And must thy lyre,* so long divine, 30 Degenerate into hands like mine? 'Tis something, in the dearth of fame, E'en as I sing, suffuse my face; 35 For what is left the poet here? 40 For Greeks a blush-for Greece a tear. Must we but weep o'er days more blessed? What! silent still? and silent all? Ah! no ;-the voices of the dead 45 Sound like a distant torrent's fall, 50 55 And answer, "Let one living head, In vain-in vain: strike other chords; And shed* the blood of Scio's vine! You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet- The nobler and the manlier one? You have the letters Cadmus * gave60 Think ye he meant them for a slave? 65 70 Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! It made Anacreon's song divine : He served-but served Polycrates A tyrant; but our masters then The tyrant of the Chersonese * Was freedom's best and bravest friend : Oh that the present hour would lend Thy lyre. Poetry is here likened to the music of a lyre or harp. The ancient Greeks excelled in poetry. Of the three hundred. At Thermopylæ, a famous pass in the north-east of Greece, 10,000 Persians,under Xerxes, were engaged by 300 Spartans, under Leonidas, whose followers were all slain. Samian wine! Samos, an island on the coast of Asia Minor, opposite Ionia, famous for its wine. And shed, &c., to make wine from the juice of the grape that grows on the island of Scio, off the coast of Asia Minor. Bacchanal, a worshipper of Bacchus, one who indulges in drink. Phalanx, a compact body of soldiers. Cadmus, the inventor of letters, and king of Thebes, which city he founded. He came to Greece B.C. 1550. Polycrates, a king of Samos. The Chersonese, the peninsula of the Morea, Greece. The inhabitants invested Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, with the sovereign power. THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.—Leigh Hunt. King Fran- KING FRANCIS * was a hearty king, and loved a royal cis, Francis I. of France. Gallant, showy, splendid. Crowning, complete, perfect. Valour, bravery. Royal beasts, the lions; the lion is called the king of beasts. sport, And one day, as his lions strove, sat looking on the court: The nobles filled the benches round, the ladies by their side, And 'mongst them Count de Lorge, with one he hoped And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crown- Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal ΙΟ * Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing Jaws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thun derous smother; Ramped, leaped about in a furious manner. Glared, looked fiercely. Thunderous, The bloody foam above the bars came whizzing a noise like through the air; Said Francis then: "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there!" De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous, lively dame, With smiling lips, and sharp bright eyes, which 15 She thought: "The Count, my lover, is as brave as 20 brave can be ; thunder. He surely would do desperate* things to show his love Desperate, of me! * King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine, * fearless of danger, rash, furious. Occasion, opportunity, I'll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory time, chance. will be mine!" She dropped her glove to prove his love; then looked on him and smiled; He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild: The leap was quick; return was quick; he soon Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the "In truth," cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat : Prove, try, test. "No love," quoth he, "but vanity,* sets love a task Vanity, little like that!" pride, idle show. CONSCIENCE.-Shakspeare. WHAT stronger breastplate than a heart untainted? E MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.*—H. G. Bell. HENRY GLASSFORD BELL (1814-1874) was educated for the law, and was, at the time of his death, the Sheriff of Lanarkshire. He had very considerable literary taste, and was a frequent contributor to the Magazines. I LOOKED far back into other years, and lo! in [away. I saw, as in a dream, the forms of ages passed lofty walls, And gardens with their broad green walks, And o'er the antique * dial-stone the creeping 5 And, all around, the noon-day sun a drowsy No sound of busy life was heard, save from the cloister* dim [holy hymn. The tinkling of the silver bell, or the sisters' And there five noble maidens * sat beneath the orchard trees, Mary Carmichael, In Mary Hamilton, Mary Seton, and Mary Bea ton-who are known in history as the "Queen's Maries." Recked, cared. Stuart line, Robert, the High Steward of Scotland, succeeded to the throne on the death of David II. He was the first of the famous House of Stuart, and Mary was descended in a direct line from him. Courtiers, nobles living at court. that first budding spring of youth when all And little recked * they, when they sang, or That Scotland knew no prouder names-held And little even the loveliest thought, before the Of royal blood and high descent from the Calmly her happy days flew on, uncounted in The scene was changed. gay court of Bourbon, It was the court, the And 'neath a thousand silver lamps a thou- ΙΟ 15 *Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow in 1542, a few days before the death of her father, James V. In 1558 she was married to Francis, the Dauphin of France, who died the next year, and Mary returned to Scotland in 1561. Her own subjects rebelled, and defeated her troops at Langside in 1568. She then fled to England, where she was executed by order of Elizabeth in 1587. 20 And proudly kindles Henry's * eye-well Henry, Mary's father[chivalry :- in-law, Henry II. of France. The land assemble all its wealth of grace and I ween, I am sure, I passed a storm of years, Strong in himself and children, stands the first his among peers; And next the Guises,* who so well fame's And walked ambition's diamond ridge, where 25 And higher yet their path shall be, stronger For before them Montmorency's star shall pale Here Louis, Prince of Condé,* wears his all- With great Coligni* by his side: each name a And there walks she of Medicis,* that proud [Catherine. 30 The mother of a race of kings-the haughty A milky way of stars that grace a comet's * know. But fairer far than all the rest who bask on Bask, &c., those who Fortune's tide, * Effulgent in the light of youth, is she, the new-made bride! 35 The homage of a thousand hearts-the fond, deep love of one The hopes that dance around a life whose They lighten up her chestnut eye, they mantle o'er her cheek, They sparkle on her open brow, and high souled joy bespeak : Ah! who shall blame, if scarce that day, 40 She thought of that quiet convent's calm, its sunshine and its flowers? The scene was changed. It was a bark* that Mary on her voyage slowly held its way, And o'er its lee* the coast of France in the light from France to Scotland in 1561. Lee, the sheltered side of the ship. |