"Thou shalt not be left for the carrion crow,
Or the wolf to batten o'er thee;
Or the coward insult the gallant dead,
Who in life had trembled before thee."
Then dug he a grave in the crimson earth,
Where his warrior foe was sleeping;
And he laid him there, in honor and rest,
With his sword in his own brave keeping.
Miss Landon.
CC.
THE FIREMAN.
Hoarse wintry blasts a solemn requiem sung
To the departed day,
Upon whose bier
The velvet pall of midnight lead been flung,
And Nature mourned through one wide hemisphere
Silence and darkness held their cheerless sway,
Save in the haunts of riotous excess;
And half the world in dreamy slumbers lay,
Lost in the maze of sweet forgetfulness.
When lo! upon the startled ear,
There broke a sound so dread and drear,—
As, like a sudden peal of thunder,
Burst the bands of sleep asunder,
And filled a thousand throbbing hearts with fear.
Hark! the faithful watchman's cry
Speaks a conflagration nigh!—
See! yon glare upon the sky
Confirms the fearful tale.
The deep-mouthed bells with rapid tone,
Combine to make the tidings known;
Affrighted silence now has flown,
And sounds of terror freight the chilly gale!
At the first note of this discordant din,
The gallant fireman from his slumber starts;
Reckless of toil and danger, if he win
The tributary meed of grateful hearts.
From pavement rough, or frozen ground,
His engine's rattling wheels resound,
And soon before his eyes
The lurid flames, with horrid glare,
Mingled with murky vapors rise,
In wreathy folds upon the air,
And veil the frowning skies!
Sudden a shriek assails his heart,—
A female shriek, so piercing wild,
As makes his very life-blood start:—
"My child! Almighty God, my child!"
He hears,
And 'gainst the tottering wall
The ponderous ladder rears:
While blazing fragments round him fall,
And crackling sounds assail his ears,
His sinewy arm, with one rude crash,
Hurls to the earth the opposing sash;
And, heedless of the startling din,
Though smoky volumes round him roll,
The mother's shriek has pierced his soul,—
See! see! he plunges in!
The admiring crowd, with hopes and fears,
In breathless expectation stands,
When, lo! the daring youth appears,
Hailed by a burst of warm, ecstatic cheers,
Bearing the child triumphant in his arms.
Anonymous.
CCI. SPEAK GENTLY.
Speak gently: it is better far
To rule by love than fear.
Speak gently: let no harsh words mar
The good we might do here.