There was arming heard in Valencia's halls, With a measured pace, as the pace of one, When the first went forth, it was midnight deep,-- There were knights five hundred went armed before And the Campeador1 came stately then, He was there, the Cid, with his own good sword, Her eye was solemn, her step was slow, The halls in Valencia were still and lone, So the burial-train moved out. 1 Campeador; that is, Champion, a title of the Cid. 3 Market-piace. With a measured pace, as the pace of one, But the hills pealed with a cry ere long, He that was wrapt with no funeral-shroud, Then a terror fell on the King Bucar, 4 And the Libyan kings who had joined his war; For it seemed where Minaya" his onset made, And they came like the foam of a roaring deep;- And the crested form of a warrior tall, With a sword of fire, went before them all; There was fear in the path of his dim white horse, 1 Heathen, or pagan. 2 A famous follower of the Cid. 3 A Moorish princess who led a band of female archers, to assist the Moorish king, Bucar, in his invasion of Spain. That is, African. 6 That is, Alvar Fanez Minaya. A Moorish weapon. A range of mountains in Spain. Where his banner streamed with its ghostly light, The field and the river grew darkly red, There was work for the men of the Cid that day! The kings and the leaders of Afric fled! XII.-FRANKLIN. Sir John Franklin, whose name is inseparably connected with Arctic navigation, died in the Polar regions in 1848. His fate was not positively known till the return of Captain (now Sir) F. L. M'Clintock in 1859. "Punch, or the London Charivari," was commenced on 17th July 1841. Some of its more sober pieces are marked by great power and pathos. THE Polar clouds uplift A moment and no more- Well-ordered, calm, and brave; Through the snow's dazzling blink, Till all the dreary way Is dotted with their dead; And the shy foxes play Unharmed the wild deer run, The remnant that survive But for the pangs they feel. The river of their hope At length is drawing nighTheir snow-blind way they grope, And reach its banks to die! Thank God, brave Franklin's place Not under snow-clouds white, Its shuddering way to heaven; But warm, aboard his ship, And hope upon his lip, The gallant Franklin died. His heart ne'er ached to see His much-loved sailors ta'en; His sailors' pangs were free But though in death apart, XIII-THE AVENGING CHILDE. (LOCKHART.) John Gibson Lockhart, the son-in-law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott, was author of several novels, the best known of which are "Valerius, a Roman Story," and "Reginald Dalton." He was a frequent contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, and was editor of the Quarterly Review from 1826 to 1852. His translations of the Spanish Ballads are remarkable for spirit and elegance. He died at Abbotsford in 1854. HURRAH! hurrah! avoid the way of the Avenging Childe; His horse is swift as sands that drift—an Arab of the wild; His gown is twisted round his arm-a ghastly cheek he wears; And in his hand, for deadly harm, a hunting knife he bears. Avoid that knife in battle strife, that weapon short and thin; The dragon's gore hath bathed it o'er, seven times 'twas steeped therein; Seven times the smith hath proved its pith,―it cuts a coulter through: In France the blade was fashioned, from Spain the shaft it drew. He sharpens it, as he doth ride, upon his saddle-bow; He sharpens it on either side, he makes the steel to glow. He rides to find Don Quadros, that false and faitour1 knight; His glance of ire is hot as fire, although his cheek be white. He found him standing by the king, within the judgmenthall; He rushed within the barons' ring-he stood before them all. He stabbed therewith at Quadros-the king did step between; Thou traitor keen, what dost thou mean-thy king why wouldst thou slay?" 1 Vagabond. |