196 ABOUT FEET. And whene'er he lacks, upon our backs We're far too low to vote the tax, We're low, we're low, mere rabble we know, The mould at the lordling's feet will grow, Then prostrate fall in the rich man's hall, We're low, we're low, we're very, very low, The silken flow and the robes that glow We're low, we're low, we're very, very low, Through the heart of the proudest king. We're not too low to fight the foe, But too low to touch the spoil. IN ABOUT FEET. N commencing at the head and going down to the foot, I don't wish to set an example for you to follow, for it is much more honorable and praiseworthy, in most conditions of life, to begin at the foot and gradually work up to the head. only corn-growing section in the human frame. The foot is the In all the walks MAUD MULLER. 197 of life, to say nothing about the runs, the foot plays an important part. Without it, there wouldn't be any promising shoemakers. The light fantastic toe could have no existence, and dancing would be unknown, unless people danced upon their heads, which, for obvious reasons, couldn't be indulged in conveniently. A foot in long measure is twelve inches, but I have seen it where it overran twenty. Big feet have been a serious puzzle to scientific men before now. Some of them have contended that they are live things, with breathing apparatus and bowels. The propensity that feet often exhibit to go astray and walk in forbidden paths, shows that they are more than half human. In romances of the chivalric period, we frequently read of a feat of arms, which is not only ungrammatical, but is manifestly inconsistent. It is no more paradoxical, however, than to say a dancing-master is a good hand with his feet, as you sometimes hear. Fleet-footed people don't run the best always. I know a man that can run half a mile in a minute, and yet he was beaten in a race for the office of postmaster of a small village by a woodenlegged man; and I have seen a splendid run of billiards made by a man with but one leg. My hearers, let me entreat you to pause often and scan closely the path in which your feet are walking. MAU MAUD MULLER.-WHITTIER. But when she glanced to the far-off town, 198 MAUD MULLER. The Judge rode slowly down the lane, Of the apple-trees, to greet the maid, And ask a draught from the spring that flowed She stooped where the cool spring bubbled up, And blushed as she gave it, looking down He spoke of the grass, and flowers, and trees, And her graceful ankles, bare and brown, Maud Muller looked and sighed: "Ah me! The Judge looked back as he climbed the hill, And saw Maud Muller standing still : "A form more fair, a face more sweet, Ne'er hath it been my lot to meet, MAUD MULLER. And her modest answer and graceful air No doubtful balance of rights and wrongs, And health, and quiet, and loving words." But he thought of his sisters, proud and cold, He wedded a wife of richest dower, Oft when the wine in his glass was red, Free as when I rode that day Where the barefoot maiden raked her hay.” She wedded a man unlearned and poor, 199 200 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. And she heard the little spring-brook fall Sometimes her narrow kitchen walls Alas for maiden, alas for Judge, For rich repiner and household drudge! For all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN!" Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies Deeply buried from human eyes; And in the hereafter, angels may Roll the stone from its grave away. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.-GEN. LYTLE. AM dying, Egypt, dying, Ebbs the crimson life-tide fast, Let thine arms, O Queen, enfold me! Thou, and thou alone, must hear. |