20 Old times were changed, old manners gone; A stranger filled the Stuarts'* throne; Had called his harmless art a crime. * He passed where Newark's stately tower The embattled* portal arch he passed, 45 When kindness had his wants supplied, Began to rise his minstrel pride : * Of good Earl Francis,* dead and gone, Of the old warriors of Buccleuch : 55 To listen to an old man's strain, Though stiff his hand, his voice though weak, He could make music to her ear. 60 The humble boon was soon obtained; Stuarts, a line of kings who reigned over Scotland from 1370 to 1603, and over England and Scotland together, from 1603 to 1688. Newark's stately tower, now a noble ruin, situated three miles from Selkirk. Farrow, a river in Selkirkshire. Embattled, provided with a battlement or parapet on the top of the building. The Duchess, Anne, the heiress of Buccleuch, who had been married to the Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II. Mien, way of conducting one's self; appear ance. Menials, the servants. tune. Monmouth's bloody tomb, the Duke was beheaded for rebellion against James II. 1685. Anon, presently. Earl Francis, the father of the Duchess. Earl Walter, the Duchess's grandfather, a celebrated warrior. The sooth, the truth. Audience, permission to be heard also means an assembly of hearers. Perchance he wished his boon denied ; And then, he said, he would full fain He never thought to sing again. It was not framed for village churls,* And much he wished, yet feared, to try THOUGHTLESS WORDS.-Scott. Он, many a shaft, at random sent, May soothe, or wound, a heart that's broken! ODE ON A DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE.* Gray. THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771) was born in London. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he became Professor of Modern History. Gray left few works, but these are of the most perfect finish. Chief poems: The Elegy, Ode to Eton College, The Bard, and the Ode to Adversity. YE distant spires, ye antique* towers, * 5 And ye that from the stately brow ΙΟ Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey, His silver-winding way; Ah, happy hills, ah, pleasing shade, Where once my careless childhood strayed, 15 I feel the gales that from you blow 20 As waving fresh their gladsome wing, To breathe a second spring. Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen 25 Who foremost now delight to cleave, 30 The captive linnet which enthral ? * What idle progeny * succeed Or urge the flying ball? While some on earnest business bent, Their murm'ring labours ply, 'Gainst graver hours that bring constraint To sweeten liberty; Antique, ancient. Henry's, Henry VI. was founder of the college. Windsor Castle, one of the royal resid ences. Hoary, ancient, old, the chief river in England, rises in the Cotswold Hills, and flows into the German Ocean. Momentary bliss, Margent, the border or edge; here it means the banks of the river. Enthral, to enslave. * Eton College on the Thames, near Windsor, is a preparatory college for the Universities. That mocks the tear it forced to flow; Lo, in the vale of years beneath A grisly troop are seen, The painful family of death, More hideous than their queen : This racks the joints, this fires the veins, To each his suffering; all are men, The tender for another's pain, Th' unfeeling for his own. Yet ah! why should they know their fate? And happiness too swiftly flies; Keen, sharp, cutting. Remorse, the gnawing pain of guilt, Moody, gloomy, angry. Consuming, wasting away. THE DESERTED VILLAGE.-Goldsmith. OLIVER GOLDSMITH (1728-1744) was born in Ireland, and attended Trinity College, Dublin. After a roving life for some time spent on the Continent, he settled in London, living at one time as usher in a school. He died in distress and debt. The union of perfect refinement with perfect simplicity is the chief characteristic of his works. Chief works: The Traveller, and The Deserted Village, among his poems; and The Citizen of the World, and The Vicar of Wakefield, among his prose writings. 5 SWEET Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, * Where smiling Spring its earliest visit paid, |