XXXVIII. TO A WATERFOWL. "BEHOLD the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they ?"-St. Matt. vi., 24, 34. With what adjectives or verbs are the following abstract nouns connected. WHITHER' 'midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Vainly the fowler's eyc Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, Seek'st thou the plashy brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, There is a power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast- Lone-wandering, but not lost. All day thy wings have fanned, And soon that toil shall end; Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven TO A SKY LARK. He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight 1. With what word is whither directly connected? 2. Put this whole verse into prose order. 3. What is the construction of this line? 6. "The very rhythm of the stanzas To a Waterfowl,' gives the impression of its flight. Like the bird's sweeping wing, they float with a calm and ma 309 BRYANT. jestic cadence to the ear. We see that solitary wanderer of the cold thin atmosphere;' we watch, almost with awe, its serene course, until the abyss of heaven has swallowed up its form,' and then gratefully echo the bard's consoling inference: He who, from zone to zone,' &c. Tuckerman's Thoughts on the Poet:. 7. Natural order of the whole verse? XXXIX. TO A SKY LARK. "NEITHER childhood nor manhood can hear birds of song with indifference. Their notes are everywhere a large addition to human gratification, and become connected with the sweetest remembrances of the most joyous and impressible season of our life. They are usually small birds, and seem to be indestructible; for although cultivation, as it spreads, drives off many other species, yet by supplying these with more of the food they like best, they multiply from its abundance; and wherever gardens, fields or trees appear, some classes of these rural musicians are sure to be part of their feathered inhabitants. Of these, England possesses a considerable share.". Turner's Sacred History of the World. ETHEREAL minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth, where cares abound? Mount daring warbler! that love-prompted strain Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; WORDSWORTH. XL. THE HOUR OF DEATH. Cer "MEN fear death as children fear to go into the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. tainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. * * * He that dies in an earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and, therefore, a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth avert the dolours of death."-Bacon's Essays. And flowers to wither' at the North wind's breath, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death! Day is for mortal care, Eve for glad meetings round the joyous hearth, Night for the dreams of sleep, the voice of prayer; We know when moons shall wane, When summer birds from far shall cross the sea, Is it when spring's first gale Comes forth to whisper where the violets lie? Thou art where billows foam; Thou art where music melts upon the air; Thou art where foe meets foe, and trumpets rend 1. What governs this verb in the infinitive mood? 2. What is stars the nom, to? THE BEGGAR-MAN. XLI. THE BEGGAR-MAN, 311 "As the unfortunate chiefly stand in need of our assistance, so there is provided in every breast a most powerful advocate in their favour; an advocate, to whose solicitations it is impossible even for the most obdurate to turn always a deaf ear. The appropriation of the word humanity to this part of our constitution, affords sufficient evidence of the common sentiments of mankind upon the subject. ** The final causes of compassion are to prevent and to relieve misery-to prevent misery by checking the violence of our own angry passions; and to relieve misery by calling our attention, and engaging our good offices to every object of distress within our reach. The latter is the more common and the more important of its offices, at least in the present state of society." -Stewart's Active and Moral Powers. AROUND the fire, one wintry night, The farmer's rosy children sat; The faggot lent its blazing light And jokes went round and careless chat. When, hark! a gentle hand they hear A feeble voice was heard to implore : "Cold blows the blast across the moor; "My eyes are weak and dim with age; "So faint I am, these tottering feet No more my feeble frame can bear ; And drifting snows my tomb prepare. "Open your hospitable door, And shield me from the biting blast; With hasty steps the farmer ran, With shaking limbs and pallid face. The little children flocking came, And warmed his stiffening hands in theirs; A comfortable mess prepares. Their kindness cheered his drooping soul; XLII. THE QUADROON GIRL. LUCY AIKIN. "To Soto belongs the signal honour of being the first writer who condemned the African slave-trade. 'It is affirmed,' says he, that the unhappy Ethiopians are by fraud or force carried away and sold as slaves. If this is true, neither those who have taken thein nor those who purchased them, nor those who hold them in bondage, can ever have a quiet conscience till they emancipate them, even if no compensation should be obtained.' As the work which contains this memorable condemnation of man-stealing and slavery was the substance of lectures for many years delivered at Salamanca, Philosophy and Religion appear, by the hand of their faithful minister, to have thus smitten the monsters, in their earliest infancy. It is hard for any man of the present age to conceive the praise which is due to the excellent monks who courageously asserted the rights of those whom they never saw, against the prejudices of their order, the supposed interest of their religion, the ambition of their government, the avarice and pride of their countrymen, and the prevalent opinions of their time."- Sir James Mackintosh. THE Slaver in the broad lagoon Under the shore his boat was tied, Odours of orange-flowers and spice |