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"THE HILL OF KNOWLEDGE I ESSAYED TO TRACE ;

THE ALBATROSS.

At first in heart it liked me ill,

When the King praised his clerkly skill.
Thanks to Saint Bothan, son of mine,
Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line :
So swore I, and I swear it still,
Let my boy-bishop fret his fill.

Saint Mary, mend my fiery mood!
Old age ne'er cools the Douglas blood-
I thought to slay him where he stood.
'Tis pity of him, too," he cried :
"Bold can he speak, and fairly ride;
I warrant him a warrior tried."

With this his mandate he recalls,

And slowly seeks his castle halls.

[Sir WALTER SCOTT. From his poem of "Marmion."]

"HENCEFORTH I SHALL KNOW,-THAT NATURE NE'ER DESERTS THE WISE AND PURE."-S. T. COLERIDGE.

"THEY HAD BEEN FRIENDS IN YOUTH, BUT WHISPERING TONGUES CAN POISON TRUTH."-Coleridge.

A

THE ALBATROSS.

IND now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:

And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen :

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken-
The ice was all between.

T'e ice was here, the ice was there,

he ice was all around;

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Like noises in a swound.

THAT VERDUROUS HILL WITH MANY A RESTING-PLACE."-COLERIDGE.

"OUR BRIEF HOURS TRAVEL POST, EACH WITH ITS THOUGHT OR DEED, ITS WHY OR HOW."-COLERIDGE.

"LOVE, HOPE, AND PATIENCE, THESE MUST BE THY GRACES,—

[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, born 1772, died 1834, author of "The
Friend," "Aids to Reflection," "Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit,"
"Schiller's "Wallenstein," "
66
Remorse," Legend of Christabel," and

""

other works in prose and poetry. The extract is from "The Ancient
Mariner" (Part I.)—a wild romantic poem of great beauty.]

"Frail creaATURES ARE WE ALL; TO BE THE BEST, IS BUT THE FEWEST FAULTS TO HAVE."-COLERIDGE.

THE BEST PRAYER.

E prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small ;

For the dear Lord who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. From "The Ancient Mariner."]

AND IN THINE OWN HEART LET THEM FIRST KEEP SCHOOL."-COLERIDGE.

"SERENE WILL BE OUR DAYS AND BRIGHT, AND HAPPY WILL OUR NATURE BE,"-(WORDSWORTH)

THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US; LATE AND SOON,

A PERFECT WOMAN.

A PERFECT WOMAN.

HE was a phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight;

A lovely apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;

Her eyes as stars of twilight fair,
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From Maytime and the cheerful dawn;
A dainty shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

I saw her, upon nearer view,
A spirit, yet a woman too!

Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;

A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food,

For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller betwixt life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill:

A perfect woman, nobly planned,

To warn, to comfort, and command;

GETTING AND SPENDING, WE LAY WASTE OUR POWERS."-WORDSWORTH.

"WHEN LOVE IS AN UNERRING LIGHT, AND JOY ITS OWN SECURITY."-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

THE STILL, SAD MUSIC OF HUMANITY !"-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

THE DANISH BOY.

145

And yet a spirit still and bright,

With something of an angel-light.

Sonnets,"

[WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, author of "The Excursion,"
"Laodamia," "Ruth," and numerous poems in which depth of thought is
nobly combined with splendour of language, was born 1770, died 1850.]

"THE FLOODS, THE STARS; A SPECTACLE AS OLD AS THE BEGINNING OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH."-WORDSWORTH.

"THE SWEETEST MELODIES ARE THOSE THAT ARE BY DISTANCE MADE MORE SWEET."-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

THE IMMORTAL MIND CRAVES OBJECTS THAT ENDURE."-WORDSWORTH.

"BLESSINGS BE WITH THEM, AND ETERNAL PRAISE, WHO GAVE US NOBLER LOVES AND NOBLER CARES-THE POETS;

146

46 DREAMS, BOOKS, ARE EACH A WORLD; AND BOOKS, WE KNOW,

WHO ON EARTH HAVE MADE US HEIRS OF TRUTH AND PURE DELIGHT BY HEAVENLY LAYS."-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

There sits he in his face you spy
No trace of a ferocious air;
Nor ever was a cloudless sky

So steady or so fair.

The lovely Danish boy is blest,
And happy in his flowery cove :
From bloody deeds his thoughts are far;

And yet he warbles songs of war,

That seem like songs of love,

ARE A SUBSTANTIAL WORLD, BOTH PURE AND GOOD."-WORDSWORTH.