Gone twenty years,--a long, long cruise,
'Twas wicked thus your love to abuse;
But if the lad still live,
And come back home, think you you can
Forgive him?"--"Miserable man,
You're mad as the sea,--you rave,--
What have I to forgive?"

The sailor twitched his shirt so blue,
And from within his bosom drew
The kerchief. She was wild.
"My God! my Father! is it true
My little lad, My Elihu?
My blessed boy, my child!
My dead,--my living child!"

_Alice Cary._

The Circling Year

SPRING

The joys of living wreathe my face,
My heart keeps time to freshet's race;
Of balmy airs I drink my fill--
Why, there's a yellow daffodil!
Along the stream a soft green tinge
Gives hint of feathery willow fringe;
Methinks I heard a Robin's "Cheer"--
I'm glad Spring's here!

SUMMER

An afternoon of buzzing flies.
Heat waves that sear, and quivering rise;
The long white road, the plodding team,
The deep, cool grass in which to dream;
The distant cawing of the crows,
Tall, waving grain, long orchard rows;
The peaceful cattle in the stream--
Midsummer's dream!

AUTUMN

A cold, gray day, a lowering sky,
A lonesome pigeon wheeling by;
The soft, blue smoke that hangs and fades,
The shivering crane that flaps and wades;
Dead leaves that, whispering, quit their tree,
The peace the river sings to me;
The chill aloofness of the Fall--
I love it all!

WINTER

A sheet of ice, the ring of steel,
The crunch of snow beneath the heel;
Loud, jingling bells, the straw-lined sleigh,
A restless pair that prance and neigh;
The early coming of the night,
Red glowing logs, a shaded light;
The firelit realm of books is mine--
Oh, Winter's fine!

_Ramona Graham._

INDEX OF FIRST LINES

A fellow near Kentucky's clime 34
A foolish little maiden bought a foolish little bonnet 168
'A frightful face'? Wal, yes, yer correct 125
A harbor in a sunny, southern city 137
Alone in the dreary, pitiless street 46
Among the legends sung or said 63
An old lady sat in her old arm-chair 200
An old man going a lone highway 54
April! April! are you here? 59
A sad-faced little fellow sits alone in d