THE RIDE. - Miss Lamb.

LATELY an equipage I overtook,

And helped to lift it o'er a narrow brook.
No horse it had, except one boy, who drew
His sister out in it the fields to view.

O happy town-bred girl, in fine chaise going,
For the first time, to see the green grass growing!
This was the end and purport of the ride,

I learned, as, walking slowly by their side,
I heard their conversation. Often she,

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Brother, is this the country that I see?"

The bricks were smoking, and the ground was broke ; There were no signs of verdure when she spoke. He, as the well-informed delight in chiding The ignorant, her questions still deriding, To his good judgment modestly she yields, Till, brick-kilns past, they reached the open fields. Then, as with rapturous wonder round she gazes On the green grass, the buttercups, and daisies, "This is the country sure enough !" she cries; 'Is 't not a charming place?" The boy replies, "We'll go no further." No," she says, no need, No finer place than this can be indeed." I left them gathering flowers, the happiest pair That ever London sent to breathe the fine fresh air.

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GENTLE RIVER. — Percy's Reliques.

GENTLE river, gentle river,

Lo! thy streams are stained with gore;
Many a brave and noble captain
Floats along thy willowed shore.

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GENTI E RIVER.

All beside thy limpid waters,
All beside thy sands so bright,
Moorish chiefs and Christian warriors
Joined in fierce and mortal fight.

Lords, and dukes, and noble princes,

On thy fatal banks were slain;
Fatal banks, that gave to slaughter
All the pride and flower of Spain!

There the hero, brave Alonzo,
Full of wounds and glory, died
There the fearless Urdiales

;

Fell a victim, by his side.

Lo! where yonder Don Saavedra
Through their squadrons slow retires;
Proud Seville, his native city,

Proud Seville his worth admires.

Close behind, a renegado

Loudly shouts, with taunting cry, "Yield thee, yield thee, Don Saavedra ! Dost thou from the battle fly?

"Well I know thee, haughty Christian,
Long I lived beneath thy roof;
Oft I've in the lists of glory

Seen thee win the prize of proof.

"Well I know thy aged parents,

Well thy blooming bride I know;
Seven years I was thy captive,

Seven years of pain and woe.

"May our prophet grant my wishes,

Haughty chief, thou shalt be mine; Thou shalt drink that cup of sorrow Which I drank when I was thine."

Like a lion turns the warrior,

Back he sends an angry glare; Whizzing came the Moorish javelin, Vainly whizzing, through the air.

Back the hero, full of fury,

Sent a deep and mortal wound ; Instant sunk the renegado,

Mute and lifeless, on the ground.

With a thousand Moors surrounded,

Brave Saavedra stands at bay; Wearied out, but never daunted,

Cold at length the warrior lay.

Near him fighting, great Alonzo

Stout resists the Paynim bands; From his slaughtered steed dismounted, Firm intrenched behind him stands.

Furious press the hostile squadron,

Furious he repels their rage; Loss of blood at length enfeebles; Who can war with thousands wage ?

Where yon rock the plain o'ershadows,
Close beneath its foot retired,
Fainting sunk the bleeding hero,
And without a groan expired.

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NOSE AND EYES.

NOSE AND EYES. - Cowper.

BETWEEN Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose ;
The spectacles set them unhappily wrong;
The point in dispute was, as all the world knows,
To which the said spectacles ought to belong.

So the Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of learning; While Chief-justice Ear sat to balance the laws,

So famed for his talent in nicely discerning.

"In behalf of the Nose, it will quickly appear, And your lordship," he said, "will undoubtedly find,

That the Nose has had spectacles always in wear, Which amounts to possession time out of mind.”

Then holding the spectacles up to the court,

"Your lordship observes they are made with a straddle

As wide as the ridge of the Nose is; in short,
Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle.

Again, would your lordship a moment suppose ("Tis a case that has happened, and may be again) That the visage or countenance had not a Nose,

Pray who would or who could wear spectacles then?

"On the whole it appears, and my argument shows, With a reasoning the court will never condemn, That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose, And the Nose was as plainly intended for them.”

Then, shifting his side, as a lawyer knows how,
He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes;
But what were his arguments few people know,
For the Court did not think they were equally wise.

So his lordship decreed, with a grave solemn tone,
Decisive and clear, without one if or but,
That whenever the Nose put his spectacles on,
By daylight or candle-light,. Eyes should be shut.

TRADITIONARY BALLAD- Mary Howilt.

THE FAIRIES OF THE CÂLDON-LOW. A MIDSUMMER LEGEND

“AND where have you been, my Mary,

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And where have you been from me?"
'I've been at the top of the Caldon-Low,
The midsummer night to see!"

"And what did you see, my Mary,
All up on the Caldon-Low?"
"I saw the blithe sunshine come down,
And I saw the merry winds blow."

"And what did you hear, my Mary,
All up on the Caldon-Hill?"
"I heard the drops of water made,
And the green corn-ears to fill.”

“O, tell me all, my Mary,-
All, all that ever you know;
For you must have seen the fairies,
Last night, on Caldon-Low."