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GENTLE RIVER.

All beside thy impid waters,
All beside thy sands so bright,
Moorish chiefs and Christian warriors
Joined in fierce and mortal fight.

Lords, and dukes, and noble princes,

On thy fatal banks were slain;
Fatal banks, that gave to slaughter

All the pride and flower of Spain!

There the hero, brave Alonzo,

Full of wounds and glory, died;
There the fearless Urdiales

Fell a victim, by his side.

Lo! where yonder Don Saavedra
Through their squadrons slow retires;
Proud Seville, his native city,

Proud Seville his worth admires.

Close behind, a renegado

Loudly shouts, with taunting cry, "Yield thee, yield thee, Don Saavedra! Dost thou from the battle fly?

"Well I know thee, haughty Christian,
Long I lived beneath thy roof;
Oft I've in the lists of glory

Seen thee win the prize of proof.

"Well I know thy aged parents,

Well thy blooming bride I know;
Seven years I was thy captive,

Seven years of pain and woe.

GENTLE RIVER.

"May our prophet grant my wishes,

Haughty chief, thou shalt be mine; Thou shalt drink that cup of sorrow Which I drank when I was thine."

Like a lion turns the warrior,

Back he sends an angry glare; Whizzing came the Moorish javelin, Vainly whizzing, through the air.

Back the hero, full of fury,

Sent a deep and mortal wound; Instant sunk the renegado,

Mute and lifeless, on the ground.

With a thousand Moors surrounded,

Brave Saavedra stands at bay; Wearied out, but never daunted,

Cold at length the warrior lay.

Near him fighting, great Alonzo

Stout resists the Paynim bands; From his slaughtered steed dismounted, Firm intrenched behind him stands.

Furious press the hostile squadron,

Furious he repels their rage;
Loss of blood at length enfeebles;
Who can war with thousands wage?

Where yon rock the plain o'ershadows,
Close beneath its foot retired,
Fainting sunk the bleeding hero,
And without a groan expired.

F

67

68

NOSE AND EYES.

NOSE AND EYES.- Cowper.

BETWEEN Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose ;
The spectacles set them unhappily wrong;
The point in dispute was, as all the world knows,
To which the said spectacles ought to belong.

So the Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause
With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of learning;
While Chief-justice Ear sat to balance the laws,

So famed for his talent in nicely discerning.

"In behalf of the Nose, it will quickly appear,

And your lordship," he said, "will undoubtedly find,

That the Nose has had spectacles always in wear,
Which amounts to possession time out of mind."

Then holding the spectacles up to the court,-
"Your lordship observes they are made with a
straddle

As wide as the ridge of the Nose is; in short,
Designed to sit close to it, just like a saddle.

Again, would your lordship a moment suppose (T is a case that has happened, and may be again) That the visage or countenance had not a Nose,

Pray who would or who could wear spectacles then?

"On the whole it appears, and my argument shows,
With a reasoning the court will never condemn,
That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose,
And the Nose was as plainly intended for them."

.

TRADITIONARY BALLAD.

Then, shifting his side, as a lawyer knows how,
He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes;
But what were his arguments few people know,
For the Court did not think they were equally wise.

So his lordship decreed, with a grave solemn tone, -
Decisive and clear, without one if or but,
That whenever the Nose put his spectacles on,
By daylight or candle-light, Eyes should be shut.

TRADITIONARY BALLAD- Mary Howilt.

THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON-LOW. A MIDSUMMER LEGEND.

"AND where have you been, my Mary,

And where have you been from me?' "I've been at the top of the Caldon-Low, The midsummer night to see!"

"And what did you see, my Mary,
All up on the Caldon-Low?"
"I saw the blithe sunshine come down,
And I saw the merry winds blow."

69

"And what did you hear, my Mary,
All up on the Caldon-Hill?"
I heard the drops of water made,
And the green corn-ears to fill."

46

"O, tell me all, my Mary,-
All, all that ever you know;
For you must have seen the fairies,
Last night, on Caldon-Low."

70

TRADITIONARY BALLAD.

"Then take me on your knee, mother,
And listen, mother of mine; —
A hundred fairies danced last night,
And the harpers they were nine.

"And merry was the glee of the harp-strings,
And their dancing feet so small;

But, O, the sound of the talking
Was merrier far than all!"

"And what were the words, my Mary,
That you did hear them say?"
"I'll tell
all, my mother,-
you
But let me have my way!

"And some, they played with the water,
And rolled it down the hill:-

'And this,' they said, 'shall speedily turn
The poor old miller's mill;

"For there has been no water
Ever since the first of May;
And a busy man shall the miller be
By the dawning of the day!

"O, the miller, how he will laugh
When he sees the mill-dam rise!
The jolly old miller, how he will laugh,
Till the tears fill both his eyes!'

"And some, they seized the little winds,
That sounded over the hill,

And each put a horn into his mouth,

And blew so sharp and shrill: