1. Two angels, one of LIFE and one of DEATH, Passed o'er our village as the morning broke; The dawn was on their faces, and be neath, The sombre houses hearsed with plumes of smoke. 2. Their attitude and aspect were the same, Alike their features and their robes of white; But one was crowned with amaranth, as with flame, And one with asphodels, like flakes of light. 3. I saw them pause on their celestial way; Then said I, with deep fear and doubt oppressed, "Beat not so loud, my heart, lest thou betray The place where thy beloved are at rest!" 4. And he who wore the crown of asphodels, Descending, at my door began to knock, And my soul sank within me, as in wells The waters sink before an earthquake's shock. 5. I recognised the nameless agony, The terror and the tremor and the pain, That oft before had filled or haunted me, And now returned with threefold strength again. 6. The door I opened to my heavenly guest, And listened, for I thought I heard God's voice; And, knowing whatsoe'er He sent was best, 7. Then with a smile, that filled the house with light, "My errand is not Death, but Life," he said; And, ere I answered, passing out of sight, 8. 'Twas at thy door, O friend! and not at 9. Then fell upon the house a sudden gloom, A shadow on those features, fair and thin; And softly, from that hushed and darkened room, Two angels issued, where but one went in. 10. All is of God! If He but wave His hand, The mists collect, the rain falls thick and loud, Till, with a smile of light on sea and land, cloud. 11. Angels of Life and Death alike are His; Without His leave they pass no threshold o'er; Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this, Against His messengers to shut the door? 1. VENTILATION means simply letting out foul air, and letting in fresh air; letting out the air which has been breathed by men, or by candles, and letting in air which has not. To understand how to do that, we must re member a most simple chemical law;—that a gas as it is warmed expands, and therefore becomes lighter; as it cools, it contracts, and therefore becomes heavier. 2. Now the carbonic acid in the breath which comes out of our mouth, is warm, lighter than the air, and rises to the ceiling, and therefore in any unventilated room full of people, there is a layer of foul air along the ceiling. You might soon test that for yourselves, if you could mount a ladder and put your heads there aloft. You do test it for C |