IV.-WINTER.

1. When icicles hang by the wall,

And Dick, the shepherd, blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,

And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit, tu-whoo!-a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

2. When all aloud the wind doth blow,

And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,

And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-whoo!
Tu-whit, tu-whoo-a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

་

William Shakespeare.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. From "Love's Labor's Lost," Act V., Scene 2. The song in praise of the owl, representing winter. It is a good specimen of Shakespeare's songs.

II. I'-çi-ele (I'si-kl), shěp'-herd (-erd), frō'-zen (-z), night'-ly (nīt'-), greag'-y, eough'-ing (kawf'-).

III. Shepherd (sheep-herd); frozen (explain the suffix en); doth (th); nipped (ed).

IV. Nipped, brooding.

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V. "Ways be foul" (i. e., bad roads). Why is the owl called staring"? "Parson's saw (saw = a speech or sermon). "Crabs" (crab apples). "Keel the pot" (skim it).

V. MARMION AND DOUGLAS.

1. Not far advanced was morning day,
When Marmion did his troops array,
To Surrey's camp to ride;
He had safe conduct for his band,
Beneath the royal seal and hand,
And Douglas gave a guide.

2. The ancient earl, with stately grace,
Would Clara on her palfrey place,
And whispered in an undertone,
"Let the hawk stoop, his prey is flown."
The train from out the castle drew,
But Marmion stopped to bid adieu:

3. "Though something I might plain," he said,
"Of cold respect to stranger guest,
Sent hither by your king's behest,
While in Tantallon's towers I stayed;

Part we in friendship from your land,
And, noble earl, receive my hand."

4. But Douglas round him drew his cloak,
Folded his arms, and thus he spoke :
"My manors, halls, and bowers shall still
Be open at my sovereign's will,

To each one whom he lists, howe'er
Unmeet to be the owner's peer.
My castles are my king's alone,
From turret to foundation stone:
The hand of Douglas is his own,
And never shall, in friendly grasp,
The hand of such as Marmion clasp."

5. Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, And shook his very frame for ire;

And "This to me!" he said:
"An 't were not for thy hoary beard,
Such hand as Marmion's had not spared
To cleave the Douglas' head!

6. "And, first, I tell thee, haughty peer,
He who does England's message here,
Although the meanest in her state,
May well, proud Angus, be thy mate;
And, Douglas, more I tell thee here,

Even in thy pitch of pride-
Here in thy hold, thy vassals near
(Nay, never look upon your lord,
And lay your hand upon your sword),
I tell thee thou'rt defied!
And if thou saidst I am not peer
To any lord in Scotland here,
Lowland or highland, far or near,

Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"

7. On the earl's cheek the flush of rage O'ercame the ashen hue of age;

Fierce he broke forth: "And dar'st thou then

To beard the lion in his den,

The Douglas in his hall?

And hop'st thou hence unscathed to go?—
No! by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no!

8. "Up drawbridge, grooms-what, warder, ho! Let the portcullis fall!"—

Lord Marmion turned-well was his need-
And dashed the rowels in his steed;

Like arrow through the archway sprung;
The ponderous grate behind him rung;
To pass there was such scanty room,
The bars, descending, grazed his plume.

9. The steed along the drawbridge flies,
Just as it trembles on the rise;
Not lighter does the swallow skim
Along the smooth lake's level brim;

And when Lord Marmion reached his band,
He halts, and turns with clenchéd hand,
And shout of loud defiance pours,
And shook his gauntlet at the towers.

10. "Horse! horse!" the Douglas cried, "and chase ! ”

But soon he reined his fury's pace.
"A royal messenger he came,
Though most unworthy of the name.
A letter forged! Saint Jude to speed!
Did ever knight so foul a deed?
At first, in heart, it liked me ill,
When the king praised his clerkly skill.
Thanks to Saint Bothan, son of mine,
Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line."

Sir Walter Scott.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. Selection from Canto VI. of "Marmion, a Tale of Flodden Field." Have you read "Sunset on the Border"? (XXVI.) The Scotch king, James IV., in 1513, made an inroad into the north of England, capturing four border fortresses and encamping on Flodden, the last of the Cheviot hills. There he was defeated and killed by the English under the Earl of Surrey. The scene here is laid at Tantallon Castle, the home of the great Earl Douglas (fifth Earl of Angus, called "Bell the Cat"), three miles from North Berwick. Marmion is an English lord come hither as envoy, and now returning to the English camp with Clara, who has been intrusted to his charge by the Scotch king. Gawain, the son of Douglas, translated Vergil's "Eneid" into Scottish verse in 1513.

II. Єon'-duet, a-dieñ' (-dū'), sóv'-er-eign (sŭv'er-in).

III. Find subjects and predicates (see XLI., note III.)-(e. g., dayadvanced, Marmion-did array, he had, Douglas—gave, etc.).

IV. Array, palfrey, behest, manors, peer, turret, swarthy, ire, hoary, hold, vassals, defied, unscathed, drawbridge, warder, portcullis, rowels, "ponderous grate," scanty, grazed, "shook his gauntlet," forged, "liked me ill."

V. "Let the hawk stoop," etc. (De Wilton, the lover of Clara, had already left for the camp of Surrey, with proofs of Marmion's perfidy.) By your king's behest" (King James had assigned Marmion to Douglas as royal guest). Note (10) the earl's opinion of learning.

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VI-ASCENT OF MOUNT KTAADN.

1. While my companions were seeking a suitable spot for camping that night, I improved the little daylight that was left in climbing the mountain alone. We were in a deep and narrow ravine, sloping up to the clouds at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, and hemmed in by walls of rock, which were at first covered with low trees, then with impenetrable thickets of scraggy birches and spruce trees, and with moss, but at last bare of all vegetation but lichens, and almost continually draped in clouds.

2. Following up the course of the torrent which occupied this and I mean to lay some emphasis on the word up-pulling myself up by the side of perpendicular falls of twenty or thirty feet, by the roots of firs and birches, and then perhaps walking a level rod or two in the thin stream-for it took up the whole road, ascending by huge steps, as it were a giant's stairway, down which a river flowed-I had soon cleared the trees, and paused on the successive shelves to look back over the country.

3. The torrent was from fifteen to thirty feet wide, without a tributary, and seemingly not diminishing in