With thunders from her native oak, When the stormy tempests blow; The meteor flag of England Till danger's troubled night depart, Our song and feast shall flow To the fame of your name, When the storm has ceased to blow; And the storm has ceased to blow. CAMPBELL. THE NIGHTINGALE AND GLOWWORM. A Nightingale that all day long (1) Suspended-stopped, left off. A something shining in the dark, The worm, aware of his intent, You would abhor (2) to do me wrong, The songster heard his shoi oration, And found a supper somewhere else. (2) Abhor-dislike. COWPER. The Nightingale, as its name implies, sings at night, as well as in the day time, when its song is not so readily to be distinguished as in the calm moonlight when all the sounds of nature are hushed, excepting where this solitary warbler pours forth its rich and exquisite melody. It frequents close shrubberies and visits our island only in the summer time, leaving it again in the winter for Africa, and warmer climates. The Nightingale builds a beautiful nest and lays generally five eggs of an olive brown colour. It feeds on worms, insects and berries. The Glow-worm is a small creeping insect that shines in the dark by a luminous tail. THE ALPS AT DAY-BREAK. The sun-beams streak the azure (1) skies, From rock to rock, with giant bound, The goats wind slow their wonted way, And while the torrent thunders loud, ROGERS. (1) Azure-blue.-(2) Roebuck-a small species of deer. The second verse alludes to the manner the hunters jump from rock to rock, viz: by the aid of a pole made of iron, which greatly assists them in their perilous but exciting amusement. THE WOOD. "These shades are still the abodes Of undissembled (1) gladness: the thick roof And musical with birds, that sing and sport Throngs of insects in the glade Try their thin wings and dance in the warm beam Scarce less the cleft-born 3 wild flower seems to enjoy That sucks its sweets.-The rivulet Sends forth glad sounds, and tripping o'er its bed Of pebbly sands, or leaping down the rocks, In its own being." (1) Undissembled-not feigned-honest. (3) Cleft-born-born in a crevice or cleft. BRYANT. HYMN TO THE BRAVE. How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By fairy hands their knell 2 is rung, To dwell a weeping hermit there. COLLINS. (1) Deck-to adorn or beautify. (2) Knell—a funeral bell. (3) Dirge-a mournful or sad anthem or song. THE INCHCAPE BELL. No stir on the air, no swell on the sea, With neither sign nor sound of shock, The waves flow'd o'er the Inchcape Rock; So little they rose, so little they fell, They did not move the Inchcape Bell. |