McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader Part 52

3. He prays aloud, the lonely man, For every soul that night at sea, But more than all for that brave boy Who used to gayly climb his knee,-- Young Charlie, with his chestnut hair, And hazel eyes, and laughing lip.

"May Heaven look down," the old man cries.

"Upon my son, and on his s.h.i.+p!"

4. While thus with pious heart he prays, Far in the distance sounds a boom: He pauses; and again there rings That sullen thunder through the room.

A s.h.i.+p upon the shoals to-night!

She cannot hold for one half hour; But clear the ropes and grappling hooks, And trust in the Almighty Power!

5. On the drenched gallery he stands, Striving to pierce the solid night: Across the sea the red eye throws A steady crimson wake of light; And, where it falls upon the waves, He sees a human head float by, With long drenched curls of chestnut hair, And wild but fearless hazel eye.

6. Out with the hooks! One mighty fling!

Adown the wind the long rope curls.

Oh! will it catch? Ah, dread suspense!

While the wild ocean wilder whirls.

A steady pull; it tightens now: Oh! his old heart will burst with joy, As on the slippery rocks he pulls The breathing body of his boy.

7. Still sweep the specters through the sky; Still scud the clouds before the storm; Still naked in the howling night The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form.

Without, the world is wild with rage; Unkenneled demons are abroad; But with the father and the son Within, there is the peace of G.o.d.

NOTE.--Minot's Ledge (also called the "Coha.s.set Rocks") is a dangerous reef in Boston Harbor, eight miles southwest of Boston Light. It has a fixed light of its own, sixty-six feet high.

CIX. HAMLET.

William Shakespeare (b. 1564, d. 1616), by many regarded as the greatest poet the world has ever produced, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was married, when very young, to a woman eight years his senior, went to London, was joint proprietor of Blackfriar's Theater in 1589, wrote poems and plays, was an actor, acc.u.mulated some property, and retired to Stratford three or four years before his death. He was buried in Stratford church, where a monument has been erected to his memory. This is all that is known of him with any degree of certainty.

Shakespeare's works consist chiefly of plays and sonnets. They show a wonderful knowledge of human nature, expressed in language remarkable for its point and beauty.

(ACT I, SCENE II. HAMLET alone in a room, of the castle.

Enter HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and BERNARDO.)

Hor. Hail, to your lords.h.i.+p!

Ham. I am glad to see you well: Horatio,--or I do forgot myself.

Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever.

Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you: And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?-- Macellus?

Mar. My good lord--

Ham. I am very glad to see you. [To Ber.] Good even, sir.

But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?

Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord.

Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so, Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, To make it truster of your own report Against yourself: I knew you are no truant.

But what is your affair in Elsinore?

We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.

Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral.

Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, follow-student; I think it was to see my mother's wedding.

Hor. Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon.

Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio!

My father!--methinks I see my father.

Hor. Where, my lord?

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio.

Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king.

Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.

Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight.

Ham. Saw? who?

Hor. My lord, the king your father.

Ham. The king my father!

Hor. Season your admiration for a while With an attent ear, till I may deliver, Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.

Ham. For G.o.d's love, let me hear.

Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch, In the dead vast and middle of the night, Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father, Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pie.

Appears before them, and with solemn march Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'd By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, Within his trucheon's length; whilst they, distill'd Almost to jelly with the act of fear, Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me In dreadful secrecy impart they did; And I with them the third night kept the watch: Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, Form of the thing, each word made true and good, The apparition comes: I knew your father; These hands are not more like.

Ham. But where was this?

Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd.

Ham. Did you speak to it?

Hor. My lord, I did; But answer made it none: yet once methought It lifted up its head and did address Itself to motion, like as it would speak; But even then the morning c.o.c.k crew loud, And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, And vanish'd from our sight.

Ham. 'T is very strange.

Hor. As I do live, my honor'd lord, 't is true; And we did think it writ down in our duty To let you know of it.

Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me, Hold you the watch to-night?

Mar. Ber. We do, my lord.