New National Fourth Reader Part 33

The children, as we learned when we afterwards had the delight of returning them to their parents, were playing on the ice, and had ventured on the cake.

A movement of the tide set the ice in motion, and the little fellows were borne away on that cold night, and would certainly have perished, had not Mr. Larkin seen them as the ice was sweeping out to sea.

"How do you feel?" I said to the mate, the next morning after this adventure.

"A little stiff in the arms, captain," the n.o.ble fellow replied, while the big tears of grateful happiness gushed from his eyes--"a little stiff in the arms, captain, but very easy here," and he laid his hand on his manly heart.

Language Lesson.--Change the following _commands_ to _statements_.

Take the other oar. Don't give up!

Give the meaning of the word _lads_ in the third and fourth lines of page 152, and in the fourth line of page 154.[09]

Make out an _a.n.a.lysis_ of the lesson, and use it in telling the story in your own words.

[09] See Lesson x.x.xI.

LESSON x.x.xII.

re'gion, _place; s.p.a.ce_.

furze, _a th.o.r.n.y shrub with yellow flowers_.

list'eth, _wishes; pleases_.

mirth, _joy; fun_.

boon, _gay; merry_.

shaft, _an arrow; the stem of an arrow_.

up borne', _held or borne up_.

crest'ing, _touching the tops of_.

BIRDS IN SUMMER.

How pleasant the life of a bird must be, Flitting about in each leafy tree;-- In the leafy trees so broad and tall, Like a green and beautiful palace hall, With its airy chambers, light and boon, That open to sun, and stars, and moon; That open unto the bright blue sky, And the frolicsome winds, as they wander by!

[Ill.u.s.tration]

They have left their nests in the forest bough; Those homes of delight they need not now; And the young and old they wander out, And traverse their green world round about; And hark! at the top of this leafy hall, How, one to the other, they lovingly call: "Come up, come up!" they seem to say, "Where the topmost twigs in the breezes play!

"Come up, come up, for the world is fair, Where the merry leaves dance in the summer air!"

And the birds below give back the cry, "We come, we come to the branches high!"

How pleasant the life of the birds must be, Living in love in a leafy tree; And away through the air what joy to go, And to look on the green, bright earth below!

How pleasant the life of a bird must be, Skimming about on the breezy sea, Cresting the billows like silvery foam, And then wheeling away to its cliff-built home!

What joy it must be to sail, upborne By a strong, free wing, through the rosy morn, To meet the young sun, face to face, And pierce, like a shaft, the boundless s.p.a.ce!

How pleasant the life of a bird must be, Wherever it listeth there to flee: To go, when a joyful fancy calls, Dashing down, 'mong the waterfalls; Then wheeling about, with its mates at play, Above and below, and among the spray, Hither and thither, with screams as wild As the laughing mirth of a rosy child!

What a joy it must be, like a living breeze, To flutter among the flowering trees; Lightly to soar, and to see beneath, The wastes of the blossoming purple heath, And the yellow furze, like fields of gold, That gladden some fairy region old.

On mountain tops, on the billowy sea, On the leafy stems of the forest tree, How pleasant the life of a bird must be!

Directions for Reading.--The words of the first line of the poem, when repeated on pages 157 and 158, should be slightly emphasized.[10]

Point out the lines on page 157 which would be joined in reading.

Let the cla.s.s read one or more stanzas of the poem in concert.

[10] This lesson, Lesson x.x.xII.

LESSON x.x.xIII.

stroll'ing, _wandering on foot_.