* 54 *

SUMMER MOODS.

I LOVE at eventide 1 to walk alone

Down narrow glens o'erhung with dewy thorn,
Where, from the long grass underneath, the snail,
Jet black, creeps out and sprouts his timid horn.
I love to muse o'er meadows newly mown,
Where withering grass perfumes the sultry air,
Where bees search round, with sad and weary
drone,

In vain, for flowers that bloomed but newly there;
While in the juicy corn the hidden quail

Cries "Wet my foot;" and, hid as thoughts unborn,

The fairy-like and seldom seen land-rail 2

Utters, "Craik, craik!" like voices underground,
Right glad to meet the evening's dewy veil,
And see the light fade into gloom around.

* 55 *

THE DAFFODILS.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

J. CLARE.

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

1 eventide, evening ('tide' originally meant 'time').

2 land-rail, also called the corn-crake, is allied to the snipe.

Continuous 1 as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin 2 of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee :-
A poet could not but be gay

In such a jocund company.

I gazed, and gazed, but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,1
They flash upon that inward eye 5
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

* 56 *

W. WORDSWORTH.

THE CREATION.

ALL things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

1 continuous, close together.

2 margin, edge.

3 wealth, benefit.

4 idle or thoughtful.

5 inward eye, thought.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.1

The purple-headed 2 mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning
That brightens up the sky,

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water
We gather every day,-

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty
Who has made all things well.

1 estate, condition in life, rank.

C. F. ALEXANDER.

2 purple-headed, the top of a purple color, because of the distance.

* 57 *

CHOICE EXTRACTS.

BAD Thought's a thief! He acts his part;
Creeps through the window of the heart;
And, if he once his way can win,
He lets a hundred robbers in.

TRUTH crushed to earth shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies among her worshippers.

William Cullen Bryant.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most

lives

Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. Philip James Bailey.

A THING of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.

J. Keats.

OH, it is excellent

To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous

To use it like a giant.

W. Shakespeare.

A KINDLY act is a kernel sown,
That will grow to a goodly tree,
Shedding its fruit when time has flown
Down the gulf of Eternity.

John Boyle O'Reilly.

ALL smatterers are more brisk and pert
Than those who understand an art;
As little sparkles shine more bright
Than glowing coals that give them light.

Samuel Butler (1612-1680).

TRUST not to each accusing tongue,
As most weak persons do;
But still believe that story false
Which ought not to be true.

R. B. Sheridan.

SMALL service is true service while it lasts:
Of friends, however humble, scorn not one:
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

W. Wordsworth.