BEAU'S REPLY.

SIR, when I flew to seize the bird,
In spite of your command,
A louder voice than yours I heard,
And harder to withstand.

You cried-Forbear!-but in my breast
A mightier cried-Proceed!

'Twas Nature, sir, whose strong behest1
Impelled me to the deed.

2

4

1 Behest, command. 2 Impelled, drove. 8 Precept, direction or command. Passing his prison door, escaping from his cage. 5 Destined, intended. 6 Aggrieved, injured.

If killing birds be such a crime
(Which I can hardly see),

What think you, sir, of killing time
With verse addressed to me?

THE HOUND.—Anon.1

DEAD on the battle-field
Lies one in silence sealed,3
Grasping his lance and shield
Tightly around.

True to his lord and trust,
Crouched in the gory dust,3
Licking the armour rust,
See the brave hound.

4

Vultures, with instinct rare,
Sail through the tainted air,
Shrieking with lust 5 to tear
Open the wound.

Still a safe watch he keeps,
E'en while his spirit weeps→
Guarding the slaughtered heaps,
Stands the bold hound.

When thrice 6 the moonbeams rise,
Glazed are his loving eyes;

Down, down he sinks, and dies,
Prone7 on the ground.

Anon., an abbreviation of the word anonymous,—without name. The author is unknown. 2 In silence sealed, in death. 3 Gory dust, dust stained with blood. 4 Vultures, large birds of prey; some kinds measure eight or ten feet across the wings. Most of the species feed on carrion. 5 Lust, desire, wish. thrice, etc., after three nights. 7 Prone, flat on the earth.

6 When

Eager for reeking food,

Swoop down the cursed brood,1
Rending with talons rude,2
Master and hound.

THE THREE FISHERS.-Kingsley.

THREE fishers went sailing away to the West,
Away to the West as the sun went down;
Each thought on the woman who loved him the best,
And the children stood watching them out of the town
For men must work, and women must weep,
And there's little to earn, and many to keep,
Though the harbour bars be moaning.

Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,

And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down ; They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown: But men must work, and women must weep,

5

Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbour bar be moaning.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands

In the morning gleam as the tide went down; And the women are weeping and wringing their hands For those who will never come home to the town: For men must work, and women must weep, And the sooner 'tis over, the sooner to sleep, And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.

The cursed brood, the vultures. 2 Talons rude, sharp claws. Few kinds of vultures have talons of any strength. 3 Harbour bar, sandbank at the entrance of the harbour. 4 Squall, sudden storm. 5 Night-rack. A rack is a mist or vapour: the word is often employed by old writers; for example, Shakespeare makes use of it in the well-known passage-" Leave not rack behind," in the "Tempest."

THE OLD COTTAGE CLOCK.-C. Swain.

Oн, the old, old clock, of the household stock,
Was the brightest thing and neatest:

Its hands, though old, had a touch of gold,
And its chime1 rang still the sweetest.
'Twas a monitor, 2 too, though its words were few,
Yet they lived, though nations altered;
And its voice, still strong, warned old and young
When the voice of friendship faltered !3
Tick, tick, it said,-quick, quick, to bed,-
For ten I've given warning;

Up, up, and go, or else, you know,

You'll never rise soon in the morning!

A friendly voice was that old, old clock,
As it stood in the corner smiling,
And blessed the time with a merry chime,
The wintry hours beguiling.

But a cross old voice was that tiresome 5 clock,
As it called at day-break boldly,

When the dawn looked grey o'er the misty way,
And the early air blew coldly;

Tick, tick, it said,-quick, out of bed,

For five I've given warning;

You'll never have health, you'll never get wealth,
Unless you're up soon in the morning.

Still hourly the sound goes round and round,
With a tone that ceases never;

While tears are shed for the bright days fled,
And the old friends lost for ever!

Its heart beats on,-though hearts are gone
That warmer beat and younger;

1 Chime, sound of bells in harmony. 2 Monitor, one who warns. 3 Faltered, trembled, hesitated.

• Tiresome, wearisome.

Beguiling, amusing

Its hands still move,—though hands we love
Are clasped on earth no longer!
Tick,-tick, it said,-to the church-yard bed,
The Grave hath given warning,-
Up, up, and rise, and look to the skies,
And prepare for a heavenly morning!

THE INCHCAPE ROCK.-Southey.

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea;
The ship was as still as she could be,
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The good old Abbot2 of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoys in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous 5 Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

The sun in heaven was shining gay,

All things were joyful on that day;

The sea-birds screamed as they darted round,
And there was pleasure in the sound.

1 The Inchcape, or Bell Rock, is fourteen miles east of the entrance to the Firth of Tay, and is the site of a celebrated lighthouse. 2 Abbot, head of an abbey. 3 Buoy, a float. swell of the sea. 5 Perilous, dangerous.

4 Surge