Unto an isle so long unknown, But yet far kinder than our own? Where He the huge sea-monsters wracks 10. That lift the deep upon their backs. He lands us on a grassy stage, Safe from the storms and prelates' rage. He hangs in shades the orange bright, He makes the figs our mouths to meet, But apples plants of such a price, No tree could ever bear them twice. 25. With cedars chosen by his hand From Lebanon, He plants the land: And in these rocks for us did frame 35 Which then perhaps rebounding may Thus sung they in the English boat And all the way to guide their chime Andrew Marvell. The Bermudas, or Sommers's isles, were so named respectively from Bermudez, a Spaniard, who sighted them in 1527, and from Sir George Sommers, an Englishman, whose shipwreck there in 1609 was the occasion of their being colonized from Virginia in 1611. Wracks, torments, punishes. Prelates' rage refers to the persecution which the Puritans, who settled in Bermuda, had had to undergo before leaving England at the hand of the Bishops of the Church of England. Enamels, that is, covers with various colours. The pomegranate is a low tree, bearing a fruit of the size of a large orange, with a thick leathery rind of a fine golden yellow, having a rosy tinge on one side, the cells filled with numerous seeds, each surrounded with pulp, and separately enclosed in a thick membrane. These are the "jewels" the poet refers to. Ormus, which was the Persian name for the Creator of all things, here stands for Persia. Ambergrease is an English corruption of the two French words Amber-gris, or grey amber, a fatty substance of an ash-grey colour, which is found floating on the sea, or cast upon the sea-shore in different parts of the world, especially on the coasts of the Bahama islands, and is also taken by whale-fishers from the bowels of the spermaceti whale. It is highly valued for its smell, and is much used in perfumery. Of course it is a very different thing from "amber," which is probably a vegetable resin, derived from an extinct coniferous tree. The Mexican Bay, or Bay of Mexico, is nearly enclosed by the peninsula of Florida and the island of Cuba on the east, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on the north, and the republic of Mexico on the west. Andrew Marvell, who wrote this poem, born in 1620, was a friend of Oliver Cromwell and John Milton, a staunch republican, and an author whose writings, both in prose and verse, are still held in repute. 1. Name six islands, and describe where they are situated. 2. Write a sentence containing at least one example of every part of speech. 3. Parse the two last lines in the poem. Aisle, a wing or side of a church. Isle, an island. Am'-ber-grease, grey amber. E-nam'-els. (See note.) DREAMS, AND WHAT THEY SIGNIFY. I. MR. OBADIAH OLDBUCK was a wealthy London merchant of the good old-fashioned sort. He was industrious, he was thrifty, enterprising, but prudent, just and kind to all about him, and strictly honourable in all his business engagements, so that his word was always as good as his bond. 2. Amongst other peculiarities of old-fashioned people he had a hatred for all novelties. He liked best what he was used to; and new-fangled doctrines of all kinds, but especially those which related to business, were his abomination. 3. At the time we are speaking of—that is, about sixty years ago—marine insurance, or the practice of insuring merchant ships and their freight against loss by flood or fire, was, comparatively speaking, an innovation. Until 1824, the only companies which could grant marine insurances were the "Royal Exchange" and the "London Assurance." In that year their monopoly ceased. It was all thrown open. Other companies were established, and the custom of insuring ships became all but universally prevalent; indeed, it was considered a matter of common prudence. 4. But Mr. Oldbuck set his face steadfastly against it. It had not been the practice when he was a boy. Misfortunes would come when they would come, and it was no use attempting to provide against them. Disasters at sea were special visitations of Providence, he thought-perhaps sent to chastise us for our secret sins; and it was vain, it was wicked, to endeavour to avert their evil consequences. 5. Now just at this moment Mr. Oldbuck had a ship on her way home from Lima, with an almost inestimable freight on board. There were precious metals and precious stones, and bark and vicuna wool and chinchilla skins, and nitre and sugar, besides a considerable amount of specie, the loss of all which would be ruin to him; and the Welcome Home -for that was the vessel's name-was not insured. 6. Naturally Mr. Oldbuck was anxious about it, and one night he had a dreadful dream. He dreamt that he saw the Welcome Home a perfect wreck in mid-ocean. The greater part of her had gone down, engulfed in the raging waves. Only a few spars were left, floating hither and thither, on one of which was the vessel's name. Clinging to others were the captain and the mate and the supercargo, whose agonized upturned faces he saw vividly, as if they were before him. 7. He awoke with a cry of horror, and at the same time Mrs. Oldbuck awoke also. She, too, had had a terrible dream. She saw the Welcome Home a wreck in mid-ocean. Only a few timbers were left, clinging to which she detected the forms and faces of members of the crew. The two accounts tallied to a nicety. Only in this and the other particular they varied, as accounts will vary when persons are witnessing the same incident from different points of view. 8. Mr. Oldbuck hitherto had never insured one of his vessels in his life. On this occasion he resolved to do so. The dream seemed to command it. Accordingly he insured the ship and cargo for a very considerable sum, and in due time the news reached him that the Welcome Home had arrived in port, perfectly safe and sound. 9. There had been no wreck. There had been no casualty of any sort to crew or cargo. So Mr. Oldbuck had paid away the heavy premiums on his insurance all for nothing. The only persons to profit by it were the Insurance Offices. And all this was on account of a dream, which had never been fulfilled. People are eager enough to tell us of dreams which have strangely come true. Are they equally ready to confess to those which have never come true at all? C. Lima, the capital of the republic of Peru, on the west coast of South America, is a handsomely built city of about 100,000 inhabitants, connected by a railway with its port, Callao, which is on the coast. Bark, or as it is sometimes called Peruvian bark, is the bark of the cinchona tree, which yields an alkaloid called quinine, much used in medicine. The vicuna, or vicugna, is an animal of the same kind as the llama and the alpaca, only more beautiful and with finer wool. It inhabits the most desolate parts of the Cordilleras at great elevations. The chinchilla is a small four-footed animal like a rabbit, living in holes and burrows in the Andes, and having a very beautiful and useful fur. |