As I laye a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge,
Merrie sang the Birde as she sat upon the boughe;
A lovely Mayde came bye,

And a gentil youth came nighe
And he breathed many a syghe
And a vowe;

As I laye a-thynkynge, her heart was gladsome now.

As I laye a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge,
Sadly sang the Birde as she sat upon the thorne ;
No more a youth was there,

But a Maiden rent her haire,
And cried in sad despaire,

"That I was borne!'

As I lay a-thynkynge, she perished forlorne.

As I laye a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, Sweetly sang the Birde as she sat upon the briar; There came a lovely Childe,

And his face was meek and milde,

Yet joyously he smiled

On his Sire;

As I laye a-thynkynge, a Cherub mote admire.

But I laye a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge, And sadly sang the Birde as it perched upon a bier; That joyous smile was gone,

And the face was white and wan,

As the downe upon the Swan

Doth appear,

As I laye a-thynkynge-O! bitter flowed the tear!

BB

spessim i nie to the death of S Semer, who was killed at • Vesterans, ging for the Dutch

Swesten, criled, after a life wie bestging FredericksThe wen sa jazaarsse of

18 S.: George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, son of the favourite of James I. whom Feiten issassinated at Portsmouth. He bid not die, as Pope says, in the worst inn's worst rium," but in a farm-bouse at Kirby-Marsile, on his estate of Heinsier in Yorkshire, now Puncombe Park, the seat of the Bars of Feversham. Aisaləm zui Loritmiel is a satire against the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was hen, November, 1661, in the Tower on a charge of high treason. slom' is the unfortunate Duke of Monmout's, natural son of

PAGE.

Charles II., who had been banished by his father for plotting against the Duke of York, afterwards James II., and was consequently regarded by discontented people as the champion of the Protestant cause. 112. Dennis: a well-known critic of those days, very poor, very ill-tempered, but not so dull as Pope always wished to make him out. Stood withstood.

113.

'Retaliation' was written in good-natured revenge for the banter, not always so good-natured, that Goldsmith had long endured from Garrick and others of his companions and associates at Johnson's famous Club. The reader who wishes to know all about the matter, and the persons concerned, should read Forster's charming Life of Goldsmith.

115. Furniture: not used in our modern sense only, but for dress or decoration of any kind.

124. Mahomet: a rope-dancer who had performed at Covent Garden Theatre the previous year.

125. Black joke: i.e., the black puddings, which probably in those days played a part similar to the clown's sausages in our Christmas pantomimes. Old Edward's armour: on the coronation of George II., in 1727, the two theatres, Drury Lane aud Covent Garden, each brought out a magnificent spectacle representing the marriage of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn. At Drury Lane, Cibber, who appeared as the Champion, was dressed in the armour of one of the king's of England, borrowed for the occasion from the Tower. 126. Cato: An allusion to Addison's once famous tragedy of that name. 133. The Royal George overset, through the breaking loose of her guns, and went down when at anchor off Spithead, August 29th, 1782. The ship was crowded with visitors at the time, and, including officers and crew, about 600 persons were drowned.

139. Woodie: rope.

Hurcheon: hedge-hog. Came: comb. Studdie: a smith's shop, or an anvil. Starns: stars. Yearns: herns, herons. 140. Kens: knows. Burnies: little streams. Wimplin: wandering. Stens: leaps, rushes. Lin: waterfall. Maukins: hares. Whiddin: running. Clud: cloud. Paitrick: partridge. Rair: roar.

Craiks:

landrails. Houlets: owls. Eldritch: frightful, especially as supposed to be haunted. Waukrife: wakeful. Canty: jolly, spirited.

144. Brent: smooth, unwrinkled. Beld: bald.

154. Kubla Khan: this poem, or more properly fragment of a poem, is said by Coleridge to have been composed in his sleep after reading a story in Purchas's Pilgrimage. I could wish to have included The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in this book, but it was too long to print in full, and I could not interfere with it.

166 Blate: ashamed. Snool: to cringe. Dool: sorrow.

As I laye a-thynkynge, the golden sun was sinking,
O merrie sang that Birde as it glittered on her breast,
With a thousand gorgeous dyes,

While soaring to the skies,

'Mid the stars she seemed to rise, As to her nest;

As I laye a-thynkynge, her meaning was exprest :— 'Follow, follow me away,

It boots not to delay,'

'Twas so she seemed to saye,

'HERE IS REST!'

R. H. Barham.

A FAREWELL.

My fairest child, I have no song to give you;
No lark could pipe to skies so dull and grey :
Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you
For every day.

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long: And so make life, death, and that vast for-ever One grand, sweet song.

C. Kingsley.

NOTES.

PAGE.

7. Neat: an ox or cow. Quintels: a game in which a post was run at

with poles.

8. Fox-in-the-hole: a game in which boys hopped and lashed each other. Cockrood probable a run for woodcocks.

9. The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd: the balance of conjecture seems to give the authorship of this poem to Raleigh; but it is right to say that it is given by conjecture only.

15. Sheaf: character, disposition.

17. Mood: musical accompaniment. Recorders: a kind of flute, or flageolet. 18. Amerced: deprived.

19. Charet: chariot.

20. Regiment: rule.

21. Cur'et: curiet, cuirass.

22. Empeach hinder. Resty: an epithet properly belonging to the horses, restive, ungovernable. Forlore: forsaken, disregarded.

23. Crapples: claws. Brent: burnt.

by fate.

Cursed i.e., unfortunate, as cursed

28. Daffed: put aside with scorn. Estridges: hawks.

31. Preace: press, crowd. Undight: unbound.

33. Umbered: dark, as though stained with umber.

34. Overbears attaint: i.e., bears down, dispels any taint or touch of fear by

his cheerful look and manner.

36. Vaward: vanguard.

37. Bilbos: swords.

38. Ding strike, cut down.