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In

yon strait path a thousand

May well be stopp'd by three;
Now, who will stand on either hand,

And keep the bridge with me ?”

Then outspake Spurius Lartius

A Ramnian proud was he“Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,

And keep the bridge with thee.”
And outspake strong Herminius-

Of Titian blood was he-
"I will abide on thy left side,

And keep the bridge with thee."

“Horatius," quoth the Consul,

“ As thou say’st, so let it be;" And straight against that great array

Forth went the dauntless three.
For Romans in Rome's quarrel

Spared neither land nor gold,
Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life,

In the brave days of old.

(2.) THE FALL OF THE BRIDGE.

BUT meanwhile axe and lever

Have manfully been plied ;
And now the bridge hangs tottering

Above the boiling tide.

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,

'Twas sad as sad could be ; And we did speak only to break

The silence of the sea !

All in a hot and copper sky

The bloody sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,

No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck—nor breath nor motion ; As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot !-0 Christ!

That ever this should be !
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs

Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout

The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils,

Burnt green, and blue, and white.

LIBERTY.

YE clouds! that far above me float and pause,

Whose pathless march no mortal may control !

Ye ocean-waves ! that, wheresoe'er ye roll, Yield homage only to eternal laws ! Ye woods ! that listen to the night-bird's singing,

Midway the smooth and perilous slope reclined, Save when your own imperious branches, swinging,

Have made a solemn music of the wind !
Where, like a man beloved of God,
Through glooms, which never woodman trod,

How oft, pursuing fancies holy,
My moonlight way o'er flowering weeds I wound,

Inspired beyond the guess of folly, By each rude shape and wild unconquerable sound! O ye loud waves! and O

ye

forests high ! And O ye clouds that far above me soar'd! Thou rising sun ! thou blue rejoicing sky !

Yea, everything that is and will be free!

Bear witness for me, wheresoe'er ye be, With what deep worship I have still adored

The spirit of divinest Liberty.

SOOTT,

TIME.

Why sitt'st thou by that ruin'd hall,

Thou aged carle, so stern and gray ?
Dost thou its former pride recall,

Or ponder how it pass'd away?

“ Know'st thou not me?" the deep voice cried,

“So long enjoy'd, so oft misused Alternate, in thy fickle pride;

Desired, neglected, and accused ?

“Before my breath, like blazing flax,

Man and his marvels pass away ; And changing empires wane and wax,

Are founded, flourish, and decay.

“ Redeem mine hours—the space is brief

While in my glass the sand-grains shiver, And measureless thy joy or grief,

When Time and thou shalt part for ever!”

CORONACH.

He is gone to the mountain,

He is lost to the forest,
Like a summer-dried fountain,

When our need was the sorest.
The fount, reappearing,

From the raindrops shall borrow,
But to us comes no cheering,

To Duncan no morrow !

The hand of the reaper

Takes the ears that are hoary,
But the voice of the weeper

Wails manhood in glory.

The autumn winds rushing

Waft the leaves that are searest,
But our flower was in flushing,

When blighting was nearest.

FLODDEN.

(1.) THE ONSET.

“But, see ! look

up

-on Flodden bent, The Scottish foe has fired his tent."

And sudden, as he spoke,
From the sharp ridges of the hill,
All downward to the banks of Till,

Was wreathed in sable smoke.
Volumed and vast, and rolling far,
The cloud enveloped Scotland's war,

As down the hill they broke ; Nor martial shout, nor minstrel tone, Announced their march, their tread alone, At times one warning trumpet blown,

At times a stifled hum, Told England, from his mountain-throne

King James did rushing come.-
Scarce could they hear, or see their foes,
Until at weapon-point they close. —
They close, in clouds of smoke and dust,
With sword-sway, and with lance's thrust;

And such a yell was there,
Of sudden and portentous birth,
As if men fought upon the earth

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