ROSABELLE.

I. OH, listen, listen, ladies gay;

2.

No haughty1 feat of arms I tell;
Soft is the note, and sad the lay,

That mourns the lovely Rosabelle.

2" Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew!
And, gentle lady, deign to stay!
Rest thee in Castle Ravensheugh,

Nor tempt the stormy 3 firth to-day.

3. "The blackening wave is edged with white;
To 4 inch and rock the sea-mews fly;
The fishers have heard the Water Sprite,
Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.

4. "Last night the gifted seer did view

A wet shroud swathed round lady gay;
Then stay thee, fair, in Ravensheugh;
Why cross the gloomy firth to-day?"
5. "'Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir
To-night at Roslin leads the ball,
But that my lady-mother there

6

Sits lonely in her castle-hall.

6. "Tis not because the 7 ring they ride,
And Lindesay at the ring rides well,
But that my sire the wine will chide
If 'tis not filled by Rosabelle."

7. O'er Roslin all that dreary night

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam; 'Twas broader than the watchfire's light, And redder than the broad moonbeam.

8. It glared on Roslin's castled rock,

It ruddied all the copse-wood glen;
'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak,

And seen from caverned Hawthornden.
9. Seemed all on fire that chapel proud
Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffined lie,
Each baron, for a sable shroud,
Sheathed in his iron 10 panoply.

10. Seemed all on fire within, around,
Deep 11 sacristy and altar's 12 pale;
Shone every pillar foliage-bound,

And glimmered all the dead men's 13 mail.
II. Blazed battlement and 14 pinnet high,
Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-
So still they blaze, when fate is nigh
The lordly line of high 15 Saint Clair.
12. There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold
Lie buried within that proud 16 chapelle;
Each one the holy vault doth hold,
But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle !

13. And each Saint Clair was buried there

With 17 candle, with book, and with knell ; But the sea-caves rung and the wild wind sung The 18 dirge of lovely Rosabelle.

Sir Walter Scott.

Estuary.

4 Island. A Gaelic

1 Deed. 2 Fasten to the shore. 3 word, corresponding to the Irish innis. Prophet. 6 A castle near

5

Edinburgh, the seat of the ancient noble family of Saint Clair.

7 One

of the games at a tournament was to ride with a spear at a ring, to see who should carry it off. 8 Close to Roslin, at one time the seat of the

11 Place 12 Fence,

poet Drummond, famous for its subterranean caves. 9 A building of great antiquity and beauty, begun in 1446. 10 Full armour. where the sacred vessels and priests' robes were kept. enclosure. 13 Armour. 14 Pinnacle, highest turret. 15 At one time Barons of Roslin. 16 The Norman-French form of the word chapel. 17 Lighted at burials, perhaps to ward off evil spirits. Candle, book, and bell were also used at solemn excommunications as well as burials. 18 Funeral lament.

MARCH.

I. THE stormy March is come at last,

With wind, and cloud, and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast

That through the snowy valley flies.

2. Ah! 1passing few are those who speak,
Wild stormy month! in praise of thee;
Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak,
Thou art a welcome month to me.

3. For thou to northern lands again

The glad and glorious sun dost bring,
And thou hast joined the gentle train,
And wear'st the gentle name, of Spring.

4. And in thy reign of blast and storm

Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day,
When the changed winds are soft and warm,
And heaven puts on the blue of May.

5. Then sing aloud the gushing 2 rills

And the full springs from frost set free,
That, brightly leaping down the hills,
Are just set out to meet the sea.

6. The year's departing beauty hides Of wintry storm the sullen threat; But in thy sternest frown abides

A look of kindly promise yet.

7. Thou bring'st the hope of those calm skies,
And that soft time of sunny showers,
When the wide bloom on earth that lies
Seems of a brighter world than ours.

Bryant.

1 That is, surpassing, exceeding, very. As "passing fair," "passing rich." 2 Small springs or brooks. Observe the figurative expressions :

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the rills "sing," the springs "leap," the storm sullenly threatens and "frowns."

(These two poems, Rosabelle and March, may be taken together, to make up the required eighty lines.)

HINTS ON RECITATION.

RECITATION is not repetition. To repeat a passage is to say off correctly, without a mistake, what you have committed to memory. Recitation is this, and it is something more. It is to deliver it with due effect, with proper attention to the manner and the voice, to understand the meaning of it, to enter into the spirit of it, to speak it as the author would like to hear it spoken.

Recitation is no easy matter. Like everything else that is worth doing or having, it requires a great deal of trouble. Bear in mind five things.

1. Your position. Hold your head up. Throw your shoulders back. Let the chest expand. Be prepared to speak with an air, as if you were somebody. Remember that the teacher, or the inspector, for whom you are reciting, represents to you your audience, a critical audience, who are there to judge you. Do not be afraid to provoke a smile by your manner, to incur the charge of "spouting ;' it is a fault on the right side.

:

2. Your articulation. Be audible let your voice be heard easily, at a reasonable distance. Be distinct: let every word and every syllable of every word be sounded separately. Be deliberate : let your tones as a rule be slow and measured, only quickening your pace when need be. Neither mumble, nor shout, nor drone, nor gabble.

3. Your pronunciation. Mind your h's. Roll your r's. Let your vowels be pure, your consonants be emphasized. If you are a resident in London or the suburbs of London, avoid Cockneyisms: say time, and ground, and oh! clearly, naturally, not taime, and graound, and oah! affectedly; if you live in the country, avoid provincialisms, the common way of talking of the common people of your place or neighbourhood. In the pronunciation of English,