Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 76

2. Each hour, dark fraud, Or open rapine, or protected murder, Cries out against them. But this very day, An honest man, my neighbor,--there he stands, Was struck, _struck_ like a dog, by one who wore The badge of Ursini; because, forsooth, He tossed not high his ready cap in air, Nor lifted up his voice in servile shouts, At sight of that great ruffian!

3. (f.) Be we _men_, And suffer such dishonor'? MEN, and wash not The stain away in blood'? Such shames are common!

I have known deeper wrongs. I, that speak to ye, I had a brother once, a gracious boy, Full of gentleness, of calmest hope, Of sweet and quiet joy; there was the look Of heaven upon his face, which limners give To the beloved disciple!

4. How I loved That gracious boy! Younger by fifteen years, Brother at once, and son! He left my side, A summer bloom on his fair cheek,--a smile Parting his innocent lips. In one short hour, That pretty, harmless boy was slain! (_p_.) I saw The corse, the mangled corse, and then I cried For vengeance! (_ff_.) _Rouse ye, Romans!_--ROUSE YE, SLAVES!

Have ye brave sons? Look in the next fierce brawl To see them die! Have ye fair daughters? Look To see them live, torn from your arms, distained, Dishonored; and if ye dare call for justice, Be answered by the lash!

5. Yet this is Rome, That sat on her seven hills, and, from her throne Of beauty, ruled the world! Yet we are Romans!

Why, in that elder day, to be a Roman, Was greater than a king! And once again,-- Hear me, ye walls, that echoed to the tread Of either Brutus! Once again I swear, The eternal city shall be free!

QUESTIONS.--1. In what condition did the writer say the Roman people were? 2. What wrongs are complained of? 3. What special cases are mentioned? 4. What are the people exhorted to do? 5. What is the meaning of the suffix _dom_, in the word _thralldom?_ See a.n.a.lYSIS, page 142, Ex. 189. 6. What is the meaning of the suffix _less_, in the word _harmless?_ See page 140, Ex. 187. 7. How, according to the notation mark, should the first part of the third verse be read? 8. What rule for the rising inflections, third verse? See page 28, Rule I.

LESSON CX.

MUL' TI PLY, increase; continue.

COL'TER, part of the plow that cuts the sod.

GE' NI AL, productive.

BE NIG' NANT, kind; bounteous.

SAUN' TER ING, loitering.

WOOD' BINE, honeysuckle.

RE SPLEN DENT, splendid, beautiful.

PO' TENT, powerful.

ROAD' STEAD, place where ships may anchor.

RE LI' ANT, trusting; depending.

PES TI LEN' TIAL, infectious; noxious.

PER PET' U AL, continual.

STER' ILE, barren.

[Headnote 1: LE ON' I DAS, the celebrated Spartan leader who, with three hundred men, perished in the effort to resist the Persian hosts, at the mountain pa.s.s of Thermopylae, (B.C., 480.)]

[Headnote 2: MARS' TON, that is, Marston Moor, a place in Yorkshire, England, memorable for the defeat of Charles I., (in 1644,) by the forces of Cromwell and others.]

[Headnote 3: BAN' NOCK BURN, a village in Stirlingshire, Scotland, famous for the battle between the patriots, under Robert Bruce, and the English invading army, under Edward II., fought, June 25, 1314.]

[Headnote 4: AR MA' DA, a great naval armament sent by Philip II. of Spain, in 1588, for the conquest of England. It failed utterly, however, of its object, having been scattered and disabled by violent storms.]

SONG OF THE FORGE.

1. Clang! clang! the ma.s.sive anvils ring,-- Clang! clang! a hundred hammers swing, Like the thunder-rattle of a tropic sky, The mighty blows still multiply: Clang! clang!

Say, brothers of the dusky brow, What are your strong arms forging now?

2. Clang! clang!--we forge the _colter_ now-- The colter of the kindly plow; Benignant Father, bless our toil; May its broad furrow still unbind To genial rains, to sun and wind, The most productive soil!

3. Clang! clang!--our colter's course shall be On many a sweet and sunny lea, By many a streamlet's silver tide, Amidst the song of morning birds, Amidst the low of sauntering herds, Amidst soft breezes which do stray Through woodbine-hedges and sweet May, Along the green hill's side.

4. When regal Autumn's bounteous hand, With wide-spread glory clothes the land,-- When, to the valleys, from the brow Of each resplendent slope, is rolled A ruddy sea of living gold, We bless,--we bless the PLOW.

5. Clang! clang!--again, my mates, what glows Beneath the hammer's potent blows?

Clink! clank!--we forge the _giant chain_, Which bears the gallant vessel's strain, 'Midst stormy winds and adverse tides; Secured by this, the good ship braves The rocky roadstead and the waves Which thunder on her sides.

6. Anxious no more, the merchant sees The mist drive dark before the breeze.

The storm-cloud on the hill; Calmly he rests, though, far away In boisterous climes, his vessel lay Reliant on our skill.

7. Say, on what sands these links shall sleep, Fathoms beneath the solemn deep'?

By Afric's pestilential sh.o.r.e',-- By many an iceberg, lone and h.o.a.r',-- By many a palmy western isle, Basking in spring's perpetual smile',-- By stormy Labrador'?

8. Say, shall they feel the vessel reel, When, to the battery's deadly peal, The crashing broadside makes reply'?

Or else, as at the glorious Nile, Hold grappling ships, that strive the while, For death or victory'?

9. _Hurrah!_--cling! clang!--once more, what glows, Dark brothers of the forge, beneath The iron tempest of your blows The furnace's fiery breath?

10. Clang! clang!--a burning torrent, clear And brilliant, of bright sparks is poured Around and up in the dusky air, As our hammers forge the SWORD.

11. The _sword!_ a name of dread; yet when Upon the freeman's thigh 'tis bound, While for his altar and his hearth,-- While for the land that gave him birth, The war-drums roll, the trumpets sound, How _sacred_ is it then!

12. Whenever for the truth and right It flashes in the van of fight, Whether in some wild mountain pa.s.s As that where fell Leonidas [Headnote 1]; Or on some sterile plain and stern, A Marston [Headnote 2] or a Bannockburn [Headnote 3]; Or, mid fierce crags and bursting rills, The Switzer's Alps, gray Tyrol's hills,-- Or, as when sunk the Armada's [Headnote 4] pride, It gleams above the stormy tide,-- Still, still, whene'er the battle word Is LIBERTY, when men do stand For _justice_ and their _native land_, Then Heaven bless THE SWORD!

QUESTIONS.--1. What things are mentioned as being forged? 2. What is said of the colter? 3. What, of the iron cable? 4. What, of the sword?

LESSON CXI.

BEN E FAC' TION, gift; favor.

E LATE', flushed with success.

IN HER' ENT, natural.

PER FEC' TION, excellence.

VIG' ILS, watchfulness.

UN BRIB' ED, not influenced by gifts.

CON SO LA' TION, comfort.

AV' E NUE, way; entrance.

A TROC' I TIES, enormities.

MOCK' ER Y, derision; ridicule.

FAC' UL TIES, powers of the mind.

CA PAC' I TIES, abilities.

CHOICE EXTRACTS.

I.

SWIFTNESS OF TIME.

IDLER.