The dragon! he's goin' to fly!
Away he goes! Jimminy! what a jump!
Flop--flop--an' plump to the ground with a thump!
Flutt'rin' an' flound'rin', all'n a lump!"

As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear,
Heels over head, to his proper sphere,--
Heels over head, and head over heels,
Dizzily down the abyss he wheels,--
So fell Darius. Upon his crown,
In the midst of the barnyard, he came down,
In a wonderful whirl of tangled strings,
Broken braces and broken springs,
Broken tail and broken wings,
Shooting stars, and various things,--
Barnyard litter of straw and chaff,
And much that wasn't so sweet by half.
Away with a bellow flew the calf,
And what was that? Did the gosling laugh?
'Tis a merry roar from the old barn-door,
And he hears the voice of Jotham crying;
"Say, D'rius! how de yeou like flyin'?"

Slowly, ruefully, where he lay,
Darius just turned and looked that way,
As he stanched his sorrowful nose with his cuff,
"Wal, I like flyin' well enough,"
He said, "but the' ain't sich a thunderin' sight
O' fun in't when ye come to light."

I just have room for the MORAL here:
And this is the moral,--Stick to your sphere;
Or, if you insist, as you have the right,
On spreading your wings for a loftier flight,
The moral is,--Take care how you light.

376

The poem of "Beth Gelert" (Grave of Gelert) is
really a verse version of an old folk story
that has localized itself in many places over
the world. In Wales they can show you where
Gelert is buried, which illustrates how such a
favorite story takes hold of the popular mind.
The poem by William Robert Spencer (1769-1834)
has so much of the spirit of the old ballads
which it imitates that it was believed at first
to be a genuine example of one.

BETH GELERT

WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER

The spearmen heard the bugle sound,
And cheerly smiled the morn;
And many a brach, and many a hound,
Obeyed Llewellyn's horn.

And still he blew a louder blast,
And gave a lustier cheer,
"Come, Gelert, come, wert never last
Llewellyn's horn to hear.

"Oh, where does f