+purposely left to the human mind, that man may be induced to follow it from the charms which *novelty *confers; and the sentiments which it awakens are not expressly enjoined, that they may be enjoyed as the spontaneous growth of our own imagination. While they seem, however, to spring up unbidden in the mind, they are, in fact, produced by the spirit of religion; and those who imagine that they are not the fit subject of Christian instruction, are ignorant of the secret workings, and finer analogies, of the faith which they profess. CXXXIX. THE VOICE OF SPRING. 1. I COME, I come! ye have called me long; 2. I have breathed on the south, and the chestnut flowers And the ancient graves and the fallen *fanes, 3. I have looked o'er the hills of the stormy north, And the reindeer bounds o'er the pastures free, And the pine has a fringe of softer green, And the moss looks bright where my foot hath been. 4. I have sent through the wood-paths a glowing sigh, 5. From the streams and founts I have loosed the chain, They are sweeping on to the silvery main, They are flashing down from the mountain brows, 6. Come forth, O ye children of gladness! come! And the bounding footstep, to meet me, fly! 7. Away from the dwellings of care-worn men, 8. But ye! ye are changed since ye met me last! Which speaks of a world, where the flowers must die! 9. Ye are changed, ye are changed! and I see not here There were graceful heads with their ringlets bright, 10. There were steps that flew o'er the *cowslip's head, There were voices that rung through the sapphire sky, Are they gone? Is their mirth from the mountains passed? 11. I know whence the shadow comes o'er you now, 12. They are gone from among you, the young and fair; Ye have lost the gleam of their shining hair! But I know of a land, where there falls no blight, 13. The summer is coming, on soft winds borne; Ye are marked by care, ye are mine no more; CXL.-SUMMER EVENING. FROM BRYANT. 1. THE summer day has closed; the sun is set: Well have they done their office, those bright hours, The latest of whose train goes softly out 2. 3. In the red west. The green blade of the ground From bursting cells, and, in their graves, await Insects from the pools Have filled the air awhile with humming wings, Their prison shell, or shoved them from their nest, In bright alcoves, In woodland cottages with barky walls, In noisome cells of the tumultuous town, Mothers have clasped with joy the new-born babe. Of rivers and of ocean, by the ways Of the thronged city, have been hollowed out, And filled, and closed. This day hath parted friends, That ne'er before were parted; it hath knit 4. Farewell to the sweet sunshine! One glad day And one calm day to those of quiet age; CXLI. THE CRUSADER AND THE SARACEN. CAFTAN; a kind of loose vest. 1. As the Knight of the Leopard fixed his eyes attentively on the distant cluster of palm-trees which arose beside the well assigned for his midday station, it seemed to him as if some object was moving among them. The distant form separated itself from the trees which partly hid its motions, and advanced toward the knight with a speed which soon showed a mounted horseman, whom his turban, long spear, and green caftan floating in the wind, on his nearer approach, showed to be a +Saracen *cavalier. "In the desert," saith an Eastern proverb, "no man meets a friend." The crusader was totally indifferent whether the infidel, who now approached on his gallant barb, as if borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend or foe: perhaps, as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather have preferred the latter. He disengaged his lance from his saddle, seized it with the right hand, placed it in rest, with its point half elevated, gathered up the reins in the left, waked his horse's mettle with the spur, and prepared to encounter the stranger with the calm self-confidence belonging to the victor in many contests. 2. The Saracen came on at the speedy gallop of an Arab horseman, managing his steed more by his limbs and the +inflection of his body, than by any use of the reins, which hung loose in his left hand; so that he was enabled to wield the light, round buckler of the skin of the rhinoceros, ornamented with silver loops, which he wore on his arm, swinging it, as if he meant to opppose its slender circle to the formidable thrust of the western lance. 3. His own long spear was not couched, or leveled like that of his antagonist, but grasped by the middle with his right hand, and brandished at arm's length, above his head. As the cavalier approached his enemy, at full career, he seemed to expect that the Knight of the Leopard should put his horse to the gallop, to encounter him. But the Christian knight, well acquainted with the customs of eastern warriors, did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion; and, on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy advanced to the actual shock, his own weight and that of his powerful charger would give him sufficient advantage, without the momentum gained by rapid motion. 4. Equally sensible and apprehensive of such a probable result, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached toward the Christian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to the left, with inimitable dexterity, and rode twice around his antagonist, who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his front constantly to his enemy, *frustrated his attempts to attack him on an unguarded point; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain 'to retreat to the distance of a hundred yards. A second time, like a hawk attacking a heron, the heathen renewed the charge, and, a second time, was fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle. 5. A third time, he approached in the same manner, when the Christian knight, desirous to terminate this illusory warfare, in which he might, at length, have been worn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the *mace which hung at his saddle-bow, and with a strong hand and unerring aim, hurled it against the head of his assailant. The Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile, in time to interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his |