"My ear-rings! my ear-rings! he'll say they should

have been

Not of pearl and of silver, but of gold and glittering *

That changeful mind unchanging gems are not be-
fitting* well-

Glittering,

showy. Sheen, that which

shines brightly.

Jasper, a

precious
stone.
Onyx, a pre-
cious stone,

Thus will he think—and what to say, alas! I cannot so called tell.

“He'll think when I to market went, I loitered* by

the way;

20 He'll think a willing ear I lent to all the lads might
say;
He'll think some other lover's hand among my tresses*
noosed,*

25

From the ears where he had placed them, my rings
of pearl unloosed;

He'll think when I was sporting so beside this marble
well,

My pearls fell in,-and what to say, alas! I cannot
tell.

"He'll say I am a woman, and we are all the same;
He'll say I loved when he was here to whisper of his
flame-

But when he went to Tunis* my virgin troth had
broken,

And thought no more of Muça, and cared not for his
token.

My ear-rings! my ear-rings! Oluckless,* luckless well! 30 For what to say to Muça, alas! I cannot tell.

"I'll tell the truth to Muça, and I hope he will be-
lieve-

That I thought of him at morning, and thought of

him at eve;

That musing

was gone,

*

*

on my lover, when down the sun

His ear-rings in my hand I held, by the fountain

all alone;

35 And that my mind was o'er the sea, when from my
hand they fell,

And that deep his love* lies in my heart, as they lie
in the well!"

from its likeness to the finger-nail. Insincere,

not to be trusted, de

ceitful.' Befitting, suitable, Loitered, lingered, delayed. Tresses, curl. ing hair. Noose, a

knot.

THE FORSAKEN MERMAN.*-Arnold.

MATTHEW ARNOLD (1822- ), son of the celebrated Dr. Arnold, occupies an eminent position. His poems include several dramas after the antique, and a series of lyrics and sonnets of an emotional kind. Among his works may be mentioned Empedocles on Etna and The Merope.

And the little grey church on the windy shore,

Then come down;

She will not come though you call all day,
Come away, come away.

Children dear, was it yesterday

We heard the sweet bells over the bay?
In the caverns * where we lay,

Through the surf* and through the swell,

The far-off sound of a silver bell?
Sand-strewn caverns, cool and deep,
Where the winds are all asleep;

30

35

* Merman, a man of the sea; a fabled marine animal having the upper part like & man and the lower like a fish.

40

45

50

Children dear, was it yesterday
(Call yet once) that she went away?
Once she sate with you and me,

Quiver, to tremble. Gleam, to flash light, Sway, to incline to one side, to bend. Sea beasts, animals living in the sea. Ooze, moisture, soft mud. Sea-snake, a fabulous animal.

Mail, meaning the skin of the snake, so called, because in its formation it resem. bles mail-armour. Brine, the sea, saltwater.

On a red gold throne in the heart of the sea,* Heart of the sea, se-
And the youngest sate on her knee.

She combed its bright hair, and she tended it

well,

cret part of the sea;

the centre of it.

*

Tended it, took care of it.

When down swung the sound of the far-off bell. 55 She sighed, she looked up through the clear

green sea,

She said; "I must go, for my kinsfolk * pray Kinsfolk, relations.
In the little grey church on the shore to-day.

'Twill be Easter-time in the world-ah me!

And I lose my poor soul, Merman, here with

thee."

60 I said, "Go up, dear heart, through the waves. Say thy prayer, and come back to the kind sea

65

caves.

[the bay. She smiled, she went up through the surf in Children dear, was it yesterday?

Children dear, were we long alone?

"The sea grows stormy, the little ones moan. Long prayers," I said, "in the world they say. Come," I said, and we rose through the surf in

the bay.

Beach, sea-shore.

We went up the beach,* by the sandy down *
Where the sea-stocks bloom, to the white- Down, a hill.

walled town.

*

Sea-stock, a flower, like an anemone, found near the sea

70 Through the narrow paved streets, where all shore.

was still,

To the little grey church on the windy hill.

From the church came a murmur of folk* at Folk, people.

their prayers,

But we stood without in the cold blowing airs.

Aisle, a passage in a church.

Hist! hush, attention, silence, listen.

We climbed on the graves, on the stones

worn with rains,

And we gazed up the aisle* through the 75 small leaded panes.

66

*

She sate by the pillar; we saw her clear :
Margaret, hist! come quick, we are here.
Dear heart," I said, "we are long alone.
The sea grows stormy, the little ones moan.'
But, ah, she gave me never a look,

Sealed, fixed with an For her eyes were sealed* to the holy book.

attentive gaze.

Humming town, at a distance the noise of a town sounds like the humming of bees in a hive.

Shuttle,

an instru

ment used for shoot

80

"Loud prays the priest; shut stands the door." Come away, children, call no more.

Come away, come down, call no more.

Down, down, down,

Down to the depths of the sea.

She sits at her wheel in the humming town,*
Singing most joyfully.

Hark, what she sings: "Oh joy, oh joy,

85

For the humming street, and the child with 90
its toy,

For the priest, and the bell, and the holy well.
For the wheel where I spun,

And the blessed light of the sun."

And so she sings her fill,

Singing most joyfully,

Till the shuttle * falls from her hand,

And the whizzing wheel stands still.

woof between the She steals to the window, and looks at the sand;

ing the thread of the

threads of the warp

in weaving.

Anon, soon, quickly, immediately.

Sorrow-laden, full of sorrow, weighed down with sadness. Mermaiden, maid of the sea, having the upper part like a woman and the lower like a fish, and supposed to have long golden hair.

Hoarse, harsh, disagreeable.

Gusts, sudden blasts of wind.

And over the sand at the sea;

And her eyes are set in a stare;
And anon **there breaks a sigh,
And anon there drops a tear,
From a sorrow-clouded eye,
And a heart sorrow-laden,*
A long, long sigh.

95

100

105

For the cold strange eyes of a little Mermaiden,
And the gleam of her golden hair.

Come away, away, children.
Come, children, come down.
The hoarse wind blows colder;
Lights shine in the town.

*

120

125

130

135

140

And alone dwell for ever

The kings of the sea."

But, children, at midnight,
When soft the winds blow;
When clear falls the moonlight:
When spring-tides * are low :
When sweet airs come seaward
From heaths starred with broom;*
And high rocks throw mildly
On the blanched * sands a gloom:
Up the still, glistening beaches,
Up the creeks* we will hie;
Over banks of bright seaweed
The ebb-tide* leaves dry.
We will gaze, from the sand-hills,
At the white, sleeping town;
At the church on the hill-side-

And then come back down.

*

Singing, "There dwells a loved one,
But cruel is she.

She left lonely for ever

The kings of the sea.'

Whirl, to go round and round, to toss about in a confused manner.

Faithless, false, not true to her promise.

Spring-tides, those
which rise higher
than ordinary tides,
after new and full
moon.

Broom, a wild ever-
green shrub, with
leafless pointed twigs.
Blanched, made
white or whitened.
Creek, a small inlet
of the sea.
Hie, to hasten.
Ebb-tide, the going
back or retiring of the
tide.

Sleeping town, the in.
habitants had retired
to rest.

THE SKY-LARK.-Hogg.

JAMES HOGG (1770-1835) was born in Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire. He was a farmer and a shepherd, and hence called the "Ettrick Shepherd," but he was more successful as a poet. Chief work: The Queen's Wake, containing the beautiful fairy ballad Kilmeny: he also wrote songs and novels.