If to my hands the noble Greeks shall bring
The worth of what I lose, and in a shape
That pleases me: else will I come myself,
And seize and bear away thy prize, or that
Of Ajax or Ulysses ; leaving him
From whom I take his share to rage at will.
Another time we will confer of this.
Now come, and forth into the great salt sea
Launch a black ship, and muster on the deck
Men skilled to row; and put a hecatomb
On board; and let the fair-cheeked maid embark, -
Chryseis. Send a prince to bear command,
Ajax, Idomeneus, or the divine
Ulysses, or thyself, Pelides, thou
Most terrible of men, that with due rites
Thou soothe the anger of the archer-god."

a

Achilles, the swift-footed, with stern look Thus answered : “la! thou mailed in impudence And bent on lucre! Who of all the Greeks Can willingly obey thee on the march, Or bravely battling with the enemy? I came not to this war because of wrong Done to me by the valiant sons of Troy. No feud had I with them: they never took My beeves or horses; nor in Phthia's realm, Deep-soiled and populous, spoiled my harvest-fields. For many a shadowy mount between us lies, And waters of the wide-resounding sea. Man unabashed ! we follow thee, that thou Mayst glory in avenging upon Troy The grudge of Menelaus and thy own. Thou shameless one, and yet thou hast for this Nor thanks nor care. Thou threatenest now to take From me the prize for which I bore long toils In battle; and the Greeks decreed it mine. I never take an equal share with thee Of booty when the Grecian host bas sacked Some populous Trojan town. My hands perform The harder labors of the fields in all The tumult of the fight: but, when the spoil Is shared, the largest share of all is thine; While I, content with little, see my ships Weary with combat. I shall now go home To Phthia: better were it to be there With my beaked ships. But here, where I am held In little honor, thou wilt fail, I think, To gather, in large measure, spoil and wealth.”

Him answered Agamemnon, king of men :“ Desert, then, if thou wilt: I ask thee not To stay for me. There will be others left

To do me honor yet; and, best of all,
The all-providing Jove is with me still.
Thee I detest the most of all the men
Ordained by him to govern. Thy delight
Is in contention, war, and bloody frays.
If thou art brave, some deity, no doubt,
Hath thus endowed thee. Hence, then, to thy home,
With all thy ships and men ! there domineer
Over thy myrmidons. I heed thee not,
Nor care I for thy fury. Thus, in turn,
I threaten thee : Since Phæbus takes away
Chryseis, I will send her in my ship,
And with my friends; and, coming to thy tent,
Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize,
Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand
Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear
To measure strength with me and brave my power."

The rage of Peleus' son, as thus he spake,
Grew fiercer: in that shaggy breast his heart
Took counsel, whether from his thigh to draw
The trenchant sword, and, thrusting back the rest,
Smite down Atrides; or subdue his wrath,
And master his own spirit. While he thus
Debated with himself, and half unsheathed
The ponderous blade, Pallas Athene came,
Sent from on high by Juno the white-armed,
Who loved both warriors, and watched over both.
Behind Pelides, where he stood, she came,
And plucked his yellow hair. The hero turned
In wonder; and at once he knew the look
Of Pallas, and the awful-gleaming eye,
And thus accosted her with winged words:
• Why com’st thou hither, daughter of the god
Who bears the ægis ? Art thou here to see
The insolence of Agamemnon, son
Of Atreus? Let me tell thee what I deem
Will be the event. That man may lose his life,
And quickly, too, for arrogance like this.”

Book I. 1-267.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

BORN FEB, 27, 1807, PORTLAND, ME.

As Professor of Modern Languages and Belles-Lettres in Bowdoin College from 1829 to 1835, and in Harvard University from 1835 to 1854, Mr. Longfellow has done much to retine and polish the literary taste of his time, both as critic and poet. It is superfluous to speak in praise of his numerous literary productions, since they are sought with equal eagerness at home and abroad. A thorough student in the polite literature of all nations, a welcome guest and intelligent observer in American and European society, a poet of purest thought and expression, he ennobles life with so much generous buman sympathy in all his writings, that they are read and admired as the thoughts of a cherished friend.

PRINCIPAL PRODUCTIONS.

“Outre Mer," 1835; “Hyperion," and " Voices of the Night," 1839; “ Evangeline," 1847; " The Spanish Student," 1843; “ The Golden Legend," 1845;

Ballads and Poems," 1841; “ Kavanagh." 1848; many minor Poems. and Poetry of Europe,'' 1845; “ Belfry of Bruges;" “ Seaside and Fireside," 1849; “ The Song of Hiawatha,” 1865; “ The Courtship of Miles Standish," 1858.

Poets

A PSALM OF LIFE.

What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream;
For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real, life is earnest ;

And the grave is not its goal:
“ Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting;

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral-marches to the

grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle:

Be a hero in the strife.

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant;

Let the dead Past bury its dead :
Act, act in the living Present,

Heart within, and God o'erhead.
Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of Time,-
Footprints that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er Lite's solemn main, -
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, –

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS.

There is a Reaper whose name is Death;

And with his sickle keen
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,

And the flowers that grow between.
“ Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he;

“ Have naught but the bearded grain ? Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,

I will give them all back again.”
He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes ;

He kissed their drooping leaves :
It was for the Lord of Paradise

He bound them in his Sheaves.

“ My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,”

The Reaper said, and smiled : “ Dear tokens of the earth are they,

Where he was once a child.
“ They shall all bloom in fields of light,

Transplanted by my care;
And saints upon their garments white

These sacred blossoms wear."

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,

The flowers she most did love:
She knew she should find them all again

In the fields of light above.

Oh! not in cruelty, not in wrath,

The Reaper came that day: 'Twas an angel visited the green earth,

And took the flowers away.

FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS.

When the hours of day are numbered,

And the voices of the night
Wake the better soul, that slumbered,

To a holy, calm delight;
Ere the evening lamps are lighted,

And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful fire-light

Dance upon the parlor-wall, Then the forms of the departed Enter at the open

door: The beloved, the true-hearted,

Come to visit me once more.
He, the young and strong, who cherished

Noble longings for the strife,
By the roadside fell and perished,

Weary with the march of life.
They, the holy ones and weakly,

Who the cross of suffering bore, Folded their pale hands so meekly!

Spake with us on earth no more ! And with them the being beauteous,

Who unto my youth was given More than all things else to love me,

And is now a saint in heaven.

With a slow and noiseless footstep

Comes that messenger divine, Takes the vacant chair beside me,

Lays her gentle hand in mine. And she sits and gazes at me

With those deep and tender eyes, Like the stars, so still and saint-like,

Looking downward from the skies. Uttered not, yet comprehended,

Is the spirit's voiceless prayer; Soft rebukes, in blessings ended,

Breathing from her lips of air.