ws;
With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another,
Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thundrous smother;
The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air;
Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."

[Illustration: The Glove and the Lions.]

De Lorge's love o'erheard the King,--a beauteous lively dame
With smiling lips and sharp, bright eyes, which always seemed the same:
She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be;
He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."

She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled;
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
His leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his place,
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
"Well done!" cried Francis, "bravely done!" and he rose from where he
sat:
"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that."

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 7: By Leigh Hunt, an English essayist and poet (1784-1859).]

EXPRESSION: Read this poem silently, trying to understand fully the
circumstances of the story: (1) the time; (2) the place; (3) the
character of the leading actors. Then read aloud each stanza with
feeling and expression.

ST. FRANCIS, THE GENTLE[8]

Seven hundred years ago, Francis the gentlest of the saints was born in
Assisi, the quaint Umbrian town among the rocks; and for twenty years
and more he cherished but one thought, and one desire, and one hope; and
these were that he might lead the beautiful and holy and sorrowful life
which our Master lived on earth, and that in every way he might resemble
Him in the purity and loveliness of his humanity.

Not to men alone but to all living things on earth and air and water was
St. Francis most gracious and loving. They were all his little brothers
and sisters, and he forgot them not, still less scorned or slighted
them, but spoke to them often and blessed them, and in return they
showed him great love and sought to be of his fellowship. He bade his
companions keep plots of ground for their little sisters the flowers,
and to these lovely and speechless creatures he spoke, with no great
fear that they would not understand his words. An