New National Fourth Reader Part 62

At this eruption of Vesuvius, the stream of lava flowed directly through and over the city of Herculaneum into the sea. The quant.i.ty was so great that, as it cooled and became hardened, it gradually filled up all the streets and ran over the tops of the houses.

While the lava was thus turning the city into a ma.s.s of solid stone, the inhabitants were fleeing from it along the sh.o.r.e toward Naples, and in boats on the sea.

At the same time, too, the wind carried the ashes and cinders in such a direction as to deluge the city of Pompeii.

Slowly and steadily the immense volume of ashes and small stones, blocked up the streets and settled on the roofs of houses.

The light of the flames that burst out from the awful crater, aided the people in their escape; but many who for some reason could not get away, perished.

Pompeii was so completely covered that, nothing could be seen of it.

Thus it remained buried under the ground until the year 1748, when it was discovered by accident.

Since that time much of the city has been uncovered, and now one can walk along the streets, look into the houses, and form some idea how the people lived there eighteen hundred years ago.

_Language Lesson_.--Let pupils write an account of a supposed journey from their homes to Naples, telling about the route they would take, and the particulars as to time and distance. Be very particular about handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and capital letters.

LESSON LX.

coot, _a water-bird_.

hern (her'on), _a wading bird_.

ed'dying, _moving in small circles_.

mal'low, _a kind of plant_.

bick'er, _move quickly; quarrel_.

fal'low, _plowed land_.

gray'ling, _a kind of fish_.

cress'es, _a kind of water-plant_.

sal'ly, _a rushing or bursting forth_.

thorps, _villages_.

bram'bly, _full of rough shrubs_.

THE BROOK.

I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally, And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorps, a little town, And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow To join the br.i.m.m.i.n.g river, For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles, I bubble into eddying bays, I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my bank I fret By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy foreland set With willow-wood and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow To join the br.i.m.m.i.n.g river, For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out, With here a blossom sailing, And here and there a l.u.s.ty trout, And here and there a grayling.

And here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery waterbreak Above the golden gravel.

And draw them all along, and flow To join the br.i.m.m.i.n.g river, For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever.

I steal by lawns and gra.s.sy plots, I slide by hazel covers; I move the sweet forget-me-nots That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows; I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses; I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses.

And out again I curve and flow To join the br.i.m.m.i.n.g river, For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever.

Directions for Reading.--Point out the places in the poem where two lines should be joined in reading.

Mark the _inflection_ of the following lines.

"I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows."

"For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever."