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"The rage of hunger" being appeased', I began to think of my horse. He however', like an old campaigner', had taken good care of himself. I found him paying assiduous attention to the crib of Indian corn^, and dexterously drawing forth and munching the ears that protruded between the bars. It was with great regret that I interrupted his repast, which he abandoned with a heavy sigh', or rather a rumbling groan. I was anxious, however, to rejoin my traveling companions, who had passed by the farm-house without stopping, and proceeded to the banks of the Arkansas^, being in the hopes of arriving before night at the Osage Agency. Leaving the captain and his troop, therefore, amidst the abundance of the farm, where they had determined to quarter themselves for the night, I bade adieu to our sable hostess, and again pushed forward.

LESSON LXXVI.

AN ENIGMA.

Anapestic. Two feet and four, with an iambus or spondes occasionally substituted.

1. YE philosophers, hark`!

My complexion is dark`!

Reflection and silence my character mark.

2. No record on earth'

Discovers my birth.

Long reigned I in solitude, silence, and dearth.

But

my

3. I travel away'

In sombre array:

turbans and sandals are silvery gray.

4. Majestic my mien',

And my dark form is seen'

All sparkling in gems', like an African queen.

5. One pearl that I wear'

Is more brilliant and raré

Than the loveliest gem in a princess's hair.

6. My stature is tall,

But at seasons I crawl^,

Or shrink myself almost to nothing at all.

And o'er

7. Invisibly hurled',

I traverse the world',

every land is my standard unfurled.
8. I silently roll'

Round the icy-bound polè :

And long the wide region endures my control

9. From earliest time'

I was grave and sublimè :

But often am made the accomplice of crime.
10. My intellect teems'

With visions and dreams',

And wild tales of terror', my favorite themes.
11. Yet sorrow and pain'
Oft welcome my reign',

And eagerly watch for my coming again':
12. For a handmaid of mine',
With aspect benign',

Deals out, at my bidding, a soft anodynè.

13. My sister down there^,

Is transcendently fair',

But we never once happened to meet any where.
14. Advancing, behold

Her banners of gold!

Then I must away with my story half told.

LESSON LXXVII.

FRIENDSHIP.

Iambic. Four feet and three; the latter with an additional short syllable.

1. WHAT virtue can we namé, or grace^
But men', unqualified and basé,
Will boast it their possession'?
Profusion apes the noble part
Of liberality of heart',

And dulness of discretion.

2. But as the gem of richest cost'
Is ever counterfeited most,
So always imitation^

Employs the utmost skill he can',
To counterfeit the faithful man^,
The friend of long duration.

3. Youth', unadmonished by a guide',
Will trust to any fair outsidè :—
An error soon corrected`;

For who' but learns', with riper years',
That man', when smoothest he appears,
Is most to be suspected'?

4. No friendship will abide the test'
That stands on sordid interest',
And mean self-love erected;
Nor such as may awhile subsist'
'Twixt sensualist and sensualist',
For vicious ends connected.

5. A fretful temper will divide'
The closest knot that may be tied',
By ceaseless sharp corrosion':
A temper passionate and fiercé
May suddenly your joys dispersé
At one immense explosion.

6. How bright soe'er the prospect seems',
All thoughts of friendship are but dreams,
If envy chance to creep in.

An envious man', if you succeed',
May prove a dang'rous foè indeed',

But not a friend worth keeping.

7. As envy pines at good possessed',
So jealousy looks forth distressed'
On good that seems approaching;
And, if success his steps attend',
Discerns a rival in a friend^,

And hates him for encroaching.

8. Hence authors of illustrious name',
Unless belied by common fame',
Are sadly prone to quarrel;
To deem the wit a friend displays'
So much of loss to their own praise^,
And pluck each other's laurel.

9. A man', renowned for repartee',*
Will seldom scruple to make free'

* Rep-ar-tee.

With friendship's finest feeling;
Will thrust a dagger at your breast^,
And tell you 'twas a special jest^,
By way of balm for healing.

10. Beware of tattlers`; keep your ear'
Close-stopt against the tales they bear,-
Fruits of their own invention:
The separation of chief friends'
Is what their kindness most intends';
Their sport is your dissension.

11. Some fickle creatures boast a soul'
True as the needle to the polè;
Yet shifting, like the weather',
The needle's constancy forego
For any novelty^,-and show'
Its variations' rather.

12. Religion should extinguish strife^,
And make a calm of human life;

But even those who differ'
Only on topics left at large',

How fiercely will they meet' and chargè!
No combatants are stiffer.

13. The man who hails you Tom, or Jack',
And proves by thumping on your back'
His sense of your great merit',
Is such a friend that one had need'
Be vērý mūch his friend indeed',
To pardon', or to bear it.

14. Some friends make this their prudent plan-
Say little, and hear all you can`;-
Safe policy, but hateful`!

So barren sands imbibe the shower,
But render neither fruit nor flower`;-
Unpleasant, and ungrateful`!

15. These samples' (for, alas`! at last'
These are but' samples', and a tâste
Of evils yet unmentioned')

May prove the task' a task indeed',
In which 'tis much if we succeed',
However well intentioned.

16. Pursue the themè, and you shall find'
A disciplined and furnished mind'

To be at least expedient`;
And, after summing all the rest',
Religion, ruling in the breast'
A principal ingredient.

LESSON LXXVIII.

THE RETIRED CAT.

Iambic. Four feet in a line.

A POET's Cat, sedate and gravé
As Poet well could wish to havé,
Was much addicted to inquiré

For nooks to which she might retire';
5 And wheré, secure as mouse in chink,
She might repose^, or sit and think.
I know not where she caught the trick-
Nature perhaps herself had cast her
10 In such a mould philosophique',

Or else she learned it of her master.
Sometimes ascending, debonair',
An apple-tree or lofty pear',

Lodged with convenience in the fork',
15 She watched the gard'ner at his work';
Sometimes her ease and solace sought'
In an old empty watering-pot`;
There wanting nothing', save a fan,
20 To seem some nymph in her sedan',-
Apparelled in exactest sort',

And ready to be borne to court.

But love of change, it seems, has place'

Not only in our wiser race^;

25 Cats' also feel, as well as wē',
That passion's force, and so did she.
Her climbing she began to find'
Exposed her too much to the wind`;
And the old utensil* of tin'

30 Was cold and comfortless within:
She therefore wished, instead of those',
Some place of more serene repose',
Where neither cold might come', nor air
Too rudely wanton with her hair;

* Pronounced by the poet, yu-ten-sil; the two last syllables short and

unaccented.

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