MAG'IC, power of enchantment.
CONTEN'TION, strife; controversy.
TRA DI'TION, facts or events handed down from age to age.
SUB TILE, thin; slight; slender.
IN VEST'ED, clothed.
CREST'ED, adorned with a plume or crest.
AZ'URE, light-blue; sky-colored.
PER SPECT' IVE, (PER, through; SPECT, to see; IVE, having the power,) having the power to see through; a view through.
UN DI VERT' ED, (UN, not; DI, aside; VERTED, turned,) not turned aside; unheeded.
VEST'URE, garment.
SE DATE', calm; quiet.
FAN TAS'TIC, fanciful; visionary.
RA DI ANCE, brightness; luster.
IN VEC'TIVE, railing speech.
I DE'AL, imaginary.
FA TIGU ING, wearisome, toilsome.
AS PIR'ING, aiming; seeking to rise.
NOW AND THEN.
JANE TAYLOR.
1. In distant days,—of wild romance,
Of magic, mist, and fable,—
When stones could argue, trees advance,[Footnote 1]
And brutes to talk were able,—
When shrubs and flowers were said to preach,
And manage all the parts of speech,—
2. 'Twas then, no doubt, if 'twas at all,
(But doubts we need not mention,)
That Then and Now, two adverbs small,
Engaged in sharp contention;
But how they made each other hear,
Tradition doth not make appear.
3. Then was a sprite of subtile frame,
With rainbow tints invested.—
On clouds of dazzling light she came,
And stars her forehead crested;
Her sparkling eyes of azure hue,
Seemed borrowed from the distant blue.
4. Now rested on the solid earth,
And sober was her vesture;
She seldom either grief or mirth
Expressed, by word or gesture;
Composed, sedate, and firm she stood,
And looked industrious, calm, and good.
5. Then sang a wild, fantastic song,
Light as the gale she flies on,
Still stretching, as she sailed along,
Toward the far horizon,
Where clouds of radiance, fringed with gold,
O'er hills of emerald beauty rolled.
6. Now rarely raised her sober eye
To view that golden distance;
Nor let one idle minute fly
In hope of Then's assistance;
But still with busy hands she stood,
Intent on doing present good.
7. She ate the sweet, but homely fare,
That passing moments brought her;
While Then, expecting dainties rare,
Despised such bread and water;
And waited for the fruits and flowers
Of future, still receding hours.
8. Now, venturing once to ask her why,
She answered with invective;
And pointed, as she made reply,
Toward that long perspective
Of years to come,—in distant blue,
Wherein she meant to live and do,
9. "Alas!" says she, "how hard you toil! With undiverted sadness;
Behold yon land of wine and oil!
Those sunny hills of gladness!
Those joys I wait, with eager brow,"
"And so you always will!" said Now.
10. "That fairy land that looks so real,
Recedes as you pursue it;
Thus, while you wait for time's ideal,
I take my work and do it; Intent to form, when time is gone,
A pleasant past to look upon."
11. "Ah, well," said Then, "I envy not
Your dull, fatiguing labors,—
Aspiring to a brighter lot,
With thousands of my neighbors;
Soon as I reach that golden hill,"—
"But that," says Now, "you never will!"
12. "And e'en suppose you should," said she,
"(Though mortal ne'er attained it,)
Your nature you must change with me,
The moment you have gained it;
Since hope fulfilled, (you must allow,)
Turns NOW to Then, and THEN to Now."
[Footnote 1: The reference is to Orpheus, (or' fuse,) an ancient poet and musician of Greece. The skill of Orpheus on the lyre, was fabled to have been such as to move the very trees and rocks, and to assemble the beasts around him as he touched its chords.]
QUESTIONS.—1. What two words are represented as holding a controversy? 2. Describe the appearance of each. 3. When did Then propose to do something? 4. How did Now act? 5. What answer did Then make, when Now asked her why she waited? 6. What was Now's reply? 7. What did Now finally say to Then? 8. How should passages, within a parenthesis, be read? See SANDERS' UNION READER, NUMBER THREE, page 20.
[!-- Marker --] LESSON XLVIII.
IN GEN' IOUS, artful; skillful.
STRAT' A GEM, trick; artifice.
EX CEED' ED, surpassed.
SIG' NALS, signs.
AM' I CA BLE, friendly; peaceable.
RE PEL', (RE, back; PEL, to drive,)drive back.
MU' TU AL, reciprocal.
EX TRAOR' DI NA RY, uncommon.
IN VET' ER ATE, obstinate; violent.
HARANGUE', declamatory speech.
EN TER TAIN' ED, held; had.
SUS PI' CION, mistrust.
EN COUN' TER ED, met face to face.
EX' E CU TED, carried out.
FOR' MI DA BLE, fearful; dreadful.
PER FID' I OUS, treacherous.
PRE CIP' ITATELY, headlong.
IN AN' I MATE, dead; lifeless.