THE STORY OF GINEVRA. 183 his mind, could he have known that he had indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, and separated, by two vast oceans, from all the earth hitherto known by civilized man! And how would his magnanimous spirit have been consoled, amid the chills of age and cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle public and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could he have anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over the beautiful world he had discovered, and the nations and. tongues and languages which were to fill its lands with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the latest posterity! WASHINGTON IRVING. LXXIII.-THE STORY OF GINEVRA. NUPTIAL, a., pertaining to marriage. | PAN'IC, n., a sudden fright. TEN'ANT-LESS, a., unoccupied. QUEST, n., act of seeking. Avoid saying sred for shred. In first, nurst, burst, give the sound of er in her. Pronounce Ginevra, Je-në'vra; Francesco, Fran-ches'co. SHE was an only child, her name Ginevra,- Her pranks the favorite theme of every tongue. But now the day was come, the day, the hour; Great was the joy; but at the nuptial feast, “'Tis but to make a trial of our love !" And filled his glass to all; but his hand sh And soon from guest to guest the panic sp 'T was but that instant she had left Frances Laughing and looking back, and flying still Her ivory tooth imprinted on his finger; But now, alas! she was not to be found; Nor, from that hour, could any thing be gu But that she was not! Weary of his life, Francesco flew to Venice, and, embarking, Full fifty years were past, and all forgotten, 66 'Twas done as soon as said; but, on the wa There, then, she had found a grave! APOSTROPHE TO THE OCEAN. 185 LXXIV. APOSTROPHE TO THE OCEAN. A-POS'TRO-PHE, n., a digressive ad- YEST or YEAST, n., the foam or froth dress. RAV'AGE, n., desolation; ruin. TOR'RID, a., violently hot. of liquor in fermentation. AR'BI-TER, n., an umpire. AR-MA'DA, n., a large fleet of ships of TRA-FAL-GAR', n., a cape in Spain, off war. UN-KNELLED' (-neld), a., untolled. which was fought, in 1805, the great naval battle in which Nelson fell. Pronounce none, nun; were, wer; been, bin; ne'er, năre; are, r THERE is a pleasure in the pathless woods, By the deep sea, and music in its roar. To mingle with the universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet can not all conceal. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean-roll! He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown. The armaments which thunderstrike the walls Of lord of thee, and arbiter of war; These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake, They melt into thy yest of waves, which mar Alike the armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalgar. 186 APOSTROPHE TO THE OCEAN. Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee; Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage, what are they? Thy waters wasted them while they were free, And many a tyrant since; their shores obey The stranger, slave, or savage; their decay Has dried up realms to deserts: - not so thou, Unchangeable, save to thy wild waves' play; Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow,Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now. Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm- Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone! And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy And trusted to thy billows far and near, as I do here. LORD BYRON. Be brave, be just; and, when your country's laws Call you to witness in a dubious cause, Though Power should plant his rack before your eye, And, frowning, dictate to your lips the lie, Think it a crime no tears can e'er efface And sacrifice, for life, life's only end! — GIFFORD. FRUCTI-FY, v. i., to bear fruit. COM-PO'NENT, a., helping to compose. VIBRATE, v. i., to quiver. As-so'CIATE, n., companion. IN-DEL'I-BLE, a., not to be effaced. Avoid saying ax for acts. Give o in nothing and none the sound of short u. 1. EVERY morning we enter upon a new day, that carries an unknown future in its bosom. How stirring the reflection! Thoughts may be born to-day, which may never die. Feelings may be awakened today, which may never be extinguished. Hopes may be excited to-day, which may never expire. Acts may be performed to-day, the consequence of which may not be reälized till eternity. 2. There is something solemn and awful in the consideration that there is not an act nor a thought in the life of a human being, that does not carry with it a train of consequences, the end of which we may never trace. We all, to a certain extent, influence the lives and minds of those about us. The good deed or thought will live, even though we may not see it fructify; but so will the bad; and no person is so insignificant as to be sure that his example will not do good on the one hand, or evil on the other. 3. There is, indeed, an element of immortality in the life of man, even in this world. No individual in the universe stands alone; he is a compo'nent part of a system of mutual dependences; and by his several acts he either increases or diminishes the sum of human good now and forever. As the present is rooted in the past, and the lives and examples of our fore fathers still to a great extent influence us, so are we by our daily acts contributing to form the condition and character cf the future. |