Then enter, boys; cheerly, boys, enter and rest; GEORGE P. MORRIS. A PSALM OF LIFE. ELL me not, in mournful numbers, TEL "Life is but an empty dream!" For the soul is dead that slumbers, Life is real! Life is earnest ! And the grave is not its gōal;' Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Art is long, and Time is fleeting; And our hearts, though stout and brave, In the world's broad fieid of battle, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Heart within, and GŎD ō'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us H. W. LONGfellow. W WHAT MIGHT BE DONE. HAT might be done if men were wise What glorious deeds, my suffering brother— Would they unite, in love and right, And cease their scorn of one another! Oppression's heart might be imbued With kindling drops of loving-kindness; And Knowledge pōur, from shōre to shōre, Light on the eyes of mental blindness. All slavery, warfare, lies, and wrongs, All vice and crime, might die together; And wine and corn, to each man born, Be free as warmth in summer weather. The meanèst wretch that ever trod, The deepèst sunk in guilt and sorrow, Might stand erect, in self-respect, And share the teeming world to-morrow. What might be done? This might be done, And more than this, my suffering brother— More than the tongue e'er said or sung, If men were wise and loved each other. CHARLES MACKAY. 1 Was (woz). THE NORMAN BARON. N his chamber, weak and dying, Loud, without, the tempest thundered, In this fight was Death the gainer, Written in the Doomsday-book." By his bed a monk was seated, In the hall the serf" and vassal Held that night their Christmas wassail;12 Sang the minstrels13 and the waits :" 'Baron (bår' on), a degree of nobility next to a viscount above and a baronet below, being the lowest in the English House of Peers. 'Castle-turret (kås' sl-tůr' rêt). 'Vassal (vås' sal), one who holds lands of a superior, and owes fealty to him; a slave. Retain'er, a dependent; a hanger-on; one kept in service. * Dooms'day-Book, a book made by order of William the Conqueror, in which the extent and limits of the lands of England, their proprietors, tenures, value, &c., were registered. 'Pater-noster (på'ter-nos'ter), the Lord's Prayer. . And so loud these Saxon gleemen Till at length the lays they chanted1 Turned his weary head to hear. "Wassail for the kingly stranger, In that hour of deep contrition, Justice, the Avenger, rise. All the pomp of earth had vanished, Every vassal of his banner, Every serf born to his mănor, All those wronged and wretched creatures 1 Chanted (chânt'ed). See Note 4, p. 20. 2 Haunted (hånt'ed). 3 Glistened (glis'snd). 'Listened (lis'snd). 'Miserere Domine (miz e rè're dom' i ně), Have mercy, Master, or Lord. And, as on the sacred missal And the monk replied, " AMEN!" Mingling with the common dust: H. W. LONGFELLOW. THOSE EVENING BELLS. HOSE evening bells! those evening bells! THow many a tale their music tells Of youth, and home, and that sweet time Those joyous hours are passed away, And so 'twill be when I am gone— THOMAS MOORE. THE THE BLISSFUL DAY. HE day returns, my bosom burns, The blissful day we twa did meet ; Though winter wild in tempest toiled, Ne'er summer sun was half sae sweet. |