Required Poems for Reading and Memorizing Part 21

And so the king and all the courtiers knew That wreath was Nature's; and the baffled queen Returned to tell the wonders she had seen.

My story teaches (every tale should bear A fitting moral) that the wise may find In trifles light as atoms in the air, Some useful lesson to enrich the mind, Some truth designed to profit or to please,-- As Israel's king learned wisdom from the bees!

_John G. Saxe._

LULLABY OF AN INFANT CHIEF

O hush thee, my baby, thy sire was a knight,-- Thy mother a lady both lovely and bright; The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see, They all are belonging, dear baby, to thee.

O fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows, It calls but the warders that guard thy repose; Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red, Ere the step of a foeman drew near to thy bed.

O hush thee, my baby, the time soon will come, When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum; Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may, For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day.

_Sir Walter Scott._

HAIL, COLUMBIA!

Hail, Columbia! happy land!

Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!

Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, And when the storm of war was gone,

Enjoyed the peace your valor won.

Let independence be our boast, Ever mindful what it cost; Ever grateful for the prize, Let its altar reach the skies.

Firm, united, let us be, Rallying round our Liberty; As a band of brothers joined, Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots! rise once more: Defend your rights, defend your sh.o.r.e: Let no rude foe, with impious hand, Let no rude foe, with impious hand, Invade the shrine where sacred lies Of toil and blood the well-earned prize.

While offering peace sincere and just, In Heaven we place a manly trust, That truth and justice will prevail, And every scheme of bondage fail.

Sound, sound, the trump of Fame!

Let WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S great name Ring through the world with loud applause; Ring through the world with loud applause; Let every clime to Freedom dear, Listen with a joyful ear.

With equal skill, and G.o.dlike power, He governed in the fearful hour Of horrid war; or guides, with ease, The happier times of honest peace.

Behold the chief who now commands, Once more to serve his country, stands-- The rock on which the storm will beat, The rock on which the storm will beat; But, armed in virtue firm and true, His hopes are fixed on Heaven and you; When hope was sinking in dismay, And glooms obscured Columbia's day, His steady mind, from changes free, Resolved on death or liberty.

_Joseph Hopkinson._

THE SNOWDROP

Many, many welcomes, February fair-maid!

Ever as of old time, Solitary firstling, Coming in the cold time, Prophet of the gay time, Prophet of the May time, Prophet of the roses, Many, many welcomes, February fair-maid!

_Alfred, Lord Tennyson._

THE OWL

When cats run home and light is come, And dew is cold upon the ground, And the far-off stream is dumb, And the whirring sail goes round, And the whirring sail goes round, Alone and warming his five wits, The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch, And rarely smells the new-mown hay, And the c.o.c.k hath sung beneath the thatch Twice or thrice his roundelay, Twice or thrice his roundelay; Alone and warming his five wits, The white owl in the belfry sits.

_Alfred, Lord Tennyson._

A TRAGIC STORY

There lived a sage in days of yore, And he a handsome pigtail wore; But wondered much and sorrowed more Because it hung behind him.

He mused upon this curious case, And swore he'd change the pigtail's place, And have it hanging at his face, Not dangling there behind him.

Said he, "The mystery I've found,-- I'll turn me round."-- He turned him round; But still it hung behind him.

Then round and round, and out and in, All day the puzzled sage did spin; In vain--it mattered not a pin-- The pigtail hung behind him.

And right, and left, and round about, And up, and down, and in, and out He turned; but still the pigtail stout Hung steadily behind him.

And though his efforts never slack, And though he twist, and twirl, and tack, Alas! still faithful to his back The pigtail hangs behind him.

_William M. Thackeray._

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

There's a song in the air!

There's a star in the sky!

There's a mother's deep prayer And a baby's low cry!

And the star rains its fire while the Beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.

There's a tumult of joy O'er the wonderful birth, For the virgin's sweet boy Is the Lord of the earth.

Ay! the star rains its fire and the Beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.

In the light of that star Lie the ages impearled; And that song from afar Has swept over the world.

Every hearth is aflame, and the Beautiful sing In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King.

We rejoice in the light, And we echo the song That comes down through the night From the heavenly throng.

Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring, And we greet in his cradle our Saviour and King.

_J.G. Holland._

THE WONDERFUL WORLD

"Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world, With the wonderful water round you curled, And the wonderful gra.s.s upon your breast,-- World, you are beautifully drest.

"The wonderful air is over me, And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree, It walks on the water, and whirls the mills, And talks to itself on the tops of the hills.

"You friendly Earth! how far do you go With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow, With cities and gardens, and cliffs, and isles And people upon you for thousands of miles?

"Ah, you are so great, and I am so small, I tremble to think of you, World, at all; And yet, when I said my prayers, to-day, A whisper inside me seemed to say, 'You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot: You can love and think, and the Earth cannot!"

_William B. Rands._

n.o.bODY KNOWS