Lessons Life For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey, On some fond breast the parting soul relies, For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead, If chance, by lonely contemplation led, Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate, Haply some hoary-headed swain may say, "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn Brushing with hasty steps the dews away, To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. "There at the foot of yonder nodding beech, "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, "One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill, Along the heath, and near his fav'rite tree; Another came; nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he: "The next, with dirges due in sad array, Approach and read (for thou canst read) the Grav'd on the stone beneath yon agèd thorn." Life Lessons THE EPITAPH Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth Heav'n did a recompense as largely send: He gain'd from Heav'n ('t was all he wish'd) a friend. No farther seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) The bosom of his Father and his God. THOMAS GRAY. Life Lessons Polonius to Laertes And these few precepts in thy memory tongue No any unproportion'd thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar· But do not dull thy palm with entertainment ware Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, Bear't, that th' opposer may beware of thee. ment. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy: And they in France, of the best rank and sta- Are of a most select and generous choice in that. Neither a borrower, nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. And it must follow, as the night the day, Life Lesson Se From "Hamlet." The Olive Tree Said an ancient hermit, bending Then he took a tender sapling, Spread his trembling hands above it, But he thought, the rain it needeth, 66 "Lord, I ask for beams of summer, Then the dripping clouds divided, And the sun looked down and smiled. "Send it frost to brace its tissues, O my God!" the hermit cried. Life Lessons Then the plant was bright and hoary, Went the hermit to a brother Sitting in his rocky cell: How is this, my brother, tell? "I have planted one, and prayed, Said the other, "I entrusted "Laid I on him no condition, SABINE BARING-GOULD. Coronation At the king's gate the subtle noon |