Aisle, a passage in a church. Hist! hush, atten tion, silence, listen. We climbed on the graves, on the stones And we gazed up the aisle* through the * 66 She sate by the pillar; we saw her clear: Sealed, looking with For her eyes were sealed* to the holy book. a fixed and attentive gaze. Humming town, at a distance the noise of a town sounds like the humming of bees in a hive. Shuttle, an instrument used for shoot 75 80 "Loud prays the priest; shut stands the door." Come away, children, call no more. Come away, come down, call no more. Down, down, down, Down to the depths of the sea. She sits at her wheel in the humming town,* Hark, what she sings: "Oh joy, oh joy, 85 For the humming street, and the child with 90 For the priest, and the bell, and the holy well. And the blessed light of the sun." And so she sings her fill, Singing most joyfully, * Till the shuttle falls from her hand, And the whizzing wheel stands still. woof between the She steals to the window, and looks at the sand; ing the thread of the And anon there breaks a sigh, A long, long sigh. 95 100 105 * For the cold strange eyes of a little Mermaiden, Come away, away, children. I 20 125 130 135 140 We shall see, while above us The waves roar and whirl,* But, children, at midnight, * * * We will gaze, from the sand-hills, * Singing, "There dwells a loved one, She left lonely for ever The kings of the sea." Whirl, to go round and round, to toss about in a confused manner. Faithless, false, not true to her promise. Springtides, those which rise higher than ordinary tides, after new and full moon. Broom, a wild evergreen shrub, with leafless pointed twigs. Blanched, to make white. Creek, a small inlet Hie, to hasten. Sleeping town, the in- THE SKY-LARK.-Hogg. He JAMES HOGG (1770-1835) was born in Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire. was a farmer and shepherd, and hence called the Ettrick Shepherd, but he was more successful as a poet. Chief work: The Queen's Wake, containing the beautiful fairy ballad Kilmeny; he also wrote songs and novels. * Belshazzar was the last of the Babylonian kings. This poem is founded on the account given of the overthrow of Babylon in the Book of Daniel. "Let the men of lore* appear, The wisest of the earth, * And expound the words of fear, Chaldea's seers * are good, * Are wise and deep in lore A stranger and a youth, Is light and worthless clay. The Persian* on his throne!" 5 THE BATTLE OF HOHENLINDEN.*-Campbell. ON Linden, when the sun was low, Of Iser, rolling rapidly. But Linden showed another sight, Fires of death, the discharge of the artillery, which carried death and destruction among the troops. Scenery, the appearance of the country. * Hohenlinden, or Linden Heights, is a small village in Bavaria, about six leagues from Munich. It is situated between the Iser and the Inn, tributaries of the Danube. The Austrians and Bavarians were defeated here by the French on the 3d December 1800. by the firing of the artillery. Riven, torn asunder; here it refers to the ground being torn up with the cannon balls. Frank, the ancient Huns, or, as they are By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, To join the dreadful revelry.* Then shook the hills* with thunder riven ;* Far flashed the red artillery. But redder yet those fires shall glow 'Tis morn-but scarce yon level sun Shout 'mid their sulphurous canopy. The combat deepens: On, ye brave! And charge with all thy chivalry! Few, few shall part where many meet! * ΙΟ 15 20 25 330 5 IQ |