Beside the bed where parting life was laid, 12. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile; Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm ; 13. Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee 14. The village all declared how much he knew: OLIVER GOLDSMITH. DEFINITIONS.-1. Haw'thôrn, a shrub or tree having a fruit called haw. 2. Re mit'ting, giving up; quitting. Sleights, tricks. 3. Děs o la'tion, ruin; destruction. Bit'tern, a wading bird. Lăp'wing, a wading bird of the plover family. 4. Ae eū ́mu lātes, increases greatly. 6. Єŭm/brous, burdensome. 8. Plash'y, watery. Cress'es, plants used as salad. 9. Pass'ing, exceeding. 10. Spěnd'thrift, a prodigal. 11. En dear'ment, act of affection. 13. Fûrze, a thorny evergreen shrub with yellow flowers. Bōd'ing, foretelling. 14. Pre sage', foretell. Gauge, to measure the contents of casks, barrels, etc. NOTES.-The Deserted Village is supposed to refer to the village of Lishoy, or Lissoy, county of Westmeath, Ireland. Since the poet's time, it has generally received the name of Auburn. 3. Amidst thy towers the tyrant's hand is seen. The character said to be intended in this and other passages was General Robert Napier, an Englishman, who is well remembered to have ruled the village with a "tyrant's hand." 8. The sad historian of the pensive plain, etc. These lines are supposed to apply to a woman, named Catherine Geraghty, whom the poet had known in earlier and better days. The brook and ditches near the spot where her cabin stood still furnish cresses, and several of her descendants live in the village. Charles Goldsmith, the 9. The village preacher's modest mansion rose. father of the poet, was, according to some authorities, the original of the village preacher, as well as of the Vicar of Wakefield. 96.-ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY THOMAS GRAY was born in London, December 26, 1716. Through the exertions of his mother he was placed at Eton, and afterward went to Cambridge. In 1747 he published his Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, and two years later brought forth his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. In 1757 appeared his Pindaric Odes, but, though these were full of brilliant fancies and intricate harmony, they lacked sympathy and feeling. His poetry in general is exquisitely finished and delicate, but his subjects are unfamiliar; and his poems, except the Elegy, are little known, and have never become popular. He died July 30, 1771. 1. THE curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea; 2. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 3. Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain 4. Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. 5. The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. 6. For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. 7. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; 8. Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, Their homely joys, and destiny obscure, 9. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 10. Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, 11. Can storied urn or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death? 12. Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire, Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre. 13. But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll; Chill Penury repressed their noble rage, And froze the genial current of the soul. 14. Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; 15. Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute inglorious Milton, here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. 16. The applause of listening senates to command, And read their history in a nation's eyes, 17. Their lot forbade; nor circumscribed alone |