THE MAIN-TRUCK, OR A LEAP FOR LIFE.
A shudder shot through every vein,
All eyes were turned on high! There stood the boy, with dizzy brain, Between the sea and sky;
No hold had he above, below;
Alone he stood in air:
To that far height none dared to go: No aid could reach him there.
We gazed;-but not a man could speak! With horror all aghast,
In groups, with pallid brow and cheek, We watched the quivering mast. The atmosphere grew thick and hot, And of a liquid hue;—
As riveted unto the spot,
Stood officers and crew.
The father came on deck:-he gasped, "Oh God! thy will be done!" Then suddenly a rifle grasped, And aimed it at his son:
Jump, far out, boy, into the wave!
Jump, or I fire !" he said;
"That only chance your life can save! Jump, jump, boy !"-He obeyed.
He sunk,-he rose,--he lived,--he moved,― And for the ship struck out:
On board, we hailed the lad beloved,
With many a manly shout.
His father drew, in silent joy,
Those wet arms round his neck
Then folded to his heart his boy,
And fainted on the deck.
THE BUGLE-SONG.-ALFRED TENNYSON.
THE splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing! Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river; Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
"BRING forth the horse!"-the horse was brought;
In truth, he was a noble steed,
A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,
Who looked as though the speed of thought
Were in his limbs; but he was wild, Wild as the wild deer, and untaught, With spur and bridle undefiled- 'Twas but a day he had been caught; And snorting with erected mane, And struggling fiercely, but in vain, In the full foam of wrath and dread,
To me the desert-born was led : They bound me on, that menial throng, Upon his back with many a thong;
They loosed him with a sudden lash: Away! away!-and on we dash!- Torrents less rapid and less rash.
Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind, All human dwellings left behind; We sped like meteors through the sky, When with its crackling sound, the night Is checkered with the northern light; Town,-village,— ‚—none were on our track, But a wild plain of far extent, And bounded by a forest black; The sky was dull, and dim, and gray, And a low breeze crept moaning by; I could have answered with a sigh; But fast we fled, away, away, And I could neither sigh nor pray; And my cold sweat-drops fell, like rain, Upon the courser's bristling mane.
We neared the wild-wood-'twas so wide, I saw no bounds on either side ;- The boughs gave way, and did not tear My limbs, and I found strength to bear My wounds, already scarred with cold- My bonds forbade to loose my hold.
We rustled through the leaves like wind, Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind. By night I heard them on my track: Their troop came hard upon our back, With their long gallop, which can tire The hound's deep hate, and hunter's fire; Where'er we flew they followed on, Nor left us with the morning sun. Oh how I wished for spear or sword, At least to die amidst the horde, And perish, if it must be so, At bay, destroying many a foe.
My heart turned sick, my brain grew sore, And throbbed a while, then beat no more.
The skies spun like a mighty wheel; I saw the trees like drunkards reel, And a slight flash sprung o'er my eyes, Which saw no further: he who dies Can die no more than then I died, O'ertortured by that ghastly ride.
A trampling troop; I see them come! In one vast squadron they advance! The sight renerved my courser's feet, A moment staggering, feebly fleet, A moment with a faint low neigh, He answered, and then fell; With gasps and glazing eyes he lay, And reeking limbs immovable:
His first and last career is done! On came the troop-they saw him stoop, They saw me strangely bound along His back with many a bloody thong; They snort-they foam-neigh-swerve aside, And backward to the forest fly,
By instinct, from a human eye.
They left me there to my despair, Linked to the dead and stiffening wretch, Whose lifeless limbs beneath me stretch,- Relieved from that unwonted weight, From which I could not extricate Nor him nor me; and there we lay, The dying on the dead.
DID you ever see our baby- Little Tot?
With her blue eyes sparkling bright, Luscious cheeks of rose and white, Lips of growing ruby light- Tell you what,
She is just the sweetest baby Of the lot.
You don't think so? You ne'er saw her! If you could,
'Mong her pretty playthings clattering, While her little tongue was chattering, And her nimble feet a-pattering, Think you would
Say with me she is the sweetest, If you should.
Every grandma's only darling, I suppose,
To her eye (it's not a pity)
Is as bright and fresh and pretty,
Is as cunning and as witty
Heavenly Father! spare them to us
Two buds plucked from the tree;
Two birdies flown from the nest;
Two little babies snatched
From a fond mother's breast;
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