And, oh! preserve my father too, COLERIDGE. (1) Sloth-idleness. (2) Impart-teach. (3) Eternal--everlasting. LUCY GRAY. Oft had I heard of Lucy Gray, And when I crossed the wild, The solitary child. No mate, no comrade, Lucy knew, She dwelt on a wild moor, (1) Beside a human door. The hare upon the green; Will never more be seen. (2) Fawn-a young deer "To night will be a stormy night, You to the town must go; Your mother through the snow.' “That, father, will I gladly do ; 'Tis scarcely afternoon; The minster clock has just struck two, And yonder is the moon.' And snapped a faggot band; The lantern in her hand. With many a wanton stroke, That rises up like smoke. She wandered up and down; But never reached the town. Were shouting far and wide; : To serve them for a guide. That overlooked the moor; And turning homeward, now, they cried, 'In heaven we all shall meet!' When in the snow, the mother spied The print of Lucy's feet. Then downward from the steep hill's edge, They tracked (4) the foot-marks small; And by the long stone wall. They followed, from the snowy bank, The foot-marks one by one, And further there were none ! Yet some maintain, that, to this day, She is a living child; Upon the lonesome wild. O’er rough and smooth she trips along, And never looks behind; RDSWORTH. (4) Tracked-traced. The subject of these verses is a little girl, who is bid by her Father on a winters' day, to take a lantern and light her mother home who is gone to the neighbouring town. She starts off in a cheerful manner in the afternoon, crosses the moor all covered with snow, the evening coming on she loses her way, her parents getting uneasy at her not returning sooner, seek her, follow her track into the middle of the plank, but further there were none!' Such was the sad fate of poor Lucy Gray. THE BETTER LAND. I hear thee speak of the better land; Is it where the feathery palm-trees rise, Is it far away, in some region old, (1) Radiant shining. (2) Fire-flies—beautiful insects found in tropical climes, which emit light from beneath their wing, and flying about in the lovely evenings of those beauteous countries, appear liko particles of fire. (3) Ruby—a precious red stone. * Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy! MRS. HEMANS. (4) Faultless-without fault or imperfection. This deservedly well known and popular poem, is worthy of your admiration, and will I am sure be learnt rather as a pleasure than a task. The poetess is perfectly right- . the better land' or Heaven towards which, we all at times cling as to a bright and holy hope, is not to be found on any part of this world of ours. It is beyond the clouds and bevond the tomb, in a region of unspeakable beauty, where the Saviour of the world will shed his love, his glory, and his goodness on all around. May you live worthily, so as to be received into those holy habitations. THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER. Father of all ! in every age, In every clime ador'd, (1) Jehovah, Jove, or Lord ! Thou great First Cause, least understood, Who all my sense confin’d And that myself am blind; (1) Ador'd-worshipped. |