XXIV

A FINE DAY

the day been from the dawn, er'd was the sky,

uds like scarfs of cobweb lawn aven's most glorious eye.

d had no more strength than this, urely it blew,

= one leaf the next to kiss

sely by it grew.

M. Drayton

XXV

CASABIANCA

A True Story

stood on the burning deck ce all but he had fled; ne that lit the battle's wreck e round him o'er the dead.

nes roll'd on. He would not go

Out his father's word;
ther faint in death below,

oice no longer heard.

ed aloud: 'Say, father, say - my task is done!'

w not that the chieftain lay -nscious of his son.

XXVI

SIGNS OF RAIN

ow winds begin to blow,
ds look black, the glass is low,
falls down, the spaniels sleep,
ers from their cobwebs peep:
ht the sun went pale to bed,
on in halos hid her head;
ing shepherd heaves a sigh,
a rainbow spans the sky:
Is are damp, the ditches smell,
the pink-eyed pimpernel.

w the chairs and tables crack!
ty's joints are on the rack;
ack the ducks, the peacocks cry,
cant hills are seeming nigh.
stless are the snorting swine;
y flies disturb the kine;
r the grass the swallow wings,
cket too, how sharp he sings;
the hearth, with velvet paws,
ing o'er her whiskered jaws.
h the clear stream the fishes rise,
mbly catch the incautious flies.
-w-worms, numerous and bright,
the dewy dell last night.
the squalid toad was seen,
g and crawling o'er the green;
irling wind the dust obeys,
the rapid eddy plays;

་་་་

The frog has changed his yellow vest,
And in a russet coat is dressed.
Though June, the air is cold and still,
The mellow blackbird's voice is shrill.
My dog, so altered in his taste,
Quits mutton-bones on grass to feast;
And see yon rooks, how odd their flight,
They imitate the gliding kite,
And seem precipitate to fall,
As if they felt the piercing ball.
'Twill surely rain, I see with sorrow,
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow. ·

E. Jenner

XXVII

HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD
NEWS FROM GHENT TO AIX

I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;

I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
'Good speed!' cried the watch, as the gate-bolts

undrew;

'Speed!' echoed the wall to us galloping through; Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest, And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;

I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,
Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique
right,

Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit,
Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

back my voice, a track; one eye's bla its white edg the thick h

anon

is fierce lips sh

Hasselt, Dir spur! Tour Roos gall Well remembe wheeze Of her chest, sa

knees, And sunk tail,

As down on h