,
And streamed above the gallant child
Like banners in the sky.

Then came a burst of thunder sound--
The boy--oh! where was he?
--Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strew the sea;

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair.
That well had borne their part--
But the noblest thing that perished there
Was that young, faithful heart.

FELICIA HEMANS.

THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER.

"The Captain's Daughter," by James T. Fields (1816-81), carries weight
with every young audience. It is pointed to an end that children
love--viz., trust in a higher power.

We were crowded in the cabin,
Not a soul would dare to sleep,--
It was midnight on the waters,
And a storm was on the deep.

'Tis a fearful thing in winter
To be shattered by the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
Thunder, "Cut away the mast!"

So we shuddered there in silence,--
For the stoutest held his breath,
While the hungry sea was roaring
And the breakers talked with Death.

As thus we sat in darkness,
Each one busy with his prayers,
"We are lost!" the captain shouted
As he staggered down the stairs.

But his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
"Isn't God upon the ocean,
Just the same as on the land?"

Then we kissed the little maiden.
And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbour
When the morn was shining clear.

JAMES T. FIELDS.

["The 'village smithy' stood in Brattle Street, Cambridge. There came a
time when the chestnut-tree that shaded it was cut down, and then the
children of the place put their pence together and had a chair made for
the poet from its wood."]

THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.

Longfellow (1807-82) is truly the children's poet. His poems are as
simple, pathetic, artistic, and philosophical as if they were intended
to tell the plain everyday story of life to older people. "The Village
Blacksmith" has been learned by thousands of children, and there is no
criticism to be put upon it. The age of the child has nothing whatever
to do with his learning it. Age does not grade children nor is poetry
wholly to be so graded. "Time is the false reply."

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty ma