We shall live to fight again and to strike another blow." And the lion1 there lay dying, and they yielded to the foe.

And the stately Spanish men to their flagship 2 bore him then,

Where they laid him by the mast, old Sir Richard caught at last,

And they praised him to his face with their courtly foreign grace;

But he rose upon their decks, and he cried:

"I have fought for Queen and Faith like a valiant man and true;

I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do:
With a joyful spirit I, Sir Richard Grenville, die!"
And he fell upon their decks, and he died.

And they stared at the dead that had been so valiant and true,

And had holden the power and glory of Spain so cheap That he dared her with one little ship and his English

few;

Was he devil or man? He was devil for aught they

knew,

But they sank his body with honor down into the deep, And they manned the Revenge with a swarthier, alien 1

crew,

And away she sailed with her loss and longed for her

own;

1 The lion: Sir Richard.

2 Flagship: the ship of the commander of the Spanish fleet.

3 Queen Queen Elizabeth.

4 Alien: foreign; a crew of Spaniards.

When a wind from the lands they had ruined awoke from sleep,

And the water began to heave and the weather to moan,
And or ever that evening ended, a great gale blew,
And a wave like the wave that is raised by an earth-
.quake grew,

Till it smote on their hulls and their sails and their masts and their flags,

And the whole sea plunged and fell on the shot-shattered navy of Spain,

And the little Revenge herself went down by the island

crags,

To be lost evermore in the main.1

1 Main: the open or high sea.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

THE EVE OF WATERLOO.1

THERE was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered then
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men.
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when

Music arose with its voluptuous swell,

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage bell;

But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell !

Did

ye not hear it?-No; 'twas but the wind,

Or the car 2 rattling o'er the stony street;

1 The battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, June 18, 1815, at Waterloo, near Brussels.

The opposing forces were those of Napoleon on the one side, and the allied English and Prussian armies under Wellington and Blucher (Bloo'ker) on the other.

The battle resulted in a decisive victory for the allies, and the final downfall of Napoleon, who was not long after banished to St. Helena, where he died.

Three nights before the battle the Duchess of Richmond gave a ball in Brussels at which the Duke of Wellington is said to have been present.

Wellington received news of the advance of the French on that evening, June 15, but the information was kept secret in order not to alarm the people of Brussels. In the course of the evening, the Duke sent many of his officers from the ball-room to their posts, and he eventually followed them to prepare for the great battle.

2 Car: here, poetically used of any vehicle.

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;

No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
But hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before;

Arm! arm! it is it is the cannon's opening roar!

Within a windowed niche of that high hall1

Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain; 2 he did hear That sound the first amidst the festival,

And caught its tone with death's prophetic ear;
And when they smiled because he deemed it near,
His heart more truly knew that peal too well

Which stretched his father on a bloody bier,
And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell;
He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.

Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale, which, but an hour ago,
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness.
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated; who would guess
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,

Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!

1 The hall: the hall where the ball was given is no longer standing. It was near the centre of the modern city of Brussels.

2 Brunswick's fated chieftain: Frederick William, the German Duke of Brunswick; he fought with the allies, and was killed in the battle of Quatre Bras, June 16, two days before the great and final battle of Waterloo.

And there was mounting in hot haste; the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder, peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum

Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering, with white lips-"The foe! they come!
they come!"

LORD BYRON (from Childe Harold).