A listless climate made, where, sooth to say,
No living wight could work, ne cared e'en for play.

2. Was nought around but images of rest:
Sleep-soothing groves, and quiet lawns between ;
And flowery beds that slumbrous influence cast
From poppies breathed; and beds of pleasant green,
Where never yet was creeping creature seen.
Meantime unnumbered glittering streamlets played,
And hurled everywhere their waters sheen;
That as they bickered through the sunny glade,
Though restless still themselves, a lulling murmur
made.

3. Joined to the prattle of the purling rills

Were heard the lowing herds along the vale,
And flocks loud bleating from the distant hills,
And vacant shepherds piping in the dale!
And now and then sweet Philomel would wail,
Or stock-doves plain amid the forest deep,
That drowsy rustled to the sighing gale;
And still a coil the grasshopper did keep :
Yet all these sounds yblent inclinèd all to sleep.

4. Full in the passage of the vale above,

A sable, silent, solemn forest stood;

Where nought but shadowy forms were seen to

move,

As Idlesse fancied in her dreaming mood:

And

up

the hills, on either side a wood

Of blackening pines, aye waving to and fro,

Sent forth a sleepy horror through the blood;

And where this valley winded out, below,

The murmuring main was heard, and scarcely heard, to flow.

5. A pleasing land of drowsy-head it was,

Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye; And of gay castles in the clouds that pass, For ever flushing round a summer sky: There eke the soft delights that witchingly Instil a wanton sweetness through the breast, And the calm pleasures, always hovered nigh; But whate'er smacked of noyance or unrest Was far, far off expelled from this delicious nest. Thomson (1700-1748).

CAUTIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR READING.

VERSE 1.-Line 1: Make a slight pause after fast, and avoid the verse-accent upon by.-Line 4: A slight pause after whom. VERSE 2.-Line 8: Avoid the verse-accent upon as, and make a slight pause after That.

VERSE 3.-Line 1: No accent upon to.-Line 9: A pause after Yet.

VERSE 4.-Line 1: A slight pause after Full.-Line 5: A slight pause after And, and after side.-Line 8: Pause after And.

VERSE 5.-Line 3: Avoid the verse-accent upon of and upon in.-Line 5: A pause after There.-Line 8: Pause after But.

EXERCISES.-1. Parse the first four lines of the first verse. 2. Analyse the first four lines of verse 4.

NIAGARA.

1. If we look at the map of North America, we shall

see between the United States and Canada a number of lakes which are called 'the Great Lakes,' because they

are the largest fresh-water lakes in the world. The most inland of these is Lake Superior, followed by Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake St Clair, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario; and from Lake Ontario the great river St Lawrence flows down to the Atlantic Ocean. 2. Lakes Erie and Ontario, the last of the great chain of lakes, are separated by a strip of land about thirty miles wide, and they are connected by the Niagara River, which flows out of Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. If we were to start from Lake Erie at the point where the Niagara River flows out of it, and were to walk along the river-bank in a northerly direction, we should be led to one of the most magnificent sights that is to be seen anywhere upon the globe.

3. Leaving the splendid railway bridge which crosses the Niagara River near the city of Buffalo, and which connects Canada with the United States, we should pass over a nearly level plain, covered with luxuriant woods, with here and there a thriving village, surrounded by orchards and fields of yellow corn. On our left hand flows the Niagara River, calm and tranquil, two or three miles in width, and occasionally dotted by wooded islands. For the first fifteen miles there is little change in the scene, but at last we begin to hear in the distance a dull sound, like the roar of far-off thunder, and the mighty stream begins to run more rapidly. 4. The river is now confined within a narrower channel, and for the next mile it rushes with tremendous violence over a rocky bed. Its surface is white with foam, and the current breaks in huge waves over the rocky ledges which oppose its progress. No boat can stem the force of the raging stream, and any vessel ingulfed in the fatal torrent is dragged with resistless force over the great falls which form the sequel to this rush of waters.

5. At the end of these 'Rapids,' as the Americans call them, the river is precipitated over a tremendous ledge

of rock, which runs right across the stream, and is about one hundred and sixty feet in height. This is known as the Falls of Niagara, and it is one of the largest and most wonderful waterfalls in the world. The Indian name of 'Niagara' means 'the thunder of waters,' and no one who has seen this stupendous cataract will feel disposed to quarrel with the title given to it by the children of the forest. 6. Just at the point where the river hurls itself over the fall is a small rocky island, which is called 'Goat Island,' and which divides the fall into two. As the Niagara River forms the boundary line between the United States and Canada, one of the falls thus produced is called the American Fall, and the other is called the Canadian Fall. The American Fall is about seven hundred feet wide, and the Canadian Fall is about eighteen hundred feet, so that the width