Sacrifice and Self-Devotion hallow earth and fill the

skies,

And the meanest life is sacred whence the highest

may arise.

RICHARD, LORD HOUGHTON.

FEBRUARY.

OON-and the north-west sweeps the empty road,

The rain-washed fields from hedge to hedge are bare ;

Beneath the leafless elms some hind's abode

Looks small and void, and no smoke meets the air
From its poor hearth: one lonely rook doth dare
The gale, and beats above the unseen corn,
Then turns, and whirling down the wind is borne.

Shall it not hap that on some dawn of May
Thou shalt awake, and, thinking of days dead,
See nothing clear but this same dreary day,
Of all the days that have passed o'er thine head?
Shalt thou not wonder, looking from thy bed,
Through green leaves on the windless east afire,
That this day too thine heart doth still desire?

Shalt thou not wonder that it liveth yet,
The useless hope, the useless craving pain,
That made thy face, that lonely noontide, wet
With more than beating of the chilly rain?
Shalt thou not hope for joy new born again,
Since no grief ever born can ever die

Through changeless change of seasons passing by?

WILLIAM MORRIS.

MARCH.

LAYER of the winter, art thou here again?
O welcome, thou that bring'st the summer nigh!
The bitter. wind makes not thy victory vain,

Nor will we mock thee for thy faint blue sky.
Welcome, O March! whose kindly days and dry
Make April ready for the throstle's song,
Thou first redresser of the winter's wrong!

Yea, welcome March! and though I die ere June,
Yet for the hope of life I give thee praise,
Striving to swell the burden of the tune

That even now I hear thy brown birds raise,
Unmindful of the past or coming days;
Who sing "O joy! a new year is begun :
What happiness to look upon the sun!"

Ah, what begetteth all this storm of bliss
But Death himself, who crying solemnly,
E'en from the heart of sweet Forgetfulness,
Bids us "Rejoice, lest treasureless ye die.
Within a little time must ye go by.

Stretch forth your open hands, and while ye live
Take all the gifts that Death and Life may give."

WILLIAM MORRIS.