H. W. LONGFELLOW.

* * * * *

THE HORSE.

Nay, the man hath no wit, that cannot, from the rising of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deserved praise on my palfrey; it is a theme as fluent as the sea; turn the sands into eloquent tongues, and my horse is argument for them all; ’tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and for a sovereign’s sovereign to ride on; and for the world (familiar to us and unknown), to lay apart their particular functions and wonder at him.

Henry V. Act 3, Sec. 7.

* * * * *

FROM “THE FORAY.”

    Our steeds are impatient!  I hear my blithe Gray! 
    There is life in his hoof-clang, and hope in his neigh;
    Like the flash of a meteor, the glance of his mane
    Shall marshal your march through the darkness and rain.

WALTER SCOTT.

* * * * *

ON LANDSEER’S PICTURE, “WAITING FOR MASTER.”

    The proud steed bends his stately neck
      And patient waits his master’s word,
    While Fido listens for his step,
      Welcome, whenever heard. 
    King Charlie shakes his curly ears,
    Secure his home, no harm he fears;
    Above the peaceful pigeons coo
    Their happy hymn, the long day through.

    What means this scene of quiet joy,
    This peaceful scene without alloy! 
    Kind words, kind care, and tender thought
    This picture beautiful have wrought. 
    Its lesson tells of care for all
    God’s creatures, whether great or small,
    And they who love “the least of these,”
    Are sure a loving God to please.

Our Dumb Animals.

* * * * *

THE BIRDS.

* * * * *

THE WATERFOWL.

        Whither, ’midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day
Far through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue

                Thy solitary way?

        Vainly the fowler’s eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,

                Thy figure floats along.

        Seek’st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink

                On the chafed ocean side?

        There is a Power whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,—­
The desert and illimitable air,—­

                Lone wandering, but not lost.

        All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere;
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,

                Though the dark night is near.