120 The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, From blood and mist* to clear his sight, 125 Then gleamed aloft* his dagger bright!— But hate and fury* ill supplied The stream of life's exhausted tide, Clotted locks, his hair Mist, Roderick's sight But hate, &c., hatred Erring, straying from the mark. Relaxing, loosening. 5 10 ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD. * Gray. * THE curfew tolls the knell of parting* day, way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades the glimmering * landscape on the And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Curfew, the evening bell rung in England during Norman times to warn the people to put out all fires and Parting, departing. lights at eight o'clock. untilled meadow. Lea, grass-land, an Plods, walks as if Glimmering, fading And drowsy tinklings* lull the distant Drowsy tinklings, &c., folds ; Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower * the sound of bells tied round the necks of some of the sheep. The moping owl does to the moon complain Moping, dull, gloomy. * Beneath those rugged shade, * elms, that yew-tree's Where heaves the turf in many a moulder- 15 Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet* sleep. lage. sweet air of the morn Breezy call, &c., fresh The breezy call* of incense-breathing morn, The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, ing. Clarion, a narrow- Ply, &c., attend to household duties. Furrow, the trench made by the plough. Glebe, land for cultivating. Jocund, cheerful, merry. Team, two or more horses, or other beasts of burden, harnessed together. Afield, on towards the field. Destiny, our state of life. Annals, the account The cock's shrill clarion,* or the echoing horn,* For them no more the blazing hearth shall Or busy housewife ply* her evening care : Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, [afield! * * How jocund* did they drive their team Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny* obscure; of what takes place The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, from year to year. Inevitable, sure to happen. Impute, to blame. Anthem, a sacred song. Storied urn, a vessel containing the ashes of a dead person, with the story of his vine spirit of poetry. or And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, * Await alike the inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Nor you, ye proud, impute* to these the fault, 25 30% 35 The pealing anthem * swells the note of praise. 40 * Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid fire; * Hands that the rod of empire* might have Or waked to ecstasy * the living lyre.* 45 50 * full. But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page, Ample, large, wide, Chill Penury* repressed* their noble rage, Full* many a gem, of purest ray serene, 60 Spoils, things taken from an enemy, here means knowledge acquired through prede cessors. Penury, poverty. Repressed, stopped, checked. Genial, gay, cheerful. Full, &c., very many. Unfathomed, unsounded, depth not known. Some village Hampden,* that with dauntless Hampden (John) breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood; Some mute inglorious Milton,* here may rest, lived in the reign of Charles I. He would not pay the tax of "ship money," and became one of the leaders of the insur Some Cromwell,* guiltless of his country's rection. blood. Milton (John) was one the greatest English poets who ever to com- lived. The threats of pain and ruin to despise, And read their history in a nation's eyes, * 65 Their lot forbade : nor circumscribed* alone Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined ; 70 Forbade to wade through slaughter to And shut the gates of Mercy on mankind The struggling pangs of conscious truth a ; * to To quench the blushes of ingenuous* shame, With incense kindled at the Muse's flame. Far from the madding * crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learned to stray; 7 Along the cool sequestered * vale of life 86 They kept the noiseless tenor* of their way. Yet even these bones from insult to protect, Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. Heath, uncultivated land. brook. Their name, their years, spelt by the un- The place of fame and elegy* supply; This pleasing, anxious being, e'er resigned; 85 On some fond breast the parting * soul relies, Even in our ashes live their wonted fires. For thee, who, mindful of the unhonoured Dost in these lines their artless* tale relate; Some kindred spirit * shall inquire thy fate, 66 Haply* some hoary-headed swain * may say, "There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech, His listless length at noontide would he And pore* upon the brook that babbles by. 95 100 "Hard by * yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, 105 Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove; Now drooping, woful, wan,* like one forlorn,* Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love. "One morn I missed him on the accustomed hill, Along the heath* and near his favourite 110 Rill, a small running Another came, nor yet beside the rill,* * "The next, with dirges * due, in sad array, 115 Approach and read (for thou canst read) the 120 Lay, the song or verse carved on the stone; lay* * thorn." THE EPITAPH.* Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth, * 125 No further seek his merits * to disclose, Graved, carved on stone. nesses. (There they alike in trembling hope repose), grave. abode, the 5 1Ο LOVE OF COUNTRY.-Scott. BREATHES there the man, with soul so dead, "This is my own, my native land!" From wandering on a foreign strand! * Foreign strand, countries other than one's own native land, Pelf, riches. Concentred, &c., thinking of no one but himself, being selfish. Renown, respect, honour, fame. |