Kept but one steed,1 his favorite steed of all,
To starve and shiver in a naked stall,
And day by day sat brooding in his chair,
Devising 2 plans how best to hoard and spare.3

At length he said, "What is the use or need
To keep at my own cost this lazy steed,
Eating his head off in my stables here,
When rents are low and provender is dear?
Let him go feed upon the public ways;
I want him only for the holidays.”

So the old steed was turned into the heat
Of the long, lonely, silent, shadeless street;
And wandered in suburban lanes forlorn,5
Barked at by dogs, and torn by brier and thorn.

One afternoon, as in that sultry clime
It is the custom in the summer-time,

With bolted doors and window-shutters closed,
The inhabitants of Atri slept or dozed;
When suddenly upon their senses fell
The loud alarum of the accusing bell!
The syndic started from his deep repose,8
Turned on his couch, and listened, and then rose

1 steed. Of what prose word is

this the poetic equivalent?

2 devising, inventing.

5 forlorn. What noun does this adjective modify?

6 clime. Of what prose word is

3 spare (compare German sparen, this the poetic form?

to save), to economize.

7 alarum. Poetic form of what

4 Eating his head off. Explain word? this hyperbole.

8 repose. Give a synonym.

And donned his robes, and with reluctant pace
Went panting forth into the market-place,
Where the great bell upon its cross-beam swung
Reiterating with persistent tongue,

In half-articulate jargon, the old song:

"Some one hath done a wrong, hath done a wrong!"

But ere he reached the belfry's light arcade2

He saw, or thought he saw, beneath its shade,
No shape of human form of woman born,
But a poor steed dejected and forlorn,
Who with uplifted head and eager eye
Was tugging at the vines of bryony.
"Domeneddio!"3 cried the syndic straight,
"This is the Knight of Atri's steed of state!
He calls for justice, being sore distressed,
And pleads his cause as loudly as the best."

Meanwhile from street and lane a noisy crowd
Had rolled together like a summer cloud,
And told the story of the wretched beast
In five-and-twenty different ways at least,
With much gesticulation and appeal
To heathen gods, in their excessive zeal.
The knight was called and questioned: in reply
Did not confess the fact, did not deny;

So

1 donned, past tense of don, a contraction of do on, to put on. doff=do off, to put off.

2 belfry's light arcade. Explain. 8 Domeneddio, an Italian exclamation equivalent to Good Lord!

4 sore. Explain, and name the part of speech.

5 pleads his cause. Explain the metaphor.

6 like a summer cloud. Show the appropriateness of the comparison.

7 gesticulation. See Webster for the interesting etymology of this word.

Treated the matter as a pleasant jest,

And set at naught the syndic and the rest,
Maintaining in an angry undertone,

That he should do what pleased him with his own.
And thereupon the syndic gravely read

The proclamation of the king; then said:

Pride goeth1 forth on horseback grand and gay, But cometh back on foot, and begs its way; Fame is the fragrance of heroic deeds, Of flowers of chivalry,2 and not of weeds! These are familiar proverbs; but I fear They never yet have reached your knightly ear. What fair renown, what honor, what repute, Can come to you from starving this poor brute? He who serves well, and speaks not, merits more Than they who clamor loudest at the door. Therefore the law decrees that as this steed Served you in youth, henceforth you shall take heed To comfort his old age, and to provide Shelter in stall, and food and field beside."

The knight withdrew abashed; 5 the people all
Led home the steed in triumph to his stall.
The king heard and approved, and laughed in glee,
And cried aloud: "Right well it pleaseth me!
Church-bells at best but ring us to the door;
But go not in to mass:

1 Pride goeth. What is the figure? (See Def. 7.)

2 of flowers of chivalry. What noun does this phrase modify?

my bell doth more:

"It cometh into court, and pleads the cause
Of creatures dumb and unknown to the laws;
And this shall make, in every Christian clime,
The Bell of Atri famous for all time.”

4. THE BETROTHAL OF EVANGELINE.

[The following beautifully limned picture is from Longfellow's extended poem of Evangeline. The poem is based on an incident attending the forced expulsion, by the English, of the French settlers in Nova Scotia, in 1755. That province at this time belonged to the English, but contained many French farmers, a simple-minded, peaceful people, who wished to be neutral in the quarrels between the French and English in America. The English authorities, fearing they might side with the French, cruelly kidnapped some three thousand of these people, and scattered them through the various colonies. In the haste and confusion of sending them off, many families were separated, and some at least never came together again. The story of Evangeline is the story of such a separation.

The measure of Evangeline is the dactylic hexameter, -a measure that has never become very popular in English poetry: but Longfellow handles this difficult meter with great skill. The cæsural pause in the middle of the line should be carefully regarded. Says Mr. Scudder: "A little practice will enable one to acquire that habit of reading hexameter, which we may liken, roughly, to the climbing of a hill, resting a minute on the summit, and then descending the other side. The charm in reading Evangeline aloud is found in this gentle labor of the former half of the line, and gentle acceleration of the latter half."]

I.

THUS, at peace with God and the world, the farmer2 of Grand-Pré 3

1 unknown to: that is, unno- | Evangeline, the pride of the vilticed by.

2 the farmer: that is, Bene

lage."

3 Grand-Pré, or Lower Horton, dict Bellefontaine, "the wealthiest a village of Nova Scotia, formerly farmer of Grand-Pré," father of called Acadia.

Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed his household.

Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened his missal,1

Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest devotion;

Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem of her garment!

Many a suitor came to her door, by the darkness befriended,

And, as he knocked, and waited to hear the sound of her footsteps,

Knew not which beat the louder,2 his heart or the knocker of iron;

Or, at the joyous feast of the patron saint of the village, Bolder grew, and pressed her hand in the dance as he whispered

Hurried words of love, that seemed a part of the music. But, among all who came, young Gabriel only was wel

come;

Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the blacksmith, Who was a mighty man in the village, and honored of

all men;

For, since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations,

4

Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the

2 which beat the louder, etc. last syllable. Note this fine touch.

Accent on the

4 craft, manual art, trade.