And they whiz and they quiz, and they spy with their eye, And they sigh as they fly, For they meet to be sweet, and are fleet on their feet, Pattering, and flattering, and chattering Spluttering, and fluttering, and buttering— Advancing, and glancing, and dancing, and prancing, And bumping, and jumping, and stumping, and thumping Sounding and bounding around and around, And sliding and gliding with minuet pace- 4. They like dashing and flashing, lashing and splashing, Racing and pacing, chasing and lacing; 5. They are flittering and glittering, gallant and gay, Love living in London, life loitering away At their clubs in the dubs, or with beaux in the rows, Or, what's propera, at the opera, Reaching home in the morning-fie! fie! sirs, for shameAt an hour, for their sakes, I won't venture to name. But when the bachelor-boy grows old, And these butterfly days are past When threescore years their tale have told, 6. When he, at length, is an odd old man, And is cozing and prosing, and dozing all day, 7. Then he sends for a doctor to cure or to kill, All of which is worth nilh, But who gives him offense, as well as a pill, For the game's up at last, The grave die is cast,. Never was fretful antiquity mended- 8. Now, gentlemen! mark me, for this is the life a Benedicks, married men; from Benedick, one of the characters in Shakspeare's play of "Much Ado about Nothing." b Minuet, a slow, graceful dance. c Pir ou et'ting, whirling, or turning about on the toes, in dancing. d Dubs, low inns. eFrowsty, for frosty-chilly. Fusty, mouldy. Dithering, going about fret fully. h Nil, nothing. DESCRIPTION OF EVENING. 'Tis twilight now: How deep is the tranquillity'!—The trees MOIR. Are slumbering through their multitude of boughs, A twilight gloom pervades the distant hills, DESCRIPTION OF NIGHT. YOUNG. NIGHT, Sable goddess! from her ebon throne, LESSON XVIII. DESCRIPTION OF NOVEMBER. THOMAS HOOD. [THOMAS HOOD, a comic poet and quaint humorist, born in London, Eng., in 1798, died in 1845. His poetic writings are full of whims and oddities: but even in his puns and levities there is generally a "spirit of good" directed to some kindly or philanthropic object. The month of November, in England, is noted for its dismal, foggy weather. This piece is written in iambic measure (see p. 329), and is to be read with a slow movement, aud in the ironic monotone.] No dawn-no dusk-no proper time of day- No distance looking blue— 2. No roads-no streets-no t'other side the way— No indication where the crescents go- No recognition of familiar people— No courtesies for showing 'em— 3. No travelers at all-no locomotion- No mail-no post No news from any foreign coast No park-no ring-no afternoon gentility- 4. No warmth-no cheerfulness-no healthful ease- No shade-no shine-no butterflies-no bees- CHARACTER OF DIDACTIC WRITINGS. [Analysis.-1. What Didactic Writings embrace. What works belong to this class. -2. The Essay-what it includes. What we look for in such compositions.-3. Other writings that aim at instruction, and by what means.-4. Didactic poetry-how it differs from the prose essay. Writings of this class.-5. Peculiar character of such poetical works. How the poet manages his subject.-6. Embellishment in didactic poems. Illustration.-7. Second illustration.-S. Advantages and disadvantages of didactic poetry.] 1. DIDACTIC WRITINGS, avowedly designed for instruction, as the term implies, embrace all kinds of composition connected with the principles of art and science, or with the investigation of moral and physical truth. Of such is the great mass of works included under the term knowledge; embracing all books of instruction, and all moral, political, and philosophical writings. 2. The Essay is a favorite form of this kind of composition, designed for popular reading, and including such writings as the Spectator by Addison, the Tattler, and the Guardian, and many of the leading articles of the standard Magazines and Reviews of the present day. In compositions of this kind we look for sound thought, just principles, and clear and apt illustrations; with plainness, simplicity, and perspicuity of style; and clear, accurate, and methodical arrangement. 3. But writings other than those professedly didactic, make instruction, more or less, one of their objects: even plays, fables, and romances, whose professed design is amusement, aim also to make some useful impression on the mind, although they do this by indirect methods, such as the representation of character in its various phases. 4. But aside from the works of instruction referred to, and philosophical, moral, and critical essays, there is a species of |