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Go stand where I have stood
And see the strong man bow
With gnashing teeth, lips bathed in blood
And cold and livid brow;

Go catch his wandering glance, and see
There mirrored his soul's misery.

Go hear what I have heard-
The sobs of sad despair

As memory's feeling fount hath stirred,
And its revealings there

Have told him what he might have been Had he the drunkard's fate foreseen.

Go to my mother's side

And her crushed spirit cheer; Thine own deep anguish hide,

Wipe from her cheek the tear;

Mark her dimmed eye, her furrowed brow,
The that streaks her dark hair now,
gray
Her toil-worn frame, her trembling limb,
And trace the ruin back to him
Whose plighted faith in early youth
Promised eternal love and truth,
But who, forsworn, hath yielded up
That promise to the deadly cup

And led her down from love and light,
From all that made her pathway bright,
And chained her there, 'mid want and strife,
That lowly thing a drunkard's wife,
And stamped on childhood's brow so mild
That withering blight a drunkard's child.

Go hear and see and feel and know

All that my soul hath felt and known; Then look upon the wine-cup's glow: See if its brightness can atone; Think if its flavor you will try If all proclaimed, ""Tis drink and die."

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Whilst thou sittst idly dreaming among MY days among the dead are past;

flowers.

Write, sister, write!

Write, brother, write!

Around me I behold,

Where'er these casual eyes are cast,

The mighty minds of old:

My never-failing friends are they,

Strike a bold blow upon those kindred With whom I converse day by day.

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My hopes are with the dead; anon

My place with them will be, And I with them shall travel on

Through all futurity,

Yet leaving here a name, I trust,

And all mankind are brethren: thus 'tis That will not perish in the dust.

spoken;

ROBERT SOUTHEY.

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Therefore on every morrow are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'erdarkened ways
Made for our searching. Yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils,
With the green world they live in; and clear

rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make 'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake, Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead-
All lovely tales that we have heard or read,
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heavens' brink.

Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour. No! Even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple's self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,

Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast
That whether there be shine, or gloom o'er-
cast,

They alway must be with us, or we die.

JOHN KEATS.

66

Co

MOLLIE MEADE.

A STORY WITH TWO SIDES.

I.

OME right in! How are you, Fred? Find a chair, and have a light." Well, old boy, recovered yet

From the Mathers' jam last night?” 'Didn't dance: the German's old." "Didn't you? I had to lead. Awful bore! But where were you?" "Sat it out with Mollie Meade : Jolly little girl she is.

Said she didn't care to dance— 'D rather have a quiet chat;

Then she gave me such a glance ! So, when had cleared the room

you

And had captured all the chairs, Having nowhere else, we two

Took possession of the stairs: I was on the lower step,

Mollie on the next aboveGave me her bouquet to hold,

Asked me to draw off her glove. Then, of course, I squeezed her hand,

Talked about my wasted life, Said my sole salvation must

Be a true and gentle wife; Then, you know, I used my eyes.

She believed me every word; Almost said she loved me. Jove!

Such a voice I never heard! Gave me some symbolic flower;

Had a meaning-oh, so sweet! Don't know what it is, I'm sure:

Must have dropped it in the street. How I spooned! And she- Ha! ha! Well, I know it wasn't right, But she did believe me so

That I-kissed her. Pass a light."

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