The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh;

40 'Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like
chaff;

Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white,
And " Gallop," gasped Joris, "for Aix is in sight!

"How they'll greet* us !"-and all in a moment his Greet, wel

roan

*

Rolled neck and croup* over, lay dead as a stone;
45 And there was my Roland to bear the whole weight
Of the news which alone could save Aix from her fate,
With his nostrils like pits full of blood to the brim,
And with circles of red for his eye-sockets' rim.

Then I cast loose my buffcoat, each holster * let fall,
50 Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all,
Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear,
Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without

fear;
Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise, bad
or good-

Till at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood.

55 And all I remember is, friends flocking round,
As I sate with his head 'twixt my knees on the
ground,

And no voice but was praising this Roland of mine,
As I poured down his throat our last measure of wine,
Which (the burgesses* voted by common consent)
60 Was no more than his due who brought good news
from Ghent.

come.
Roan is ap-
plied to a
horse

of a

bay or brown
colour.
Croup,
saddle.

Holster, the case for a horseman's

pistol.

Burgesses,

the inhabitants or free

men of a city

or borough.

THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC. *—Campbell.

OF Nelson* and the North

Nelson was born in

1758. He entered the navy in his twelfth year. He was killed on board the Victory, at Trafalgar, in 1805. Prince. The Danish forces were commanded by their Prince Regent, who became king as Frederick VI. in 1801.

*The Battle of the Baltic. In 1801 a fleet was sent to break up the confederacy formed by Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Denmark. Seventeen sail of the Danes were sunk, burnt, or taken in the roads of Copenhagen. The Baltic, a sea in the north of Europe. Its waters are shallow, and from this cause and the numerous rivers which it receives it is only slightly salt. This sea is covered with ice in winter.

Leviathan, a huge

sea monster mentioned in the book of

Job. It is generally supposed to mean the crocodile, though the term is applied to any large marine animal. Bulwarks, fortifica

tions.

Like leviathans * afloat,

Lay their bulwarks* on the brine;
While the sign of battle flew
On the lofty British line:

It was ten of April morn by the chime;
As they drifted on their path,
There was silence deep as death;
And the boldest held his breath
For a time.

But the might of England flushed

Anticipate, to enjoy. To anticipate* the scene;

before the time.

Van, the front.

Adamantine, hard as

diamond. Here it

refers to the iron guns.

And her van * the fleeter rushed
O'er the deadly space between.

ΙΟ

15

20

[each gun

"Hearts of oak!" our captains cried, when
From its adamantine * lips

Spread a death-shade round the ships,
Like the hurricane eclipse

Of the sun!

Again! again! again!

25

And the havoc did not slack,

Till a feebler cheer the Dane

30

To our cheering sent us back.

Boom, the noise made

by the firing of big

Their shots along the deep slowly boom ;*-
Then ceased-and all is wail,

35

Light the gloom!

guns.

As they strike the shattered sail;

Conflagration, an ex- Or, in conflagration *

tensive fire.

Hailed them, called to them.

Ye are brothers. This

pale,

Out spoke the victor then,

*

As he hailed them o'er the wave: "Ye are brothers! ye are men! refers to the common And we conquer but to save!

55

60

Now joy, Old England, raise!
For the tidings* of thy might,
By the festal cities' blaze,*

While the wine-cup shines in light ;-
And yet, amidst that joy and uproar,
Let us think of them that sleep,
Full many a fathom deep,
By thy wild and stormy steep,
Elsinore ! *

Brave hearts! to Britain's pride
65 Once so faithful and so true,
On the deck of fame that died,
With the gallant, good Riou!*

70

Elsinore, a town and seaport on island of Zealand, where ships paid toll to the King of Denmark, till it was abolished in 1857. Riou. Captain Riou, gallant and good."

Soft sigh the winds of heaven o'er their grave! styled by Nelson "the

While the billow mournful rolls,
And the mermaid's song condoles,*
Singing glory to the souls

Of the brave!

Condoles, sympathi. ses, grieves with others.

RELIEVING GUARD.-Bret Harte.

CAME the relief.*

*

66 What, sentry,* ho!

Relief. It is the rule in the army for each

How passed the night through thy long waking?" soldier to take turn in

"Cold, cheerless, dark,—as may befit

The hour before the dawn* is breaking."

5 "No sight? no sound?" "No; nothing save The plover from the marshes calling,

10

5

IO

And in yon western sky, about
An hour ago, a star was falling."

"A star? There's nothing strange in that."
"No, nothing; but, above the thicket,
Somehow it seemed to me that God
Somewhere had just relieved a picket."

keeping guard, and the one who has to do so is called the relief, or is said to be reliev ing guard.

Sentry, the one keeping guard.

Hour before the dawn. The hour before the morning breaks is considered to be the darkest time of the night.

Picket, soldiers placed to guard the outposts of a camp.

TO A MOUNTAIN DAISY.—Burns.

WEE, modest, crimson tippèd flower,
Thou's met me in an evil hour;
For I maun * crush amang *

the stour

Thy slender stem;

To spare thee now is past my power,
Thou bonnie gem.

Alas! it's no thy neebor* sweet,
The bonnie lark, companion meet! *
Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet*

Wi' spreckled breast,

*

When upward springing, blythe, to greet
The purpling* east.

Maun, must.

Amang, among.
Stour, dust.

Neebor, neighbour.

Meet, fit.
Weet, wet.

Purpling, at dawn.

doomed or fated to be unfortunate.

Note the card, &c. As the mariner who neglects to consult his compass may be the cause of the wreck of his vessel, so the poet himself will be certainly ruined if he neglect to note the compass of Prudence,

Cauld* blew the bitter-biting north
Upon thy early, humble, birth;
Yet cheerfully thou glinted* forth
Amid the storm;

Scarce rear'd above the parent earth
Thy tender form.

*

The flaunting flowers our gardens yield

15

High sheltering woods and wa's* maun shield, 20
But thou beneath the random bield *

Of prudent lore,*

Till billows rage, and gales blow hard,
And whelm him o'er !

Such fate to suffering worth is given,
Who long with wants and woes has striv'n,
By human pride or cunning driv'n
To mis'ry's brink,

which should guide Till, wrench'd* of every stay but Heaven,

him through the storms and troubles

of this life.

Lore, learning.

Wrench'd, deprived

of.

Elate, proudly.

Minstrel, one of an order of men who sang to the harp verses composed by themselves or others; a musician, a bard. Sole, only.

He, ruin'd, sink!

THE LAST MINSTREL.-Scott.

THE way was long, the wind was cold,
The Minstrel * was infirm and old;
His withered cheek, and tresses gray,
Seemed to have known a better day;
The harp, his sole* remaining joy,
Was carried by an orphan boy.

The last of all the bards was he,
Who sung of Border chivalry;
For, well-a-day! their date was fled,
10 His tuneful brethren all were dead;
And he, neglected and oppressed,
Wished to be with them, and at rest.
No more, on prancing palfrey* borne,
He carolled, light as lark at morn;
15 No longer, courted and caressed,*
High placed in hall, a welcome guest,
He poured, to lord and lady gay,
The unpremeditated * lay;

20

Old times were changed, old manners gone;
A stranger* filled the Stuart's * throne;
The bigots of the iron time

Had called his harmless art a crime.

A wandering harper, scorned and poor,
He begged his bread from door to door;
25 And tuned to please a peasant's ear,
The harp a king had loved to hear.

He passed where Newark's stately tower *
Looks out from Yarrow's* birchen bower:
The Minstrel gazed with wistful eye-
30 No humbler resting-place was nigh.
With hesitating step, at last,

The embattled* portal arch he passed,
Whose ponderous grate and massy bar
Had oft rolled back the tide of war,
35 But never closed the iron door
Against the desolate and poor.
The Duchess marked his weary pace,
His timid mien,* and reverend face,
And bade her page the menials* tell,
40 That they should tend the old man well:
For she had known adversity,*
Though born in such a high degree;
In pride of power, in beauty's bloom,
Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb!*
45 When kindness had his wants supplied,
And the old man was gratified,
Began to rise his minstrel pride:
And he began to talk anon,"

*

Of good Earl Francis,* dead and gone,
50 And of Earl Walter,* rest him, God!
A braver ne'er to battle rode;
And how full many a tale he knew,
Of the old warriors of Buccleuch :

Border chivalry, the brave deeds done on the borders of Eng land and Scotland.

Palfrey, a young saddle-horse, a small horse for a lady. Carolled, sang. Caressed, treated with affection and respect.

Unpremeditated, not
prepared beforehand.

A stranger, William
of Orange, who be-
came William III.,
King of England.
Stuarts, a line of kings
who reigned over
Scotland from 1370 to
1603, and over Eng-
land and Scotland to-
gether, from 1603 to
1688.
Newark's

stately tower, now a noble ruin, situated three miles from Selkirk. Yarrow, a river in Selkirkshire.

Embattled, provided with a battlement or parapet on the top of the building.

The Duchess, Anne, the heiress of Buccleuch, who had been married to the Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II.

Mien, way of conducting one's self; appearance.

Menials, the servants.
Adversity,
misfor-
tune.

Monmouth's bloody
tomb, the Duke was
beheaded for rebel-
lion against James
II., 1685.
Anon, presently.
Earl Francis, the fa-
ther of the Duchess.
Earl Walter, the
Duchess's grand-
father, a celebrated
warrior,