auld Robin Gray ..LadyAnn Lindsay 49 Ode to Adversity T.Gray 50 Rock Me to Sleep E.A.Allen 51 Oft in the Stilly Night T. Moore 51 Affliction Louise DeLaRame 51 Weariness H.W.Longfellow 52 Song, from "The Prin- cess" A. Tennyson 53 Enoch's Return A. Tennj^son 53 Complaint J. G. Holland 55 To The "Eve" of Powers H. T. Tuckerman..55 Ode to An Indian Gold Coin J. Leyden 55 Break, Break, Break A. Tennyson 56 The Old Familiar Faces C. Lamh 57 The Barefoot Boy J. G. Whittier 57 Sleeping and Watching E. B. Browning.. ...59 viu CONTEl^TS. Title. Author, Page, The Moneyless Man....'. H. T. Stanton 60 Songs of Seven J. Ingelow .61 The Keturn of Kip Van Winkle W.Irving 67 A Song of Long Ago J. W.Kiley 71 Down on The Suwannee Eiver.., Anonymous 71 Beautiful Snow Anonymous 71 " Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt" W. Shakspere 72 Song: from "As You Like It" W. Shakspere 73 " On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year" Lord Byron 73 Lines Written by One in the Tower, Being Young and Condemned to Die C. Tychborn 73 Juliet Taking the Opiate W. Shakspere 74 The Mitherless Bairn , W. Thorn 75 Desolation of Balclutha J. Macpherson 75 The Song of the Shirt T. Hood 77 Life T.Hood 78 Parting Anonymous 78 Barbara's Song W. Shakspere 78 Secret Sorrows George Eliot 78 Saturn andThea J. Keats 79 lo Victis W. W. Story 80 Annabel Lee E. A. Poe 81 Florence Vane P. P. Cooke 81 " Home they brought her warrior dead" A. Tennyson 82 The Old Arm Chair E.Cook 82 Lucy W. Wordsworth... 88 Longing for Death P. Massinger 83 Somebody's Darling M. R. Lacoste 83 Vanished Blessings .-. G-. Wither 83 The Blind Old Milton E. L. Howell 85 Migration E. M. Thomas 85 Dirge F. D. Hemans 85 The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire J. Ingelow 87 The Death Bed T. Hood 88 Lines W. D. Gallagher..90 The Voice of the Waves C. Dickens 90 The Disappointed E. W.Wilcox 91 The Apples are Ripe in the Orchard W. Winter 91 Misshapen Lives George Eliot 91 The Sands of Dee C. Kingsley 93 Beyond the Veil ..,.H, Vaughan 94 Title. Author. Page Dirge for a Young Girl J. T. Fields.... o..,.94 Song: "If I had thought thou could'st have died"... C. Wolfe ,. 94 To Mary in Heaven... R. Burns .95 A Farewell M. E. Cook 95 The Three Fishers C. Kingsley 97 Sonnet: "What doth it serve to see sun's burning" W. Drummond.....97 The Sack of Baltimore T. Davis 97 The Dead Mariner G. D. Prentice 98 The Picket Guard E. L. Meers 99 My Child .....J. Pierpont 100 Selections from "In Memo- riam" , A. Tennyson 101 " Softly woo away her Breath B. W. Procter. ..103 Parting and Death ..H. W. Longfel- low 104 The Phantom B. Taylor 104 Sonnet: "Sweet Spring, thou turn'st with all thy" W. Drummond...l05 Death of Gabriel H. W. Longfel- low 106 There Is No Death... ....BulwerLytton....l07 The Bridge of Sighs T. Hood 108 Olden Memories C. Cist 109 The Death of the Babe Christabel G. Massey 110 Mourning W. Shakspere 110 Death of Ophelia W. Shakspere... .111 "Oh! snatched away in beauty's bloom" Lord Byron Ill Grandmother's Sermon Anonymous Ill Found Dead H. Jackson 112 "I have been a happy man " N. Hawthorne.... 112 Death at the Goal B. Miller 113 Remembrance A. M. F. Robin- son 113 "Sweet by-and-by" E. J.Hall 115 Loss J. Ruskin 115 The Georgia Volunteer Anonymous 116 In Watches of the Night W. Winter 116 Spoken After Sorrow."^ J. C. Marsh 116 In Time to Come Anonymous 117 "When shall we three meet agani .Anonvmous.. 117 The Long Ago Lord Houghton. ..117 Sea Ventures Anonymous 118 Annie's Dream A. Tennyson 118 The First Snowfall J. R. Lowell 119 YhE ^ffECTI0N3^ On the River J. A. Blaikie 122 The Mother's Vigil J. F. Fargusson...l23 Etude Realiste.... 0. A, Swinburne ..123 Better Moments N. P. Willis 123 A Mother's Love F. Johnson 124 Little Children L. A. Boieso.,o«o.a25 CONTENTS. Title. Author. Page. Sundered Friends N. Perry 125 The Bridge of Snow Anonymous 125 A Mother's Love T. Burbidge 126 "He that loves a rosy cheek" T. Carew 127 Woman, the Home-Maker T. Campbell 127 What It Is to Love C. Swain 127 To a Child Embracing His Mother T. Hood..... 128 A Woman's Forgiveness Sir W. Scott 129 Kosalind's Madrigal T. Lodge 129 The Flower O' Dumblane R. Tannahill 129 The Gift A.Webster 130 Lullaby A.Tennyson 130 ''Oh, merry, merry, bethe day!" J. H. Perkins 130 The Flower's Name R. Browning 131 Song; "Where wind and water meeting made" W. Motherwell... 131 The Mother's Hope L. Blanchard 138 Description of Castara W. Habington....l33 The Angel's Whisper S. Lover 134 My Nell S. Doudney 135 The Minstrel's Call S. T. Coleridge... 135 Love's Burial Phice S. T. Coleridge... 135 All June I Bound the Rose in Sheaves R. Browning 137 "This is a Spray the Bird Clung to" R. Browning 137 On Her Birthday Anonymous 137 The Influence of Woman Beaumont & Flet- cher 137 Sonnet to a Friend W. Shakspere 137 Beauty Rohtraut G. Meredith 138 Sonnet to Love W. Shakspere 139 Love's Sweet Memories S. J. Clarke 139 A Holiday Idyl Anonvmous 139 To * * * * P.B.Shelley 140 From the Dedication to "The ' Revolt of Islam" P. B. Shelley 140 Boyhood W. Allston.'. 140 My Letter Anonymous 141 The Land of Love J. B. A. Karr 142 Home Happiness C. Swain 143 Love is a Sickness S. Daniel 143 Ballad : "I'll never love thee Marquis of Mon- more" trose 144 My Saint Anonymous 144 Lochaber No More A.Ramsay 144 When the Kye Come Hame...J. Hogg 145 Her Letter B. Harte 146 From "The Day is Done" H. W. Longfel- low 148 Love's Ghost P. B. Marston 148 Concealed Love W. Shakspere 149 Go Sit by the Summer Sea J. Shirley 149 Song: "Soft pity never leaves the gentle breast" R. B. Sheridan.... 150 Title. Author. Page. "Is She Biding?" S. M. Peck 150 She Walks in Beauty Lord Byron 150 My Own Shall Come Anonymous 151 Through the Meadow W. D."^ Ho wells.... 151 Cupid Defied.... W. Shakspere 151 Yesterday M. M. Forrester..l53 Why Not? R. H. Stoddard ...153 The Interpreter E. M. Thomas 158 To the Evening Star J. Leyden 154 My Only Jo and Dearie O R. Gall 154 Sonnet : " The forward violet tl)us did I chide" W. Shakspere 154 Song : " Tell me, where is fcincybred?" W. Shakspere 154 Tour Coming D. R. Goodale....l55 Qua Cursum Ventus A. H. Clough 156 The Chess Board Owen Meredith... 156 " Take, oh, take those lips away" W. Shakspere ....156 The Doorstep E. C. Stedman....l57 Music and Love W. Shakspere 159 From "The Song of the Camp" B. Taylor 159 The Lily Pond G. P. Lathrop....l60 Balcony Scene, from "Romeo and Juliet" W. Shakspere 161 Treu und Fest Anonymous 161 The Blue-Eved Lassie R.Burns 161 A Madrigal P. H. Hayne 163 " 0, had my love ne'er smiled on me" R. B. Sheridan.... 168 Serenade. Sir W. Scott 163 Love H. B. Stowe 163 When Stars are in the Quiet Skies Bulwer-Lytton...l64 The Sweet Neglect. B. Johnson 164 " Do you remember how we used to pace" T. Westwood 165 Jeanie Morrison W. Motherwell.. 165 Come into the Garden, Maud..A. Tennyson 166 Who is Love J. Miller .....167 Song: "She is not fair to outward view" H. Coleridge 167 "Don't be sorrowful, darling". .R. Peale 168 A Woman's Question A. A. Procter 168 The Coquette C. Swain 168 How Do I Love Thee E. B. Browning ..169 Love's Impress E. Hinxman 169 To Celia B. Johnson 169 Othello's Defense W. Shakspere 171 Lochinvar Sir Walter Scott. 171 A GHmpse of Love T. B. Read 172 Absence T.Campbell 172 Ruth T.Hood 172 Song : " Why so pale and wan, fond lover" Sir J. Suckling... 178 CONTENTS. Title. Author. Page. Send Back My Heart ...Sir J. Suckling... 173 Love, from " The Maiden Queen" J. Diyden 173 Bright, O Bright Fedalma! G-eorge Eliot 175 A Health E. C. Pinkney 175 The Gold Hunter J. Miller 175 Farewell to Nancy K. Burns 176 The Lady's Looking-Glass M. Prior 176 Wooing StufFe SirPhilip Sidney.176 "Believe me, if all those en- dearing young charms" T. Moore 177 Love K.Southey 177 " 'Tis like a tale of olden time" G. Massey 177 " Hollow is the oak beside" Bulwer-Lytton....l79 "If I desire with pleasant songs" T. Burbidge 179 Evelyn Hope E. Browning 179 SongofEgla M. G.Brooks 180 Love Letters E. Brown. 180 Song: From "Supper at the Mill" „ J.Ligelow 181 On Woman's Inconstancy Sir E. Ay ton 182 Annie Laurie .....Douglas of Fing- land 182 To Althea, from Prison E. Lovelace 182 Song ; " It was a lover and his lass" W. Shakspere....l83 Comin' Through the Ej^e Anonymous 183 Song: " Ask meno more" T. Carew 184 G-o, Lovely Eose. E. Waller 184 "Filled with Balm the Gale Sighs on" T.Moore 184 John Alden and Priscilla H. W. Longfel- low 185 Stanzas: " As when a lady, walking Flora's bower" F. Quarles 185 Title. Author. Page. At the Church Gate W. M. Thacker- ay 186 Triumph of Charis ..B. Jonson 187 " Withdraw not those lips and fingers" T. Campbell 187 Good Morrow T. Heywood .187 To Lucasta Sir E. Lovelace. ..187 Cupid and Campaspe J. Lyly 187 Song : " Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more" W. Shakspere ....188 To the Lady Anne Hamilton.. W. E. Spencer.. ..188 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love C. Marlowe 189 The Nymph's Eeply Sir W. Ealeigh...l89 Freedom and Love T. Campbell 189 Love's Philosophy P.B.Shelley 190 Song: "Look out, bright Beaumont &F]et- eyes, and bless the air" cher..-. 191 The Old Couple Anonymous 192 The Exchange S. T. Coleridge....l92 The Land o' the Leal Lady Nairn 192 Allen-a-Dale Sir W. Scott 193 Genevieve S. T. Coleridge ...194 " Farewell ! but whenever you welcome the hour" T. Moore 194 Morality in Art ....V. Cousin 194 The Lake of the Dismal Swamp T. Moore ,...195 Proposal B. Taylor 196 Love S. T. Coleridge.. 197 A Petition to Time B. W. Procter 198 Sonnet; " In the long, sleep- H. W. Longfel- less watches of the night"... low. 198 Epithalamium J.G. C. Brainard..l99 John Anderson E. Burns 201 The Gude Wife J. Linen... 201 "Not Ours the Vows" B. Barton 202 n Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity J. Milton , A Christmas Hymn A. Domett Come, Ye Disconsolate T. Moore The Mystic's Christmas J. G. Whittier. Muhlen- .205 .209 .209 .211 " I would not live al way" W. A berg 211 Christmas in the Woods H. Weir 212 The Wonders of All-ruling Providence J. Keats 213 The Bible E. Hall 213 God's Acre H. W. Longfel- low ....214 Eedemption J. Dryden 214 Eock of Ages, Cleft for Me A. M. Toplady...214 The Winged Worshipers C. Sprague 215 The Good Old Times E. Heber »...215 ELiqiOjM. The Cotter's Saturday Night... E. Burns. „ 216 Hymn : " Abide with me"....H. F. Lyte 221 The Ninety and Nine E. C. Clephane...222 It's Ain Drap o' Dew J. Ballantine......223 Nearer, My God, to Thee S. F. Adams .228 Sonnet on His Blindness J. Milton ......228 Lines Written in His Bible.. ..Sir W. Ealeigh...223 Address to the Unco Guid E. Burns ......225 The Burial of Moses C. F. Alexander ..225 Self-Knowledge T. a Kempis 226 Evening in Paradise J. Milton ,.„c227 Example J. Keble 0.....229 Song: "The harp at Nature's advent strung" .J. G. Whittier.. ..228 Jesus, Lover of My Soul C. Wesley »..228 From " Miriam" „.c..J. G-. Whittier.... 229 Morning Hynan c. e.c.J. Milton. ...» 230 CONTENTS. XI Title, Author. Page. Nearer Home P. Carey 230 The Statue in Clay K H. Stoddard. ..231 Up Hill C. G. Kossetti.. ..231 Trust Anonymous 232 The Dying Christian to His Soul A. Pope ...233 The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers F. D. Hemans 233 The Sleep E. B. Browning. ..233 Abou Ben Adhem L.Hunt 234 The Temple of Nature D. Vedder 234 Time and Eternity K. Heber 236 Invocation to Light J. Milton 236 Whatever Is, Is Best Anonymous 237 Love S. P. Jones 237 From "Eifts in the Cloud" W. Carleton 238 The Hermit T. Parnell 239 No Sects in Heaven Anonymous 243 Missionary Hymn K. Heber 244 Prayer J. Montgomery... 245 Title. Author. Page. "Hail the High, the Holy One" J. Montgomery.. .245 Habit J. Taylor .245 At the Last V. Hugo 246 Virtue G. Herbert 246 God..o Derzhavin 246 Sometime M. K. Smith 247 Ode to the Creation A. Marvell 248 Light E. Elliott 249 Alone A. J. Ryan 249 Only a Little Way Anonymous 250 The Pauper's Death-Bed C. A.B. Southey..260 Life G-. Herbert 251 The Star of Bethlehem H. K. White 251 The Elixir G. Herbert 251 The Spilt Pearls R. C. Trench 252 Man's Medley G. Herbert 253 Habit o Sir T. Browne 254 Benevolence..,...,. J. Beattie 254 The Armada T. B. Macaulay...257 The Peri's Offering T.Moore 258 Belshazzar B. W. Procter... .259 Bruce's Address R. Burns 260 Patriotism Sir W. Scott 261 Lochiel's Warning T. Campbell 262 The Burial of Sir John Moore..C. Wolfe 263 Marco Bozzaris E.G. Halleck 264 Ode to the Brave W. Collins 265 An Ode Sir W.Jones 265 America S. F. Smith 266 The Traitor, from "Lalla Rookh." T. Moore 267 The Bard T. Gray 267 The American Flag J. R.Drake. 269 The Star-Spangled Banner F. S. Key 270 Maryland J. R. Randall 271 Music in Camp J. R. Thompson..271 Monterey C.F. Hoffman 272 From "The Sword of Cas- truccio Castrucani" E. B.Browning... 273 Arlington J.R.Randall 273 Vindication R. Emmet 274 Cavalry Song E. C. Stedman....275 Battle Hymn of the Republic Mrs. J. W. Howe.275 "As by the shore at break of" T. Moore 275 P/SglOJM A]MD ^CTIO]M. The Patriot's Pass Word J. Montgomery. ..276 The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls T.Moore 277 The Bivouac of the Dead T. 0' Hara 277 " Yes, 'tis not Helm nor Fea- ther" T.Moore 278 The Death of Marmion Sir W. Scott 278 From "Marmion" Sir W. Scott 279 Conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders E. Gibbon 279 Twilight on the Battlefield Sir W. Scott 281 Destruction of Sennacherib...Lord Byron 281 Ivry T. B. Macaulay...283 Song of the Greek Poet Lord Byron 285 How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix....R. Browning 286 The Fall of Wolsey W. Shakspere....288 Fear W. Shakspere....289 The Shipwreck Lord Byron 290 The Dream of Clarence W. Shakspere....290 Henry V. to his Soldiers W. Shakspere....291 A Spanish Bull-fight Lord Byron 292 The Ingratitude of Republics..W. Shakspere.. ..293 The Prisoner of Chillon Lord Byron 294 Ensign Epps J. B. O'Reilly 295 Charge of the Light Brigade A. Tennyson 295 Beauty and Song T.Moore Love of Nature in the Decline o^ Life Lord Lytton. The Seasons, from " The Fai- ry Queen" E. Spencer.... 5 EAUTY. .299 The Seasons, from "The Re- Revolt of Islam" P. B. Shelley 302 .299 In the October Fields R. B. Wilson 304 October Days N. Hawthorne.. ..304 .300 A Songin October. W. J. Henderson.304 CONTENTS. Title. Author. Page. Echo and Silence Sir E. Brydges....305 And Now Comes Autumn M. Eytinge 806 Autumnal Sonnet W. Allingbam 306 Indian Summer ... Mrs. Nicholls 306 Indian Summer, from Mi- ami Woods W. D. G-allagher.306 Autumn P. B. Shelley 307 November E.H. Stoddard.. 309 Winter W.Cowper 309 The Snow-Shower W. C. Bryant 311 Lostin the Snow J. Thomson 311 The Snow-Storm J. G. Whittier....312 Midwinter Anonymous 313 The Frost H. P. Gould 314 Spring T. Chatterton 314 Prelude to " The Loves of the Angels" T. Moore 314 Song: "When daffodils be- gin to peer" W. Shakspere 315 Spring C. A. Swinburne 315 The Symphony of Spring J. Thomson 316 Sonnet to Spring H. Howard 317 Trout Fishing J. Thomson 317 Song: "Woodmen, shep- herds, come away" J. Shirley 318 May, from "The Faery Queen" E. Spenser 318 To May L. Hunt 319 Song to May E. Darwin 320 June, from "The Vision of Sir Launfal" J. E. Lowell 320 AHoliday W. Allingbam. ...321 Summer Longings D.F. McCarthy... 322 A Dream of Summer J. G. W^hittier....322 They Come! The Merry Sum- mer Months M. Motherwell.... 322 Song of the Summer Winds...G. Darley 324 "Carpe Diem" Anonymous 324 June Days E. B. Wilson 325 Flowers.'! J. Eusldn 326 The Ivy ..H. Burton. 327 Three Summer Studies J. B. Hope 327 In the Summer Time J. Dennis.. 329 Ivy Anonymous 329 TheEhodora E. W.Emerson... 329 Summer Eain E. C. Stedman 331 July, from "The Earthly Paradise" W. Morris 331 The Violet W.W.Story 331 The Mountain Heartsease Bret Harte 332 Arbutus H.Jackson 333 Song of the Flowers L. Hunt 333 The Language of Flowers J. G. Percival 334 Sensitive Plant P.B.Shelley 334 Lilies of the Field J. Keble 336 In the Woods G. Chaucer 336 Title. Author. Page. Song of the Eose Sappho 336 To an Early Primrose H. K. White 338 Song to the Violet J. K. Lowell 338 Almond Blossom E. Arnold 338 To Blossoms E. Herrick...". 339 The Holly Tree KSouthey 340 The Ivy Green C. Dickens 340 The Skylark J. Taylor 341 To Primroses Filled with Morning Dew E. Herrick 342 A Drop of Dew A. Marvell 342 Hymn to the Flowers H. Smith 344 To Daffodils E. Herrick 345 To a Mountain Daisy E. Burns 345 The Grove .". A. Cowley 345 Daffodils W. Wordsworth.347 The Wood Giant J. G. Whittier....347 To the Butterfly S. Eogers 348 TheEainbow W.Wordsworth..348 The Nightingale H. Coleridge 349 The Early Blue-Bird L. H. Sigourney..349 Song: " Hark ! hark ! the lark at heaven's gate sings". W. Shakspere 349 Song: Gayety of Nature M. K. Mitford 349 Birds in Summer M. Howitt 351 To a Nightingale W. Drummond..351 The Skylark J- Hogg 351 Ode to the Cuckoo J. Logan 352 Eobertof Lincoln W. C. Bryant 352 To an Insect O.W.Holmes 353 Sonnet to the Mocking- Bird E. H. Wilde 354 The Chambered Nautilus 0. W. Holmes. ..355 To a Waterfowl W. C. Bryant 355 From "The Planting of The Apple Tree" W.C.Bryant 356 The Summer Birds A. B. Welby 357 To a Skylark P. B. Shelley 359 The Bobolink T.Hill 360 Song of the Eiver C. Kingsley 360 The Shaded Water W. G. Simms 362 A Wet Sheet and a Flow- ing Sea A. Cunningham.. 363 Storm at Night Lord Byron 363 Woodland Streams F. Brown 365 The Eain. L.A.Boies 365 The Eain B. H. Stoddard. ..365 The Fountain J. K. Lowell 365 The Voice of Nature W. Cowper 366 The Wayside Spring T. B. Bead S67 Apostrophe to the Ocean Lord Byron 368 Passing thelcebergs T. B. Bead 869 Fairy Gold M. K. Davis 370 The Sea B. W.Procter...- 370 Fair Weather and Foul Anonymous - 371 Northern Lights G. H. McMast^ ^^73 CONTENTS. Xiu Title. Author. Page. With. Husky-Haughty Lips, Sea W.Whitman 373 ^olian Harp W. Allingham...375 Windless Kain P. H. Hayne 375 The Cloud P. B. SheUey 376 The Evening Cloud J. Wilson..."! 376 Dawn K P. Willis,. 377 Rain on the Roof. C. Kinney, 378 Morning Pleasures J.Thomson 378 Sunrise in theForest W. Gilpin 379 Morning, from "Romeo and Juliet" W. Shakspere.....381 Heaven Present J. R. Lowell 381 "To me the world's an open book." G.P.Morris 381 Morning G. Chaucer 381 Song of May Morning J. Milton 381 Sonnet: A Jersey Summer Day Anonymous 381 Morning, from " Summer "...J. Thomson 382 Morning, from "The Min- strel" J. Beattie 382 Morning, from "Pharonnida" W . Chamber- layne 383 Night, from "The Night Thoughts" E. Young 384 The Gray Nun V. B. Harrison... 384 Bugle Song, from " The Prin- cess" A. Tennyson 385 When Day Meets Night C. W. Coleman.. 387 Twilight H. Merivale 387 Evening Calm T. Moore 387 Twilight Sir U. Price 388 Night, from " Queen Mab "...P. B. Shelley 388 Title. Author. Page. A Stormy Sunset by the Sea- side SirW. Scott 389 Our Inland Summer Night- fall R. Lowell 890 Sunset A. Smith 390 Sonnet on Night J. B. White 391 Night W. Habington....391 Moonrise E. Jones 391 Night at Sea L. Landon 393 Summer Evening A. B. Welby 393 Song of Nourmahal, from "Lalla Rookh" .T. Moore 394 From "The Self-Enchanted "C. Lamb 394 Music, from "Merchant of Venice" W. Shakspere 394 Mare Rubrum O.W.Holmes 394 The Harp the Monarch Min- strel Swept Lord Byron 396 Drinking A. Cowley 396 Lowly Pleasures B. W. Procter ....396 Music W. Strode 396 Observation C. C. Colton 397 Distance M. W. Hamilton.397 Music R. W. Emerson...397 The Old Oaken Bucket S. Wood worth.... 398 The Bells of Shan don E. Mahony 399 Woodman, Spare That Tree... G. P. Morris 399 Common Things S. W. Duffield...400 An Order for a Picture A. Cary 400 Youth and Age S. T. Coleridge ...401 Secluded Beauty T. Moore 402 The Press B. Taylor 402 Music c T. Carlyle .402 Song of Steam G. W. Cutter 404 ?i Afternoon..... C. G. Eastman.... 407 Little Brown Hands Anonymous 407 The Milking Maid C. G. Rossetti 408 Women and Children F. Tennyson 409 The Backwoodsman O. W. B. Peabody 409 From Little Red Riding Hood. .L. E. Landon 411 Auld Rob Morris R.Burns 411 The Husbandman J. Stirling 411 Wanted! J.G.Holland 412 Men of Genius Generally Cheerful F.Jeffrey 413 The Yicar W. M. Praed 413 The Village Blacksmith H. W. Longfel- low 414 A Portrait E. B. Browning. ..415 Jaffar L. Hunt 416 The Character of Falstaff. W. Hazlett 418 The Old Minstrel Sir W. Scott 418 The Prairie Hunter... W. C. Bryant 419 -pHARACTE[^3. The Plowman O. W. Holmes ....420 " What figure more immova- bly august" ....J. R. Lowell 420 The Poor Parson G. Chaucer 422 Unseen Spirits N. P. Willis 422 The School-Mistress W. Shenstone 423 The Fop W. Shakspere 428 Una E. Spenser 430 The Vicar of Wakefield J. Boswell 431 Departure of the Pilgrims G. Chaucer 432 Katherine's Defense W. Shakspere 433 Hotspur's Death W. Shakspere 433 Anne Hathaway W. Shakspere 433 Beethoven M. H. Krout 434 "The mossy marbles rest" O. W. Holmes. ...434 The Last Leaf O. W. Holmes... .435 To Margaret Hussey J. Skelton 436 Cleopatra W. Shakspere 437 Dickens in Camp B. Harte 437 xiv CO:N^TE]SrTS. Title, Author. Page. Emilie G. Chaucer 439 A Poet's Creed V. Hugo 439 Song: from "Two Gentle- men of Verona" W. Shakspere 439 The Poet's Wife W. Wordsworth 440 Kondeau L. Hunt 440 To Thomas Moore Lord Byron 441 John Howard Payne W. H. Carleton...441 John Howard Payne J. G. Saxe 441 Phihp, My King D, M. Craik 442 "Philip, My King" M. J. Preston 443 Burns F. Halleck 443 Robert Burns J. Montgomery ...444 Cowper's Grave E. B. Browning. ..444 At the Grave of Burns W. Wordsworth 445 At the Grave of Keats 0. P. Cranch 447 On the death of Joseph Rod- man Drake P. Halleck 447 Elizabeth W. Shakspere 449 Title. Author. Page. On Queen Elizabeth Sir P. Sidney 449 Character of Queen Elizabeth,.D. Hume 449 Character of Mary Queen of Scots W. Robertson ....450 The Father of History T. B. Macaulay. .451 To His Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia Sir H. Wotton....452 To the Duchess of Sutherland C. E. S. Norton ...453 Milton, Dante, and JEs- chylus T. B. Macaulay... 454 Zimri J. Dryden 455 Antony's Oration W. Shakspere 457 Antony to Caesar's Body W. Shakspere 458 William Walker J. Miller 458 Charles XII S. Johnson 459 l!^apoleon at St. Helena T. Carlyle 460 Marco Griffoni S.Rogers 460 Burial of Lincoln R. H. Stoddard... 461 Dirge for a Soldier G. H. Boker 462 pLACEg. A Scene Recalled M. Akenside 465 Home J. Montgomery... 465 Verses on the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learn- ing in America G. Berkeley 466 Home, Sweet Home J. H. Paj^ne 466 Sweet Home Anonymous 467 The Battlefield W. C. Bryant 467 The Acadian Farmhouse H. W. Longfel- low 468 Niagara J. G. C.Brainard.468 Noonday Rest H. D. Thoreau....470 The Battlefield C. Dickens 470 Mountain Neighbors L. Larcom 471 The Buccaneer's Island R. H. Dana 471 The Prairies W. C. Bryant 472 New Amsterdam W. Irving 473 The Strength of the Hills L. C. Moulton....475 America to Great Britain W. Allston 477 South American Scenery W. L. Bowles 477 The Coral Grove J. G. Percival 477 The Forest W. D.Gallagher. .478 An English Mansion J. G. Lockhart...479 Primeval Nature R. Pollok 480 Song of the Brook A. Tennyson 481 A Summer Sabbath Walk J. Grahame 481 Sweet Swan of Avon O. W. Holmes.... 482 The Homes of England F. D. Hemans 484 Sonnet: "Worthy the patri- ot's thought and poet's lyre" H. T. Tuckerman 485 The Deserted Village O. Goldsmith 486 Autumn in the Highlands: R. Buchanan 492 A Swedish Country Church H. W. Longfel- low 493 A Forest Walk A. B. Street 494 Old England A. C. Coxe 495 Nutting W. Words worth.. 496 A Forest Hymn W. C.Bryant 497 The Alhambra by Moon- light W.Irving 499 Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College T.Gray 501 Sonnet; "Earth has not any- thing to show more fair "....W. Words worth.. 503 The Thames S.J. Denham 503 Lines: "Five years have passed : five summers with the length" W. Wordsworth. .503 The Burning of Chicago.. B. F. Tajdor 505 The Traveler O. Goldsmith 507 Sonnet: "The world is too much with us" W. Words worth.. 508 A Chamber Scene B. W. Procter.... 508 Rome J.Miller 509 Ruins on the Rhine G. Eliot 509 At Sorrento A. Webster 510 The Forsaken Farm-house J. G. Whittier....510 The Alps Lord Byron 511 Solitude Lord Byron 511 Venice Lord Byron 513 From the Castle of Indolence. J. Thompson 513 On a Library A. C. Botta 516 Modern Greece. Lord Byron 515 Italy C. Dickens 516 Phoebe Pyncheon's Chamber. .N. Hawthorne 517 The Hollow Down by the Flare C. Dickens 519 The Haunted House T. Hood 520 To a Library G. Crabbe 522 Description of Arcadia Sir P. Sidney 522 COKTEKTB. XV !^EfLECTIO]M. Tiile. Author. Page. Proem J. G. Whittier....525 " The sunrise never failed us yet" C. Thaxter 525 Pain in Pleasure E. B. Browning.. .526 Nothing Lost T. Carlyle 527 " But heard are the voices "....T. Carlyle 527 The Arrow and the Song ...„.H. W. Longfel- low 527 Nature and Art H. W. Longfel- low 527 Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats ...528 Echoes Anonymous 528 Light F. W. Bourdil- lon 529 Appreciation T. B. Aldrich 529 Mercy W. Shakspere 530 Reputation W. Shakspere 530 Upon the Beach H. D. Thoreau... 530 Imagination W. Shakspere 530 A Defence of Enthusiasm H. T. Tucker- man 531 A Nohle Life P. J. Bailey 532 Wisdom Unapplied E. B. Browning... 532 Memory S. Kogers 533 Memory W. S.^Landor.. ..533 Power and Genius Lord Lytton 533 Culture M.Arnold 534 Perfection W. Shakspere 534 L' Allegro J. Milton 535 II Penseroso J. Milton 537 Truth J.Milton 540 Knowledge and Power T. De Quincey....541 Mirth J. C. Hare 541 Valor and Virtue C. Mackay 541 Intellectual Beauty A. Smith 541 "Thoughts" R. H. Stoddard.... 542 Different Minds ...R. W. Emerson...542 Gnosis C. P. Cranch 543 The Happy Life Sir H. Wotton...543 Memories J. G. Whittier....545 The Heritage J.Thomson 545 Fame .^. J. Milton 547 From "The Masque of Comus" J. Milton 547 Beauty John Keats 548 Hope T.Campbell 548 Of Obscurity A. Cowley 549 For Praise E. Young 550 Advice to Poets A. Pope 550 A Contented Mind J. Sylvester 551 Procrastination E. Young 551 Perception of Poetry G. Eliot.^. 551 A Taste for Reading Sir J. Herschel...552 From an Epistle to the Countess of Cumberland.. ..S. Daniel ...552 Against Readiness to Take Oflfence 0. Feltham 553 Title. Author. Page. Continue not in Anger J. Lyly 553 Plagiarism H. Heine 553 The Mind O'erthrown W. Shakspere 555 My Mind to me a Kingdom is W. Bvrd 555 Books O. Wl Holmes. ...555 The Lost Elixir A. Dobson 557 The Songs That Are Not Sung J. B. O'Reilly 557 " For in this mortal frame".. ..S. T. Coleridge ...557 The Poet's Mourners Sir W. Scott 559 Vanitas Vayiitatum T. Carew 559 The Way to Sing H. Jackson 559 Characteristics of Modern Critics J. Swift 560 Desire of Knowledge J. Boswell 560 Letter-Writing A. Trollope 560 The Boundary C. Perry 561 A Bird's Song Anonymous 561 The Song He Never Wrote. ..H. Jackson 562 Studies Sir F. Bacon 562 Books C.Lamb 563 What Might be Done C. Mackay 564 Oh! Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud W. Knox 565 The Song and the Singer T. Carlyle 566 On the Picture of "A^Child Tired of Play." N. P. Willis 566 Cato's Soliloquy on the Im- mortality of the Soul J. Addison 567 American English W. D. Ho wells ...568 Aphorisms and Compari- sons J. Swift 568 Gold T. Hood 569 The Reward J. G. Whittier....569 Spes est Vates J. G. Saxe 570 Fire and Strength M. Arnold 570 The Question Illustrated by Nature..... J. G. Holland 571 Each and All R. W. Emerson. ..572 The Soul's Errand Sir W. Raleigh... .573 The Hereafter A.Pope 574 Little at First, but Great at Last C. Mackay 574 Sweetness and Light ....M. Arnold 575 Somebody Anonymous 576 Every Day Anonymous 576 Who Bides His Time J. W, Riley 576 " Who can judge a man from Manners" Anonymous 577 Simplicity J- Ruskin 577 Education J.Addison 577 The Interpreters C. A. Swinburne 578 This Life is What We Make It Anonymous 578 Education D.Webster 579 Sometime Gr. D. Prentice.... 579 XVI CONTENTS. Title. Author. Page. Unreality W. Shakspere 579 A Fool.^..... ....W. Shakspere.. ..579 Scandal., Anonymous 580 Don't Take It to Heart Anonymous 580 Polonius to Laertes W. Shakspere 580 Suggestion M. Browne 580 Cheerfulness W. Dunbar 581 Test of Friendship J. G. Saxe 581 Tenterden Steeple and Good- win Sands , H. Latimer 582 After the Midnight Cometh Morn A. Pike 583 On Grood Breeding Lord Chesterfield 583 Behavior E. W. Eaierson...585 Ode on the Litiraations of Immortality W. Wordsworth..585 Intuitions., E. B. Browning. ..590 Chorus C. A. Swinburne 590 The Poetry of Life F. Von Schiller ..590 *' The days of infancy are all a dream" K. Southey 592 Man E. Young 592 The Convict Ship T. K. Hervey 592 The Nabob S. Blamire 593 Youth E. Burns 593 Troubles of Childhood G-eorge Eliot 595 The Pleasures of Poverty C. Lamb 595 Misused Art J. Euskin 596 Woman's Voice E. Arnold 597 The World a Stage W. Shakspere 597 Work T. Carlyle 599 Life B. W. Procter 599 There isNo Eest J. N. Matthews ...599 Prosperity and Adversity Sir F. Bacon 600 Better Things G. McDonald 600 Eetirement from the World... S.Johnson 601 There's a Silver Lining to Every Cloud E. Cook 601 Eecreation T. Fuller 602 The Way of the World E. W. Wilcox.. ..603 Gifts E. Lazarus 603 The Neglected Pattern P. Cary 604 Affinitus C. E. Lathrop 604 Vanity Fair F. Locker 605 The Culprit Fay J. E.Drake 627 Ariel's Song W. Shakspere.... 634 The Passions W. Collins 634 The Progress of Poesy T.Gray 636 Songof the Fairies J. Lyly 637 From "The Humble Bee" E. W. Emerson...638 Alexander's Feast J. Dryden 639 A Vision ..J. G. Percival 642 The Fairies W. Allingham....642 The Fairies T. Hood 644 A Musical Instrument E. B. Browmng...645 TUle. Author. "Pagp. High Days and Holidays H. P. Spofford...605 Solitude H. More 605 Apostrophe to Sleep W. Shakspere 606 Ode on Solitude , A.Pope 606 Song ; *' Busy, curious, thirs- ty fly." W. Oldys 606 Sleep T. Dekker 607 An Eastern Apologue A. Dobson 607 The Shortness of Life F. Quarles 607 Sic Vita H.King 608 Life A.L. Barbauld...608 Life E. H. Wilde 608 A Psalm of Life H. W. Longfel- low 608 Fate BretHarte 60G Wisdom J. W. Von Goethe 609 Unity of Nature A. Pope 609 Human Life S. Eogers 610 Man's Mortality S. Wastel 610 From "Festus" P. J. Bailey 611 The Voiceless O. W.Holmes.... 611 Time W. Scott 611 Melancholy Beaumont & Fletch- er 611 Stanzas E. Southey 612 Beauty Fades W.Drummond...612 Old Age and Death E. Waller 612 The Seasons of Life T. Parker 613 Life W. Shakspere 613 No Concealment L. H. Sigourney..613 Middle Age .Alexander Smith.614 Hamlet's Soliloquy W. Shakspere 615 The Circle of Life G. Eliot 617 Death's Final Conquest J. Shirley 617 Elegv, Written in a Country Charchyard. T.Gray 617 Why Thus Longing? Harriet Winslow.619 On a Skull Lord Byron 621 Thanatopsis W. C. Bryant 621 The Days That Are No More A. Tennyson 623 Excelsior H. W. Longfel- low 623 A Hundred Years to Come W. G. Brown 624 CY. From " The Blessed Damoz- el" D. G. Eossetti 645 The Fairy's Song W. Shakspere 646 The Visit of St. Nicholas C. C. Moore 647 Hymn to Diana B, Jonson 647 TheEveofSt. Agnes J.Keats 649 The Bells E. A.Poe 654 TheEaven E. A. Poe 654 "The Ancient Mariner" T.De Quincey 659 The Ancient Mariner S. T. Coleridge... 660 Tam O'Shanter E. Burns 668 CONTENTS. xvii ^flT AND j4ujV10R. ^tle. Author. Page. Faithless Nelly Gray T. Hood 673 Eobin Hood and the CurtallAnonymous (ISth Friar century) 674 Wit the Flavour of the Mind S. Smith 676 A Parental Ode to My Son.... T. Hood 677 Genealogy of Humour J. Addison 678 A Necessity Owen Meredith. ..678 My Daughter G. W. Cable 678 The Land of Thus-and-So J. W. Eiley 679 The Fault of the Puppy M. Lewis 679 Pristine Proverbs Prepared for Precocious Pupils Anonymous 679 "Birds of a feather flock to- gether" R. Southey 680 Morning Meditations T. Hood 680 Lines ; " Frostie age, frostie age!" W. Irving 680 Lines; "Thus Adam looked when from the garden driven" E.Young 681 Belinda A. Pope 681 Belinda's Toilet A.Pope 681 The Courtin' J. E. Lowell 682 Ballade of a Girl of Erudi- tion- A. Lang 683 The Tender Heart H. G. Cone 683 My Aunt O.W.Holmes 683 The Belle of the Bail-Room... W. M. Praed 684 A Musical Box W. W. Story 685 Sancho Panza's Decisions M. de Cervantes.. 686 Nobody Anonymous 689 Fishing Anonymous 689 The Devil Anonvmous "...689 Title. Author. Page. Sorrows ofWerther W.M.Thackeray 690 A Tired Woman's Epitaph... J. Payne 690 Address to an Egyptian Mummy H. Smith 692 Answer of the Mummy Anonymous 693 Thievery W. Shakspere 694 Doubles T. Hood 694 He Never Knowed Anonymous 696 The Birth of Green Erin Anonymous 696 Deafness T. Hood 697 The Chinese Language G. W. Cooke 697 Katharine and Petruchio W. Shakspere 697 The New Church Organ W. Cavleton 699 The Learning of Hudibras S. Butler 700 The Jackdaw of Eheims E. H. Barham 701 Old Grimes is Dead A. G. Greene 704 The Victim of Frauds B. Harte 704 The Paradise of Progress A. Lang 706 The One Gray Hair W. S. Landor 706 The Pilgrims and the Peas ....J. Wolcot 706 Pm Growing Old J. G. Saxe 707 What Mr. Eobinson Thinks. ..J. E. Lowell 708 The Sea Anonymous 709 Plain Language from Truth- ful James B. Harte 710 The Cure's Progress A. Dobson 710 The Birth of St. Patrick S. Lover 711 A Literary Curiosity 712 Lidex of First Lines 713 Author's Index 721 Wild-Flowers M, K. Davis Fly Leap Thought-Flowers M. K. Davis.. .Cover LlKI^S^G Title. Artist. Engrave?-. Page. Nature and Song » Cover lining Nature and Books H. G-. Glindoni Fly leaf Vignette Richardson Fly leaf Presentation Fly leaf Statue of "Poetry" (Grand Opera House, Paris) Fly leaf Portrait Henry W. Longfellow Frontispiece Group of Authors Title page Vignette Alfred Fredericks A. Bobbett i.CoPYRiGHT Head Piece, "Preface" v Tail Piece, "Preface" Miss Ashley Shayler vi Head Piece, " Contents" vii Tail Piece, "Contents " F. M. Wilson Cassell xvii Head Piece, "Illustrations" E. Wagner xviii Tail Piece, "Illustrations" Hooper Cassell xxiii Head Piece, "Portraits" Hatherell Cassell xxiv Tail Piece, "Portraits" J. F. Cropsey, N. A Bobbett & Hooper xxv Head Piece, "Autographs" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper xxvi Joy a]md ^ori^ow. "Good news or evil, sunshine or shadow " Charles Gregory M. Klinkicht 28 " Sunlight and shade ; rich gold that dullsto grey" 29 "Down the dimpled greensward dancing" Fitz-August Kaulbach 32 "And her feet she had been dipping" M. L. Gow O. L. Lacour 34 "But wot you what? the youth was going" H. M. Paget J. Swain ,o.o,37 "Maiden, with the meek brown eyes " W. Hatherell Cassell 42 "And the dream I spun was so lengthy " H. W. Cutte .oo.oooo45 "Her book of the favorite poet unheeded at her side" '. B. Vautier ..........Al " They gi'ed him my hand, but my heart was at the sea" ". F. Dadd J. Swain„ , .49 "I, nearer to the wayside inn" F. O. C. Darley, K A Bobbett & Hooper.. .....52 " Break, break, break" A. Barraud Cassell 56 " Blessings on thee, little man" - 58 " Sleep on, baby on the floor" W. J. Hennessy, N. A.. . Bobbett & Hooper, 59 "I've said my 'seven times' over and over" E. J.Whitney Hayes 61 "Too deep for swift telhng; and yet, my one lover" ChildeHassam ...Cowee 63 " O bonny brown sons, and O sweet little daugh- ters" 64 Rip's Eeturn to his Home John S. Davis 0, Maurand 68 Eip's Reception by the Villagers o,cc<.„,.==,...o„JO ILLUSTRATIONS. xix Title. Artist. Engraver. Page. "The horrible conceit of death and night" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper....... .74 "A woman sat in unwomanly rags" Hoppin Anthony 76 "A maiden there lived whom you may know" D. Huntington, Pres.N. A. Bobbett & Hooper 81 The Blind Milton Dictating " Paradise Lost " TO HIS Daughters Michael Munkacsy F. Meaulle 84 "Slie moved where Lindis wandereth " 86 "'The old sea wall,' he cried, 'is downe' " W. Small J. Swain 89 "The western wind was wild and dank with foam"...Macdonough Anthony 93 " To her grave beside the sea".... Macdonough Cox 93 "Three corpses lay out on the shining sands" T. Hovenden Kilburn 96 "Not there! where, then, is he?" Dalziel 100 " Softly woo away her breath" Lisbeth B. Humphrey. . .G. Morisetti 103 " Sweet spring, thou turns't with all thy goodly train" James Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 105 "One more unfortunate, weary of breath" Eytinge Anthony 108 "Started from bed and struck herself a light" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 118 "From sheds new-roof d with Carara." Fenn , Harley 119 Tail Piece A. Zick 120 JhE yVffECTIONg. "Behind us swept past reed and willow" Alice Havers 122 Head Piece 123 "Oh, mother's love is glorifying!" W. J. Hennessy, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 126 "Love thy mother, little one !" Eugene Klimsch G-. Hever & Kirmk 128 "Rest, rest, on mother's breast !" Macdonough Langridge 130 "Tones that never thence depart" W. H. Gore Cassell 132 " For I know that the angels are whispering to thee" * Carl Marr 134 "She laughs: 'Why look you so slyly at me? '" H.M.Paget J. Swain 138 " I read it, my letter, my letter, as I loitered by the sea" T.&E. Taylor 141 "No charm so dear as home and friends around us" ChildeHassam Latham 143 "What is the greatest bliss?" N. Waterman Bobbett & Hooper 145 "In short, sir, 'the belle of the season'" J. Ballavoine 147 " Mark how o'er ocean's breast" J. F„ Kensett, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 149 " The heavens were bright, and all the earth was fair" Davison Knowles 152 "The careless days of peace and pleasure" F. Dicksee M. Klinkicht 155 "By hood and tippet sheltered sweet" Miss Hallock W. J. Linton 175 "In hosts the lilies, white and large" W. Hatherell Cassell 160 " Nestle closely, little hand" M. L. Gow 162 "When stars are in the quiet skies" 164 "Drink to me only with thine eyes" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 169 "Her father loved me; oft invited me" Charles Becker 0. Roth 170 "Bright, O bright Fedalma!" J. Salles M. Weber 174 " Gin a body kiss a body".... 183 "With modest eyes downcast" A. F. Bellows, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 186 " Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more" 188 "Look out, bright eyes, and bless the air !" - M'me Alex. Enault .Schoelch 191 "And she fled to the forest to hear a love tale".. Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 193 "Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds " R. Gignoux, N. A Bobbett &Hooper 195 " She leant against the armed man" Fernand H. Lungren Latham 196 "I saw two clouds at morning" C. C. Griswold W.J.Linton 199 "Now we maun totter down, John" F. Dadd J. Swain 200 XX LIST OF rLLUSTRATION"S. Title. Artist, Engraver. Page. "There's naething binds my puir auld heart" H. M. Paget J. Swain 201 Tail Piece , A. Zick Bong & Honemann ....202 t^EX.iqiojN(, " But peaceful was the night wherein the Prince of Light "....o R. Bong A. Zick 204 Head Piece E. Wagner 205 " When such music sweet" R. Bong A. Zick -..206 "But see, the Virgin blest" 208 " From under the boughs in the snow-clad wood"H. Weir W. Meason 212 "The toil-worn cotter frae his labor goes" ..William Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 216 " Th' expectant wee things, toddHn, stacher through" Chapman Pilmer 217 "The priest-like father reads the sacred page" Chapman Filmer 219 " The youngling cottagers retire to rest" Chapman ...Filmer 220 " But none of the ransomed ever knew" Robert Leins 222 " Now came still evening on, and twilight gray " C. Parsons Bobbett & Hooper 227 "Its waves are kneeling on the strand " Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 228 " Far in a wild, unknown to public view" V. Nehlig, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 239 " When the grave household round his hall repair" G-. G-. Kilburne W. L Mossos 241 " Soon as the evening shades prevail" J. McEntee, N. A... Bobbett & Hooper 248 "Hark, how the birds do sing" 253 Tail Piece H. Catenacci 254 py\3gI0JN AJ^D ^CTIOJM. "With his white hair unbonneted the stout old sheriff comes" E. Crofts, A. R. A. . . . .* ^ ....256 Head Piece E. Crofts, A. R. A. 257 "We buried him darkly at dead of night" Charles Gregory A. Bellenger 263 "Robed in the sable garb of woe" Y. Kehlig, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 268 "'Make way for liberty ! ' he cried" Y. Nehlig, KA Bobbett & Hooper 276 "Press where you see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war " Rochling G. Hever & Kirmk 282 "At Aerschot up leaped of a sudden the sun" Henry Sandham Kilburn 287 " And the sea yawn'd around her like a hell" 290 " The lists are oped, the spacious area clear'd" S. Colman, IST. A Bobbett & Hooper 292 " These heavy walls to me had grown a hermitage" 294 Tailpiece , 296 5 EAUTY, "Beauty shall glide along, circled by song" Tidmarsh 298 "Down in yon summer vale, where the rill flows" —Head Piece E.Wagner 299 "First, lusty Spring all dight in leaves and flowers " William Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 301 " Then came the iolly Sommer, being dight " William Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 301 "Then came the Autumne all in yellow clad" William Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper... ...301 "Lastly came Winter clothed all in frize" William Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 302 "Yet what her lavish hand hath spilled remains "...E. Giacomelli. 303 "In eddying course when leaves began to fly" Childe Hassara A.Wood 305 "The mild November comes at last" ". J. R. Brevoort, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 309 "But the hurrying host that flew between" 310 " From hill to dale, still more and more astray" .• 312 " Cottage and field alike concealed" - 313 "When daffodils begin to peer" , 315 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi Title. Artist. Engrave?'. Page. " The buck in brake his winter coat he flings" James Hart, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 317 "There throw, nice judging, the delusive &y" 318 "Month of little hands with daisies" Butterv/orth & Heath. .319 "Out of the city, fiir away " M. L. Gow Cassell 321 " They come ! the gladsome months that bring thick leafiness to bowers" Fernand H. Lungren Cowee 328 "Now to the cooling shades the cows retreat" 325 Flowers Mrs. Staples Cassell 326 "The panting cattle in the river stand" M. Waterman Bobbett & Hooper 328 " And the gentle summer rain" Hollidge 330 " Innocence shines in the lily's bell" J. A. Hows Bobbett & Hooper 334 " For the rose, ho ! the rose is the eye of the flow- ers" ." 337 Blossoms 339 " Such pretty flowers, like to orphans young" A. D. Shattuck, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 342 " See how the orient dew" Miss Mary A. Lathburg...Closson 343 Daffodils 346 "And where the flowers of Paradise unfold" 348 *' 'Come up, come up,' they seem to say" 350 "Kobert of Lincoln is telling his name" 353 " But all night long" J. A. Hows, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 354 "There is a Power whose care" C. Parsons Bobbett & Hooper 355 " Sweet warblers of the sunny hours" Andrew ....357 "Higher still aud higher" A. F. Elwes « Moss.. 358 " Clear and cool, clear and cool" 361 " Your murmurs bring the pleasant breath" C. Maurand 364 "Glorious fountain ! Let my heart be" J. D. Smillie ...Bobbett & Hooper 366 " Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean— roll!" M. F. H. DeHaas Bobbett & Hooper 368 " Up signal then, and let us hail" C. T. Dix Bobbett & Hooper 369 "Lo! Night's barbaric Khans" DeHaas 372 " Thy troops of white-maned racers racing to the goal" C.Roberts 374 "Throw up the window! 'Tis a morn for life" J. D. Smillie Bobbett & Hooper ....,377 Romeo and Juliet Hermann Kaulbach P. Krey 380 " The meek-eyed morn appears, mother of dews".... G. H. Smillie Bobbett &Hooper 382 "But who the melodies of morn can tell!" G. H. Smillie Bobbett & Hooper 383 " The morning hath not lost her virgin blush" A. F. Bellows, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 384 " The splendor falls on castle walls" Fenn 385 " A woman's wistful eyes look out across the hills "..G. Trench 386 Night ". S. Colman, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 889 " The magic moon is breaking" H. Brinkmann 392 " How dear to this heart are the scenes of my child- hood " A. D. Shattuck N. A Bobbett & Hooper 398 Tail Piece 404 pEF^gONP yVJMD -pHARACTEF^g, Queen Catherine's Defense 406 Head Piece W. Small 407 " She milked into a wooden pail" 408 " Red Riding Hood, the darling" P. Meyerheim 410 " Under a spreading chestnut tree" F. O. C. Darley, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 415 " With what free growth the elm and plane" A. Bierstadt, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 419 "Lo! on he comes, behind his smoking team" J. D. Smillie Bobbett & Hooper. . ,.421 "A matron old, whom we Schoolmistress name" W. J. Hennessy, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 425 "And, sad to see her sorrowful constraint" Fernand H. Lungren Cowee 431 xxii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIOlSrS. Title. Artist. Engraver. Page. "Wei nine and twenty in a eompagnie" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 432 " The pavement stones resound" W. J. Hennessy, N.A Anthony 435 Cleopatra in" Her Barge Hans Makart K. Bong 436 " Jennie kissed me when we met" Hoppin Bobbett & Hooper 440 *'Look at me with thy large brown eyes" E. J. Whitney Hayes 442 " You meaner beauties of the night" S. Colman, N.A Bobbett & Hooper 452 Antony's Oration over Cesar's Dead Body" G. E. V. Berlepsch 456 Tail Piece Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 462 ?) XACEp. Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic 464 " O, ye dales of Tyne!" Head Piece S. Colman, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 465 Niagara F. E. Church, K A Bobbett & Hooper 469 "Breezes of the South, have ye fanned" W. Whittredge, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 472 " But calm in the distance the great hills rose" 476 "Brown-pillared groves and green-arched alleys" S. K. Gifford, K A Bobbett & Hooper 478 "Pleasant were many scenes" J. A. Hows Bobbett & Hooper 480 " The stately hames of England" ^ 484 "For to the hills has Freedom ever clung" E. S. Gilford, K A Bobbett & Hooper 485 " And all the village train, from labor free" W. Whittredge, IST. A Bobbett & Hooper 487 " I see the rabbit upward bound" ] 494 "Among the woods and o'er the pathless rocks" A, B. Durand, N". A Bobbett & Hooper 496 " Father, thy hand hath reared these venerable col- umns" Bullen , Bullen 498 The Alhambra 500 Eton College, from the Eiver 502 " Chicago vanished in a cloud" E. Whymper E. Whymper 506 " I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs" E. Whymper E. Whymper 512 " One lonely ray that gltmced upon a bed" Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper. 521 l^EfjLECTIOJM, Morning Meditations C. Karger 524 "Upon the sadness of the sea" — Head Piece J. A. Suydam, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 625 " Sad soul, take comfort, nor forget" 526 " The light of the bright world dies" 529 "Zephyr, with Aurora playing" 535 " Where throngs of knights and barons bold" 536 "Come pensive nun, devout and pure" ..Eastman Johnson, IST. A. ..Bobbett & Hooper 537 "Where the rude ax with heaved stroke" ,...538 " There let the pealing organ blow" 539 " A beautiful and happy girl" 544 "Companionship with Books 552 "Fori did not bring home the river and sky" A. Barraud 0. L. Lacour 572 Joyous Youth H. P. Gray, V. P. N. A. ..Bobbett & Hooper. 581 "The earth and every common sight" W. St. John Harper Schoelch 586 " And by the vision splendid" Childe Hassam oCowee 588 The Troubles oe Childhood Ferdinand Padien Walla 594 " There is a silver lining to every cloud " 602 "A weaver sat one day at his loom" W. T. Smedley Cowee 604 End-Piece Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 624 f A]NCY. Whisperings of Fancy... 626 "It was a strange and lovely sight" — He ad-Piece... Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 627 Ferdinand and Ariel Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 634 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOKS. XXlll Title. Artist, Engraver. Page. "'Twas at the royal feast, for Persia won" V. Nehlig, N. A Bobbett & Hooper 640 "At last divine Cecilia came" Kafael Santi d'Urbino 641 "They stole little Bridget" Bellew Cox 643 " Oh, these be Fancy's revelers by night! " Mrs. Jessie Curtis Shep- herd 644 "I do wander everywhere" 646 "Full on the casement shone the wintry moon" Fernand H. Lungren Cowee 561 "On the bat's back I do fly" 667 Tail Piece Alfred Fredericks Bobbett & Hooper 670 '^\T JKND J4UM0F^ "Eobin Hood took the friar on his back" 672 "The army surgeon made him limbs" — ^Head- Piece....!^ W. Ealston W. I. Mossos 673 " And when she saw his wooden legs" W. Ealston W. I. Mossos 674 "I know her, the thing of laces, and silk" Miss Ledyard MacDonald 686 Kathakiots ANT) Petruchio A. von Grundherr Kuesing 698 " They turn up the rugs— they examine the mugs" W. Ealston W. I. Mossos 702 "Sothey canonized him by the name of Jim Crow" W. Ealston W. I. Mossos 704 Tailpiece 712 Head Piece, "Index of First Ld^es" T.Griffiths Cassell 713 Tail Piece, "Index of First Lines" Miss Slader Cassell. 720 Head Piece, "Authors' Index" .721 Tail Piece, "Author's Index" J. Staples 744 Wild-Flowers Fly Leaf Thought-Flowers Coyer Lining Anne Hathaway's Cottage. {See Page 43S.) ApDiso]^, Joseph 567 Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 31 Arnold, Matthew 575 Bacon, Sir Francis 600 Bailey, Philip James 532 Beaumont, Francis = 89 Browning, Elizabeth Barrett 415 Browning, Eobert 136 Bryant, "William Cullen 622 BuLWER, Edward, Lord Lytto^^ 178 Burns, Eobert 224 Byron, Lord George Gordon.... 620 Cable, George "W 678 Campbell, Thomas 190 Carleton, Will H 700 Carlyle, Thomas 598 Cary, Alice 401 Cary, Phcebe 231 Chaucer, Geoffrey 438 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 198 CowPER, William 367 De Quincey, Thomas 659 Dickens, Charles 341 DoBSON, Austin 711 Drummond, William 612 Dryden, John 214 Eliot, George, (Marian Evans Cross) 616 Emerson, Ealph Waldo 584 Fletcher, John 89 Gallagher, William D .....307 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang ton. 609 Goldsmith, Oliver 491 Gray, Thomas 637 Halleck, Fitz-Greene 447 Harte, (Francis) Bret 705 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 518 Hayne, Paul Hamilton 375 Heber, Eeginald 215 Hemans, Felicia Dorothea 485 Herbert, George 252 Hogg, James 252 Holland, Josiah Gilbert 571 Holmes, Oliyer Wendell 395 Hood, Thomas 695 Howe, Julia Ward 275 Howells, William Dean 151 Hugo, Victor 246 Hunt, Leigh 234 Ingelow, Jean 65 Irving, Washington 474 Jackson, Helen 562 Johnson, Samuel 459 JoNsoN, Ben 648 Keats, John 79 KiNGSLEY, Charles 362 Lamb, Charles <. 564 Landor, Walter Savage 706 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Frontispiece. Lowell, James Eussell 709 Lytton, Edward Egbert Bulwer-Lytton, Earl (Owen Meredith) 156 Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Lord 284 Marston, Philip Bourke 443 Massey, Gerald HO Miller, Joaquin 167 Milton, John 546 Montgomery, James 444 Moore, Thomas 403 More, Hannah 606 Morris, George P 400 Motherwell, William 166 Payne, John Howard 466 Percival, James Gates 642 PoE, Edgar Allan ...657 Pope, Alexander 232 Praed, Winthrop Mackworth ..685 Prentice, George Dennison 99 Procter, Bryan Waller ("Barry Corn- wall") 259 Ealeigh, Sir Walter 189 Eead, Thomas Buchanan 367 EoGERs, Samuel 461 Euskin, John 114 Eyan, Abram J 250 Saxe, John Godfrey 708 Schiller, Johanjs- Friedrich von 591 PORTRAITS. XXV Scott, Sir Walter 558 Shakspere, William , 554 Shelley, Percy Bysshe 308 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley 150 Sidney, Sir Philip 522 SiGouRNEY, Lydia Huntley 614 Smith, Alexander 615 Smith, Sydney 677 SouTHEY, Robert 177 Spenser, Edmund 429 Stoddard, Eichard Henry 153 Suckling, Sir John 173 Swinburne, Charles Algernon. 578 Taylor, Bayard 402 Tennyson, Lord Alfred 54 Thackeray, William Makepeace 691 Thomson, James 312 Thoreau, Henry D 530 TucKERMAN, Henry Theodore 55 Welby, Amelia B 393 White, Henry Kirke 251 Whittier, John Greenleaf 210 Willis, Nathaniel Parker 124 Winter, William 116 Wordsworth, William 446 Young, Edward 681 ^S^^'&^^^^^^^Mmfmm^^^^^m^^^E^ ■■^■«i Browning, Elizabeth Barrett .From "The Sword of Castruccio Castrucani "...273 Browning, Robert From "How We Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix." 288 Bryant, William Cullen From "The Planting of the Apple Tree" 356 Burns, Robert " Bruce's Address" « 260 Carleton, Will H From "Rifts in the Cloud" 238 Carlyle, Thomas From "Past and Present" (translated from Goethe) 527 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor From "Psyche" 557 Emerson, Ralph Waldo From "The Humble Bee" 638 Gray, Thomas From the "Elegy in a Country Churchyard".. ..619 Halleck, Fitz-Greene From "On the Death of Joseph Rodman Drake" 448 Harte, (Francis) Bret "The Mountain Heartsease" 232 Hawthorne, Nathaniel "I have been a happy man" 112 Holland, Josiah Gilbert ("Timothy Titcomb") " Wanted!" 412 Holmes, Oliver Wendell From "The Last Leaf". .• 434 Hood, Thomas From "The Song of the Shirt" 77 Hunt, Leigh From " Abou Ben Adhem" 235 Ingelow, Jean From "Supper at the Mill" 181 Keats, John "The wonders of all-ruling Providence" 213 KiNGSLEY, Charles From "The sands of Dee" 92 Lamb, Charles From "The Self-Enchanted" 394 Longfellow, Henry W From "The Day is Done" 148 Lowell, James Russell "What figure more immovably august" 420 Miller, Joaquin "Rome" 509 Milton, John From "The Masque of Comus" 547 Montgomery, James "Hail the High, the Holy One " 245 Moore, Thomas " Filled with balm the gale sighs on" 184 Payne, John Howard " Home, Sweet Home!" 467 PoE, Edgar Allan "Alone" 40 Procter, Bryan Waller (Barry Cohnwall) From "The Sea" 371 Saxe, John Godfrey '' Spes est Vates" 570 Scott, Sir Walter. Prom "Marmion" 279 Shelley, Percy Bysshe From the Dedication to "The Revolt of Islam" 140 Smith, S. F From "America" 266 SouTHEY, Robert "Birds of a feather flock together" 680 Stedman, Edmund Clarence From "The Doorstep" 152 Stoddard, Richard Henry " Thoughts " 548 Taylor, Bayard From "The Song of the Camp " 159 Tennyson, Alfred From " The Princess" 36 Thackeray, William Makepeace " Sorrows of Werther" 690 Whittier, John Greenleaf From "Miriam" 229 Willis, Nathajsiel Parker From "Unseen Spirits" 423 Good news or evil, sunshine or shadow — What is the message the postman bore?" "Sunlicrht and Shade; rich gold that dulls to giej ; So runs the tale of life from day to day." pOEM^ Of Joy and ^oi^i^ow. GOOD J^EWS, OB BAD? tOOD news or evil, sunshine or shadow — What is the message the postman bore, Meeting a lassie midway in the meadow, Bringing a letter from distant shore ? " Wounded to death !" — so ran the letter — "Wounded to death in the front of the frayl" Dying right nobly surely is better Than living to bask in life's sunniest ray ! " Wounded to death I — Aye, almost to dying, But the great God gave back the life that seemed lost. And even now while the maiden was sighing, The far-stretching leagues of the ocean were crossed ; And just when the sky seemed most cloudy and dreary. And all was as dark as a dull autumn day. The soldier was back with his own little dearie. And the sunshine burst forth with a glad summer ray. George Weathekly. SUMLIGHT AJVD SHADE. §UXLIGHT and Shade; rich gold that dulls to grey ; The fairest summer morn, radiant with light. Succeeded by the gloomiest Winter night— So runs the tale of Life from day to day. And no man knows when, ranked in close ar- ray. The thick black clouds will hide the sun from sight, And darken all that has been glad and bright. And make Life for awhile a shadowed way. 'Mid Sun and Shadow, happiness and woe, The years roll on, each bringing its due share Of pure unruffled joy, and stormy care; And yet, if men will only have it so. The dark days will be short, and every one Will have his long fair summer day of sun ! George Weatkerly. 30 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. UJVDEB MY WIJVDOW. fN'DER my window, under my window, All in the midsummer weather, Three little girls, with fluttering curls, Flit to and fro together I There's Belle with her bonnet of satin sheen. And Maude with her mantle of silver-green. And Kate with her scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window, Leaning stealthily over. Merry and clear, the voice I hear Of each glad-hearted rover. Ah ! sly little Kate, she steals my roses. And Maude and Belle twine wreaths and posies. As merry as bees in clover. Under my window, under my window In the blue midsummer weather, Stealing slow, on a hushed tip-toe, 1 catch them all together ! Belle with her bonnet of satin sheen. And Maude with her mantle of silver-green, And Kate with her scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window. And off through the orchard closes ; While Maude she flouts and Belle she pouts. They scamper and drop their posies ; But dear little Kate takes naught amiss. And leaps in my arms with a loving kiss, And I give her all my roses. Thomas Westwood. LITTLE BELL. flPED the blackbird on the beechwood spray, '• Pretty maid, slow wandering this way, What's your name ?" quoth he ; " What's your name ? Oh, stop, and straight unfold, Pretty maid, with showery curls of gold ?" " Little Bell," said she. Little Bell sat down beneath the rocks. Tossing aside her gleaming golden locks ; *' Bonny bird," quoth she, " Sing me your best song before I go." " Here's the very finest song I know, Little Bell," said he. And the blackbird piped ; you never heard Half so gay a song from any bird ; Full of quips and wiles. Now so round and rich, now soft and slow, All for love of that sweet face below, Dimpled o'er with smiles. And the while the bonny bird did pour His full heart freely o'er and o'er 'Neath the morning skies. In the little childish heart below, All the sweetness seemed to grow and grow. And shine forth in happy overflow. From the blue, bright eyes. Down the dell she tripped and through the glade ; Peeped the squirrel from the hazel shade, And from out the tree Swung and leaped and frolicked, void of fear ; While bold blackbird piped that all might hear; " Little Bell," piped he. Little Bell sat down amid the fern ; " Squirrel, squirrel, to your task return ; Bring me nuts," quoth she. Up away the frisky squirrel hies. Golden woodlights glancing in his eyes. And adown the tree Great ripe nuts, kissed brown by July sun. In the little lap dropped one by one ; Hark, how blackbird pipes to see such fun ! " Happy Bell ;" pipes he. Little Bell looked up and down the glade ; " Squirrel, squirrel, if you're not afraid. Come and share with me :" Down came squirrel eager for his fare ; Down came bonny blackbird, I declare ; Little Bell gave each his honest share, Ah, the merry three ! And the while these frolic playmates twain Piped and frisked from bough to bough again, 'Neath the morning skies. In the little childish heart below All the sweetness seemed to grow and grow. And shine out in happy overflow From her blue, bright eyes. By her snow-white cot at close of day, Knelt sweet Bell, with folded palms, to pray ; Very calm and clear Rose the praying voice to where, unseen, In blue heaven, an angel shape serene Paused awhile to hear. " What good child is this," the angel said, POEMS OF JOY AND SOEROW. 31 " That with happy heart beside her bed Prays so lovingly ?" Low and soft, oh, very low and soft. Crooned the blackbird in the orchard croft, " Bell, dear Bell," crooned he. " Whom God's creatures love," the angel fair Murmured, ''God doth bless with angels' care; Child, thy bed shall be Folded safe from harm. Love, deep and kind. Shall watch around and leave good gifts be- hind. Little Bell, for thee !" Thomas Westwood. And thus came dainty Babie Bell Into this world of ours. She came, and brought delicious May : The swallows built beneath the eaves ; Like sunlight in and out the leaves, The robins went, the livelong day. The lily swung its noiseless bell. And o'er the porch the trembling vine Seemed bursting with its veins of wine. How sweetly, softly, twilight fell ! Oh, earth was full of singing birds And opening Spring- tide flowers, When the dainty Babie Bell Came to this world of ours! Thomas Bailey Aldrich. BABIE BELL'S COMIJfG. (From "The Ballad of Babie Bell." ) T^TAYE you not heard the poets tell M[ How came the dainty Babie Bell Into this world of ours ? The gates of heaven were left ajar ; With folded hands and dreamy eyes Wandering out of Paradise, She saw this planet, like a star, Hung in the glistening depths of even ; Its bridges running to and fro. O'er which the white-winged angels go, Bearing the holy dead to heaven : She touched a bridge of flow^ers, those feet So light, they did not bend the bells Of the celestial asphodels ; They fell like dew upon the flowers : Then aU the air grew strangely sweet ; Thomas Bailey Aldrich. COMPAJflOMSHIP WITH CHILBREM. (From "Little Annie's Ramble" in "Twice-Told Tales.") WEET has been the charm of childhood on my spirit, throughout my ramble with little Annie ! Say not that it has been a waste of precious moments, an idle matter, a bab- ble of childish talk, and a reverie of childish imaginations about topics unworthy of a grown man's notice. Has it been merely this ? ISTot so ; not so. They are not truly wise who would affirm it. As the pure breath of children revives the life of aged men, so is our moral nature revived by their free and simple thoughts, their native feeling, their airy mirth, for little cause or none, their grief, soon roused and soon allayed. Their influence on us is at least reciprocal with ours on them. When our infancy is almost forgotten, and our boyhood long departed, though it seems but as yesterday ; when life settles darkly down upon us, and w^e doubt whether to call ourselves young any more, then it is good to steal away from the society of bearded men, and even of gentler women, and spend an hour or two with children. After drinking from those fountains of still fresh existence, we shall return into the crowd, as I do now, to struggle onward and do our part in life, perhaps as fervently as ever, but, for a time, with a kinder and purer heart, and a spirit more lightly wise. All this by thy sweet magic, dear little Annie ! NaTTTATSTTTCL HAWTHORiSE. POEMS OF JOY AKD SORROW. "Down the dimpled greensward dancing THE GAMBOLS OF CHILDREJV. ^OWIST the dimpled greensward dancing, Bursts a flaxen-headed bevy ; Bud-lipped boys and girls advancing, Love's irregular little levy. Rows of liquid eyes in laughter. How they glimmer, how they quiver I Sparkling one another after, Like bright ripples on a river. Tipsy band of rubious faces, Flushed with joy's ethereal spirit, Make your mocks and sly grimaces At Love's self and do not fear it. George Darley. POEMS OF JOY AND SOEEOW. 33 MOTHER JfATURE. row like a tender mother, with loving W\ thoughts beguiled, Fond Nature seems to lull to rest each faint and weary child ! Drawing the curtain tenderly, affectionate and mild. Give, sometimes give your sunny gleam, And let the rest good-humor find ; Yes, let me hail, and welcome give To every joy my lot may share. And pleased and pleasing let me live, With merry heart that laughs at care. Hksey Haet Milmax. Hark to the gentle lullaby, that through the trees is creeping! Those sleepy trees that nod their heads, ere the moon as yet comes peeping, Like a tender nurse, to see if all her little ones are sleeping. One little fluttering bird, like a child in a dream of pain, Has chirped and started up, then nestled down again. Oh, a child and a bird, as they sink to rest, are as like as any twain. Chaelotte Yoitng. THE MERRY HEART WOULD not from the wise require The lumber of their learned lore ; Nor would I from the rich desire A single counter of their store ; For I have ease and I have health. And I have spirits light as air. And more than wisdom, more than wealth, A merry heart that laughs at care. Like other mortals of my kind, I've struggled for Dame Fortune's favor ; And sometimes have been half inclined To rate her for her ill behavior ; But life was short ; I thought it folly To lose its moments in despair, So slipped aside from melancholy. With merry heart that laughed at care. So now, from idle wishes clear, I make the good I may not find ; Adown the stream I gently steer, And shift my sail with every wind ; And half by nature, half by reason. Can still, with pliant heart prepare The mind, attuned to every season. The merry heart that laughs at care. Yet, wrap me in your sweetest dream, Ye social feeling of the mind ; THE ROMAJ^CE OF THE S WAX'S JYEST ^ ITTLE Ellie sits alone M£ 'Mid the beeches of a meadow By a stream-side on the grass, And the trees are showering down Doubles of their leaves in shadow On her shining hair and face. She has thrown her bonnet by. And her feet she has been dipping. In the shallow water's flow. Now she holds them nakedly In her hands all sleek and dripping. While she rocketh to and fro. Little Ellie sits alone. And the smile she softly uses Fills the silence like a speech, While she thinks what shall be done, — And the sweetest pleasure chooses For her future within reach. . Little Ellie in her smile Chooses — " I will have a lover, Eiding on a steed of steeds ! He shall love me without guile. And to him I will discover The swan's nest among the reeds. " And the steed shall be red-roan. And the lover shall be noble. With an eye that takes the breath. And the lute he plays upon Shall strike ladies into trouble. As his sword strikes men to death. " And the steed it shall be shod, Airin silver, housed in azure. And the mane shall swim the wind, And the hoofs along the sod Shall flash onward and keep measure TiU the shepherds look behind. 34 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. " But my lover will not prize All the glory that he rides in. When he gazes in my face, He will say — * O Love, thine eyes Build the shrine my soul abides in, And I kneel here for thy grace !' " Then, ay, then he shall kneel low, With the red-roan steed anear him Wiiich shall seem to under- stand. Till I answer — 'Rise and go ' I will utter, and dissemble — Light to-morrow with to-day ! " Then he'll ride among the hills. To the wide world past the river. There to put away all wrong ; To make straight distorted wills, 'And her feet she had been dipping In the shallow water's flow." For the world must love and fear him Whom I gift with heart and hand.' *' Then he will arise so pale, I shall feel my own lips tremble With a yes I must not say : Nathless maiden-brave, * Farewell,* And to empty the broad quiver Which the wicked bear along. " Three times shall a young foot-page Swim the stream and climb the mountain, And kneel down beside my feet — * Lo, my master sends this gage, POEMS OF JOY AKD SORROW. 35 Lady, for thy pity's counting ! What wilt thou exchange for it ?' . "And the first time I will send A white rose-bud for a guerdon, — And the second time, a glove ; But the third time — I may bend From my pride, and answer — ' Pardon, If he comes to take my love.' " Then the young foot-page will run- Then my lover will ride faster. Till he kneeleth at my knee : ' I am a duke's eldest son ! Thousand serfs do call me master, — But, O Love, I love but thee !' " He will kiss me on the mouth Then, and lead me as a lover Through the crowds that praise his deeds ; And, when soul-tied by one troth, Unto him I will discover That swan's nest among the reeds." Little Ellie, with her smile Kot yet ended, rose up gaily ; Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe, And went homeward, round a mile, Just to see, as she did daily, What more eggs were with the two. Pushing through the elm-tree copse, Winding up the stream, liglit-hearted, Where the osier pathway leads — Past the boughs she stoops — and stops. Lo, the wild swan had deserted^ And a rat had gnawed the reeds. Ellie went home sad and slow. If she found the lover ever, With his red-roan steed of steeds, Sooth, I know not! but I know She could never show him — never. That swan's nest among the reeds. Elizabeth Barrett BRO^^'NING. SOJVJYET TO SLEEP. f ARE-CHARMER Sleep, son of the sable Night, Brother to Death, in silent darkness born, Relieve my anguish, and restore the light, With dark forgetting of my care, return. And let the day be time enough to mourn The shipwreck of my ill-advised youth ; Let waking eyes suffice to wail their scorn, Without the torments of the night's untruth. Cease, dreams, the images of day-desires, To model forth the passions of to-morrow ; Never let the rising sun prove you liars. To add more grief, to aggravate my sorrow. Still let me sleep, embracing clouds in vain, And never wake to feel the day's disdain. Samuel Daniel. 'SOME MURMUR WHE.Y THEIR SKY IS CLEAR." fOME murmur when their sky is clear And wholly bright to view. If one small speck of dark appear In their great heaven of blue. And some with thankful love are filled, If but one streak of light, One ray of God's good mercy gild The darkness of their night. In palaces are hearts that ask. In discontent and pride. Why life is such a dreary task. And an good things denied ? And hearts in poorest huts admire How love has in their aid (Love that not ever seems to tire) Such rich provisions made. Richard Cheveotx Trench. SOJ^JYET. '^? IFE, joy and splendor with the year awake, V'M The young Spring smiles on Winter pass- ed away ; The air is balmy with the coming May, A bridal music rings from bush and brake. All things the glory of the time partake ; I would be bright and joyous even as they. But tearful memory dims the golden day ; The light glares sickly, while this heart must ache For eyes long closed, that fondly turned to mine. And voices dear forever dumb to me ; Yet, as the warm wind murmurs in the pine, Sorrow grows mild and sufferance less sore ; I hear soft whispers from the unseen shore, With promise of eternal Spring to be. Anonymous. 36 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. FROM "THE PBIJ^CESSr fk4,^ ^ ^^ f*^ K9 ^>wijC/^ A/VU A^ ^LiPJL ^Tki THE HOUSE OF CLAY. fHERE was a house — a house of clay Wherein the inmate sang all day, Merry and poor. For Hope sat likewise heart to heart, Fond and kind — fond and kind, Vowing he never would depart — Till all at once he changed his mind — 'Sweetheart, good-by!" he slipped away. And shut the door. But Love came past, and looking in, With smiles that pierced like sunshine thin, Through wall, roof, floor. Stood in the midst of that poor room, Grand and fair — grand and fair. Making a glory out of gloom. Till at the window mocked old Care — Love sighed — " all lose and nothing win I" He shut the door, Then o'er the barred house of clay, Kind jasmine and clematis gay Grew evermore ; And bees hummed merrily outside Loud and strong — loud and strong, The inner silentness to hide, The steadfast silence all day long — Till evening touched with finger gray The close-shut door. Most like the next that passes by. Will be the angel whose calm eye Marks rich, marks poor ; Who pausing not at any gate, Stands and calls — stands and calls ; At which the inmate opens straight— Whom, ere the crumbling clay house falls, He takes in kind arms silently Arid shuts the door. Anonymous, POEMS OF JOY AXD SOP.HOW. 37 A BALLAD UPOJV A WEDDLXG. TELL thee, Dick, where I have been, Where I the rarest things have seen, Oh, things without compare! Such sights again cannot be found In any place on English ground, Be it at wake or fair. At Charing Cross, hard by the way WTiere we, thou know'st, do sell our hav, At Course-a park, without all doubt. He should have first been taken out By all the maids o' the to^vn ; Though lusty Koger there had been. Or little George upon the Green, Or Vincent of the Crown. But wot you what ? the youth was goin< But wot you what ? the youth was going To make au end of all his wooinsr." There is a house with stairs ; And there did I see coming down Such folk as are not in our town Forty at least, in pairs. Amongst the rest, one pest'lent fine (His beard no bigger, though, than thine) Walked on before the rest ; Our landlord looks like nothing to him ; The king, God bless him ! 'twould undo him, Should he go still so drest, The parson for him stayed ; Yet by his leave, for all his haste, He did not so much wish all past. Perchance, as did the maid. The maid, and thereby hangs a tale. For such a maid no Whitsun' ale Could ever yet produce ; No grape that's kindly ripe could be So round, so plump, so soft as she, ^or half so full of juice. 3S POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW, Her finger was so small, tlie ring Would not stay on which they did bring, It was too wide a peck ; And to say truth, for out it must. It looked like the great collar, just. About our young colt's neck. Her feet beneath her petticoat Like little mice stole in and out. As if they feared the light ; And oh, she dances such a way. No sun upon an Easter-day Is half so fine a sight ! Her cheeks so rare a white was on No daisy makes comparison. Who sees them is undone ; For streaks of red were mingled there, Such as are on a Cath'rine pear, The side that's next the sun. Her lips were red ; and one was thin. Compared to that was next her chin. Some bee had stung it newly ; But, Dick, her eyes so guard her face, I durst no more upon them gaze Than on the sun in July. Her mouth so small, when she does speak, Thou'dst swear her teeth her words did break, That they might passage get ; But she so handled still the matter. They came as good as ours, or better. And are not spent a whit. Passion o' me! how I run on! There's that that would be thought upon, I trow, beside the bride ; The business of the kitchen's great, For it is fit that men should eat, Nor was it there denied. Just in the nick, the cook knocked thrice, And all the waiters in a trice His summons did obey ; Each serving-man, with dish in hand. Marched boldly up, like our trained band. Presented, and away. When all the meat was on the table, What man of knife, or teeth, was able To stay to be entreated ? And this the very reason was. Before the parson could say grace, The company was seated. Now hats fly ofi", and youths carouse ; Healths first go round, and then the house. The bride's came thick and thick ; And when 'twas named another's health, Perhaps he made it hers by stealth. And who could help it, Dick ? O' the sudden up they rise and dance ; Then sit again, and sigh, and glance. Then dance again, and kiss. Thus several ways the time did pass. Till every woman wished her place. And every man wished his. By this time all were stolen aside To counsel and undress the bride ; But that he must not know ; But yet 'twas thought he guessed her mind. And did not mean to stay behind Above an hour or so. Sm John Suckling. . OX THE THRESHOLD. I. lg)ING out, O bells, ring silver-sweet o'er W\^ hill and moor and fell ! In mellow echoes let your chimes their hope- ful story tell. Ring out, ring out, all jubilant, this joyous glad refrain : "' A bright new year, a glad new year, hath come to us again !" n. Ah, who can say how much of joy within it there may be Stored up for us, who listen now to your sweet melody ? Good-bye, Old Year, tried, trusty friend, thy tale at last is told. O New Year, write thou thine for us in lines of brightest gold. in. The flowers of Spring must bloom at last, when gone the Winter's snow ; God grant that after sorrow past, we all some joy may know. Though tempest-tossed our bark a while on life's rough waves may be. There comes a day of calm at last, when we the Haven see. IV. Then ring, ring on, O pealing bells ! there's music in the sound. Ring on, ring on, and still ring on, and wake the echoes round. The while we wish, both for ourselves and all whom we bold dear, That God may gracious be to us In this the bright new year! Anonymous, POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. 39 ^OME, Sleep, and with tliy sweet deceiving V2y Lock me in delight awhile ; Let some pleasing dreams beguile All my fancies ; that from thence I may feel an influence, All my powers of care bereaving ! IJfVOCATIOJY TO SLEEP. Though but a shadow, but a sliding, Let me know some little joy ; We that sufler long annoy Are contented with a thought, Through an idle fancy wrought ; Oh, let my joys have some abiding! Beaumont and Fletchek. Francis Beaumont. John Fletcher. A QUESTION. jTOY comes and goes, hope ebbs and flows QJ Like the wave ; Change doth unknit the tranquil strength of men. Love lends life a little grace, A few sad smiles, and then Both are laid in one cold place. In the grave. Dreams dawn and fly, friends smile and die Like spring flowers ; Our vaunted life is one long funeral. Men dig graves with bitter tears For their dead hopes ; and all, Mazed with doubts and sick with fears. Count the hours. We coimt the hours ! These dreams of ours False and hollow. 3 Do we go hence and find that they are not dead ! Joys we daily apprehend. Faces that smiled and fled, Hopes born here, and born to end. Shall we follow ? Matthew Arnold. IT KE VEB COMES AG AIM. f^HERE are gains for all our losses, W There are balms for all our pain But when youth, the dream, departs. It takes something from our hearts. And it never comes again. We are stronger, and are better, Under manhood's sterner reign ; Still we feel that something sweet Followed youth, with flying feet. And win never come again. 40 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. Sometliing beautiful is vanislied, On the eartli, and in the air, And we sigh for it in vain ; But it never comes again. We behold it everywhere, Richard Henry Stoddard. J^.^ ^^"-^^ ijf^^*^ ^ ^<^' -^^;^ 7" X c^^^ i?Jk..j,<^^^£-/^/^ POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. 41 THE BABY. W'HERE did you come from, baby dear? Out of the everywhere into here. Where did you get the eyes so blue ? Out of the sky, as I came through. Where did you get that little tear ? I found it in waiting when I got here. What makes your forehead so smooth and high ? A soft hand stroked it as I went by. What makes your cheek like a warm, white rose ? I saw something better than any knows. Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss ? Three angels gave me at once a kiss. Where did you get this pretty ear ? God spoke, and it came out to hear. Where did you get those arms and hands ? Love made itself into hooks and bands. Feet, whence did you come, you darling things ! From the same box as the cherub's wings. How did they all come just to be you ? God thought of me, and so I grew. But, how did you come to us, you dear ? God thought about you, and so I am here. George MacDonald. AT THE KIJTG'S GATE. t BEGGAR sat at the king's gate And sang of summer in the rain— A song with sounds reverberate Of wood and hill and plain, That, rising, bore a tender weight Of sweetness, strong and passionate ; A song with sigh of mountain pass, Ripple and rustle of deep grass. The whispering of wind-smote sheaves, Low lapping of long lily leaves. Red morns and purple-mooned eves. The king was w^eary of his part. The king was tired of his crown ; He looked across the rainy land, Across the barren stretch of sand, Out to the breadth of rainy sea. He heard the wind beat loud and free, The gilded casement, sullenly Falling away with mist and rain, " But, oh, it's a weary thing To wear a crown and be a king Oh, for one golden hour and sweet, To serve the king with willing feet I" But he would sleep and from his heart The jeweled, silken girdle loose. And give it room to turn and choose An easier measure for its beat. Into the gilded chamber crept A breath of summer, blown with rain And wild wet leaves against the pane. The royal sleeper smiled and slept. " I thought that all things sweet were dead!'' They heard him say who came to wed The crown again to the king's head. Anonymous. KEYS. Yf ONG ago in old Granada, when the Moors ml were forced to flee. Each man locked his home behind him, taking in his flight the key. Hopefully they watched and waited for the time to come when they Should return from their long exile to those homes so far away. But the mansions in Granada they had left in all their prime Vanished, as the years rolled onward, 'neath the crumbling touch of Time. Like the Moors, we all have dwellings where we vainly long to be. And through all life's changing phases ever fast we hold the key. Our fair country lies behind us ; we are exiles, too, in truth. For no more shall we behold her. Our Gran- ada's name is Youth. We have our delusive day-dreams, and rejoice when, now and then. Some old heartstring stirs within us, and we feel our youth again. "We are young!" we cry triumphant, thrilled with old-time joy and glee. Then the dream fades slowly, softly, leaving nothing but the key I Bessie Chandlek. 42 POEMS OF JOY ANT> SORROW. MAIDEJ{HOOD. W{ AIDEK, with the meek, brown eyes, •jW\ In whose orbs a shadow lies Like the dusk in evening skies ! Thou, whose locks outshine the sun, Golden tresses, wreathed in one, As the braided streamlets run ! Then why pause with indecision, "When bright angels in thy vision Beckon thee to fields Elysian ? Seest thou shadows sailing by, As the dove, with startled eye, Sees the falcon's shadow fly ? Maiden, with the meek, brown eyes, In whose orbs a shadow lies." Standing, with reluctant feet Where the brook and river meet, Womanhood and childhood fleet! Gazing, with a timid glance, On the brooklet's swift advance, On the river's broad expanse ! Deep and still, that gliding stream Beautiful to thee must seem As the river of a dream. Hearest thou voices on the shore. That our ears perceive no more. Deafened by the cataract's roar ? O, thou child of many prayers ! Life hath quicksands, — Life hath snares ; Care and age come unawares! Like the swell of some sweet tune, ' Morning rises into noon. May glides onward into June. POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW, 43 Childhood is the bough where skimbered Birds and blossoms many-numbered ; Age, the bough with snows encumbered. Gather, then, each flower that grows, When the young heart overflows. To embalm that tent of snows. HeXKY WaDSWORTH LOXGITLLOAA'. THE CITY OF THE LIVIXG. N" a long banished age, whose varied story Xo record has to-day, So long ago expired its grief and glory, There flourished far away. In a broad realm, whose beauty passed all measure, A city far and wide, Wherein the dwellers lived in pea^ce and pleasure, And never any died. Disease and pain and death, those stern ma- rauders That mar our world's fair face,' Xever encroached upon the pleasant borders Of this bright dwelling-place. Xo fear of parting, and no dread of dying Could ever enter there ; Xo mourning for the lost, no anguished cry- ing, Made any face less fair. Without the city's walls Death reigned as ever, And graves rose side by side ; Within the people laughed at his endeavor, And never any died. O happiest of all earth's favored places I Oh, bliss to dwell therein I To live in the sweet light of loving faces And fear no grave between. To feel no death-damp growing cold and cold- er, Disputing Life's warm truth ; To live on never lonelier nor older, Radiant in deathless youth. And hurrying from the world's remotest quar- ters A tide of pilgrims flowed Across broad plains and over mighty waters To find that blest abode. And there they lived in happiness and pleas- ure. And grew in power and pride. And did great deeds and laid up stores of treasure. And never any died. And many years rolled on and saw them striv- ing With unabated breath ; And other years still found and left them liv- And gave no hope of death. Yet listen, hapless soul whom angels pity, Craving a boon like this ; Mark how the dwellers of the wondrous city Grew weary of their bliss. One and another who had been concealing The pain of life's long thrall, Forsook their pleasant faces and came steal- ing Outside the city's wall. Craving with wish that brooked no more denying. So long had it been crossed. The blessed possibility of dying — The treasure they had lost ! Daily the current of rest-seeking mortals Swelled to a broader tide, 'Till none were left ^yithin the city's portals. And graves grew green outside. Would it be worth the having or the giving. The boon of endless breath ? Ah, for the weariness that comes of living There is no cure but death! Ours were, indeed, a case deserving pity Were that sweet rest denied ; And few, methinks, would care to find the city Where never any died ! Elizabeth Akers Allen. beyojYD the gate. ^T^WO dimpled hands the bars of iron grasp- F ed; Two blue and wondering eyes the space looked through. This massive gate a boundary had been set, Xor was she ever known to be but true. 44 POEMS OF JOY AKD SORROW. Strange were the sights she saw across the way— A little child had died some days before — And as she watched, amid the silence hushed, Some carried flowers, some a casket bore. The little watcher at the garden gate Grew tearful, hers such thoughts and won- derings were. Till said the nurse : " Come here, dear child. Weep not. We all must go. 'Tis God has sent for her." " If He should send for me" — thus spoke the child— " I'll have to tell the angel, ' Do not wait. Though God has sent for me, I cannot come ; I never go beyond the garden gate.' " Kathakine McDowell Rice. REST. W{ Yfeet are wearied, and my hands are tired, ^/Wi My soul oppressed — And I desire, what I have long desired — Rest — only rest. 'Tis hard to toil, when toil is almost vain, In barren ways ; 'Tis hard to sow, and never garner grain In harvest days. The burden of my days is hard to bear, But God knows best ; And I have prayed, but vain has been my prayer, For rest — sweet rest. 'Tis hard to plant in spring and never reap The Autumn yield ; 'Tis hard to till, and when 'tis tilled to weep O'er fruitless field. And so I cry a weak and human cry, So heart oppressed ; And so I sigh a weak and human sigh. For rest — for rest. My way has wound across the desert years. And cares infest My path, and through the flowing of hot tears I pine for rest. And I am restless still ; 'twill soon be o'er ; For, down the West Life's sun is setting, and I see the shore Where I shall rest. Abeam J. Ryajst. (Father Ryan.) THE WORLD GOES UP A:^!) THE WORLD GOES DO WW. fHE world goes up and the world goes down. And the sunshine follows the rain ; And yesterday's sneer and yesterday's frown Can never come over again, Sweet wife, can never come over again. For woman is warm, though man maybe cold. And the night will hallow the day ; Till the heart which at even was weary and old. Can rise in the morning gay. Sweet wife, can rise in the morning gay. Charles Kingsley. SOJVG-'' WHEJV THE DIMPLED WATE:p, SLIPPETH" (From ' ' Alternoon at a Tarsonage. ' ■") "^^yHEN" the dimpled water slippeth, W Full of laughter, on its way. And her wing the wagtail dippeth, Running by the brink at play ; When the poplar leaves a-tremble Turn their edges to the light. And the far-up clouds resemble Veils of gauze most clear and white ; And the sunbeams fall and flutter Woodland moss and branches brown. And the glossy finches chatter Up and down, up and down ; Though the heart be not attending, Having music of her own. On the grass, through meadows wending. It is sweet to walk alone. When the falling waters utter Something mournful on their way, And departing swallows flutter, Taking leave of bank and brae ; When the chafiinch idly sitteth With her mate upon the sheaves. And the wistful robin flitteth Over beds of yellow leaves ; When the clouds like ghosts that ponder Evil fate, float by and frown. And the listless wind doth wander Up and down, up and down ; Though the heart be not attending. Having sorrows of her own, Through the fields and fallows wending, It is sad to walk alone. Jean Ingelow. POEMS OF JOY AXD SORROW. 45 SOMJfET TO SLEEP. fO:ME, Sleep, O Sleep, the certain knot of peace, The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe, The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release, The indifferent judge between the high and low. With shield of proof shield me from out the press Of those tierce darts Despair at me doth throw ; make in me those civil wars to cease ; 1 will good tribute pay, if thou do so. Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed; A chamber deaf to noise, and blind to light; A rosy garland, and a weary head. And if these things, as being thine by right, Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me Livelier than elsewhere Stella's image see. Sm Philip Sedxfa'. k 'And the dream I spun was so lengthy, It lasted till dav was done." LL yesterday I was spinning. Sitting alone in the sun ! And the dream T spun was so lengthy. It lasted till day was done. I heeded not cloud or shadow That flitted over the hiU, Or the humming bees or the swallows, Or the trickling of the rill. i DREAM. I took the threads of my spinning All of blue summer air, , And a flickering ray of sunlight Was woven in here and there. The shadows grew longer and longer. The evening wind passed by, And the purple splendor of sunset Was flooding the western sky. 46 POEMS OF JOY AND SOKROW. But I could not leave my spinning, For so fair my dream had grown, I heeded not, hour by hour. How the silent day had flown. At last the gray shadows fell round me, And the night came dark and chill, And I rose and ran down the valley. And left it all on the hill. I went up the hill this morning, To the place where my spinning lay — There was nothing but glistening dew-drops Remained of my dream to-day. ADELAroE AXNE PROCTER. DBIVIJ^G HOME THE COWS, §UT of the clover and blue-eyed grass He turned them into the river-lane ; One after another he let them pass. Then fastened the meadow bars again. Under the willows and over the hill He patiently followed their sober pace ; The merry whistle for once was still. And something shadowed the sunny face. Only a boy ! and his father had said He never could let his youngest go ; Two already were lying dead Under the feet of the trampling foe. But after the evening work was done. And the frogs were loud in the meadow- sw^amp. Over his shoulder he slung his gim, And stealthily followed the footpath damp. Across the clover, and through the wheat, With resolute heart and purpose grim, Though cold was the dew on his hurrying feet, And the blind bat's flitting startled him. Thrice since then had the lanes been white. And the orchards sweet with apple-bloom ; And now, when the cows came back at night. The feeble father drove them home. For news had come to the lonely farm That three were lying where two had lain, And the old man's tremulous, palsied arm Could never lean on a son's again. The summer day grew cool and late ; He went for the cows when the work was done ; But down the lane, as he opened the gate, He saw them coming one by one : Brindle, Ebony, Speckle and Bess, Shaking their horns in the evening wind, Cropping the buttercups out of the gras3 — But who was it following close behind ? Loosely swung in the idle air The empty sleeve of army blue ; And worn and pale, from the crisping hair, Looked out a face that the father knew. For Southern prisons will sometimes yawn. And yield their dead to life again. And the day that comes with a cloudy dawn In golden glory at last may wane. The great tears sprang to their meeting eyes, For the heart must speak when the lips are dumb. And under the silent evening skies Together they followed the cattle home. Kate Putnam Osgood. THE WORLD'S IMDIFFEREJVCE. (From "The Virginians.") 'HE world can pry out everything about us which it has a mind to know. But there is this consolation, which men will never accept in their own cases, that the world doesn't care. Consider the amount of scandal it has been forced to hear in its time, ^^ and how weary and hlase it must be of that kind of intelligence. You are taken to prison, and fancy yourself indelibly disgraced ? You are bankrupt under odd circum- stances ? You drive a queer bargain with your friends, and are found out, and imagine the world will punish you ? Pshaw I Your shame is only vanity. Go and talk to the world as if nothing had happened, and nothing has happened. Tumble down ; brush the mud off your clothes; appear with a smiling countenance, and nobody cares. Do you suppose society is going to take out its pocket-handkerchief and be inconsolable when you die ? Why should it care very much, then, whether your worship graces yourself or disgraces yourself? Whatever happens, it talks, meets, jokes, yawns, has its dinner pretty much as before. William Makepeace Thackeray. POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. 47 "Her book of the favorite poet unheeded at her side, She saw the bright noon pale to twilight soon, she saw the gloaming glide." WAITING. ^ITTING under tlie birch trees, in the )^ beautiful April day, Watching the gleam through the branches stream, watching the sunlight's play ; Hearing the birds* gay carol, seeing each glancing wing. Wishing them mute, lest the coming foot were unheard 'mid the sounds of Spring. 4S POEMS OF JOY AKD SORROW. Sitting under tlie birch trees, where the thick- ening lilacs made Of white, purple, and green, a graceful screen, her lonely head to shade ; Her book of the favorite poet unheeded at her side, She saw the bright noon pale to twilight soon, she saw the gloaming glide, Glide from its couch of violets, with its sad, strange, lovely eyes, With its soft, cool touch that says so much, with its voice like our happy sighs ; With its sweet and soothing magic, for the tired heart and frame, That had throbbed so strong, had tarried so long, for the footstep that never came. Never ! The evening darkened, the night fell soft o'er all, Each bird in its nest had found its rest ; the flowers heard sleep's low call ; She passed by the screen of lilacs, she passed to her silent home, The sweet sad pain had been all in vain ; the footstep had never come. Anonymous. THE LADTS DREAM. fHE lady lay in her bed, Her couch so warm and soft, But her sleep was restless and broken still ; For turning oft and oft From side to side, she muttered and moaned. And tossed her arms aloft. At last she startled up. And gazed on the vacant air, With a look of awe, as if she saw Some dreadful phantom there ; And then in the pillow she buried her face From visions ill to bear. The very curtain shook, Her ten'or was so extreme ; And the light that fell on the broidered quilt Kept a tremulous gleam ; And her voice was hollow, and shook as she cried : " Oh me ! that awful dream ! " That weary, weary walk, In the churchyard's dismal ground ; And those horrible things, with shady wings, That came and fitted round ; Death, death, and nothing but death, In every sight and sound ! " And oh ! those maidens young. Who wrought in that dreary room With figures drooping and spectres thin, And cheeks without a bloom ; And the Voice that cried : ' For the pomp of pride, We haste to an early tomb ! " ' For the pomp and pleasure of pride, AVe toil like Afric slaves, And only to earn a home at last, Where yonder cypress waves ;' And then they pointed — I never saw A ground so full of graves ! " And still the cofiins came, With their sorrowful trains and slow ; Coffin after coffin still, A sad and sickening show ; From grief exempt, I had never dreamt Of such a world of woe I " Of the hearts that daily break, Of the tears that hourly fall, Of the many, many troubles of life, That grieve this earthly ball. Disease and Hunger and Pain and AVant ; But now I dreamt of them all. " For the blind and crippled were there. And the babe that pined for bread. And the houseless man, and the widow poor Who begged — to bury the dead ; The naked, alas, that I might have clad, The famished I might have fed ! " The sorrow I might have soothed, And the unregarded tears ; For many a thronging shape was there, From long forgotten years ; Aye, even the poor rejected Moor, Who raised my childish fears ! " Each pleading look that long ago I scanned with a heedless eye, Each face was gazing as plainly there As when I passed it by ; Woe, woe for me, if the past should be Thus present when I die I " No need of sulphureous lake. No need of fiery coal, But only that crowd of human kind POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. 49 Who wanted pity and dole, In everlasting retrospect Will wring my sinful soul ! "Alas! I have walked through life Too heedless where I trod ; Nay, helping to trample my fellow-worm And fill the burial sod, Forgetting that even the sparrow falls Not unmarked of God. " I drank the richest draughts, And ate whatever is good ; Fish, and flesh, and fowl, and fruit, Supplied my hungry mood ; But I never remembered the wretched ones That starve for want of food. " I dressed as the noble dress. In cloth of silver and gold. With silk, and satin, and costly furs. In many an ample fold ; But I never remembered the naked limbs That froze with winter's cold ! " The wounds I might have healed ! The human sorrow and smart ! And yet it was never in my soul To play so ill a part ; But evil is wrought by want of thought. As well as want of heart!" She clasped her fervent hands. And the tears began to stream ; Large, and bitter, and fast they fell. Remorse was so extreme ; And yet, oh yet, that many a dame Would dream the Lady's Dream ! Thomas Hood. '* They aji'ed him my hand, but my heart was at the sea ; Sae auld Robin Gray he was gudeman to me." AULD ROBIJY GRAY. WHEN the sheep are in the fauld, and the Young Jamie lo'ed me weel, and sought me kye at hame, for his bride ; And a' the warld to rest are gane. But saving a croun he had naething else beside; The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my To make the croun a pund, young Jamie gaed e'e, to sea. While my gudeman lies sound by me. And the croun and the pund were baith for me. 50 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. He liadna been away a week but only twa, When my father brak his arm, and the cow was stown aw a; My mother she fell sick, and my Jamie at the sea, And auld Robin Gray came a-courtin' me. My father couldna work, and my mother couldna spin ; I toiled night and day, but their bread I could- na win ; Auld Rob maintained them baith, and wi' tears in his e'e. Said, "Jennie, for their sakes, oh, marry me!" My heart it said nay, for I looked for Jamie back; But the wind it blew high, and the ship, it was a wrack ; His ship it was a wrack — why didna Jamie dee? Or why do I live to cry, Wae's me ? My father urgit sair ; my mother didna speak, But she lookit in my face till my heart was like to break ; They gi'ed him my hand, but my heart was at the sea; Sae auld Robin Gray he was gudeman to me. I hadna been a wife a week but only four. When mournfu' as I sat on the stane at the door, I saw my Jamie's wraith, for I couldna think it he. Till he said, " I'm come hame to marry thee." Oh sair, sair did we greet, and muckle did we say; We took but ae kiss, and I bade him gang away ; I wish that I were dead, but I'm no like to dee; And why was I born to say, Wae's me ? I gang like a ghaist, and I carena to spin ; I daurna think on Jamie, for that wad be a sin ; But I'll do my best a gude wife to be, For auld Robin Gray he is kind to me. Lady Ann Lindsay. ODi: TO ADYEBSITT. ^AUGHTER of Jove, relentless power, 11/ Thou tamer of the human breast, Whose iron scourge and torturing hour The bad affright, afflict the best; Bound in thy adamantine chain, The proud are taught to taste of pain. And purple tyrants vainly groan With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone. When first thy sire, to send on earth. Virtue, his darling child, designed. To thee he gave the heavenly birth, And bade to form her infant mind ; Stern, rugged nurse I thy rigid lore With patience many a year she bore ; What sorrow was, thou bad'st her know, And from her own, she learned to melt at oth- ers' woe. Scared at thy frown terrific, fly Self pleasing Folly's idle brood. With Laughter, Noise, and thoughtless Joy, And leave us leisure to be good. Light they disperse ; and with them go The summer friend, the flattering foe. By vain Prosperity received ; To her they vow their truth, and are again believed. Wisdom, in simple garb arrayed. Immersed in rapturous thought profound, And Melancholy, silent maid. With leaden eye that loves the ground, StiU on thy solemn steps attend ; Warm Charity, the general friend. With Justice, to herself severe. And Pity, dropping soft the sadly pleasing tear. Oh, gently on thy suppliant's head, Dread goddess, lay thy chastening hand I Not in thy Gorgon terrors clad. Nor circled with thy vengeful band. As by the impious thou art seen. With thundering voice and threatening mien, With screaming Horror's funeral cry. Despair, and fell Disease, and ghastly Poverty. Thy form benign, oh goddess, wear ! Thy milder influence impart. Thy philosophic train be there, To soften, not to wound my heart ; The generous spark extinct revive ; Teach me to love and to forgive ; Exact my own defects to scan, What others are to feel, and know myself a man. Thomas Gray. POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. 51 BOCK ME TO SLEEP. BACKWARD, turn backward, O Time in your flight, Make me a child again, just for to-night! Mother, come back from the echoless shore, Take me again to your heart, as of yore ; Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair ; Over my slumbers your loving watch keep ; Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep ! Backward, flow backward, tide of the years I I am so weary of toil and of tears. Toil without recompense, tears all in vain ; Take them, and give me my childhood again. I have grown weary of dust and decay, Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away. Weary of sowing for others to reap ; Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep ! Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue. Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you ! Many a summer the grass has grown green. Blossomed and faded, our faces between. Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain, Long 1 to-night for thy presence again. Come from the silence, so long and so deep ; Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep ! Over my heart, in the days that are flown, No love like mother-love ever has shone ; No other worship abides and endures. Faithful, unselfish, and patient, like yours ; None bnt a mother can charm away pain From the sick soul and the world- ■ueary brain; Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep; Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep ! Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold. Fall on your shoulders, again as of old. Let it drop over my forehead to-night. Shading my faint eyes away from the light ; For with its sunny-edged shadows once more Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore ; Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep ; Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep! Mother, dear mother, the years have been long Since I last listened your lullaby song ; Sing, then ; and unto my soul it shall seem Womanhood's years have been only a dream. Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace. With your light lashes just sweeping my face. Never hereafter to wake or to weep, Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep ! Elizabeth Akers Allen. (••Florence Percy.") OFT IX THE STILLY XIGHT. ^FT in the stilly night, ^ Ere slumber's chain hath bound me. Fond memory brings the light Of other days around me ; The smiles, the tears Of boyhood's years. The words of love then spoken ; The eyes that shone Now dimmed and gone, The cheerful hearts now broken: Thus in the stilly night. Ere slumber's chain has bound me. Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. When I remember all The friends so linked together I've seen around me fall Like leaves in wintry weather, I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled. Whose garlands dead. And all but he departed I Thus in the stilly night. Ere slumber's chain has bound me. Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. THO-^L\s Moore. AFFLICTION. 'HE bread of bitterness is the food on which men grow to their fullest stature ; the waters of bitterness are the debatable ford through which they reach the shores of wisdom ; the ashes boldly grasped and eaten without faltering are the price that must be paid for the golden fruit of knowledge. Louise De La Ra^ie. C-Ouida.") 52 POEMS OF JOY AND SORROW. WEARIJ^ESS. § LITTLE feet ! that such long years Must wander on through hopes and fears, Must ache and bleed beneath your load ; I, nearer to the wayside inn Where toil shall cease and rest begin, Am weary thinking of your road ! O little hearts ! that throb and beat With such impatient, feverish heat, Such limitless and strong desires ; Mine that so long has glowed and birrned With passions into ashes turned Now covers and conceals its fires. " I, nearer to the wayside inn "Where toil shall cease and rest begin, Am weary thinking of your road." O little hands, that weak or strong, Have still to serve or rule so long, Have still so long to give or ask ; I, who so much with book or pen Have toiled among my fellow men Am weary thinking of your task ! O little souls as pure and white And crystalline as rays of light Direct from heaven, their source divine ; Refracted through the mist of years, How red my setting sun appears. How lurid looks this soul of mine ! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, POEMS OF JOY AND SOKROW. 53 SOJVG, (From "The Princess.") |s)l S through the land at eve we went, And plucked the ripened ears, We fell out, my wife and I, Oh, we fell out, I know not why, And kissed again with tears. For when we came where lies the child We lost in other years. There above the little grave. Oh, there above the little grave, We kissed again with tears. Alfred Texxyson. EJSrOCH'S RETUR.X. (From "Enoch Ardeu.") §UT Enoch yearned to see her face again ; " If I might look on her sweet face again And know that she is happy !" So the thought Haunted and harass'd him, and drove him forth. At evening when the dull November day Was growing duller twilight, to the hill. There he sat down, gazing on all below ; There did a thousand memories roll upon him, Unspeakable for sadness. By-and-by The ruddy square of comfortable light. Far-blazing from the rear of Philip's house Allured him, as the beacon-blaze allures The bird of passage, till he madly strikes Against it, and beats out his weary life. For Philip's dwelling fronted on the street. The latest house to landward ; but behind. With one small gate that open'd on the waste, Flourish'd a little garden square and wall'd ; And in it throve an ancient evergreen, A yew-tree, and all round it ran a walk Of shingle, and a walk divided it ; But Enoch shunn'd the middle walk and stole Up by the wall, behind the yew ; and thence That which he better might have shunned, if griefs Like his have worse or better, Enoch saw. For cups and silver on the burnish'd board Sparkled and shone ; so genial was the hearth : And on the right hand of the hearth he saw Philip, the slighted suitor of old times. Stout, rosy, with his babe across his knees ; And o'er her second father stoopt a girl, A later but a loftier Annie Lee, Fair-haired and tall, and from her lifted hand Dangled a length of ribbon and a ring To tempt the babe, who rear'd his creasy arms, Caught at and ever miss'd it, and they laugh'd: And on the left hand of the hearth he saw The mother glancing often toward her babe. But turning now and then to speak with him. Her son, who stood beside her tall and strong. And saying that which pleased him, for he smiled. Now when the dead man come to life beheld His wife his wife no more, and saw the babe Hers, yet not his, upou the father's knee, And all the warmth, the peace, the happiness. And his own children tall and beautiful. And him, that other, reigning in his place, Lord of his rights and of his children's love — Then he, tho^ Miriam Lane had told him all. Because things seen are mightier than things heard. Stagger' d and shook, holding the branch, and fear'd To send abroad a shrill and terrible cry, Which in one moment, like the blast of doom. Would shatter all the happiness of the hearth. He, therefore, turning softly like a thief, Lest the harsh shingle should grate underfoot. And feeling all along the garden-wall. Lest he should swoon and tumble and be found. Crept to the gate, and open'd it, and closed. As lightly as a sick man's chamber door, Behind him, and came out upon the waste. And there he would have knelt, but that his knees Were feeble, so that falling prone he dug His fingers into the wet earth, and pray'd. " Too hard to bear ! why did they take me thence ? O God Almighty, blessed Savior, Thou That didst uphold me on my lonely isle, Uphold me. Father, in my loneliness, A little longer ! Aid me, give me strength Not to tell her, never to let her know. Help me not to break in upon her peace. My children, too ! must I not speak with these? They know me not. I should betray myself. Never. No father's kiss for me — the girl So like her mother, and the boy, my son." There speech and thought and nature failed a little, And he lay tranced. Alfred Tenxyson. '^