He ploughs till the sun has sunk to rest,
And while lingers a line of light in the West;
And at dawn again in the field does he stand,
Clutching the rein with a feverish hand—
'I will plough up every sod of my land—
Every sod!' cries John Wilde.

So from dawn till dark, and from day to day, Till summer and autumn have passed away, Through heat and through cold, through drought and through rain,

At the plough, at the plough does he drive and strain,

Till each meadow is furrowed and furrowed

again

And again, by John Wilde.

Like stone now winter has frozen the soil, Yet John at the plough is seen to toil, Though he scarcely the reins in his hands can

hold,

Though his coffers are heaped with ducats untold;

For strong as despair grows his thirst for gold

Gold, more gold!' cries John Wilde.

His face is haggard, his looks are wild, And frighten his sorrowing wife and child;

And as ever and ever the plough goes on,
And never a seed is in furrow sown,
The neighbours say, 'Ah, his wits are gone!
He is crazed! Poor John Wilde!'

The wind sweeps over the open vale,
And the snow-flakes strike like sharpest hail;
The jaded beasts hang low the head
As they home return, undriven, unled:
John Wilde in a furrow lies stiff and dead-
Stiff and dead lies John Wilde.

WARF.
ARF.

THE WHITE Dw

'Soe hardie and soe gentil.'

THE White Dwarfs dwelt in the other two

་

of the Nine hills' of Rügen. During the stern northern winter they remained shut up in their hills, fashioning weapons and ornaments of the most exquisite form and workmanship, in steel, silver, and gold; but on the return of spring, and throughout the summer and autumn, they lived in woods and groves, and in secluded places by the margins of lakes and running waters, going forth into the open country only by night. When they went forth by day, it was always singly, and in an assumed form-that of butterfly, dove, or singing-bird.

In these excursions they carefully searched for those persons who, unmeritedly, were suffering want or distress, and exerted themselves in alleviating their condition. And in those ruthless times of piratical expeditions and

depredations, there was no lack of employment for the good little Dwarfs; for no one whose dwelling was near the shore was safe from robbery, captivity, or death. In the twelfth century, the Isle of Rügen was not only entirely in the possession of the lawless sea-rovers of the Baltic, but it had been by them so strongly fortified, that Waldemar the Great of Denmark, with the whole military resources of his kingdom, and aided by the forces of Henry the Lion of Saxony, failed in subduing it until after the sixth or seventh expedition. Nay, the sea-rovers did not confine their depredations to the shores of the Baltic and Northern seas; on one occasion, led by a daring chief, with a fleet of 100 sail, they penetrated the Mediterranern; and after ravaging the coast of Spain and Africa, and the Balearic Isles, they appeared before the ancient Etruscan city of Luna, which they plundered and destroyed.

THE WHITE WARF AND THE GENTLE

KNIGHT.

A Tale of Pomerania.

IR Otto lies in dungeon cold,
Heavy his heart the while,

In the dungeon cold of a pirate hold
On Rügen's lonely isle:

'Neath the cloud of night came the rover band, And burst o'er the Pomeranian strand;

By sea and by land, with sword and with flame,

Sudden and terrible they came.

Now happy they in death that lie
Upon their threshold stone,
The captive's sigh and stifled cry
And hopeless woe, unknown.

By the grating clouded and thick with dust,
And its massy bars all red with rust,
Sir Otto stands, and with wistful eye
Looks out on the sunlit sea and sky.