POETRY.
DISCIPLINE-COWPER.
In colleges and halls, in ancient days,
When learning, virtue, piety and truth,
Were precious, and inculcated with care,
There dwelt a sage call'd Discipline. His head,
Not yet by time completely silver'd o'er,
Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish you h,
But strong for service still, and unimpair'd.
His eye was meek and gentle, and a smile
Play'd on his lips; and in his speech was heard
Paternal sweetness, dignity and love.
The occupation dearest to his heart
Was to encourage goodness. He would stroke
The head of modest and ingenuous worth,
That blush'd at its own praise; and press the youth
. Close to his side that pleas'd him. Learning grew
Beneath his care, a thriving vigorous plant;
The mind was well inform'd, the passions held
Subordinate, and diligence was choice.
DISAPPOINTED HOPE-WHITE.
Fifty years hence, and who will hear of Henry?
Oh! none;-another busy brood of beings
Will shoot up in the interim, and none
Will hold him in remembrance. I shall sink,
As sinks a stranger in the crowded streets
Of busy London :-Some short bustle's caus'd
A few inquiries, and the crowds close in,
And all's forgotten.-On my grassy grave
The men of future times will careless tread,
And read my name upon the sculptur'd stone;
Nor will the sound, familiar to their ears,
Recall my vanish'd memory.-I did hope
For better things!-I hop'd I should not leave
The earth without a vestige ;-Heaven decrees
It shall be otherwise, and I submit.
THANATOPSIS-BRYANT.
All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosora.-Take the wings
Of morning, and the Barcan desert pierce,
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods
*Years, is a noun without a governing word; Rule 15.-Hence, is an adverb and qualifies is understood; as, A period having arrived which is fifty years hence, &c.
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,
Save his own dashings,- yet the dead are there,
And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid them down
In their last sleep; the dead reign there alone.
So shalt thou rest-and what if thou shalt fall
Unnoticed by the living, and no friend
Take note of thy departure? All that breathe
Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh
When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care
Plod on, and each one as before will chase
His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave
Their mirth and their employments, and shall come
And make their bed with thee. As the long train
Of ages glides away, the sons of men,
The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes
In the full strength of years, matron, and maid,
The bow'd with age, the infant, in the smiles
And beauty of its innocent age cut off,-
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,
By those, who in their turn shall follow them.
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and sooth'd
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
PROPHETIC VISION-COWPER.
Oh scenes surpassing fable, and yet true! Scenes of accomplished bliss! which, who can see, Though but in distant prospect, and not feel His soul refresh'd with foretaste of the joy?
Rivers of gladness water all the earth,
And clothe all climes with beauty; the reproach
Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field
Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean,
Or fertile only in its own disgrace,
Exults to see its thistly curse repealed.
The various seasons woven into one,
And that one season an eternal spring,
The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence,
For there is none to covet, all are full.
The lion, and the libbard, and the bear.
Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noen
Together, or gambol in the shade
Of the same grove, and drink one common stream..
Antipathies are none.
No foe to man
Lurks in the serpent now; the mother sees,
And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand
Stretch'd forth to dally with the crested worm,
To stroke his azure neck, or to receive
The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue.
All creatures worship man, and all mankind
One Lord, one Father. Error has no place:
That creeping pestilence is driven away;
The breath of heaven has chas'd it. In the heart,
No passion touches a discordant string,
But all is harmony and love. Disease
Is not; the pure aad uncontaminate blood
Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age.
One song employs all nations; and all cry,
Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for,us!"
The existence of God proved from the light of nature.
YOUNG.
What am I? and from whence? I nothing know,
But that I am; and since I am, conclude
Something eternal. Had there e'er been nought,
Nought still had been; eternal there must be.
But what eternal? Why not human race?
And Adam's ancestors without an end?
That's hard to be conceived; since every link
Of that long-chained succession is so frail:
Can every part depend, and not the whole?
Yet grant it true, new difficulties rise;
I'm still quite out at sea; nor see the shore.
Whence earth and these bright orbs? Eternal too?
Grant matter was eternal; still these orbs
Would want some other Father; much design
Is seen in all their motions, all their makes;
Design implies intelligence, and art;
That can't be from themselves-or man; that art
Man scarce can comprehend, could man bestow?
And nothing greater yet allowed, than man.
Who motion, foreign to the smallest grain,
Shot through vast masses of enormous weight?
Who bid brute matter's restive lump assume
Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly?
Has matter innate motiou? Then each atom.
Asserting its indisputable right
To dance, would form a universe of dust.
Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms,
And boundless flights? from shapeless, and reposed?
Has matter more than motion? Has it thought,
Judgment, and genius? Is it deeply learned
In mathematics? Has it framed such laws,
Which, but to guess, a Newton made immortal?
If so, how each sage atom laughs at me,
Who think a clod inferior to man!
If art, to form ; and counsel to conduct;
And that with greater far than human skill;
Resides not in each block ;-a GODHEAD reigns.
PUNCTUATION.
Punctuation is the art of dividing a written composition, by points or stops, for the purpose of rendering the meaning more perspicuous.
The simple points in common use are the fol lowing:
The Comma,
The Semicolon;
The duration of these pauses must be determined by the sense and character of the composition.
The comma is the shortest pause, and is much used in composition. It is made to separate all words, phrases, or portions of sentences, which, although intimately connected in sense, require a slight suspension of the voice.
When two or more nouns come together, they are usually separated by a comma; as, diligence, economy, and temperance, are the surest means of wealth.
Two or more adjectives coming together, and belonging to the same substantive, are separated by a comma; as, David was a brave, wise, and pious man.
Two or more verbs coming together, and having the same nominative case, are separated by a comma; as, We may advise, exhort, comfort, and instruct.
Two or more participles coming together, are subject to the same rule; as, He was happy in being loved, esteemed, and respected.
Two or more adverbs immediately succeeding each other, are separated by a comma; as, Success generally depends on acting prudently, steadily, and vigorously.
When an address is made, the word or phrase containing the address, is separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma; as, Charles, you may now recite your lesson. I rise, fellow citizens, to address you on an important subject. My son, give me thine heart, Sir, I am happy to meet you. Brethren, give audience.
The nominative case absolute, and the infinitive mood absolute, should be separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence; as, His father dying, he succeeded to the estate. To confess the truth, I was greatly in fault.
When the nominative is widely separated from the verb on which it terminates, a comma may be inserted immediately before the verb; as, A person who is wholly indifferent to praise or censure, has not a proper estimate of character.
When any slight circumstance, or explanatory phrase is introduced, which causes a separation in the sense, it should be separated from the body of the sentence by a comma; as, None of the audience, except those who were very near, were able to hear the performance. They were, I confess, brave men. It was not, however, his intention to deceive. He was influenced, perhaps, by
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