Frenchman, served on a war ship that helped convey French troops to America, to aid the colonists during the Revolution. Later, when Napoleon attempted to conquer Egypt, he was captain of the admiral's flagship during the battle of the Nile. When the admiral was killed, he took command of the fleet at the moment of defeat. He blew up his ship, after the crew had been saved, rather than surrender it. His ten-year-old son refused to leave and perished with his father.

CASABIANCA

FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS

The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but him had fled;
The flame that lit the battle's wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,

A proud, though child-like form.

The flames rolled on; he would not go
Without his father's word;
That father, faint in death below,

His voice no longer heard.

He called aloud, "Say, father, say,
If yet my task be done!”
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.

"Speak, father!" once again he cried,
"If I may yet be gone!"
And but the booming shots replied,

And fast the flames rolled on.

Upon his brow he felt their breath,

And in his waving hair,

And looked from that lone post of death In still, yet brave despair.

And shouted but once more aloud,

"My father! must I stay?"

While o'er him, fast, through sail and shroud,

The wreathing fires made way.

They wrapt the ship in splendor wild,
They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child,
Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound;
The boy,-oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds, that far around

With fragments strewed the sea,-
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,
That well had borne their part,-
But the noblest thing that perished there,
Was that young, faithful heart.

cence.

The five numbers that follow are from the works of the great English poet and mystic William Blake (1757-1827). All except the first are given in their entirety. No. 328 is made up of three couplets taken from the loosely strung together Auguries of InnoNos. 329, 330, and 332 are from Songs of Innocence (1789), where the last was printed as an introduction without any other title. No. 331 is from Songs of Experience (1794). Blake labored in obscurity and poverty, though he has now come to be regarded as one of England's most important poets. It is not necessary that children should understand fully all that Blake says, but it is important for teachers to realize that most children are natural mystics and that Blake's poetry, more than any other, is the natural food for them.

328

THREE THINGS TO
REMEMBER

WILLIAM BLAKE

A Robin Redbreast in a cage, Puts all heaven in a rage.

"Piper, pipe that song again": So I piped; he wept to hear.

Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe,
Sing thy songs of happy cheer":
So I sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read."
So he vanish'd from my sight;
And I pluck'd a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,
And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

333

Eliza Cook (1818-1889) was an English poet who had quite a vogue in her day, and whose poem "Try Again" deals with one of those incidents held in affectionate remembrance by youth. Bruce and the spider may be less historically true, but it seems destined to eternal life alongside Leonidas and his Spartans. Older readers may remember Miss Cook's "My Old Arm Chair," which is usually given the place of honor as her most popular poem.

TRY AGAIN

ELIZA COOK

He flung himself down in low despair,
As grieved as man could be;
And after a while as he pondered there,
"I'll give it all up," said he.

Now, just at the moment, a spider dropped,

With its silken, filmy clue; And the King, in the midst of his thinking, stopped

To see what the spider would do.

'Twas a long way up to the ceiling dome, And it hung by a rope so fine,

That how it would get to its cobweb home

King Bruce could not divine.

It soon began to cling and crawl

Straight up, with strong endeavor; But down it came with a slippery sprawl, As near to the ground as ever.

Up, up it ran, not a second to stay,

To utter the least complaint,
Till it fell still lower, and there it lay,
A little dizzy and faint.

Its head grew steady-again it went,
And traveled a half yard higher;
'Twas a delicate thread it had to tread,
And a road where its feet would tire.

down

In a lonely mood to think:

'Tis true he was monarch, and wore a

crown,

But his heart was beginning to sink.

For he had been trying to do a great deed, To make his people glad;

He had tried and tried, but couldn't succeed;

And so he became quite sad.

But again it quickly mounted; Till up and down, now fast, now slow,

Nine brave attempts were counted. "Sure," cried the King, "that foolish thing

Will strive no more to climb; When it toils so hard to reach and cling, And tumbles every time."

But up the insect went once more;

Ah me! 'tis an anxious minute;

He's only a foot from his cobweb door, Oh, say, will he lose or win it?

Steadily, steadily, inch by inch,

Higher and higher he got;

And a bold little run at the very last pinch

Put him into his native cot.

"Bravo, bravo!" the King cried out; "All honor to those who try; The spider up there, defied despair;

He conquered, and why should n't I?"

And Bruce of Scotland braced his mind, And gossips tell the tale,

That he tried once more as he tried before,

And that time did not fail.

Pay goodly heed, all ye who read,
And beware of saying, "I can't";
'Tis a cowardly word, and apt to lead
To idleness, folly, and want.

Whenever you find your heart despair

Of doing some goodly thing, Con over this strain, try bravely again, And remember the spider and King!

334

Nonsense verse seems to have its special place in the economy of life as a sort of balance to the over-serious tendency. One of the two great masters of verse of this sort was the English author Edward Lear (1812-1888). He was also a famous illustrator of books and magazines. Among his juvenile books, illustrated by himself, were Nonsense Songs and More Nonsense Songs. All his verse is now generally published under the first title. Good nonsense verse precludes explanation, the mind of the hearer being too busy with the delightfully odd combinations to figure on how they happened.