Hark! they whisper; angels sáy,
Sister spírit, come away;

What is this absorbs me qùìte,—
Steáls my senses, shúts my síght, |
Drówns my spirits,-dráws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?

The world recèdes,—ít disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seráphic ring.

Lènd, lénd your wìngs! I móunt, I fly!
O Grave! whére is thy victory?

O Death! whère is thy sting?

4. THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.-Lord Byron. B. 1788, d. 1824.

The Assyrian came down | like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in púrple and gòld;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the séa,
When the blue wáve rolls níghtly on deep Galilèe.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is gréen,
That host, with their bánners, at sunset were seèn;
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host, on the morrow, lay withered and stròwn.

For the Angel of Death | spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the fáce of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed déadly and
chill,

And their hearts but once heáved, and for ever

grew

still!

And there lay the stèed with his nostrils all wíde, But through them there rolled not the breath of his

príde ;

I

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the túrf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider | distorted ' and pàle, |

With the dew on his brów, and the rúst on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the bánners alóne, | The lances unlífted, the trumpets unblòwn.

And the widows of Ashúr are loud in their wáil,
And the idols are bróke in the temple of Bàal ;
And the might of the Géntile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snów | in the glànce of the Lòrd!

5. CONJUGAL FELICITY.-Thomson.

But happy they! the happiest of their kind!
Whom gentler stars uníte, and in one fáte |

Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend.

*

Meántime, a smiling offspring rises round,
And mingles both their gràces. By degrees,
The human blossom blóws; and every day,
Sóft as it rolls along, shows some new charm,
The father's lustre, and the mother's bloom.
Then infant réason grows apáce, and calls
For the kind hánd of an assiduous càre.
Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to shoot,

To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind,
To breathe the enlivening spírit, and to fix '

The generous purpose in the glowing breast.
Oh, speak the jòy! yé, whom the sudden teár ↳
Surprises óften, while you look around,

And nothing strikes your eye

but sights of bliss,
All various Náture pressing on the heart;
An elegant sufficiency, contènt,

Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Eáse and alternate làbor, useful life,
Progressive vírtue, and appròving Heaven.
Thése are the matchless joys of virtuous love,
And thus their moments fly. The seasons thús,
As ceaseless round a jarring world they róll,
Still find them happy, and consénting spring |
Sheds her own rosy gárland on their heads:
Till évening comes at last, serene and míld :
Whén, after the long vernal day of life,
Enamored more | as more remembrance swélls '
With many a proof of recollected love,
Together down they sink in social sléep;
Together fréed, their gentle spirits fly |

To scenes where love and blíss immortal reign.

LESSON XVIII.

EXAMINATION ON FIGURES OF SPEECH AND POETIC LICENSE.

Teacher.-What is a figure of speech?

A.-A mode of speaking, in which a word or sentence is to be understood in a sense different from its most literal meaning.

T-Explain the figure called Personification.

B.—It is a figure by which we ascribe personality and intelligence to unintelligent beings or abstract qualities; as, "The sea saw it, and fled." "The Worm, aware of his intent, harangued him thus right eloquent.” T-What is a Simile ?

C-A figure by which we express the resemblance of one thing to another, and generally introduce it by like, as, or so; e. g.:

66

Man, like the generous vine, supported lives;

The strength he gains is from the embrace he gives.” "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters." T-What is a Metaphor ?

D.—It is a Simile without the sign of likeness or comparison; as, "He shall be a tree planted by the rivers of water."-"His eye was morning's brightest ray."

T-What is an Allegory?

E-A continuation of several Metaphors, so connected in sense as to form a kind of parable; as in the 80th Psalm: "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root; and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars:" meaning the Israelites. Most of the similitudes in the Scriptures called parables, and the better sort of fables, may be considered Allegories.

T-What is a Hyperbole ?

F.--An extravagant exaggeration; or a figure that

represents things as greater or less, better or worse than they really are as when David says of Saul and Jonathan, "They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions."

T-What is Irony?

G. That figure by which the speaker says one thing and means another directly contrary; or in which he sneeringly utters the direct reverse of what he intends shall be understood: e. g., 1 Kings, xviii. 27.-" And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, ‘Cry alòud; for he is a god: either he is tálking, or he is púrsuing, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked !'”.

T-What is Metonymy?

H.-A change of names; in which the cause is named for the effect, the effect for the cause; the subject for the adjunct, the place for the inhabitant, the container for the thing contained, and the sign for the thing signified; as, "He reads Milton;" that is, his works." God is our salvation;" that is, Saviour.—“ He was the sigh of her secret soul;" that is, the youth she loved. "My son, give me thy heart; " that is, affection.— "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah;" that is, kingly power." Gray hairs shall be respected; " that is, old age."Swifter than a whirlwind, flies the leaden death."

T-What is Synecdoche ?

I.—It is the naming of a part for the whole, a definite number for an indefinite; as, the head for the person, ten thousand for any great number; "This roof protects you;" that is, this house protects you.