I muse while still the wood thrush sings down the golden

day,

And as I look and listen the sadness wears away.

Again the hinges turn, and a youth, departing, throws
A look of longing backward, and sorrowfully goes;
A blooming maid, unbinding the roses from her hair,
Moves mournfully away from amid the young and fair.
Oh, glory of our race that so suddenly decays!

Oh, crimson flush of morning that darkens as we gaze!
Oh, breath of summer blossoms, that on the restless air
Scatters a moment's sweetness, and flies we know not
where!

I grieve for life's bright promise, just shown and then withdrawn,

But still the sun shines round me: the evening bird sings

on,

And I again am soothed, and, beside the ancient gate,
In this soft evening sunlight, I calmly stand and wait.

Once more the gates are opened; an infant group go out, The sweet smile quenched forever, and stilled the sprightly shout.

Oh, frail, frail tree of life, that upon the greensward strows Its fair young buds unopened, with every wind that blows!

So come from every region, so enter, side by side,

The strong and faint of spirit, the meek and men of pride. Steps of earth's great and mighty, between those pillars

gray,

And prints of little feet, mark the dust along the way.

LITERATURE

And some approach the threshold whose looks are blank

with fear,

And some whose temples brighten with joy in drawing

near,

As if they saw dear faces, and caught the gracious eye Of Him, the Sinless Teacher, who came for us to die.

I mark the joy, the terror; yet these, within my heart, Can neither wake the dread nor the longing to depart; And, in the sunshine streaming on quiet wood and lea, I stand and calmly wait till the hinges turn for me.

Ο

SONG OF MARION'S MEN

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

UR band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold;

The British soldier trembles,
When Marion's name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress tree;
We know the forest round us

As seamen know the sea.

We know its walls of thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass,
Its safe and silent islands

Within the dark morass.

Woe to the English soldiery
That little dread us near!

On them shall light at midnight

A strange and sudden fear:
When waking to their tents on fire
They grasp their arms in vain,
And they who stand to face us
Are beat to earth again;
And they who fly in terror deem

A mighty host behind,

And hear the tramp of thousands

Upon the hollow wind.

Then sweet the hour that brings release

From danger and from toil;

We talk the battle over,

And share the battle's spoil.

The woodland rings with laugh and shout,

As if a hunt were up,

And woodland flowers are gathered

To crown the soldier's cup.

With merry songs we mock the wind
That in the pine top grieves,

And slumber long and sweetly
On beds of oaken leaves.

Well knows the fair and friendly moon

The band that Marion leads

The glitter of their rifles,

The scampering of their steeds. 'Tis life to guide the fiery barb Across the moonlit plain; 'Tis life to feel the night wind

That lifts his tossing mane.

Grave men there are by broad Santee,
Grave men with hoary hairs;
Their hearts are all with Marion,
For Marion are their prayers.
And lovely ladies greet our band
With kindliest welcoming,
With smiles like those of summer,
And tears like those of spring,
For them we wear these trusty arms,
And lay them down no more
Till we have driven the Briton

Forever from our shore.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

NOTE TO THE PUPIL.-During the second war with Great Britain the English sent an expedition to capture the city of Baltimore. To succeed they must first capture Fort McHenry, and the British fleet bombarded it. During the engagement a small party of Americans, Francis Key, among the number, carrying a flag of truce, went out to the British fleet to secure the release of an American citizen who had been taken prisoner. They were detained overnight that they might not be able to give information in regard to what they had seen. The bombardment went on into the night. Mr. Key listened to the sound of the guns, and watched the rockets and bursting bombs. Late at night the guns became silent. Mr. Key was on a vessel far to the rear of the fleet and did not know whether the silence meant the capture of the fort or not. He awaited the morning light with great anxiety, and when the early dawn showed the stars and stripes still floating over Fort McHenry he knew that the attack had failed. While still on the vessel he wrote the song that follows.

SAY, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,