O'er its white edge at me, his own master, askance ! By Hasselt, Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, "Stay spur! We'll remember at Aix" - for one heard the quick wheeze Of her chest, saw the stretched neck and staggering knees, And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank, As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank. So we were left galloping, Joris and I, Past Loos and past Tongrés, no cloud in the sky; 'Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff; - "How they'll greet us!" and all in a moment his roan Then I cast loose my buff-coat, each holster let fall, Called my Roland his pet-name, my horse without peer, And all I remember is friends flocking round As I sate with his head 'twixt my knees on the ground, CXCIX. THE SWORD. "TWAS on the battle-field; and the cold pale moon Looked down on the dead and dying; And the wind passed o'er with a dirge and a wail, With his father's sword in his red right hand, Lay a youthful chief; but his bed was the ground, A reckless rover, 'mid death and doom, Drawn by the shine of the warrior's sword, He wrenched the hand with a giant's strength, He loosed his hold, and his noble heart Took part with the dead before him; And he honored the brave who died sword in hand, "A soldier's death thou hast boldly died, A soldier's grave won by it: Before I would take that sword from thine hand, "Thou shalt not be left for the carrion crow, Or the wolf to batten o'er thee; Or the coward insult the gallant dead, Who in life had trembled before thee." Then dug he a grave in the crimson earth, And he laid him there, in honor and rest, Miss Landon. H° CO. THE FIREMAN. OARSE wintry blasts a solemn requiera sung Upon whose bier The velvet pall of midnight had been flung, And Nature mourned through one wide hemisphere. Silence and darkness held their cheerless sWAY, Save in the haunts of riotous excess; And half the world in dreamy slumbers lay, There broke a sound so dread and drear,- Burst the bands of sleep asunder, And filled a thousand throbbing hearts with fear. Hark! the faithful watchman's cry See! yon glare upon the sky Confirms the fearful tale. The deep-mouthed bells with rapid tone, Affrighted silence now has flown, And sounds of terror freight the chilly gale! At the first note of this discordant din, From pavement rough, or frozen ground. His engine's rattling wheels resound, And veil the frowning skies! Sudden a shriek assails his heart, And 'gainst the tottering wall The ponderous ladder rears: While blazing fragments round him fall, And crackling sounds assail his ears, His sinewy arm, with one rude crash, Hurls to the earth the opposing sash; And, heedless of the startling din, Though smoky volumes round him roll, The mother's shriek has pierced his soul, — See! see! he plunges in! The admiring crowd, with hopes and fears, Hailed by a burst of warm, ecstatic cheers, Anonymous. CCI. SPEAK GENTLY. SPEAK gently: it is better far Speak gently; love doth whisper low The vows that true hearts bind; |