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But hark! from tower on tree-top high,
The sentry elf his call has made.
A streak is in the eastern sky,

Shapes of moonlight flit and fade!
The hill-tops gleam in morning's spring,
The skylark shakes his dappled wing,
The day-glimpse glimmers on the lawn,
The cock has crowed-and the Fays are gone!

JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE,

Spell and pronounce:-spiral, fairy, sturgeon, seize, cedar, muscle, nestling, shrieks, gauze, giant, javelin, scallops, shield, gnarls, pierced, and whip-poor-will.

Synonyms.-behest-command; mandate; injunction.

message; commission; mission. luster-splendor;

glimmer.

99 66

erranddistinction;

Explain:-"plumed," "acorn helmet," fire-fly steed," "rocketstar," and "embarks."

Questions on the Lesson.-Who was Cooper? Name something that he wrote. Where and what are the Highlands? What is meant by "the quarl's long arms,” “the squab has thrown his javelin," and "the gritty star."

He

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) was born in the city of New York, August 7, 1795. In his childhood he. was a poet, composing "The Mocking Bird" when he was but a mere boy. loved best to pore over works of the imagination, and his favorite poets were Shakespeare, Burns, and Campbell. Drake and Halleck were intimate personal friends, and both gained celebrity by the poetical contributions which appeared during the year 1819 in the "Evening Post," over the signature of Croaker & Co. Among Drake's most popular contributions is the poem-" The American Flag." In September of the following year, 1820, Drake, smitten with consumption, died at the early age of twenty-five. His untimely death was mourned by a large circle of friends, and profoundly regretted by many more, who felt the literary loss of one so promising. Among the tenderest tributes of friendship that were ever written are the beautifully simple lines by Fitz-Greene Halleck in the next lesson.

LESSON XI.

ON THE DEATH OF JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE.

"The good die first,

And those whose hearts are dry as summer dust,

Burn to the socket."

WM. WORDSWORTH.

Green be the turf above thee,

Friend of my better days!

None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor named thee but to praise.

Tears fell, when thou wert dying,
From eyes unused to weep,
And long where thou art lying
Will tears the cold earth steep.

When hearts, whose truth was proven,
Like thine, are laid in earth,
There should a wreath be woven
To tell the world their worth.

And I, who woke each morrow
To clasp thy hand in mine,
Who shared thy joy and sorrow,

Whose weal and woe were thine:

It should be mine to braid it
Around thy faded brow,

But I've in vain essayed it,
And feel I cannot now.

While memory bids me weep thee,
Nor thoughts, nor words are free,

The grief is fixed too deeply

That mourns a man like thee.

FITZ-GREENE HALLECK.

Fitz-Greene Halleck (1795-1867) was born at Guilford, Connecticut, July 8, 1795. At the age of twenty-one he came to New York City, where he was for some time engaged in a banking-house. Subsequently, he became book-keeper in the private office of the millionaire John Jacob Astor. After the death of Mr. Astor, Halleck returned to his birthplace, where he died in 1867, at the age of seventy-eight years. Halleck's poems are so musical, their versification is so perfect, and there are so few of them, that it has been a matter of general regret that he did not write more. Probably among the best warlyrics ever written is that of "Marco Bozzaris."

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Let us begin our study of the city with the harbor and its surroundings.

To the south and

west of the city is the North River.

THE HARBOR.

Stretching out until the shores of the farther sides are almost obscured by the distance, is the harbor, large enough to hold the commerce of the world. The Statue of Liberty is seen on the right in the middle distance; Staten Island and Fort Wadsworth are beyond, with the Narrows, between Staten Island and Long Island, dimly visible through the haze.

To the left, and slightly nearer, is Fort Hamilton; and still nearer, bristling with masts and

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