Then, sing ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song! As to the tabor's sound! · We, in thought, will join your throng, Ye that through your hearts to-day What tho the radiance which was once so bright Tho nothing can bring back the hour Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; Which having been must ever be; In the soothing thoughts that spring In the faith that looks through death, And O ye Mountains, Meadows, Hills and Groves, Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might; I only have relinquish'd one delight To live beneath your more habitual sway: I love the brooks which down their channels fret The clouds that gather round the setting sun That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality; Another race hath been, and other palms are won. Thanks to the human heart by which we live, THE DAY IS DONE 1 BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW The day is done, and the darkness I see the lights of the village Gleam through the rain and the mist, And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me That my soul can not resist : A feeling of sadness and longing, And resembles sorrow only As the mist resembles the rain. Come, read to me some poem, 1 By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Not from the grand old masters, Not from the bards sublime, For, like the strains of martial music, Read from some humbler poet, Who, through long days of labor, Such songs have power to quiet And come like the benediction Then read from the treasured volume The poem of thy choice, And lend to the rime of the poet The beauty of thy voice. And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares, that infest the day, Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP1 BY ROBERT BROWNING You know, we French storm'd Ratisbon: A mile or so away On a little mound Napoleon Stood on our storming-day; Just as perhaps he mused "My plans Out 'twixt the battery smokes there flew Until he reach'd the mound. Then off there flung in smiling joy, By just his horse's mane, a boy: (So tight he kept his lips comprest You look'd twice ere you saw his breast 1 By permission of The Macmillan Co. "Well," cried he, "Emperor, by God's grace We've got you Ratisbon! The marshal's in the market-place, And you'll be there anon To see your flag-bird flap his vans Where I, to heart's desire, Perch'd him!" The chief's eye flash'd; his plans Soar'd up again like fire. The chief's eye flash'd; but presently Soften'd itself, as sheathes A film the mother-eagle's eye When her bruised eaglet breathes. "You're wounded!" "Nay," the soldier's pride Touch'd to the quick, he said: "I'm kill'd, sire!" And his chief beside Smiling the boy fell dead. THE CATARACT OF LODORE BY ROBERT SOUTHEY "How does the water come down at Lodore?" The request of their brother, and to hear how the water |