* 24 *

THE SOLITUDE OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK

I AM monarch of all I survey;

My right there is none to dispute ;
From the centre all round to the sea

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Then reign in this horrible place.

I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech;
I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain
My form with indifference see;
They are so unacquainted with man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.
Society, Friendship, and Love,
Divinely bestow'd upon man,
O had I the wings of a dove

How soon would I taste you again !
My sorrows I then might assuage

In the ways of religion and truth,
Might learn from the wisdom of age,

5

ΙΟ

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20

And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth.

Ye winds that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore

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Some cordial endearing report

Of a land I shall visit no more :--

My friends, do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?

O tell me I yet have a friend,

Though a friend I am never to see!

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6 sages, wise people 9 humanity, human creatures 21 assuage, heal 24 sallies, lively talk 27 report, news

How fleet is a glance of the mind!

Compared with the speed of its flight,

The tempest itself lags behind,

35

And the swift-wingéd arrows of light.
When I think of my own native land

In a moment I seem to be there;
But alas recollection at hand
Soon hurries me back to despair.

-But the seafowl is gone to her nest,
The beast is laid down in his lair;
Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair.
There's mercy in every place,

And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

W. Cowper

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*25*

AT SEA

A WET sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast

And fills the white and rustling sail

And bends the gallant mast;

And bends the gallant mast, my boys,

While like the eagle free

Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.

O for a soft and gentle wind!

I heard a fair one cry;

But give to me the snoring breeze
And white waves heaving high;

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ΙΟ

48 makes us con

33 glance, thought 42 lair, den 44 repair, go
tent with life 1 sheet, sail-ropes 8 lee, behind

And white waves heaving high, my lads,

The good ship tight and free :—
The world of waters is our home,
And merry men are we.

There's tempest in yon

hornéd moon,

And lightning in yon cloud;
But hark the music, mariners!
The wind is piping loud;

The wind is piping loud, my boys,
The lightning flashes free—

While the hollow oak our palace is,
Our heritage the sea.

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SPRING

SPRING, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant

king;

Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a

ring,

Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,

Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo.

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

Spring! the sweet Spring!

T. Nash

17 hornéd, new 23 oak, ship 24 heritage, proper home

* 27*

COUNTRY SCENES IN OLD DAYS

Day-break

SEE the day begins to break,

And the light shoots like a streak
Of subtle fire; the wind blows cold
While the morning doth unfold;
Now the birds begin to rouse,
And the squirrel from the boughs
Leaps, to get him nuts and fruit ;
The early lark, that erst was mute,
Carols to the rising day

Many a note and many a lay.

Unfolding the Flocks

Shepherds, rise, and shake off sleep-
See the blushing morn doth peep
Through the windows, while the sun
To the mountain-tops is run,
Gilding all the vales below

With his rising flames, which grow
Greater by his climbing still.-
Up! ye lazy swains! and fill

Bag and bottle for the field;

Clasp your cloaks fast, lest they yield
To the bitter north-east wind.
Call the maidens up, and find
Who lies longest, that she may
Be chidden for untimed delay.
Feed your faithful dogs, and pray
Heaven to keep you from decay;
So unfold, and then away.

Folding the Flocks

Shepherds all, and maidens fair,
Fold your flocks up; for the air
'Gins to thicken, and the sun

Already his great course hath run.

3 subtle, piercing 8 erst, before 10 lay, song 26 decay, harm

30 'gins, begins

5

JO

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20

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30

See the dew-drops how they kiss
Every little flower that is ;
Hanging on their velvet heads,
Like a rope of crystal beads.
See the heavy clouds low falling,
And bright Hesperus down calling
The dead Night from underground;
At whose rising, mists unsound,
Damps and vapours, fly apace,
Hovering o'er the wanton face

Of these pastures, where they come

Striking dead both bud and bloom :
Therefore from such danger lock

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40

SWEET country life, to such unknown
Whose lives are others', not their own,
But, serving courts and cities, be
Less happy, less enjoying thee:---

7 Hesperus, the evening star 39 unsound, unhealthy 47 scout, 53 secure, careless

spy

57 in numbers, musically, softly