St Nicholas [serial] . st anigh ! All his knights with their swords on high ! Every soldier with flaming eye!Blades flashed bright in the torches glare,A protecting ring oer that maiden there!No tyrants sword could pierce that wall —Not one drop of her blood might fall! Beyond the yawning portal-stoneThe great king stood, and he stood alone,With never a man to call his own;Gazing, amazed, at the swords held highOer a slip of a maid — And that maid I ! I sit and I spin in my tower room; Turn, my wheel, turn /The year blows in with the apple-bloom; Turn, my wheel, turn .But listen! When, wailing
St Nicholas [serial] . st anigh ! All his knights with their swords on high ! Every soldier with flaming eye!Blades flashed bright in the torches glare,A protecting ring oer that maiden there!No tyrants sword could pierce that wall —Not one drop of her blood might fall! Beyond the yawning portal-stoneThe great king stood, and he stood alone,With never a man to call his own;Gazing, amazed, at the swords held highOer a slip of a maid — And that maid I ! I sit and I spin in my tower room; Turn, my wheel, turn /The year blows in with the apple-bloom; Turn, my wheel, turn .But listen! When, wailing, the year fades out,And dead, dry leaves they whirl them about,And the sun lies red on the turret and wall,I hear once more the trumpet call;The clamor arises, the rage, the din,As dusk, the merciful, darkens in,And a slim, young maid with a milk-white faceRides through the night at a fearful pace —Leads to her good lords hiding-place —Faces the furious king anigh :I am old, I am old ! — But that maid was IJ. LEWIS CARROLL. (See page 43b.) This was that brave adventurer Upon an unknown sea,Who found the far, fair Wonderland -His galleon by an eager bandOf little children featly manned, All laughing out in glee. Far, far away his vessel sailed,Throughout a single night, Until it reached that magic shore No man had ever seen before; The childrens land forevermoreHe gave them as their right. And since that voyage venturesome On every night and dayThat pilot with a shipful new Of happy children for his crew —Of grown-up folk a favored few —Has sailed the Wonder-Way. And if upon to-morrows ship No Pilot should appear,So many children everywhereHave learned from him the thoroughfareTo Wonderland, they still will dare To sail without a fear. But oh! their little hearts will ache, And oh ! their eyes will dim;And, as the ship sails mile by mile,Each child will sit a little while,And, thinking, will forget to smile —For sailing without him. Abbie Farivell Brown. THROUGH
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidstnicholasserial251dodg