And haughtily the trumpets peal, and gaily dance the bells, As slow upon the labouring wind the royal blazon swells. Look how the lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown, And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies down! So stalked he when he turned to fight, on that famed Picard field, Bohemia's plume, Genoa's bow, and Cæsar's eagle shield: So glared he when at Agincourt in wrath he turned to bay, And crushed and torn beneath his claws the princely hunter lay. Ho! strike the flag-staff deep, sir knight! ho! scatter flowers, fair maids! Ho! gunners, fire a loud salute! ho! gallants, draw your blades! Thou sun, shine on her joyously-ye breezes, waft her wide! Our glorious semper eadem-the banner of our pride! The freshening breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massy fold, The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold; Night sank upon that dusky beach, and on the purple sea Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again shall be. From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford Bay, That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day; For swift to east and swift to west the warning radiance spread : High on Saint Michael's Mount it shone-it shone on Beachy Head. Far on the deep the Spaniards saw, along each southern shire, Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire; The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamar's glittering waves, The rugged miners poured to war from Mendip's sunless caves: O'er Longleat's towers, o'er Cranborne's oaks, the fiery herald flew He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge-the rangers of Beaulieu. Right sharp and quick the bells rang out, all night, from Bristol town; And, ere the day, three hundred horse had met on Clifton Down. The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the night. And saw, o'erhanging Richmond Hill, that streak of blood-red light. The bugle's note, and cannon's roar, the deathlike silence broke, And with one start, and with one cry, the royal city woke ; At once, on all her stately gates, arose the answering fires; At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling spires ; From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the voice of fear, And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a louder cheer: And from the farthest wards was heard the rush of hurrying feet, And the broad streams of flags and pikes dashed down each rousing street: And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din, As fast from every village round the horse came spur ring in ; And eastward straight, for wild Blackheath, the warlike errand went; And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent: Southward, for Surrey's pleasant hills, flew those bright coursers forth; High on black Hampstead's swarthy moor, they started for the north; And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still; All night from tower to tower they sprang, all night from hill to hill; Till the proud peak unfurled the flag o'er Derwent's rocky dales; Till, like volcanoes, flared to heaven the stormy hills of Wales; Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely height; Till streamed in crimson, on the wind, the Wrekin's crest of light. Till, broad and fierce, the star came forth, on Ely's stately fane, And town and hamlet rose in arms, o'er all the boundless plain : Till Belvoir's lordly towers the sign to Lincoln sent, And Lincoln sped the message on, o'er the wide vale of Trent; Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile, And the red glare of Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. AN American poet, born at Portland, in Maine, in the year 1807, and still living. Longfellow's chief works are:- -Voices of the Night; Evangeline; The Golden Legend; Hiawatha; The Courtship of Miles Standish; By the Fireside, etc. A PSALM OF LIFE. TELL me not, in mournful numbers, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Trust no future, howe'er pleasant ! We can make our lives sublime, Let us, then, be up and doing, Voices of the Night. EXCELSIOR. THE shades of night were falling fast, His brow was sad; his eye beneath In happy homes he saw the light "Try not the Pass," the old man said; "Oh stay!" the maiden said, "and rest L |