Now Kitty, pert, repeats the rhymes,
And Roger turns him round three times,
Then pauses ere he starts. But Dick
Was mischief-bent upon a trick ;

Down on his hands and knees he lay
Directly in the Blind-man's way,

[ran,

Then cries out "Hem!"-Hodge heard, and
With hood-winked chance-sure of his man ;
But down he came.-Alas, how frail
Our best of hopes, how soon they fail !
With crimson drops he stains the ground;
Confusion startles all around.

Poor piteous Dick supports his head,
And fain would cure the hurt he made.

But Kitty hasted with a key,

And down his back they straight convey
The cold relief: the blood is stayed,
And Hodge again holds up his head.

Such are the fortunes of the game;
And those who play should stop the same
By wholesome laws. such as-All those
Who on the blinded man impose

Stand in his stead; as, long agone,
When men were first a nation grown,
Lawless they lived, till wantonness
And liberty began to increase,

And one man lay in another's way;
Then laws were made to keep fair play.

A WAR SONG:

TO ENGLISHMEN.

PREPARE, prepare the iron helm of war,

Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb ; The Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands, And casts them out upon the darkened earth!

Prepare, prepare !

Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth! Prepare your arms for glorious victory!

Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God!

Prepare, prepare !

Whose fatal scroll is that?

Methinks 'tis mine!

Why sinks my heart, why faltereth my tongue ?
Had I three lives, I'd die in such a cause,
And rise, with ghosts, over the well-fought field.
Prepare, prepare !

The arrows of Almighty God are drawn !
Angels of Death stand in the low'ring heavens !
Thousands of souls must seek the realms of light,
And walk together on the clouds of heaven !
Prepare, prepare !

Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven's cause; Soldiers, prepare ! Be worthy of our cause:

Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky :

Prepare, O troops that are to fall to-day!

Prepare, prepare !

Alfred shall smile, and make his heart rejoice; The Norman William and the learned Clerk, And Lion-Heart, and black-browed Edward with His loyal queen, shall rise, and welcome us!

Prepare, prepare !

SAM

SAMSON.

AMSON, the strongest of the children of men, I sing; how he was foiled by woman's arts, By a false wife brought to the gates of death. O Truth, that shinest with propitious beams, Turning our earthly night to heavenly day, From presence of the Almighty Father thou Visitest our darkling world with blessed feet, Bringing good news of Sin and Death destroyed! O white-robed Angel, guide my timorous hand To write as on a lofty rock with iron pen The words of truth, that all who pass may read.

Now Night, noon-tide of damnèd spirits,
Over the silent earth spreads her pavilion,
While in dark council sat Philistia's lords;

And, where strength failed, black thoughts in ambush lay.

There helmed youth and aged warriors

In dust together lie, and Desolation

Spreads his wings over the land of Palestine :
From side to side the land groans, her prowess lost,
And seeks to hide her bruised head

Under the mists of night, breeding dark plots.
For Dalila's fair arts have long been tried in vain ;
In vain she wept in many a treacherous tear.
Go on, fair traitress; do thy guileful work !

Ere once again the changing moon

Her circuit hath performed, thou shalt overcome, And conquer him by force unconquerable,

And wrest his secret from him.

Call thine alluring arts and honest-seeming brow,
The holy kiss of love and the transparent tear ;
Put on fair linen that with the lily vies,
Purple and silver; neglect thy hair, to seem
More lovely in thy loose attire; put on
Thy country's pride, deceit, and eyes of love
Decked in mild sorrow; and sell thy lord for gold.

For now, upon her sumptuous couch reclined
In gorgeous pride, she still entreats, and still