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The Tree bore his fruit in the midsummer glow: Said the girl, "May I gather thy berries now?" "Yes, all thou canst see;

Take them all are for thee,"

Said the Tree, while he bent down his laden boughs

low.

BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON.

* 2 *

UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE.

UNDER the greenwood tree1

Who 2 loves to lie with me,

And tune his merry note

Unto the sweet bird's throat,

Come hither, come hither, come hither!

Here shall we see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

Who 2 doth ambition shun,

And loves to live i̇' the sun
Seeking the food he eats,

3

And pleased with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither!

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

W. SHAKESPEARE.

1 greenwood tree, a tree with the green leaves out.
3 'the sun, in the sunshine.

2 he who.

But not alone to plant and bird
That little stream was known;
Its gentle murmur far was heard,
A friend's familiar tone;

It glided by the cotter's 1 door,

It blessed the labors of the poor.

And would that I could thus be found,
While travelling life's brief way,
A humble friend to all around,

Where'er my footsteps stray,

Like that pure stream, with tranquil breast,
Like it still blessing and still blest.

* 5 *

M. A. STODART.

A LILY'S WORD.

My delicate Lily,

Blossom of fragrant snow,

Breathing on me from the garden,

How does your beauty grow?

Tell me what blessing the kind heavens give! How do you find it so sweet to live?

One loving smile of the sun

Charms me out of the mould;

One tender tear of the rain
Makes my full heart unfold.

1 cotter, one who lives in a cot, or small house.

Welcome whatever the kind heavens give,
And you shall find it as sweet to live.

* 6 *

THE TIGER.

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?1

In what distant deeps or skies
Burned the ardor of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire,
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And, when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand formed thy dread feet?

What the hammer, what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
Did God smile his work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
W. BLAKE.

1 symmetry, beauty of form.

* 7 *

THE EAGLE.

HE clasps the crag with hooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

* 8 *

THE LION.

LION, thou art girt with might,
King by uncontested right;
Strength and majesty and pride
Are in thee personified.
Slavish doubt, or timid fear,
Never came thy spirit near:
What it is to fly, or bow

To a mightier than thou

Never has been known to thee,
Creature, terrible and free!

Power the mightiest gave the lion
Sinews like to bands of iron,
Gave him force which never failed,

Gave a heart that never quailed.

Triple-mailéd1 coat of steel,

Plates of brass from head to heel,
Less defensive were 2 in wearing
Than the lion's heart of daring;
Nor could towers of strength impart
Trust like that which keeps his heart.

When he sends his roaring forth,
Silence falls upon the earth;
For the creatures great and small
Know his terror-breathing call,
And, as if by death pursued,
Leave to him a solitude.

Lion, thou art made to dwell
In hot lands, intractable,
And thyself, the sun, the sand,
Are a tyrannous triple band: 3
Lion, King, and desert throne,
All the region is your own!

MARY HOWITT

1 'a coat of mail' is defensive armor for the body, formed of a network of

steel rings or plates.

2 were, would be.

3 a threefold band of tyrants, three tyrants.

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