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LESSON XLI.

MOUNT MONADNOCK."

PEABODY.

1. UPON the far-off mountain's brow

The angry storm had ceased to beat;
And broken clouds are gathering now

In sullen reverence round his feet;
I saw their dark and crowded bands

In thunder on his breast descending;
But there once more redeemed he stands,
And heaven's clear arch is o'er him bending.

2. I've seen him when the morning sun

Burned like a bale-fire on the height;
I've seen him when the day was done,
Bathed in the evening's crimson light;
I've seen him at the midnight hour,
When all the world was calmly sleeping,
Like some stern sentry in his tower,
His weary watch in silence keeping.

3. And there, forever firm and clear,
His lofty turret upward springs;
He owns no rival summit near,

No sovereign but the King of kings.
Thousands of nations have passed by,
Thousands of years unknown to story,
And still his aged walls on high

He rears in melancholy glory.

4. The proudest works of human hands
Live but an age before they fall,
While that severe and hoary tower

Outlives the mightiest of them all.

■ Mount Mon-ad'nock; a mountain in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, 3450 feet above the level of the sea.

And man himself, more frail by far

Than e'en the works his hand is raising,
Sinks downward like the falling stara

That flashes, and expires in blazing.

5. And all the treasures of the heart,

Its loves and sorrows, joys and fears,
Its hopes and memories, must depart
To sleep with unremembered years.
But still that ancient rampart stands

Unchanged, though years are passing o'er him;
And time withdraws his powerless hands,
While ages melt away before him.

6. So should it be; for no heart beats
Within his cold and silent breast;
To him no gentle voice repeats

The soothing words that make us blest.
And more than this; his deep repose
Is troubled by no thoughts of sorrow;
He hath no weary eyes to close,
No cause to hope, or fear to-morrow.

LESSON XLII.

THE SACKING OF PRAGUE.

CAMPBELL.

[The learner may note the transitions in the following piece. See Transition, p. 60, and rules 2, 4, 8, &c., for Expression, p. 51.]

1. O! SACRED truth! thy triumph ceased a while,
And Hope, thy sister, ceased with thee to smile,
When leagued oppression poured to northern wars
Her whiskered pandours," and her fierce hussars,
Waved her dread standard to the breeze of morn,

a Falling star; a meteoric phenomenon supposed by some to be a collection of gaseous matter formed and ignited in the air. b Pandours; a kind of light infantry.

Pealed her loud drum, and twanged her trumpet horn'
Tumultuous horror brooded o'er her van,

Presaging wrath to Poland, and to man!

2. Warsaw's last champion" from the height surveyed,
Wide o'er the fields, a waste of ruin laid.

O! Heaven, he cried, my bleeding country save!
Is there no hand on high to shield the brave?
Yet, though destruction sweep these lovely plains,
Rise, fellow-men! our country yet remains!
By that dread name, we wave the sword on high,
And swear for her to live! with her to die!

3. He said, and on the rampart heights arrayed
His trusty warriors, few, but undismayed;
Firm-paced and slow, a horrid front they form,
Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm;
Low murmuring sounds along their banners fly,
Revenge, or death; -the watchword and reply.
Then pealed the notes, omnipotent to charm,
And the loud tocsin tolled their last alarm!

4. In vain, alas! in vain, ye gallant few!
From rank to rank your volleyed thunder flew;
O! bloodiest picture in the "Book of Time,"
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime;
Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,
Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe!
Dropped from her nerveless the shattered spear,

grasp

Closed her bright eyes, and curbed her high career;
Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell;
And freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell!

5. The sun went down, nor ceased the

carnage there
;

Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air.

с

a Kosciusko. b Sarmatia, (sär-ma-she-a, by the poet, in three syllables ;) an ancient country, of which Poland is a part. c Kosciusko, (kos-se-usʼko ;) a distinguished Polish general, and Washington's aid in the American Revolution.

On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow,
His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below;
The storm prevails, the rampart yields away,
Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay!
Hark! as the smoldering piles with thunder fall,
A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call!
Earth shook; red meteors flashed along the sky,
And conscious nature shuddered at the cry!

6. O! righteous Heaven! ere freedom found a grave,
Why slept the sword, omnipotent to save?

Where was thine arm, O vengeance, where thy rod,

That smote the foes of Zion and of God;

That crushed proud Ammon," when his iron car
Was yoked in wrath, and thundered from afar?
Where was the storm that slumbered till the host
Of blood-stained Pharaoh left their trembling coast;
Then bade the deep in wild commotion flow,
And heaved an ocean on their march below?

7. Departed spirits of the mighty dead!

Ye that at Marathon' and Leuctra bled!
Friends of the world! restore your swords to man,
Fight in the sacred cause, and lead the van!

Yet for Sarmatia's tears of blood atone,

And make her arm puissant as your own!
O! once again to freedom's cause return
The patriot Tell," the Bruce of Bannockburn!'

8. Yes! thy proud lords, unpitied land! shall see
That man hath yet a soul, and dare be free!
A little while along thy saddening plains,

a Aminon; the son of Lot, and father of the Ammonites. b Marathon; a town in Greece, famous for the victory of Milti'ades over the Persians, B. C. 490. © Leuctra, (lük-tra;) a town in Greece, famous for the victory of Epaminon'das over the Spartans, B. C. 371. d Tell (William;) a Swiss peasant, distinguished for his resistance to the Austrian governor, Gesler. e Bruce (Robert;) a king of Scotland, and son of Robert Bruce who fought in the English army against William Wallace. f Ban'nock-burn'; a village in Scotland, renowned for the victory of the younger Bruce over Edward II. of England.

The starless night of desolation reigns;
Truth shall restore the light by nature given,
And, like Prometheus," bring the fire of Heaven!
Prone to the dust oppression shall be hurled,
Her name, her nature, withered from the world!

LESSON XLIII.

SIEGE OF CALAIS.

BROOKE.

1. EDWARD III., after the battle of Crecy, laid siege tc Calais. He had fortified his camp in so impregnable a manner, that all the efforts of France proved ineffectual to raise the siege, or throw succors into the city. The citizens, under Count Vienne, their gallant governor, made an admirable defence. France had now put the sickle into her second harvest, since Edward, with his victorious army, sat down before the town. The eyes of all Europe were intent on the issue.

2. At length, famine did more for Edward than arms. After suffering unheard-of calamities, the French resolved to attempt the enemy's camp. They boldly sallied forth; the English joined battle; and after a long and desperate engagement, Count Vienne was taken prisoner, and the citizens who survived the slaughter retired within their gates. The command devolving upon Eustace St. Pierre, a man of mean birth, but of exalted virtue, he offered to capitulate with Edward, provided he permitted them to depart with life and liberty.

3. Edward, to avoid the imputation of cruelty, consented to spare the bulk of the plebians, provided they delivered up to him six of their principal citizens with halters about their

a Prometheus (pro-me'the-us, by the poet, in three syllables;) a Titan, said to have brought fire from heaven to men. b Edward III.; a warlike king of England, born 1313. e Crecy; a town in France, celebrated for a battle between the English and French, in which 30,000 foot and 1200 horse were slain. d Calais (kal'is;) a seaport town in France. e Count Vienne (ve-enne';) a governor of the province of Vienne. f Pronounced Peer.

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