A WATER-FOWL.

Mark how the feathered tenants of the flood,
With grace of motion that might scarcely seem
Inferior to angelical, prolong

Their curious pastime! shaping in mid air
(And sometimes with ambitious wing that soars
High as the level of the mountain-tops)
A circuit ampler than the lake beneath
Their own domain; but ever, while intent
On tracing and retracing that large round,
Their jubilant activity evolves
Hundreds of curves and circlets, to and fro,
Upward and downward, progress intricate
Yet unperplexed, as if one spirit swayed
Their indefatigable flight. 'Tis done -
Ten times, or more, I fancied it had ceased;
But lo! the vanished company again
Ascending: they approach— I hear their wings,
Faint, faint at first; and then an eager sound,
Past in a moment- and as faint again!
They tempt the sun to sport amid their plumes:
They tempt the water, or the gleaming ice,
To show them a fair image; 'tis themselves,
Their own fair forms, upon the glimmering plain,
Painted more soft and fair as they descend
Almost to touch;- then up again aloft,
Up with a sally and a flash of speed,

As if they scorned both resting-place and rest!

THE HAWK.

WORDSWORTH

Who but hails the sight with pleasure

When the wings of genius rise

Their ability to measure

With great enterprise ;

But in man was ne'er such daring
As yon Hawk exhibits, pairing
His brave spirit with the war in
The stormy skies!

Mark him, how his power he uses,
Lays it by, at will resumes!

Mark, ere for his haunt he chooses
Clouds and utter glooms!

There, he wheels in downward mazes
Sunward now his flight he raises,
Catches fire, as seems, and blazes

With uninjured plumes!

WORDSWORTH.

THE GREEN LINNET.

Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed
Their snow-white blossoms on my head
With brightest sunshine round me spread
Of spring's unclouded weather,

In this sequestered nook how sweet

To sit upon my orchard-seat!

And birds and flowers once more to greet,
My last year's friends together.

One have I marked, the happiest guest

In all this covert of the blest:

Hail to Thee, far above the rest

In joy of voice and pinion!

Thou, Linnet! in thy green array,
Presiding Spirit here to-day,

Dost lead the revels of the May;

And this is thy dominion.

While birds, and butterflies and flowers,
Make all one band of paramours,

Thou, ranging up and down the bowers,
Art sole in thy employment:

A Life, a Presence like the Air,
Scattering thy gladness without care
Too blest with any one to pair;

Thyself thy own enjoyment.

Amid yon tuft of hazel trees,
That twinkle to the gusty breeze,
Behold him perched in ecstacies,
Yet seeming still to hover;
There where the flutter of his wings
Upon his back and body flings
Shadows and sunny glimmerings,
That cover him all over.

My dazzled sight he oft deceives,
A brother of the dancing leaves;
Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves
Pours forth his song in gushes,

As if by that exulting strain

He mocked and treated with disdain

The voiceless Form he choose to feign,
While fluttering in the bushes.

WORDSWORTH.

THE SHIP.

She comes majestic with her swelling sails
The gallant Ship; along her watery way
Homeward she drives before the favoring gales.
Now flirting at their length the streamers play,
And now they ripple with the ruffling breeze.

Hark to the sailors' shouts! the rocks rebound,
Thundering in echoes to the joyful sound.
Long have they voyaged o'er the distant seas:
And what a heart-delight they feel at last,
So many toils, so many dangers past,

To view the port desired, he only knows
Who on the stormy deep for many a day
Hath tost, aweary of his watery way,

And watch'd, all anxious, every wind that blows.

SOUTHEY,

THE SPINNING WHEEL.

Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel!
Night has brought the welcome hour
When the weary fingers feel
Help, as if from fairy power;

Dewy night o'ershades the ground;

Turn the swift wheel round and round!

Now, beneath the starry sky,

Couch the widely-scattered sheep;

Ply the pleasant labor, ply!

For the spindle, while they sleep,

Runs with speed more smooth and fine,
Gathering up a trustier line.

Short lived likings may be bred
By a glance from fickle eyes;
But true love is like the thread
Which the kindly wool supplies,
When the flocks are all at rest
Sleeping on the mountain's breast.

WORDSWORTH.

RAINBOW FALLS IN WATKINS GLEN.

Watkins Glen consists properly of a number of glens or sections rising one above another, forming a series of rocky arcades, galleries and grottoes, subterranean at times, and again widening out into vast amphitheatres. It comprises a superficial area of nearly five hundred acres; its general course is east and west; its tortuous length extends over three miles, and its total ascent to the summit of the mountain above is eight hundred feet. This Great Natural Wonder is located at the head of the beautiful Seneca Lake, where is presented a charming combination picture of glen, mountain, lake and valley.

Triple Cascade and Rainbow Falls is thought by many to be the finest in the glen. As its name indicates, it is formed of three portions, one above another, each different in form from the others and making a beautiful combina tion. Directly opposite the Triple Cascade a little brook leaps over the brow of the great cliff nearly four hundred feet high, down into the glen, trickling over the irregular surface of the rock until it reaches a point thirty feet above the footpath, where it falls on a projecting rock, the edge of which is curved outward to form a shelf, this edge or shelf is in a crescent form. The water descends in a myriad of tiny threads and drops, forming a sparkling crystal veil. While standing here and looking out through the misty curtain, the novelty of the position and the peculiar beauty that the radiant raindrops impart to everything viewed through them, fill us with wonder. It is beautiful beyond description. In the afternoon, when fair weather prevails, the rays of the sun fall into the gorge. The enraptured visitor looking through the veil may behold two most beau tiful rainbows, a primary and a secondary, a sight that once enjoyed can never be forgotten.