II. FAST MOVEMENT.

Fast, or quick, movement, is the characteristic rate in the expression of mirth, fun, humor, gladness, joy, and haste.

EXAMPLES.

1. PAUL REVERE'S RIDE.

A hurry of hoofs in a village stréet,

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dárk,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spárk
Struck out by a stéed that flies fearless and fléet :
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;

And the spárk struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its hèat.

2. L'ALLEGRO.

LONGFELLOW.

Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee

Jest and youthful Jòllity,

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wìles,

Nods, and bècks, and wreathéd smiles
Such as hang on Hèbe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple slèek;
Spòrt that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it as ye go

On the light fantastic tòe;

And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.

3. ONCE MORE.

MILTON.

"Will I come?" That is pleasant! I beg to inquire If the gun that I carry has ever missed fire?

And which was the muster-roll-mention but ône-
That missed your old comrade who carries the gùn!

You see me as always, my hand on the lock,
The cap on the nipple, the hammer full cock.

It is rusty, some tell me; I heed not the scôff;
It is battered and bruised, but it always goes off!
"Is it loaded?" I'll bet you! What does n't it hold?
Rammed full to the muzzle with memories untold;
Why, it scares me to fire, lest the pieces should fly
Like the cannons that burst on the Fourth of July!

4. RHYME OF THE RAIL.

Singing through the forests,
Rattling over ridges,
Shooting under árches,

Rumbling over bridges;

Whizzing through the mountains,

Buzzing o'er the vále,

Blèss me this is pléasant,

Riding on the rail!

5. THE MAY QUEEN.

HOLMES.

SAXE.

You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother

dear;

To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad New

Year;

Of all the glad New Year, mother, the maddest, merriest

day;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

6. THE MESSAGE.

TENNYSON.

The muster-place is Lanrick mead;
Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!
The summons dread brooks no delay.
Stretch to the race-away! away!

7. THE SUMMONS.

SCOTT.

Come as the winds come, when forests are rended; Come as the waves come, when navies are stranded. Faster come, faster come, faster and faster:

Chief, vassal, page, and groom, tenant and master.

Fast they come, fast they come; see how they gather! Wide waves the eagle plume, blended with heather. Cast your plaids, draw your blades, forward each man set; Pibroch of Donuil Dhu, knell for the onset !

Precisely. I see it. You all want to say

That a tear is too sad and a smile is too gay;

SCOTT.

You could stand a faint smile, you could manage a sigh, But you value your ribs, and you do n't want to cry.

It's awful to think of--how year after year

With his piece in his pocket he waits for you here; No matter who's missing, there always is one

To lug out his manuscript, sure as a gun.

III. VERY FAST MOVEMENT.

Very fast movement is expressive of hurry, alarm, confusion, flight, ecstatic joy, and ungovernable rage and fury.

EXAMPLES.

1. MAZEPPA.

Away!-away!-and on we dàsh! —
Torrents less rapid and less ràsh.
Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind,
All húman dwellings left behind;

We sped like méteors through the sky,
When with its crackling sound the night
Is chequered with the northern light.

2. HURRY.

Sisters! hence, with spurs of spècd!
Each her thundering falchion wield;

Each bestride her sable stèed;

Hurry! hurry to the field.

BYRON.

3. FLIGHT.

Forth from the pass in tumult driven,
Like chaff before the wind of heaven,
The archery appear;

For life! for life! their flight they ply;
While shriék, and shout, and battle-cry,
And plaids and bonnets waving high,
And broadswords flashing to the sky,
Are maddening in the rear.

4. GOOD NEWS.

I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris, and hè;

SCOTT.

Í galloped, Dírck galloped, we galloped all thièe; "Good speed!" cried the watch as the gate-bolts undrew; Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through.

Behind shut the pòstern; the lights sank to rest,

And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

Not a word to each other; we kept the great páce,
Néck by néck, stríde by stríde, never changing our plàce;
I turned in my saddle and made its girths tíght,
Then shortened each stirrup and set the pique ríght,
Rebuckled the chéck-strap, chained slacker the bít,
Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whìt.

5. HOW THE OLD HORSE WON THE BET.

Bring forth the horse!" Alas! he showed
Not like the one Mazeppa rode;

BROWNING.

Scant-maned, sharp-backed, and shaky-kneed,
The wreck of what was once a steed;

Lips thin, eyes hollow, stiff in joints,

Yet not without his knowing points.

66

Go!"-Through his ear the summons stung,
As if a battle-trump had rung;

The slumbering instincts long unstirred
Start at the old familiar word;

It thrills like flame through every limb-
What mean his twenty years to him?

The savage blow his rider dealt
Fell on his hollow flanks unfelt;

The spur that pricked his staring hide
Unheeded tore his bleeding side;
Alike to him are spur and rein-
He steps a five-year-old again !
Before the quarter-pole was passed,
Old Hiram said, "He's going fast."
Long ere the quarter was a half,
The chuckling crowd had ceased to laugh;
Tighter his frightened jockey clung
As in a mighty stride he swung,

The gravel flying in his track,

His neck stretched out, his ears laid back,
His tail extended all the while
Behind him like a rat-tail file!
Off went a shoe-away it spun,
Shot like a bullet from a gun;
The quaking jockey shapes a prayer
From scraps of oaths he used to swear;
He drops his whip, he drops his rein,
He clutches fiercely for a mane;
He'll lose his hold-he sways and reels-
He'll slide beneath those trampling heels!
But like the sable steed that bore

The spectral lover of Lenore,
His nostrils snorting foam and fire,
No stretch his bony limbs can tire;
And now the stand he rushes by,
And "Stop him! stop him!" is the cry,
Stand back he's only just begun-
He's having out three heats in one!
Now for the finish! At the turn,
The old horse-all the rest astern—
Comes swinging in, with easy trot;
By Jove he's distanced all the lot!

HOLMES.