36

L

OOKING within myself, I note how thin

A plank of station, chance, or prosperous fate

Doth fence me from the clutching waves of

sin:

In my own heart I find the worst man's

mate,

And see not dimly the smooth-hingèd gate

That opes to those abysses

Where ye grope darkly,-ye who never knew On your young hearts love's consecrating dew, Or felt a mother's kisses,

Or home's restraining tendrils round you curled.

Ah, side by side with heart's-ease in this world The fatal nightshade grows, and bitter rue!

LOWELL (Si Descendero in Infernum, Ades).

37

ERHAPS in this neglected spot is laid

Pesome heart once pregnant with celestial

fire;

Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,

Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre:

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.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

GRAY (Elegy in a Country Churchyard).

36

RUST me, Clara Vere de Vere,

From yon

blue heavens above us bent

The gardener Adam and his wife

Smile at the claims of long descent. Howe'er it be, it seems to me "Tis only noble to be good. Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood. TENNYSON (Lady Clara Vere de Vere).

39

́S THERE, for honest poverty,

I That hangs his head, and that ?

The coward slave, we pass him by.
We dare be poo: for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,

Our toils obscure, and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that!

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin gray, and a' that,

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man, for a' that!

For a' that, and a' that,

Their tinsel show, and a' that;

The honest man, though e'er sae poor,

Is king o' men for a' that!

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd "a lord,"

Wha struts, and stares, and a' that;

Though hundreds worship at his word,

He's but a coof for a' that: For a' that, and a' that,

His riband, star, and a' that; The man of independent mind, He looks and laughs at a' that.

A king can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that,

But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith, he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,

Their dignities, and a' that,

The pith o' sense and pride o' worth
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may -
As come it will for a' that-

That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, and a' that;

For a' that, and a' that,

It's comin' yet for a' that,

That man to man, the world o'er,

Shall brothers be for a' that!

BURNS.