"Send it frost to brace 1 its tissues,2

O my God!" the hermit cried;
Then the plant was bright and hoary,3
But at evensong it died.

4

THE KITTENS AND THE VIPER.6-Cowper.

CLOSE by the threshold of a door nailed fast
Three kittens sat; each kitten looked aghast.8

3

1 Brace, to strengthen. 2 Tissues, the minute parts. Hoary, white with the frost. 4 Evensong, a hymn sung at evening, of the time when such a hymn is sung. 5 Petition, prayer. 6 Viper, or adder, the only poisonous serpent which is found in the British Isles. It is not very common nor very dangerous, though there are kinds of vipers in other countries that are very poisonous. The English viper may be known by a small zigzag black line down its back. 7 Threshold, the stone or timber at the bottom of a door. 8 Aghast, terrified, amazed.

I, passing swift and inattentive by,

At the three kittens cast a careless eye;
Little concerned to know what they did there;
Not deeming1 kittens worth a poet's care.

But presently a loud and furious hiss

Caused me to stop, and to exclaim, "What's this?" When, lo! with head erect and fiery eye,

A dusky viper on the ground I spy.

Forth from his head his forkèd tongue he throws,
Darting it full against a kitten's nose!

Who, never having seen in field or house

The like, sat still and silent as a mouse;
Only projecting, with attention due,

2

Her whiskered face, she asked him, "Who are you ?"
On to the hall went I, with pace not slow,

But swift as lightning, for a long Dutch hoe;
With which, well armed, I hastened to the spot
To find the viper-but I found him not;
And, turning up the leaves and shrubs around,
Found only-that he was not to be found.
But still the kittens, sitting as before,
Were watching close the bottom of the door.
"I hope," said I, "the villain I would kill
Has slipped between the door and the door-sill:
And if I made despatch,3 and follow hard,
No doubt but I shall find him in the yard."
(For long ere now it should have been rehearsed,
'Twas in the garden that I found him first.)
Even there I found him, there the full-grown cat
His head with velvet paw, did gently pat.
As curious as the kittens erst 4 had been
To learn what this phenomenon 5 might mean.
Filled with heroic ardour at the sight,
And fearing every moment he would bite,

4

2

1 Deeming, considering. Projecting, throwing forward. De spatch, haste. Erst, formerly. 5 Phenomenon, an uncommon occurrence, incident or thing. Heroic, like a hero.

6

And rob our household of the only cat
That was of age to combat with a rat,

With outstretched hoe I slew him at the door,
And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE !1

THE SLAVE'S DREAM.2-Longfellow.

BESIDE the ungathered rice he lay,
His sickle in his hand,

His breast was bare, his matted hair
Was buried in the sand.

Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep,
He saw his native land.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams
The lordly Niger3 flowed;
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain
Once more a king he strode;
And heard the tinkling caravans
Descend the mountain-road.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen
Among her children stand;

They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks
They held him by the hand!

A tear burst from the sleeper's lids

And fell into the sand.

And then at furious pace he rode
Along the Niger's bank;

'Never, etc., the bad grammar here is a joke of the poet's. 2 A negro, having been stolen from his native land and made a slave, sleeps and dreams that he is again free and in his own country. 3 Niger, a large African river flowing into the Gulf of Guinea. 4 Caravans, bodies of merchants or travellers marching through a desert or other dangerous place.

His bridle-reins were golden chains,
And with a martial1 clank,

At each leap he could feel his scabbard 2 of steel
Smiting his horse's flank.3

Before him like a blood-red flag,

The bright flamingoes flew;

From morn till night he followed their flight,
O'er plains where the tamarind 5 grew,

Till he saw the roofs of Caffre 6 huts,

And the ocean 7 rose to view.

At night he heard the lion roar,
And the hyena 9 scream,

And the river-horse 10 as he crushed the reeds,
Beside some hidden stream;

And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,
Through the triumph of his dream.

8.13

The forests, with their myriad 11 tongues,1
Shouted of liberty;

And the blast of the desert cried aloud,
With a voice so wild and free,

That he started in his sleep, and smiled
At their tempestuous 13 glee.

8

1 Martial, warlike. Scabbard, a sheath for a sword. 3 Flank, side. Flamingo, a beautiful bird with scarlet wings, found in Africa and America. 5 Tamarind, a handsome tree with spreading branches growing in East and West Indies, and tropical Africa. It bears an agreeable cooling fruit. • Caffre, the inhabitants of Caffraria, an extensive region in South Africa, near Cape Colony. 7 Ocean, the Indian. Lion, lions are numerous in Caffraria. 9 Hyena, a wild beast of a darkish grey colour, spotted or striped with black, very fierce and untameable. It prowls about at night. 10 River-horse, the hippopotamus, a large amphibious animal, which inhabits some of the African rivers, and is exceedingly destructive and ferocious. Myriad, ten thousand, any large number. 12 Tongues, the singing of birds, cries of animals, humming of insects, rustling of leaves, etc. 13 Tempestuous, stormy.

11

He did not feel the driver's whip,
Nor the burning heat of the day,
For death had illumined the land of sleep,
And his lifeless body lay

A worn-out fetter, that the soul

Had broken and thrown away.

ON THE LOSS OF THE "ROYAL GEORGE."

Cowper.

TOLL for the brave!

The brave that are no more!
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast2 by their native shore!

Eight hundred of the brave,
Whose courage well was tried,
Had made the vessel heel,3
And laid her on her side.

A land breeze shook the shrouds,1
And she was overset ;

Down went the Royal George,
With all her crew complete.

Toll for the brave!

Brave Kempenfelt is gone;
His last sea-fight is fought,
His work of glory done.

It was not in the battle;

No tempest gave the shock;
She sprang no fatal leak;

She ran upon no rock.

The "Royal George," a man-of-war, commanded by Admiral Kempenfelt, which sunk in Spithead Harbour, in 1782, with 800 sailors on board. Fast, close, 3 Heel, to lean on one side. Shrouds, see page 20