"The prospect of death with the brave I have borne, I shrink not to bear it alone; I have often faced death when the hope was forlorn, But I shrink not to face him with none."
The thunder was hush'd, and the battle-field stain'd, When the sun met the war-wearied eye, But no trace of the boat, or the chieftain remain'd, Though his bow was still seen in the sky.
THE INDEPENDENT FARMER.--_W. W. Fosdick._
Let sailors sing the windy deep, Let soldiers praise their armor. But in my heart this toast I'll keep, The Independent Farmer: When first the rose, in robe of green, Unfolds its crimson lining, And round his cottage porch is seen The honeysuckle twining; When banks of bloom their sweetness yield, To bees that gather honey, He drives his team across the field, Where skies are soft and sunny.
The blackbird clucks behind his plow, The quail pipes loud and clearly; Yon orchard hides behind its bough The home he loves so dearly; The gray, old barn, whose doors enfold His ample store in measure, More rich than heaps of hoarded gold, A precious, blessed treasure; But yonder in the porch there stands His wife, the lovely charmer, The sweetest rose on all his lands-- The Independent Farmer.
To him the spring comes dancing gay, To him the summer blushes; The autumn smiles with mellow ray, His sleep old winter hushes. He cares not how the world may move, No doubts or fears confound him; His little flock are link'd in love, And household angels round him; He trusts in God and loves his wife, Nor grief nor ill may harm her, He's nature's noble man in life-- The Independent Farmer.
Mrs. Grammar she gave a ball To the nine different parts of Speech,-- To the big and the tall, To the short and the small, There were pies, plums, and puddings for each.
And first, little Articles came, In a hurry to make themselves known-- Fat A, An, and The, But none of the three Could stand for a minute alone.
Then Adjectives came to announce That their dear friends the Nouns were at hand. Rough, Rougher, and Roughest, Tough, Tougher, and Toughest, Fat, Merry, Good-natured, and Grand.
The Nouns were, indeed, on their way-- Ten thousand and more, I should think; For each name that we utter-- Shop, Shoulder, and Shutter-- Is a Noun: Lady, Lion, and Link.