"Twill be consigned to the next carrier's care,

I cannot yield it all,—be half thy share.

HARRY.

Well does the gift thy liquorish palate suit ;
I know who robbed the orchard of its fruit*.
When all were wrapt in sleep, one early morn,
While yet the dewdrop trembled on the thorn,
I marked when o'er the quickset hedge you leapt,
And, sly, beneath the gooseberry bushes crept†;
Then shook the trees; a shower of apples fell,-
And where the hoard you kept I know full well ;
The mellow gooseberries did themselves produce,
For through thy pocket oozed the viscous juice.

EDWARD.

I scorn a telltale, or I could declare

How, leave unasked, you sought the neighbouring fair; Then home by moonlight spurred your jaded steed,

And scarce returned before the hour of bed.

* Non ego, te vidi, Damonis

+Tu post carecta latebas.

Think how thy trembling heart had felt affright,

Had not our master supped abroad that night.

HARRY.

On the smooth whitewashed ceiling near thy bed, Mixed with thine own, is Anna's cypher read; From wreaths of dusky smoke the letters flow;Whose hand the waving candle held, I know. Fines and jobations shall thy soul appall,

Whene'er our mistress spies the sullied wall.

EDWARD.

Unconned her lesson once, in idle mood,

Trembling before the master, Anna stood;
I marked what prompter near her took his place,
And, whispering, saved the virgin from disgrace :
Much is the youth belied, and much the maid,
Or more than words the whisper soft conveyed.

HARRY.

Think not I blush to own so bright a flame,

Even boys for her assume the lover's name ;

As far as alleys beyond taws we prize*,

Or venison pasty ranks above school pies;
As much as peaches beyond apples please,

Or Parmesan excells a Suffolk cheese;

Or Palgrave donkeys lag behind a steed,—

So far do Anna's charms all other charms exceed.

EDWARD.

Tell, if thou canst, where is that creature bred,

Whose wide-stretched mouth is larger than its head:

Guess, and my great Apollo thou shalt be†,

And cake and ship shall both remain with thee.

HARRY.

Explain thou first, what portent late was seen,
With strides impetuous, posting o'er the green;
Three heads, like Cerberus, the monster bore,
And one was sidelong fixed, and two before;

* Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivæ.
+ Dic quibus in terris, et eris mihi magnus Apollo.

Eight legs, depending from his ample sides,

Each well-built flank unequally divides;

For five on this, on that side three are found,

Four swiftly move, and four not touch the ground.

Long time the moving prodigy I viewed,

By gazing men, and barking dogs pursued.

WILLIAM.

Cease!

cease your

carols, both! for lo the bell,

With jarring notes, has rung out Pleasure's knell.
Your startled comrades, ere the game be done,
Quit their unfinished sports, and trembling run.
Haste to your forms before the master call!
With thoughtful step he paces o'er the hall,
Does with stern looks each playful loiterer greet,
Counts with his eye, and marks each vacant seat;
Intense the buzzing murmur grows around,

Loud through the dome the usher's strokes resound.

Sneak off, and to your places slily steal,

Before the prowess

of his arm you

feel.

WHAT DO THE FUTURES SPEAK OF?

IN ANSWER TO A QUESTION IN THE GREEK GRAMMAR.

THEY speak of never-withering shades,

And bowers of opening joy ;

They promise mines of fairy gold,

And bliss without alloy.

They whisper strange enchanting things

Within Hope's greedy ears;

And sure this tuneful voice exceeds

The music of the spheres.