15 You can hear him wield * his heavy sledge,*
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton * ringing the village bell
When the evening sun is low.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;

35 And with his hard, rough hand, he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

BARBARA FRITCHIE.-J. G. Whittier.

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER (1808- ) was born at Havershill, Massachusetts, where his ancestors had long been settled. Many of his poems were devoted to the cause of abolition. He contributes to all the leading American Magazines of the present day.

Up from the meadows, rich with corn,
Clear from the cool September morn,
The clustered spires of Frederick stand,
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.

*

*

Clustered, crowded together.

Frederick, or Frede

ricksburg, in

ginia, U.S.

Vir

Here

General Burnside was defeated (1862) by General Lee, in what was one of the fiercest battles of the war.

Famished, very hungry.

Rebel, one who shakes off, or fights against, lawful authority. Horde, company. Fall, autumn.

Lee, the heroic leader of the Southern forces in the American civil war, which commenced in 1861 and continued till 1865. Forty flags, &c. The American flag was composed of thirteen bars or stripes alternately red and white, and thirteen white stars on a blue ground. Hence the allusion to stars and bars.

Hauled, pulled, dragged with viol

ence.

Loyal, to be faithful and obedient to the laws of one's country. Stonewall Jackson, an able general, famous for his bravery. He received the nickname of "Stonewall" from the firmness with which his men resisted every attack. He was accidentally struck by a bullet fired by one of his own soldiers at the battle of Chancellorsville, 1863. Slouched, turned down.

Shiver, shatter, to break into small pieces by sudden violence.

Silken scarf, the banner, which was made of silk.

Round about them orchards sweep,
Apple and peach-tree fruited deep;
Fair as a garden of the Lord

To the eyes of the famished * rebel * horde.*

On that pleasant morn of the early fall,*

5

When Lee* marched over the mountain wall, 10
Over the mountains winding down,

Horse and foot, into Frederick town,

*

Forty flags with their silver stars,
Forty flags with their silver bars,
Flapped in the morning wind: the sun
Of noon looked down and saw not one.

Up rose old Barbara Fritchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten,
Bravest of all in Frederick town,

She took up the flag the men hauled* down;

In her attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal * yet.
Up the street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson* riding ahead;

Under his slouched* hat, left and right,
He glanced, the old flag met his sight.
"Halt!"-the dust-brown ranks stood fast;
"Fire!"-out blazed the rifle blast.

It shivered* the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash,
Quick, as it fell from the broken staff,
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf;

She leaned far out on the window sill
And shook it forth with a royal will.
"Shoot, if you must, this old grey head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The noble nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word.

"Who touches a hair of yon grey head,
Dies like a dog. March on !" he said.
All day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet;

*

15

20

25

30

35

40

45 All day long the free flag tossed Over the heads of the rebel host; Ever its torn folds rose and fell

On the loyal winds, that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset light 50 Shone over it with a warm good-night. Barbara Fritchie's work is o'er,

55

And the rebel rides on his raid* no more.
Honour to her! and let a tear

Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier! *
Over Barbara Fritchie's grave,
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave !

Peace, and order, and beauty draw
Round thy symbol * of light and law ;
And ever the stars above look down
60 On thy stars below, in Frederick town!

Raid, invasion, expedition.

Bier, a carriage or frame of wood, for bearing the dead to the grave.

Symbol, emblem, sign.

THE STAR AND THE WATER-LILY.-O. W. Holmes. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809- ) was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. He is a doctor of medicine, and a professor at Harvard College. Among his chief works may be mentioned The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.

THE Sun stepped down from his golden throne,

And lay in the silent sea,

*

And the Lily had folded her satin leaves,

For a sleepy thing was she;

5 What is the Lily dreaming of? Why crisp the waters blue?

1Ο

See, see, she is lifting her varnished lid!
Her white leaves are glistening * through !

The Rose is cooling his burning cheek

In the lap of the breathless tide;
The Lily hath sisters fresh and fair,
That would lie by the Rose's side;
He would love her better than all the rest,
And he would be fond and true;
15 But the Lily unfolded her weary lids,
And looked at the sky so blue.

Lily, a water-lily is a water plant like a lily, and is remarkable for its beautiful flowers and large floating leaves.

Glistening, shining.

Glide, pass by.

"Oh, the Rose is old, and thorny, and cold,
And he lives on earth," said she;
"But the Star is fair, and he lives in the air,
And he shall my bridegroom be."

One ray from his far-off throne;

30.

The winds shall blow and the waves shall flow,

Fickle, inconstant, changeable.

Pallid, pale, white.

That he has not cheered with his fickle * smile,
And warmed with his faithless beam-

And will he be true to a pallid * flower,
That floats on the quiet stream?

40

THE PARTING OF MARMION AND DOUGLAS.-Scott.

*

"Though something I might plain," he said, "Of cold respect to stranger guest, 15 Sent hither by your king's behest," While in Tantallon's * towers I stayed, Part we in friendship from your land, And, noble earl, receive* hand." my But Douglas round him drew his cloak, Folded his arms, and thus he spoke :

20

"My manors, halls, and bowers, shall still Be open, at my sovereign's will,

To each one whom he lists,* howe'er Unmeet to be the owner's peer: 25 My castles are my king's alone,

35

From turret to foundation* stone ;-
The hand of Douglas is his own,
And never shall in friendly grasp
The hand of such as Marmion clasp."-

*

*

30 Burned Marmion's swarthy* cheek like fire,
And shook his very frame for ire,*
And-"This to me!" he said
"An 'twere not for thy hoary* beard,
Such hand as Marmion's had not spared
To cleave the Douglas' head!
And, first, I tell thee, haughty * peer,
He who does England's message here,
Although the meanest * in her state,
May well, proud Angus, be thy mate!
40 And, Douglas, more I tell thee here,
Even in thy pitch of pride,
Here in thy hold, thy vassals *
(Nay, never look upon your lord,
And lay your hands upon your sword),—

45

I tell thee thou'rt defied!

near,

And if thou saidst I am not peer
To any lord in Scotland here,
Lowland or Highland, far or near,
Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"

50 On the earl's cheek the flush of rage O'ercame the ashen hue* of age.

Fierce he broke forth :-" And darest
To beard the lion in his den,

The Douglas in his hall?

Beneath, &c., written
by the king, and hav-
ing his seal affixed to
it.

Douglas, Archibald
Douglas, Earl of
Angus, was remark-
able for his strength
of body and mind.
Clara, an English
heiress, whose hand
Marmion had sought
in marriage, but had
been unsuccessful.
He had tried to ruin
her lover, De Wilton,
but had failed in this
also.
Palfrey, a small
horse for a lady.
His prey is flown, De
Wilton, who, in the
disguise of a pilgrim
from the Holy Land,
had guided Lord Mar-
mion in Scotland, had
left the castle at day-
break.

Adieu, farewell.
Plain, complain.
Behest, command.
Tantallon, the castle
of Douglas on the
coast of East Lothian.
Receive, accept.

He lists, he pleases
or chooses.
Unmeet, unworthy.
Peer, an equal.

Turret, a tower on a
building.

Foundation, base

55 And hop'st thou hence unscathed* to go?No! by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no!

Defied, dared.
Ashen hue, pale
colour.

Unscathed,unharmed.
Warder, a warder.
Portcullis, a sliding
door of cross timbers
pointed with iron,
hung over a gateway

Up drawbridge, grooms!-what, warder,* ho! so as to be let down

Let the portcullis * fall.”

in a moment to keep

out an enemy.