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teeth upon any thing, but it generally means any impression whatever; for instance, it here means the impression of the wheels in the dust.

The self-same track.-It was a difficult feat for a charioteer to direct the wheels of his chariot so as to describe repeatedly the same circle.

"Pursues with care the nice design,
Nor ever deviates from the line.

To deviate-means to go out of the way.

"Amazement seiz'd the circling crowd,
The youths with emulation glow’d.
Ev'n bearded sages hail'd the boy,
And all, but Plato, gaz'd with joy.

The feats of this youth equally delighted thre old and young-the youths he inspired with: emulation, that is, à desire to equal or excel. Emulation does not mean env

envy.

Bearded.-Men who were old, and whose beards were grown long (for at that time the Grecians did not shave) were revered as old men were thought to be wiser than others, on account of their experience.

Sage-means wis; a wise person is therefore called a sage-these also congratulated, or hailed him, upon his success; all but Plate ;:

"For he, deep-judging sage, beheld
With pain the triumphs of the field;

This sentence is transposed; in prose it would be placed thus:-For he the sage who judged of things with an unprejudiced eye, (not dazzled with outward appearances) beheld the triumphs of the field with pain.

The field-means the plain on which he ran ; and the triumphs of the field are the victories of the course or race.

"And when the charioteer drew nigh,
And flush'd with hope had caught his eye,

Flushed-means elated; persons who are elated with success are apt to blush.

"Alas! unhappy youth, he cried,
Expect no praise from me (and sigh'd)
With indignation I survey

Such skill and judgment thrown away,
The time profusely squander'd there
On vulgar arts, beneath thy care,
If well employed (at less expense,)
Had taught thee honour, virtue, sense,
And rais'd thee from a coachman's fate,
To govern men, and guide the state.",

And sighed. These words are not part of Plato's speech: it means, that the philosopher sighed as he spoke; it grieved the wise and

deep-judging Plato to see a youth of such rare talents or acquirements throw away his

time.

Expense-means expense of time and trouble.

The pupil will take notice of the word thee in the two lines before the last-Thee is a more poetical word than you, it should be pointed out to the pupil, that the rhymes in this little poem are frequently inaccurate.

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ELEGY,

SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY

CHURCHYARD, BY GRAY.

THIS is one of the most popular poems that we know of; it pleases all ranks and all ages; and it is therefore a proper piece to begin with.

This poem is called an Elegy, because the subject of it is melancholy. It describes the appearance of a country churchyard on a summer's evening, and expresses the thoughts that arose in the mind of the poet, when he reflected upon the objects which he saw before him. He marks the hour, by mentioning the tolling of the curfew or evening bell-the return of

the ploughman and his cattle from their work, and the approach of darkness.

I.

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly, o'er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

The curfew.When William Duke of Nor mandy conquered England, about seven hundred years ago, he obliged all the people to retire to their houses and put out their fires at eight o'clock in the evening, to prevent them from assembling in the night to form schemes against his government. A bell was therefore rung at that hour to warn the people to cover their fires*. Cover in french is couvre-and fire in french is feu, couvre-feu, which by leaving out some of the letters becomes corfeu or curfew.

Knell.-A church bell rung at the death of any person; it is sometimes called a passing

bell.

Parting-Shortened from departing. The words departing this life are sometimes used instead of dying. The tolling of the curfew

This circumstance is denied by Andrews, in his history of England.

may then be considered as a warning of the departure of the day.

Wind.-To wind, means properly to move round. When a road is not straight, but turns in different directions without sharp corners (angles), it is said to wind, though it does not form a circle, or move quite round. It is here said the herd wind; we should say in common. conversation, the herd winds, because the herd means one herd; but as there are many cattle in a herd, it is allowable to use the verb wind in the plural number; and the plural raises the idea of a scattered herd-the singular of a drove. An observing pupil may ask why winds might not as well have been used in the singular number. The s is omitted because it would not sound agreeably with the s at the beginning of the next word, slowly.

Lea.-Ground that is not ploughed, but that is covered with grass, the same as lay. The next stanza or division of the poem continues to describe evening, the landscape begins to disappear for want of light.

or quiet, nothing but the hum

The air is still

of the beetle and the tinkling of the sheep bells are heard.

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