General Books

CANTO XIII ERE Nessus yet had reach'd the other bank,We enter'd on a forest, where no trackOf steps had worn a way.  Not verdant thereThe foliage, but of dusky hue; not lightThe boughs and tapering, but with knares deform'dAnd matted thick: fruits there were none, but thornsInstead, with venom fill'd. Less sharp than these,Less intricate the brakes, wherein abideThose animals, that... more...

THREE WOMEN My love is young, so young;Young is her cheek, and her throat,And life is a song to be sungWith love the word for each note. Young is her cheek and her throat;Her eyes have the smile o' May.And love is the word for each noteIn the song of my life to-day. Her eyes have the smile o' May;Her heart is the heart of a dove,And the song of my life to-dayIs love, beautiful love. Her heart... more...

THE TEMPEST (By Mary Lamb) There was a certain island in the sea, the only inhabitants of which were an old man, whose name was Prospero, and his daughter Miranda, a very beautiful young lady. She came to this island so young, that she had no memory of having seen any other human face than her father's. They lived in a cave or cell, made out of a rock: it was divided into several apartments, one... more...

PREFACE. In issuing this collection of Songs, the author makes the following acknowledgments:— "The American Ça ira" was suggested while reading the French song of that name, from which song the phrase ça ira alone was appropriated. In "The Song of William the Conqueror," his characteristic oath, "By the splendor of God!" is used. In the "Death Song of the Enfants... more...

THE KITTENS’ STEPMOTHER. There are two little girls living nearly a hundred rods apart, Mamie and Fannie. Each had a nice pet cat. Mamie’s cat had three little kittens. When they were about three weeks old their poor mother was killed by a useless dog. For two days Mamie fed her kittens with a spoon, and did all she could to comfort them; but they would cry for their mother. Fannie’s cat had only... more...

SONNET—MY HEART SHALL BE THY GARDEN My heart shall be thy garden.  Come, my own,   Into thy garden; thine be happy hours   Among my fairest thoughts, my tallest flowers,From root to crowning petal, thine alone. Thine is the place from where the seeds are sown   Up to the sky enclosed, with all its showers.   But ah, the birds, the birds!  Who shall build bowersTo keep these thine?  O... more...

MY FIRST ALPHABETA aB bArkBabyC cD dCatDogE eF fEarFanG gH hGateHouseI iK kInnKeyL lM mLoafManN nO oNutOwlP pQ qPanQueenR rS sRatSeaT tU uTartUrnV vW wVineWallY yZ zYewZebraOnce on a time there was a Little Old Woman who lived in a Shoe. This shoe stood near a great forest, and was so large that it served as a house for the Old Lady and all her children, of which she had so many that she did not know... more...

RUFUS MERRILL.I love the flowers, the fragrant flowers!They’re fairy things to me;They seem like angels sent to bless,And teach of purity. MY FLOWER-POT.There is beauty in flowersWhen kissed by the showersThat fall in the bowersOf gardens so fair,When music is tellingIn notes that are swelling,And love is excelling,Aloft in the air.Birds now are singing,Deep valleys are ringing,And harmony... more...

I.Though here fair blooms the rose and the woodbine waves on high,And oak and elm and bracken frond enrich the rolling lea,And winds as if from Arcady breathe joy as they go by,Yet I yearn and I pine for my North Countrie.I leave the drowsing south and in dreams I northward fly,And walk the stretching moors that fringe the ever-calling sea;And am gladdened as the gales that are so bitter-sweet go... more...

TheButterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s FeastsExcited the spleen of the Birds and the Beasts:For their mirth and good cheer—of the Bee was the theme,And the Gnat blew his horn, as he danc’d in the beam.’Twas humm’d by the Beetle, ’twas buzz’d by the Fly,And sung by the myriads that sport through the sky.The Quadrupeds listen’d with sullen displeasure,But the tenants of air were... more...