The Pilgrim Fathers.

I saw him next alone-nor camp,

Nor chief his steps attended;

Nor banner blazed, nor courser's tramp
With war-cries loudly blended,
He stood alone, whom fortune high

So lately seemed to deify;

He, who with Heaven contended,
Fled, like a fugitive and slave !
Behind-the foe; before-the wave !

He stood;-fleet, army, treasure-gone-
Alone, and in despair!

While wave and wind swept ruthless on,

For they were monarch there;

And Xerxes in a single bark,

Where late his thousand ships were dark,

Must all their fury dare;

What a revenge-a trophy, this

For thee, immortal Salamis !

47

MISS JEWSBURY.

THE PILGRIM FATHERS.

(HE Pilgrim Fathers-where are they?
The waves that brought them o'er

Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray

As they break along the shore.

Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day,
When the Mayflower * moored below,
When the sea around was black with storms,
And white the shore with snow.

* The ship that brought the first colonists to New England was named the Mayflower.

The mists that wrapped the pilgrims' sleep,
Still brood upon the tide;

And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep,
To stay its waves of pride.

But the snow-white sail that he gave to the gale,
When the heavens looked dark, is gone;
As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud,
Is seen and then withdrawn.

The pilgrim exile—sainted name !—

The hill whose icy brow

Rejoiced, when he came, in the morning's flame,
In the morning's flame burns now.

And moon's cold light, as it lay that night

On the hill-side and the sea,

Still lies where he laid his houseless head;

But the pilgrim-where is he?

The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest :

When the summer's throned on high,

And the world's warm breast is in verdure dressed,

Go stand on the hill where they lie.

The earliest ray of the golden day

On that hallowed spot is cast:

And the evening sun, as he leaves the world,

Looks kindly on that spot last.

The pilgrim spirit has not fled;

It walks in noon's broad light:

And it watches the bed of the glorious dead,

With the holy stars, by night.

It watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
And shall guard his ice-bound shore,

Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay,
Shall foam and freeze no more.

PIERPOINT.

Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.

49

THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS IN NEW ENGLAND.

HE breaking waves dashed high

On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky

Their giant branches tossed.

And the heavy night hung dark,

The hills and waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark

On the wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted came;

Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame :

Not as the flying come,

In silence and in fear;

They shook the depths of the desert gloom

With their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang,

And the stars heard and the sea!

And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang

To the anthem of the free.

The ocean-eagle soared

From his nest by the white wave's foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared-
This was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair,
Amidst that pilgrim band;-
Why had they come to wither there
Away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar?

Bright jewels of the mine!

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?—
They sought a faith's pure shrine !

Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trode !

They have left unstained what there they found

Freedom to worship God.

MRS. HEMANS.

PART II.-DESCRIPTIVE AND

NARRATIVE.

THE ANTS.

LITTLE black ant found a large grain of wheat,
Too heavy to lift or to roll;

So he begged of a neighbour he happened to

meet,

To help it down into his hole.

I've got my own work to look after, said he;
You must shift for yourself if you please;
So he crawled off as selfish and cross as could be,
And lay down to sleep at his ease.

Just then a black brother was passing the road,
And seeing his brother in want,

Came up and assisted him in with his load,

For he was a good-natured ant.

Let all who this story may happen to hear,
Endeavour to profit by it;

For often it happens that children appear
As cross as the ant, every bit.