45 All day long the free flag tossed Over the heads of the rebel host ;* Ever its torn folds rose and fell

On the loyal winds, that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset light 50 Shone over it with a warm good-night Barbara Fritchie's work is o'er,

And the rebel rides on his raid * no more.
Honour to her! and let a tear

Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier! * 55 Over Barbara Fritchie's grave,

Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!

Peace, and order, and beauty draw
Round thy symbol* of light and law ;
And ever the stars above look down
60 On thy stars below, in Frederick town!

Rebel host, the Southern or Confederate Army.

Raid, invasion, expedition.

Bier, a carriage or frame of wood, for bearing the dead to the grave.

Symbol, emblem, sign.

THE STAR AND THE WATER-LILY.-O. W. Holmes.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809- ) was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. He is a doctor of medicine, and a professor at Harvard College. Among his chief works may be mentioned The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.

THE Sun stepped* down from his golden throne, The sun stepped, &c., And lay in the silent sea,

*

And the Lily had folded her satin leaves,
For a sleepy thing was she;

5 What is the Lily dreaming of?

ΙΟ

Why crisp the waters blue?

See, see, she is lifting her varnished lid!
Her white leaves are glistening * through!

The Rose is cooling his burning cheek
In the lap of the breathless tide;
The Lily hath sisters fresh and fair,
That would lie by the Rose's side;

He would love her better than all the rest,
And he would be fond and true;
15 But the Lily unfolded her weary lids

20

And looked at the sky so blue.
Remember, remember, thou silly one,
How fast will thy summer glide,*
And wilt thou wither a virgin pale,
Or flourish a blooming bride?

the sun set.

Lily, a water-lily is a water plant like a lily, and is remarkable for its beautiful flowers and large floating leaves.

Glistening, shining.

Glide, pass by.

Ruffle, to make rough and stormy.

“Oh, the Rose is old, and thorny, and cold,
And he lives on earth," said she;

"But the Star is fair, and he lives in the air,
And he shall my bridegroom be.”

But what if the stormy cloud should come,
And ruffle the silver sea?

*

Would he turn his eye from the distant sky,

To smile on a thing like thee?

Oh no, fair Lily, he will not send

One ray from his far-off throne;

The winds shall blow and the waves shall flow,
And thou wilt be left alone.

25

30

There is not a leaf on the mountain top,
Nor a drop of evening dew,

Nor a golden sand on the sparkling shore,

35

Nor a pearl in the waters blue,

Fickle, inconstant, changeable.

Pallid, pale, white.

That he has not cheered with his fickle* smile,

And warmed with his faithless beam

And will he be true to a pallid * flower,
That floats on the quiet stream?

40

THE PARTING OF MARMION AND DOUGLAS.-Scott.

"Though something I might plain," * he said, "Of cold respect to stranger guest, 15 Sent hither by your king's behest,

20

While in Tantallon's* towers I stayed,
Part we in friendship from your land,
And, noble earl, receive* my hand."-
But Douglas round him drew his cloak,
Folded his arms, and thus he spoke :-
"My manors, halls, and bowers, shall still
Be open, at my sovereign's will,

To each one whom he lists,* howe'er Unmeet to be the owner's peer: 25 My castles are my king's alone,

*

From turret to foundation* stone ;-
The hand of Douglas is his own,
And never shall in friendly grasp
The hand of such as Marmion clasp."-

30 Burned Marmion's swarthy * cheek like fire,
And shook his very frame for ire,*
And-"This to me !" he said

35

"An 'twere not for thy hoary* beard,
Such hand as Marmion's had not spared
To cleave* the Douglas' head!
And, first, I tell thee, haughty * peer,
He who does England's message here,
Although the meanest* in her state,
May well, proud Angus, be thy mate!
40 And, Douglas, more I tell thee here,
Even in thy pitch of pride,
Here in thy hold, thy vassals *
(Nay, never look upon your lord,
And lay your hands upon your sword),-
I tell thee thou'rt defied ! *
And if thou saidst I am not peer
To any lord in Scotland here,
Lowland or Highland, far or near,
Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"-

45

near,

50 On the earl's cheek the flush of rage O'ercame the ashen hue* of age.

[then,

Fierce he broke forth :-" And darest thou,
To beard the lion in his den,

The Douglas in his hall?

55 And hop'st thou hence unscathed* to go?—
No! by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no!-

Up drawbridge, grooms!—what, warder,* ho!
Let the portcullis * fall.”-

Beneath, &c., written by the king, and having his seal affixed to it.

Douglas,
Douglas,

Archibald
Earl of

Angus, was remark-
able for his strength
of body and mind.
Clara, an English
heiress, whose hand
Marmion had sought
in marriage, but had
been unsuccessful,
He had tried to ruin
her lover, De Wilton,
but had failed in this
also.
Palfrey, a small
horse for a lady.
His prey is flown, De
Wilton, who, in the
disguise of a pilgrim
from the Holy Land,
had guided Lord Mar-
mion in Scotland, had
left the castle at day-
break.

Adieu, farewell,
Plain, complain.
Behest, command.
Tantallon, the castle
of Douglas on the
coast of East Lothian.
Receive, accept.

He lists, he pleases
or chooses.

Unmeet, unworthy.
Peer, an equal.
Turret, a tower on a
building.

Foundation, base

ment.

Swarthy, tawny,dark.
Ire, wrath.

Hoary, white or grey
with age.

Cleave, to split.
Haughty, proud.

Meanest, poorest,
lowliest.

Vassal, one who holds
lands from, and pays
homage to a superior.
Defied, dared.
Ashen hue, pale in
colour.

Unscathed,unharmed.
Warder, a watchman,
Portcullis, a sliding
door of cross timbers

pointed with iron,
hung over a gateway
so as to be let down
in a moment to keep
out an enemy.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1792-1822) was an English poet of great genius, and a man of very pure life and loving nature; but it was not till after his death that he received the high place which he now holds among the poets. Chief works: The Cenci, and odes to The Cloud, and The Skylark.

I BRING fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,

From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noon-day dreams;

From my wings are shaken the dews that
waken

The sweet buds every one,

When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,*
As she dances* about the sun.

I wield the flail of the lashing* hail,

And whiten the green plains under;
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast;
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
While I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime * on the towers of my skyey bowers,
Lightning, my pilot, sits;

In a cavern under is fettered* the thunder-
It struggles and howls by fits.*

Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,

*

Lured by the love of the Genii * that move
In the depths of the purple sea;

*

Over the rills* and the crags and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,

Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The spirit he loves remains ;

And I, all the while, bask* in heaven's blue

smile,

Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

5

IO

15

20

25

30

The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor* eyes,
And his burning plumes outspread,
Leaps on the back of my sailing rack,*
When the morning star* shines dead;
35 As on the jag of a mountain crag,

40

Which an earthquake* rocks and swings,
An eagle, alit, one moment may sit,
In the light of its golden wings.

Sanguine, blood-red; it also means being ardent, hopeful. Meteor, flashing, like a meteor or falling star.

Leaps on the back, rises above the back of the clouds.

Rack, thin, broken clouds drifting across

And when sunset may breathe, from the lit the sky.
sea beneath,

*

Its ardours of rest and love,

And the crimson pall of eve may fall

From the depth of heaven above,

With wings folded I rest, on mine airy nest,
As still as a brooding dove.

45 That orbed * maiden, with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon,

50

Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn ;

And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,

Morning-star, the planet Venus, when it rises before the sun, and shines in the morning.

Earthquake, a convulsion or shaking of the earth.

Ardour, warmth of passion or feeling; eagerness.

Orbed, in the form of an orb or sphere; circular.

May have broken the woof* of my tent's thin The woof, the cross

roof,

The stars peep behind her and peer;

And I laugh to see them whirl* and flee,
Like a swarm of golden bees,

55 When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.

I bind the sun's throne* with a burning zone,
60 And the moon's* with a girdle of pearl;
The volcanoes* are dim, and the stars reel and
swim,

65

70

When the whirlwinds * my banner unfurl.*
From cape to cape, with a bridge-like shape,
Over a torrent sea,

Sunbeam-proof, I hang like a roof:

The mountains its columns be.

The triumphal arch* through which I march
With hurricane, fire, and snow,

*

When the powers of the air are chained to my

chair

Is the million-coloured bow;
The sphere-fire* above its soft colours wove,
While the moist earth was laughing below.

threads woven into
and crossing the
warp, which extends
lengthwise.
Whirl, to turn round
very rapidly.