For Memorizing

THE ARROW AND THE SONG.

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I know not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterwards, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

-Longfellow.

THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.

The breaking waves dashed high on a stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky their giant branches

tossed;

And the heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark on the wild New England shore.

For Memorizing

Not as the conqueror comes, they, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of stirring drums, and the trumpet that sings

of fame;

Not as the flying come, in silence and in fear;

They shook the depths of the desert gloom with their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang, and the stars heard, and the sea; And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang with the anthems of the free!

The ocean eagle soared from his nest by the white wave's foam, And the rocking pines of the forest roared, this was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair amiast that pilgrim band; Why had they come to wither there away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye, lit by her deep love's truth; There was manhood's brow serenely high, and the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar? Bright jewels of the mine?

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?- They sought a faith's pure shrine!

Ay, call it holy ground, the soil where first they trod:

They left unstained, what there they found,- Freedom to worship God.

-Mrs Hemans.

For Memorizing

HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE!

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blest!
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallowed mold,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.

By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall awhile repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there.

-William Collins.

ONE BY ONE.

One by one the sands are flowing,
One by one the moments fall;
Some are coming, some are going;
Do not strive to catch them all.

One by one thy duties wait thee;

Let thy whole strength go to each;

Let no future dreams elate thee;

Learn thou first what these can teach.

For Memorizing

One by one, bright gifts from heaven,
Joys are sent thee here below;
Take them readily when given,—
Ready, too, to let them go.

One by one thy griefs shall meet thee;
Do not fear an armed band;
One will fade as others greet thee,-
Shadows passing through the land.

Do not look at life's long sorrow;

See how small each moment's pain;
God will help thee for tomorrow
Every day begins again.

Every hour that fleets so slowly
Has its task to do or bear;
Luminous the crown and holy,
If thou set each gem with care.

Hours are golden links,- God's token
Reaching heaven; but one by one
Take them, lest the chain be broken
Ere thy pilgrimage be done.

-Adelaide A. Proctor.

For Memorizing

THE BUILDERS.

All are architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time; Some with massive deeds and great, Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;

Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest

For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;

Our todays and yesterdays

Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fasten these;

Leave no yawning gaps between;

Think not, because no man sees,

Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of art,

Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part;

For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well.

Both the unseen and the seen;

Make the house where Gods may dwell
Beautiful, entire, and clean.