270 THE CORNELIAN. The Gornelian. Бугоп O specious splendor of this stone And blushes modest as the giver. Some, who can sneer at friendship's ties, For I am sure the giver loved me. He offered it with downcast look, This pledge attentively I viewed, Still to adorn his humble youth, Nor wealth nor birth their treasures yield; But he who seeks the flowers of truth "Tis not the plant upreared in sloth Which beauty shows, and sheds perfume; GOD BLESS OUR FATHER LAND. The flowers which yield the most of both Had Fortune aided Nature's care, But had the goddess clearly seen, His form had fixed her fickle breast, Her countless hoards would his have been, And none remained to give the rest. 271 God bless our Father Land. O. W. Holmes OD bless our father land, From all her foes defend, Protect her throne. Father, in loving care Guard thou her kingdom's heir, IS not for man to trifle: life is briet Our And sin is here. age is but the falling of a leaf A dropping tear. We have no time to sport away the hours; Not many lives, but only one have we; How sacred should that one life ever be - THE MAY QUEEN. 273 The May Queen. Alfred Tennyson. Ꮲ Ꭺ Ꭱ Ꭲ FIRST. OU must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad new year; Of all the glad new year, mother, the maddest, merriest day; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May, I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud, when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and gar lands gay, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green, And you'll be there too, mother, to see me made the Queen; For the shepherd lads on every side 'll come from far away, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen. o' the May. All the valley, mother, 'll be fresh, and green, and till, And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill, 274 THE MAY QUEEN. And the rivulet in the flowery dale 'll merrily glance and play, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad new year; To-morrow 'll be of all the year the maddest, merriest day, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. PART SECOND NEW YEAR'S EVE. If you're waking, call me early, call me early, mother dear; Then you may lay me low i' the mould, and think no more of me. To-night I saw the sun set; he set and left behind The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind; And the new year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see The blossom on the blackthorn, the leaf upon the tree. There's not a flower on all the hills; the frost is on the pane; I only wish to live till the snowdrops come again; I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high; I long to see a flower so before the day I die. |