NO city on the many peopled earth

Hath been the witness of such valiant deeds
As thou hast, Ptolemais! and by whom
Were they achieved? by Britons, one and all.
The first our lion-hearted king may claim;
And who the second? he who drove across
The torrid desert the (till then uncheckt)
Invader, from those realms the Ptolemies
Ruled, and the Cæsars followed in their train,
Sidney, the last of chivalry. One more
Rode o'er the sea to win the crown that hung
Inviting on thy walls: he also bore

A name illustrious even as Sidney's own, -
Napier was he.

'Tis something to have held

His hand in mine, 't is somewhat to record

One of his actions in the crowded page.

Walter Savage Landor.

Adullam.

CAVE OF ADULLAM.

AVID and his three captains bold

DAVID

Kept ambush once within a hold.

It was in Adullam's cave,

Nigh which no water they could have,

Nor spring nor running brook was near

To quench the thirst that parched them there.
Then David, King of Israel,

Straight bethought him of a well,
Which stood beside the city gate,
At Bethlem; where, before his state
Of kingly dignity, he had

Oft drunk his fill, a shepherd lad;
But now his fierce Philistine foe
Encamped before it he does know.
Yet ne'er the less, with heat opprest,
Those three bold captains he addrest;
And wished that one to him would bring
Some water from his native spring.
His valiant captains instantly

To execute his will did fly.

The mighty Three the ranks broke through
Of armed foes, and water drew

For David, their beloved king,

At his own sweet native spring.

Back through their armed foes they haste,

With the hard-earned treasure graced.
But when the good King David found
What they had done, he on the ground
The water poured. "Because," said he,
That it was at the jeopardy

Of your three lives this thing ye did,

That I should drink it, God forbid."

Charles Lamb.

CYPRIAN

Antioch.

YYPRIAN. In the sweet solitude of this calm place, This intricate wild wilderness of trees

And flowers and undergrowth of odorous plants,
Leave me; the books you brought out of the house
To me are ever best society.

And whilst with glorious festival and song
Antioch now celebrates the consecration
Of a proud temple to great Jupiter,
And bears his image in loud jubilee

To its new shrine, I would consume what still
Lives of the dying day in studious thought,
Far from the throng and turmoil.
Go and enjoy the festival; it will
Be worth the labor, and return for me

You, my friends,

When the sun seeks its grave among the billows,
Which among the dim gray clouds on the horizon
Dance like white plumes upon a hearse; and here
I shall expect you.

What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves? What art thou?

DÆMON.

"T is a foreign gentleman.

Even from this morning I have lost my way
In this wild place, and my poor horse, at last
Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon
The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain,
And feeds and rests at the same time. I was
Upon my way to Antioch upon business
Of some importance, but wrapt up in cares
(Who is exempt from this inheritance ?)
I parted from my company, and lost
My way, and lost my servants and my comrades.
CYP. 'T is singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way. Of all the avenues and green paths
Of this wild wood there is not one but leads,
As to its centre, to the walls of Antioch;
Take which you will, you cannot miss your road.
DÆм. And such is ignorance! Even in the sight
Of knowledge it can draw no profit from it.
But as it still is early, and as I

Have no acquaintances in Antioch,
Being a stranger there, I will even wait

The few surviving hours of the day,

Until the night shall conquer it.

Pedro Calderon. Tr. P. B. Shelley.