BISHOP HA TTO; OR, GOD'S JUDGMENT ON A WICKED BISHOP. 101 If I'm not so large as you, And not half so spry:4 I'll not deny you make A very pretty squirrel track.5 Talents differ; all is well and wisely put: If I cannot carry forests on my back, R. W. EMERSON. CAUTION: This is a very easy poem to read. The tone is that of candid reasoning-especially in the lines beginning, I'll not deny. MEANINGS: 1. Prig, conceited, stuck-up thing. 2. Bun, name given to a squirrel in America. 3. Sphere, world. 4. Spry, quick, lively, active (an American word). 5. Squirrel track, place for a squirrel to run up and down. VIOLETS. UNDER the green hedges after the snow, Sweet as the roses, and blue as the sky, Hiding their heads where they scarce may be seen, By the leaves you may know where the violet hath been. CAUTION: This verse is so musical and rhythmical, that there is a danger of falling into a sing-song. Both the rhythm and the rhyme will take very good care of themselves; and the whole attention of the reader must be directed to the sense. BISHOP HATTO; OR, GOD'S JUDGMENT ON A WICKED THE summer and autumn had been so wet, Every day the starving poor At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day To quiet the poor without delay; He bade them to his great barn repair,1 And they should have food for the winter there." Rejoiced such tidings good to hear, The poor folk flocked from far and near; The great barn was full, as it could hold Of women and children, and young and old. more, Then when he saw it could hold no 'tis an excellent "I' faith, bonfire!" quoth he, "And the country is greatly obliged to me, For ridding it in these times forlorn3 Of rats, that only consume the corn." So then to his palace returned he, In the morning as he entered the hall, again. had eaten it out of the frame. As he looked there came a man from the farm, Another came running presently," Fly! my Lord Bishop, fly," quoth he, "Ten thousand rats are coming this wayThe Lord forgive you for yesterday!" BISHOP HATTO; OR, GOD'S JUDGMENT ON A WICKED BISHOP. 103 He laid him down, and closed his eyes, He started, On his pillow from whence the screaming came. He listened and looked; it was only the cat; At the army of rats that was drawing near. For they have swum over the river so deep,k They are not to be told by the dozen By thousands or score, they come, and by myriads and more; Such numbers had never been heard of before, Such a judgment had never been witnessed of yore. CAUTIONS: a. This line to be read very slowly. b. This line must be read in the slow level tone of ordinary narration. c. An emphasis on his. d. The emphatic word is there. e. This line to be read in a quiet matter-of-fact way. f. This line must be read in a distinct and rather cougratulatory manner; and the next line very slowly, as if reading out the Bishop's doom, and preparing the listener for what is to follow. g. Pronounce presentlee, in the old-fashioned way, as was sometimes done in ballads. h. Slow enumeration. i. Take care not to put any accent on whence. k. Slow and clear narration. 7. This line must be read with extreme slowness. m. This line is deficient in the number of syllables; but this should be made up for by the slow way of reading it and by the pauses. MEANINGS: 1. Repair, come. 2. Tidings, news. 3. Forlorn, miserable. 4. Myriads, tens of thousands. 5. Tell his beads, say his prayers. CASABIANCA. In the battle of the Nile, Captain Casabianca commanded the ship L'Orient, which caught fire; the flames reached the magazine, and she blew up. He had given an order to his son, a midshipman, about thirteen years old, not to leave his post until further orders. THE boy stood on the burning deck," Whence all but him had filed; The flame that lit the battle's wreck Yet beautiful and bright he stood, A creature of heroic blood, form. The flames rolled on; he would not go That father, faint in death below, He called aloud,-" Say, father, say, He knew not that the chieftain lay "Speak, father!" once again he cried, And but the booming shots replied," Upon his brow he felt their breath, And in his waving hair; And looked from that lone post of death In still, yet brave despair; And shouted but once more aloud, "My father! must I stay!" While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud, The wreathing2 fires made way. They wrapt the ship in splendours wild, They caught the flag on high, And streamed above the gallant child, Like banners in the sky. There came a burst of thunder sound; Ask of the winds, that far around THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE. With mast, and helm, and pennon3 fair, But the noblest thing that perished there Was that young, faithful heart.-MRS. HEMANS. CAUTIONS: a. Almost all young readers say, misled by the verse accent: 105 The only way to correct this is to make the reader say, "The boy stood " separately-and then to add on the burning deck." b. The same danger haunts this line. But means only; and a pause must be made after the And, to enable the but to associate itself with its own words. MEANINGS: 1. As born as if he had been born. 2. Wreathing, playing about the mast and cordage, as if winding wreaths round them. 3. Pennon-another form is pennant-a small flag. THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE. This poem was written by CoWPER (who died in 1800) on one of H.M.'s ships which was lying at Portsmouth. She had been heeled over a little for the purpose of repairs; her port-holes were open, and a slight breeze threw her off her balance; the water rushed in, and she sank with all on board. Admiral Kempenfelt, the officer in command, was drowned while writing in his cabin. The ode is written in a simple, serious, and vigorous style; and it should be the object of the reader to render the feeling of the poem with the fullest justice. a TOLL for the brave! Eight hundred of the brave, And laid her on her side. A land breeze shook the shrouds,1 Down went the Royal George, Toll for the brave! Brave Kempenfelt is gone; |