"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men."-PROV. viii. 22-31.

In Verse.

"Ere God had built the mountains,

Or raised the fruitful hills;
Before he filled the fountains
That feed the running rills;

In me, from everlasting,
The wonderful I AM
Found pleasures never wasting,
And Wisdom is my name.

When, like a tent to dwell in,
He spread the skies abroad,
And swathed about the swelling
Of ocean's mighty flood;

He wrought by weight and measure,
And I was with him then :
Myself the Father's pleasure,
And mine the sons of men.

Thus Wisdom's words discover
Thy glory and thy grace,
Thou everlasting lover
Of our unworthy race!
Thy gracious eye surveyed us
Ere stars were seen above;
In wisdom thou hast made us,
And died for us in love.

And couldst thou be delighted
With creatures such as we,
Who, when we saw thee, slighted,
And nailed thee to a tree?
Unfathomable wonder,

And mystery divine!

The voice that speaks in thunder,

Says, 'Sinner, I am thine!"-Cowper.

Exercise 37.

Subjects for Narrative Scriptural Poems (with Reflection).

1. Enoch walked with God.-Gen. v. 21-24.

2. God's Bow in the Cloud.-Gen. ix. 8-17.

3. The Destruction of Sodom.-Gen. xviii. xix.

4. God did tempt Abraham.-Gen. xxii. 1-14.

5. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.—Job i. 21.

6. And Esau fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.-Gen.

xxxii. xxxiii.

7. Death of the First-born.-Exod. xi. xii.

8. And the Children of Israel wept for Moses.-Deut. xxxiv.

9. Entreat me not to leave thee.-Ruth i.

10. The Death of Samson.-Judges xvi. 21-31.

11. How are the Mighty fallen.—2 Sam. i. 17-27.

12. The Conclusion of the whole matter.-Eccl. xii.

13. The Chariot of Israel.-1 Kings ii. 1–12.

14. The Man of Sorrows.-Isa. liii.

15. Our Father.-Matt. vi 9-13.

16. Not dead, but sleepeth.-Matt. ix. 18-26. 17. I will give you rest.-Matt. xi. 28–30.

18. Thy will be done.-Matt. xxvi. 38–42.

19. Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.—Matt. xxvii. 45-58.

20. Kneeled down on the shore and prayed.-Acts xxi. 5.

21. And the Books were opened.-Rev. xx. 12–15.

22. They shall see his face.-Rev. xxii. 1-7.

134. Before writing a Fable in verse, the incidents to be introduced should be set down in their order, thus :

THE SHEEP-DOG AND THE WOLF.

In Prose.

There was once a ravenous wolf that spent the night in making raids upon the flocks, and the day in regaling himself with his stolen booty. Neither the traps nor dogs could capture him, and the shepherds despaired of preventing his attacks. One day, however, Lightfoot (the dog), in ranging over the forest, came upon the retreat of the wolf, and proposed to reason the matter with him.

"How," asked the dog, "can one of your intrepid mind be guilty of attacking these defenceless lambs? the boar and the lion are your proper prey. Be brave, and feed upon such noble food; but let your great soul melt with generous pity towards these harmless creatures."

"Friend," replied the wolf, "you must weigh the matter thus: We are by nature beasts of prey, and when hungry, must eat. But it is just so with men. Go home, then, and make the same appeal to your master that you have made to me; for men eat sheep by thousands, we only now and then. Be sure the sheep fare much worse with their pretended friends than with their open enemies."

In Verse.

"A wolf with hunger fierce and bold,
Ravaged the plains and thinn'd the fold;
Deep in the wood secure he lay,

The thefts of night regaled the day.
In vain the shepherd's wakeful care

Had spread the toils, and watched the snare:
In vain the dog pursued his pace,

The fleeter robber mocked the chase.
As Lightfoot ranged the forest round,
By chance his foe's retreat he found.
Let us awhile the war suspend,

And reason as from friend to friend.'

'A truce!' replies the wolf. "Tis done-The dog the parley thus begun :

'How can that strong, intrepid mind
Attack a weak defenceless kind!

Those jaws should prey on nobler food,
And drink the boar's and lion's blood:

135. In translating in verse from a foreign language, the following directions should be followed :

I. Write out a literal prose translation of the passage, and

From Grimm's "Household Stories," which contains some hundreds of Fables, Legends, and Fairy Tales, forming excellent subjects for Versification. Hans Christian Andersen's "Danish Fairy Legends and Tales," contains abundance of similar material.

endeavour to grasp the author's spirit, as well as his meaning.

II. Try to preserve the same order of ideas as in the original. III. Keep the translation as nearly literal as possible.

IV. Make the measure correspond to that of the original poem in spirit, rather than in form.

136.

Example.-Ad Pyrrham.

"Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus
Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?

Cui flavam religas comam,

Simplex munditiis? Heu quoties fidem
Mutatosque deos flebit, et aspera
Nigris æquora ventos

Emirabitur insolens,

Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea;
Qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem
Sperat, nescius auræ

Fallacis. Miseri quibus

Intentata nites! Me tabula sacer

Votiva paries indicat uvida

Suspendisse potenti

Vestimenta maris deo."-Horace, Book I. 5.

Translation.

"What slender youth, bedewed with liquid odours,
Courts thee on roses in some pleasant cave,
Pyrrha? For whom bindst thou

In wreaths thy golden hair,

Plain in thy neatness? Oh how oft shall he
On faith and changed gods complain, and seas
Rough with black winds and storms
Unwonted shall admire!-

Who now enjoys thee,-credulous,—all gold,
Who, always vacant, always amiable,
Hopes thee, of flattering gales
Unmindful. Hapless they,

To whom thou untried seem'st fair! me in my vow'd
Picture the sacred wall declares to have hung

My dank and dropping weeds

To the stern god of the sea."-Milton.