5. Then deep in the greenwood rode he, And asked of every tree,

"O, if you have ever a singing leaf,
I pray you to give it me!"

But the trees all kept their counsel,
And never a word said they,
Only there sighed from the pine-tops
A music of sea far away.

6. Only the pattering aspen

Made a sound of growing rain,
That fell ever faster and faster,
Then faltered to silence again.
"O, where shall I find a little foot-page
That would win both hose and shoon,
And will bring to me the singing leaves
If they grow under the moon?"

7. Then lightly turned him Walter the page,
By the stirrup as he ran:

"Now pledge ye me the truesome word
Of a king and gentleman,

That you will give me the first, first thing
You meet at your castle gate,

And the princess shall get the singing leaves,
Or mine be a traitor's fate."

8. The king's head dropped upon his breast
A moment, as it might be;

""Twill be my dog," he thought, and said,
"My faith I plight to thee."

Then Walter took from next his heart

A packet small and thin,

"Now give you this to the Princess Anne, The singing leaves are therein.”

9. As the king rode in at his castle gate, A maiden to meet him ran,

And "Welcome, father!" she laughed and cried

Together, the Princess Anne.

"Lo, here the singing leaves," quoth he,

"And woe, but they cost me dear!" She took the packet, and the smile Deepened down beneath the tear.

10. It deepened down till it reached her heart,
And then gushed up again,

And lighted her tears as the sudden sun
Transfigures the summer rain.

And the first leaf, when it was opened,

Sang: "I am Walter the page,

And the songs I sing 'neath thy window
Are my only heritage."

11. And the second leaf sang: 66 But in the land That is neither on earth or sea,

My lute and I are lords of more

Than thrice this kingdom's fee."

And the third leaf sang: "Be mine! be mine!"
And ever it sang, "Be mine!"

Then sweeter it sang and ever sweeter,
And said, "I am thine, thine, thine."

12. At the first leaf she grew pale enough,
At the second she turned aside,

At the third, 't was as if a lily flushed
With a rose's red heart's tide.
"Good counsel gave the bird," said she,
"I have my hope thrice o'er,

For they sing to my very heart," she said,
"And it sings to them evermore."

13. She brought to him her beauty and truth,
But and broad earldoms three,

And he made her queen of the broader lands
He held of his lute in fee.

James Russell Lowell.

THE JESTER'S SERMON.

1. The Jester shook his hood and bells, and leaped upon a chair, The pages laughed, the women screamed, and tossed their scented

hair;

The falcon whistled, stag-hounds bayed, the lap-dog barked without,
The scullion dropped the pitcher brown, the cook railed at the lout;
The steward, counting out his gold, let pouch and money fall,
And why? because the Jester rose to say grace in the hall!

2. The page played with the heron's plume, the steward with his chain, The butler drummed upon the board, and laughed with might and

main;

The grooms beat on their metal cans, and roared till they turned red,
But still the Jester shut his eyes, and rolled his witty head;

And when they grew a little still, read half a yard of text,
And waving hand, struck on the desk, then frowned like one perplexed.

3. "Dear sinners all," the fool began, "man's life is but a jest,

A dream, a shadow, bubble, air, a vapour at the best.

In a thousand pounds of law I find not a single ounce of love:
A blind man killed the parson's cow in shooting at the dove;
The fool that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well;
The wooer who can flatter most will bear away the bell.

4. "Let no man halloo he is safe till he is through the wood;
He who will not when he may, must tarry when he should.
He who laughs at crooked men should need walk very straight;
O he who once has won a name may lie a-bed till eight.
Make haste to purchase house and land, be very slow to wed;
True coral needs no painter's brush, nor need be daubed with red.

5. "The friar, preaching, cursed the thief (the pudding in his sleeve).
To fish for sprats with golden hooks is foolish, by your leave—
To travel well-an ass's ears, ape's face, hog's mouth, and ostrich legs.
He does not care a pin for thieves who limps about and begs.
Be always first man at a feast and last man at a fray;
The short way round, in spite of all, is still the longest way.

6. "When the hungry curate licks the knife there's not much for the clerk;
When the pilot, turning pale and sick, looks up-the storm grows dark."
Then loud they laughed, the fat cook's tears ran down into the pan;
The steward shook, that he was forced to drop the brimming can;
And then again the women screamed, and every stag-hound bayed-
And why? because the motley fool so wise a sermon made!

Geo. Thornbury (1828 — 1876).

THE PARTITION OF THE EARTH.

1. "Take

IMITATED FROM SCHILLER.

for ever,"

ye the world! I give it ye
Said Jupiter to men; "for now I mean ye

To hold it as your heritage: so sever

The earth like brothers, as ye please, between ye." All who had hands took what they could: the needy, Both old and young, most busily employ'd 'em; The farmer had the fields; the lord, more greedy,

Seiz'd on the woods for chase, and he enjoy'd 'em.
2. To get his share the merchant took all sly ways;
The abbot had the vineyards in partition;
The king kept all the bridges and the highways;
And claimed a tenth of all things in addition.

Long after the division was completed

Came in the poet-absent, not at distance: Alas, 'twas over-not to be repeated

All given away, as if he'd no existence.

3. "Ah, woe is me! 'mid bounty so unbounded,
Shall I, thy truest son, be thus neglected?"
He cried aloud, and his complaint resounded,
As he drew near Jove's throne quite unexpected.
"If in the Land of Visions you resided,"

Said Jove, "and anger feel, to me don't show it. Where were you when the world was first divided?" "I was close by thee," answer'd the poor poet.

4. "With glory of thy face mine eyes were aching, And music fill'd mine ears while gifts you squander'd; The earthly for the heavenly thus forsaking,

Forgive my spirit that a while it wander'd." "What's to be done?" said Jove--" the world is given; Fields, chases, towns, circumference, and centre.

If you're content to dwell with me in heaven, 'Tis open to you when you please to enter."

Anonymous.

EPIC POETRY. THE IDYLL.

HIAWATHA'S WOOING.

1. At the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,1
Making arrow-heads of jasper,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony.
At his side in all her beauty,
Sat the lovely Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing Water,
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes;
Of the past the old man's thoughts were
And the maiden's of the future.

2. He was thinking, as he sat there,
Of the days, when with such arrows
He had struck the deer and bison,
On the Muskoday, the meadow;
Shot the wild goose, flying southward,
On the wing, the clamorous Wawa;
Thinking of the great war-parties,
How they came to buy his arrows,
Could not fight without his arrows.
Ah, no more such noble warriors
Could be found on earth, as they were!
Now the men were all like women,
Only used their tongues for weapons!

3. She was thinking of a hunter,
From another tribe and country,
Young and tall and very handsome,

Who one morning, in the spring-time,

1 The Dakotah Indians constitute a collection of North American tribes inhabiting Nebraska, Wyoming, &c. They are often called Sioux. Their language shows them to be of a different stock from most of the Indian tribes.