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A pretty boy, but most unteachable

And never learnt a prayer nor told a bead;

But knew the names of birds, and mocked their notes, And whistled, as he were a bird himself!

And all the autumn 'twas his only play

To gather seeds of wild-flowers, and to plant them
With earth and water on the stumps of trees.

A Friar, who oft cull'd simples in the wood,
A grey-haired man-he loved this little boy:

The boy loved him-and, when the Friar taught him,
He soon could write with the pen; and from that time
Lived chiefly at the Convent or the Castle.

So he became a very learned youth.

But oh! poor wretch! he read, and read, and read,
Till his brain turned-and ere his twentieth year,
He had unlawful thoughts of many things:
And though he prayed, he never loved to pray
With holy men, or in a holy place ;—

But yet his speech, it was so soft and sweet,
The late Lord Valez ne'er was wearied with him:
And once, as by the north side of the chapel
They stood together, chained in deep discourse,
The earth heaved under them with such a groan,
That the wall tottered, and had well nigh fallen
Right on their heads. My Lord was sorely frightened;

A fever seized him, and he made confession

Of all the heretical and lawless talk

Which brought this judgment. So the youth was seized

And cast into that hole. My husband's father
Sobbed like a child-it almost broke his heart;
And once, as he was working in the cellar,
He hear❜d a voice distinctly; 'twas the youth's,
Who sung a doleful song about green fields,
How sweet it were on lake or wild savannah
To hunt for food, and be a naked man,
And wander up and down at liberty.

1

He always doted on the youth, and now
His love grew desperate; and defying death,
He made that cunning entrance I described;
And the young man escaped.

MARIA.

"Tis a sweet tale :

Such as would lull a listening child to sleep,
His rosy face besoiled with unwiped tears.-

And what became of him?

FOSTER-MOTHER.

He went on ship-board,

With those bold voyagers who made discovery

Of golden lands. Leoni's youngest brother
Went likewise; and when he returned to Spain,
He told Leoni, that the poor mad youth,
Soon after they arrived in that new world,
In spite of his dissuasion, seized a boat,
And, all alone, set sail by silent moonlight
Up a great river, great as any sea,

And ne'er was heard of more; but 'tis supposed,
He lived and died among the savage men.

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