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Haply some hoary-headed swain may say, "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn Brushing with hasty steps the dews away, To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. "There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech, That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, His listless length at noontide would he stretch, And pore upon the brook that babbles by. "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, 105 Muttering his way ward fancies, he would rove; Now drooping, woeful, wan, like one forlorn, Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love.

"One morn I missed him on the accustomed

hill,

Along the heath and near his favourite tree;
Another came, nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

31

"The next, with dirges 30 due, in sad array," Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne :

Approach and read (for thou canst read) the

lay

33

32

Graven on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."

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Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth,
A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown;
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy 35 marked him for her own.

I 10

115

120

Large was his bounty,36 and his soul sincere ;
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery (all he had) a tear,

He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished)
a friend.

No further seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, 37 (There they alike in trembling hope repose),The bosom of his Father and his God.

NOTES.

1 Curfew, the evening bell rung in England during Norman times to warn the people to put out all fires and lights.

2 Lea, grassland, an untilled meadow.
3 Plod, walking in a slow heavy
manner as a tired man would do
after a hard day's work.

4 Glimmering, fading away.
5 Drowsy tinklings, &c., the sound of
the bells tied round the necks of
some of the sheep.

6 Breezy call, &c., fresh pure air
the morning.

7 Ply, to work at.

8 Glebe, land for cultivating.

9 Jocund, cheerful, joyous.

of

10 Annals, short yearly accounts or histories.

11 Inevitable, that which cannot be avoided.

12 Trophies, monuments.

13 Pregnant, full of.

14 Ecstasy, great joy.

15 Lyre, a kind of harp.

16 Penury, poverty.

17 Repressed, checked, kept back.
18 Genial, gay, cheerful.
19 Unfathomed, unsounded.

20

21

22

Hampden (John), lived in the time
of Charles I. He would not pay
the tax of "ship-money," and
became one of the leaders of the
insurrection.

Milton (John), was one of England's
greatest poets.

Cromwell (Oliver), the chief leader

in the rebellion against Charles I.
23 Circumscribed, confined.

24 Ingenuous, open, straightforward.
25 Madding, distracting.

26 Sequestered, lonely, private.

27 Elegy here means praise of the
dead.

28 Parting, departed.
29 Wonted, usual.

30 Dirge, a funeral service.
31 Array, procession, order.

32 Lay, the song or verse carved on
the stone; the inscription.
33 Graved, carved in stone or other
substance.

34 Epitaph, inscription carved on a

tomb.

35 Melancholy, a gloomy state of mind,
sadness.

36 Bounty, what he gave away as gifts.
37 Dread abode, the grave.

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KING JOHN.

PRINCE ARTHUR'S DEATH PLANNED.-ACT III. SCENE 3.

King John invades France to chastise Philip for espousing the cause of Prince Arthur, the rightful heir to the English throne. In a battle before Angiers, Arthur is taken prisoner. Hubert, chamberlain to King John, is appointed Arthur's keeper, with instructions to find some means of depriving the young prince of life.

SCENE-Plains near Angiers; after the

battle; the English having gained the victory and made Arthur a prisoner.

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Q. Elinor. Come hither, little kinsman, hark a word.

[She takes Arthur aside. K. John. Come hither, Hubert.' O my gentle

Hubert,

We owe thee much! within this wall of flesh 3

3.

There is a soul counts thee her creditor,1

5

And with advantage means to pay thy love;
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished.
Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,—
But I will fit it with some better time.

8

In good sooth, Hubert, I am almost ashamed 10
To say what good respect I have of thee.
Hub. I am much bounden to your majesty.
K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause
to say so yet;

But thou shalt have: and creep time ne'er so

slow,

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Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to say-but let it go:
The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds,"
To give me audience; 10-If the midnight bell 20
Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth,
Sound on into the drowsy race of night;
If this same were a churchyard where we stand,
And thou possessed" with a thousand wrongs;
Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,12
Had baked thy blood,13 and made it heavy
thick,

(Which, else, runs tickling up and down the veins,

Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes
And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
A passion hateful to my purposes;)

Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes,

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30

Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
Without a tongue, using conceit 14 alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of
words;-

Then, in despite of brooded 15 watchful day,
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts:
But, ah, I will not-yet I love thee well;
And, by my troth,16 I think thou lov'st me
well.

Hub. So well, that what you bid me under

take,

17

Though that my death were adjunct to my

act,

Indeed I'd do't.

K. John.

Do not I know thou wouldst ? Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye On yon young boy; I'll tell thee what, my friend,

He is a very serpent in my way;

35

40

And, wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread, 45 He lies before me: dost thou understand me?

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I could be merry now: Hubert, I love thee.
Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee:
Remember.

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