For Memorizing

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,

Child of the wandering sea.

Cast from her lap, forlorn!

From thy dead lips a clearer note is born

That ever Triton blew from wreathed horn!

While on mine ear it rings,

Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

- Oliver Wendell Holmes.

SONG OF MARION'S MEN.

Our band is few, both true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold;

The British soldier trembles

When Marion's name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress tree;
We know the forest round us,

As the seaman knows the sea;
We know its walls and thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass,

Its safe and silent islands

Within the dark morass.

For Memorizing

Woe to the English soldiery

That little dread us near!
On them shall light at midnight
A strange and sudden fear;
When, walking to their tents on fire,

They grasp their arms in vain,

And they who stand to face us
Are beat to earth again;

And they who fly in terror deem

A mighty host behind,

And hear the tramp of thousands

Upon the hollow wind.

Then sweet the hour that brings release

From danger and from toil: .

We talk the battle over,

And share the battle's spoil.

The woodland rings with laugh and shout,

As if a hunt were up,

And woodland flowers are gathered

To crown the soldier's cup.

With merry songs we mock the wind

That in the pinetop grieves,

And slumber long and sweetly

On beds of oaken leaves.

Well known the fair and friendly moon

The band that Marion leads

The glitter of their rifles,

The scampering of their steeds.

For Memorizing

'Tis life our fiery barbs to guide
Across the moonlight plains;
'Tis life to feel the night-wind

That lifts their tossing manes.
A moment in the British camp-
A moment- and away
Back to the pathless forest,
Before the peep of day.

Grave men there are by broad Santee,
Grave men with hoary hairs;
Their hearts are all with Marion,
For Marion are their prayers.
And lovely ladies greet our band
With kindliest welcoming,
With smiles like those of summer,
And tears like those of spring.
For them we wear these trusty arms,
And lay them down no more
Till we have driven the Briton
For ever from the shore.

-Bryant.

For Memorizing

WARREN'S ADDRESS.

Stand! the ground's your own, my braves!

Will ye give it up to slaves?

Will ye look for greener graves?

Hope ye mercy still?

What's the mercy despots feel?

Hear it in that battle peal!

Read it on yon bristling steel!

Ask it, ye who will.

For Memorizing

DAYBREAK.

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A wind came up out of the sea,

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And said, “O mists, make room for me."
It hailed the ships, and cried, "Sail on,
Ye mariners, the night is gone.'
And hurried landward far away,
Crying, "Awake! it is the day."
It said unto the forest, Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!"
It touched the wood-bird's folded wing,
And said, "O bird, awake and sing."
And o'er the farms, "O chanticleer,
Your clarion blow; the day is near.
It whispered to the fields of corn,

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Bow down, and hail the coming morn.
It shouted through the belfry tower,
Awake, O bell! proclaim the hour."
It crossed the churchyard with a sigh,
And said. "Not yet! in quiet lie."

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-Longfellow.