Narrative and Lyric Poems (first series) for use in the Lower School | Page 8

blood. The blood of your kindred.
[15] conjure. Call upon by oath. Distinguished from conjure, meaning
"to influence by magic."
[16] wist. See High School Grammar, p. 176.
[17] sign. Make the sign of the cross upon ray brow.
[18] Dunfermline. A town, about twenty miles from Edinburgh.
THE SOLITARY REAPER.
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland lass!
Reaping
and singing by herself,
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts
and binds the grain 5
And sings a melancholy strain.
Oh, listen! for
the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No nightingale did ever chant
So sweetly to reposing bands 10
Of
travellers in some shady haunt
Among Arabian sands:
No sweeter
voice was ever heard
In spring time from the cuckoo-bird
Breaking
the silence of the seas 15
Among the farthest Hebrides.

"Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers
now
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago. 20
Or
is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some
natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?
"Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang 25
As if her song could have
no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle
bending;--
I listen'd motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the
hill, 30
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no
more.
--Wordsworth.
THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS.
The Rhine is running deep and red, the island lies before,-- "Now is
there one of all the host will dare to venture o'er? For not alone the
river's sweep might make a brave man quail; The foe are on the further
side, their shot comes fast as hail. God help us, if the middle isle we
may not hope to win; 5 Now is there any of the host will dare to
venture in?"
"The ford is deep, the banks are steep, the island-shore
lies wide; Nor man nor horse could stem its force, or reach the further
side. See there! amidst the willow-boughs the serried[1] bayonets
gleam, They've flung their bridge,--they've won the isle; the foe
have cross'd the stream! 10 Their volley flashes sharp and strong,--by
all the saints!
I trow
There never yet was soldier born could force that passage
now!"
So spoke the bold French Mareschal[2] with him who led the van,
Whilst, rough and red before their view the turbid river ran. Nor bridge
nor boat had they to cross the wild and swollen Rhine, 15 And
thundering on the other bank far stretch'd the German line. Hard by
there stood a swarthy man, was leaning on his sword, And a sadden'd
smile lit up his face as he heard the Captain's word. "I've seen a wilder

stream ere now than that which rushes there; I've stemm'd a heavier
torrent yet and never thought to dare. 20 If German steel be sharp and
keen, is ours not strong and true? There may be danger in the deed, but
there is honour too."
The old lord in his saddle turn'd, and hastily he said,
"Hath bold
Duguesclin's[3] fiery heart awaken'd from the dead? Thou art the leader
of the Scots,--now well and sure I know, 25 That gentle blood in
dangerous hour ne'er yet ran cold nor slow; And I have seen ye in the
fight do all that mortal may:
If honour is the boon ye seek, it may be
won this day,--
The prize is in the middle isle, there lies the
adventurous way, And armies twain are on the plain, the daring deed to
see,-- 30 Now ask thy gallant company if they will follow thee!"
Right gladsome look'd the Captain then, and nothing did he say, But he
turn'd him to his little band, O, few, I ween, were they! The relics of the
bravest force that ever fought in fray. No one of all that company but
bore a gentle name, 35 Not one whose fathers had not stood in
Scotland's fields of fame. All they had march'd with great Dundee[4] to
where he fought and fell, And in the deadly battle-strife had venged
their leader well;
And they had bent the knee to earth when every eye was dim, As o'er
their hero's buried corpse they sang the funeral hymn; 40 And they had
trod the Pass[5] once more, and stoop'd on either side. To pluck the
heather from the spot where he had dropp'd and died, And they had
bound it next their hearts, and ta'en a last farewell Of Scottish earth and
Scottish sky, where Scotland's glory fell. Then went they forth to
foreign lands like bent and broken men, 45 Who leave their dearest
hope behind, and may not turn again.
"The stream," he said, "is broad and deep, and stubborn is the foe,--
Yon island-strength is guarded well,--say, brothers, will ye go? From
home and kin for many a year our steps have wander'd wide,