expressed in the "Advertisement" to the "Christian Year," is distinct and unwavering. It does not follow that it should appear with equal clearness in every poem he wrote. Not one, however, but has what may be called a religious note, and how happily this is expressed will be seen in "May Garlands," a poem quoted by Dean Stanley in illustration of his position that Keble was a secular poet. With these lines this brief notice of Keble must conclude, and with them also I must close a volume which, if it be the means of making poetry more dear to the reader, will serve also to make life more beautiful.

66

Come, ye little revellers gay,
Learners in the school of May!
Bring me here the richest crown
Wreathed this morn on breezy down,
Or in nook of copsewood green,
Or by river's rushy screen,
Or in sunny meadow wide,
Gemmed with cowslips in their pride;
Or perchance, high-prized o'er all,
From beneath the southern wall,
From the choicest garden bed,
'Mid bright smiles of infants bred,
Each a lily of his own
Offering, or a rose half-blown.

"Bring me now a crown as gay,

Wreathed and woven yesterday.

Where are now those forms so fair?-
Withered, drooping, wan, and bare,

Feeling nought of earth or sky,

Shower or dew, behold they lie,

Vernal airs no more to know:-
They are gone,—and ye must go,
Go where all that ever bloomed
In its hour must be entombed.-
They are gone; their light is o'er :-
Ye must go; but ye once more
Hope in joy to be new-born,
Lovelier than May's gleaming morn.

"Hearken, children of the May,
Now in your glad hour and gay,
Ye whom all good Angels greet
With their treasure blithe and sweet :-
None of all the wreaths ye prize

But was nursed by weeping skies.
Keen March winds, soft April showers,
Braced the roots, embalmed the flowers.
So if e'er that second spring

Her green robe o'er you shall fling,
Stern self-mastery, tearful prayer,
Must the way of bliss prepare.

How should else Earth's flowerets prove
Meet for those pure crowns above?"

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