Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

is thy foe. When thou goest forth by day, my bullet shall whistle by thee; when thou liest down at night, my knife is at thy throat. The noonday sun shall not discover thy enemy, and the darkness of midnight shall not protect thy rest. Thou shalt plant in terror, and I will reap in blood thou shalt sow the earth with corn, and I will strew it with ashes; thou shalt go forth with the sickle, and I will follow after with the scalping-knife; thou shalt build, and I will burn, till the white man or the Indian shall cease from the land. Go thy way for this time in safety; but remember, stranger, there is eternal war between me and thee!"

EVERETT

151. Bernardo del Carpio.

THE warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire,
And sued the haughty king to free his long-imprisoned sire.
"I bring thee here my fortress keys; I bring my captive train,
I pledge thee faith, my liege, my lord! - O, break my father's chain."

"Rise! rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed man this day;
Mount thy good steed, and thou and I will meet him on his way."
Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed,
And urged, as if with lance in rest, his charger's foaming speed.

And, lo! from far, as on they pressed, they met a glittering band,
With one that 'midst them stately rode, like a leader in the land:
Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,
The father, whom thy grateful heart hat yearned so long to see.

His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheek's blood came and went;

He reached that gray-haired chieftain's side, and there, dismounting,

bent;

A lowly knee to earth he bent; his father's hand he took;
What was there in its touch, that all his fiery spirit shook?

That hand was cold, a frozen thing; it dropped from his like lead; He looked up to the face above; the face was of the dead;

A plume waved o'er the noble brow; that brow was fixed and white, He met at length his father's eyes, but in them was no sight!

Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who can paint that gaze?

They hushed their very hearts who saw its horror and amaze;

They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood; For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.

"Father!" at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then ;
Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men:
He thought of all his glorious hopes, of all his young renown,
He flung the falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;

Then, covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly-mournful brow,
"No more, there is no more," he said, "to lift the sword for now;
My king is false, my hope betrayed, my father — O, the worth,
The glory, and the loveliness, are past away from earth."

Then starting from the ground once more, he seized the monarch's rein,

Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train,
And, with a fierce, o'ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,
And sternly set them face to face, the king before the dead.

"Came I not forth, upon thy pledge, my father's hand to kiss?
Be still, and gaze thou on, false king; and tell me, what is this?
The voice, the glance, the heart I sought; give answer-where are they?
If thou wouldst clear thy perjured soul, send life through this cold clay.

"Into these glossy eyes put light; be still, keep down thine ire;
Bid these cold lips a blessing speak, this earth is not my sire;
Give me back him for whom fought, for whom my blood was shed;
Thou canst not- and a king? - his dust be mountains on thy head!'

He loosed the steed; his slack hand fell, upon the silent face
He cast one long, deep, troubled look-then turned from that sad
place;

His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain,—
His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain.

MRS. HEMANS

PREFIXES AND POSTFIXES.

1. A Primitive word is not derived from any simpler word; as, sweet, tract.

2. A Derivative word is formed from a primitive word by prefixing or adding a syllable; as, sweeten, attract.

3. The Radical or Essential part of a word is called a root; as, joy, joyful; clud, in ex-clude, ex-clu-sion.

4. A Root is modified or restricted in sense by a Prefix or Postfix; as, fit, un-fit, not fit; anim, life, anim-ate, having life, in-anim-ate, not hav ing life.

5. A Prefix is a syllable or particle placed before a root to vary. its sense; as, un, not, in un-seen, not seen; er, out, in ex-clude, to shut out. 6. A Postfix, or Termination, is a syllable added to the root to vary its signification; as, ful, in hope-ful, full of hope; al, in fin-al, belonging to

the end.

In a few cases, however, the prefix and postfix do not affect the meaning of the root; un, in un-loose; dis, in dis-sever; be, in be-deck

PREFIXES.

7. A signifies on, in, to, at; as, afoot, on foot; abed, in bed; afield, to the field; afar, at a distance.

8. A, AN, not, without; as, anarchy, not a government; anonymous, without a name; apathy, without feeling.

9. A, AB, ABS, from, or away; as, avert, to turn from; absolve, to loose or free from; abstract, to draw from; aberration, a wandering away. 10. AD, and its forms, A, Ac, AF, AG, AL, AN, AP, AR, As, AT, signify to; as, advert, to turn to; ascend, to climb to; accept, to take to; qffix, to fix to; aggravate, to make heavy to; allow, to grant to; annihilate, to bring to nothing; append, to hang to; arrogate, to ask or assume to; assimilate, to make like to; attract, to draw to.

11. Aм, АMв, about, or around; as, amputate, to cut around; ambition, a going about for preferment.

12. AMPHI, both; as, amphibious, living both on land and in water. 13. ANA, up, through, back; as, anatomy, a cutting through or up as, analysis, a separating into parts or first principles.

14. ANTE, before; as, antecedent, going before.

15. ANTI, ANT, against, opposite; as, antipathy, a feeling against; antarctic, opposite to the Arctic or North.

16. APO, AP, from, away; as, aphelion, distant from the sun; apostasy, a standing from.

17. BE, to make; sometimes by, near, close, about, for; as, besiege, to enclose.

18. CATA, down; as, cataract, a falling down.

19. CIRCUM, round about; as, circumnavigate, to sail round.

20. Cox, and its forms, Co, COG, COL, COM, COR, signify together, with; as, conform, to comply with; cooperate, to work with or together; collect, to gather together; compassion, suffering or feeling with; corroborate, to make strong together.

21. CONTRA, against; as, contradict, to say or speak against.

22. COUNTER, against, back; as, counterbalance, to balance against countermarch, to march back.

23. DE, down, or from; as, deject, to cast down; depart, to go from. 24. DIA, DI, through, apart; as, diæresis, taking apart; diameter, a measure through.

25. DIs, and its forms, DI, DIF, signify asunder, from, not, undo; as, dispel, to drive asunder; disarm, to take arms from; disbelieve, not to be lieve; differ, to bear asunder; digress, to go asunder.

26. E, Ex, and its forms, Ec, Er, signify out, out of, beyond; as, e-mit, to send out; ex-clude, to shut out; effusion, a pouring out.

27. EN, EM, in, on, make; as, enclose, to shut in; enable, to make able; embark, to go on shipboard.

28. EPI, upon; as, epitaph, an inscription upon a tomb.

29. EXTRA, beyond, excess; as, extraordinary, beyond or more than ordinary.

30. FORE, before; as, foretell, to tell before; forerunner, that runs before.

31. HYPER, above, over, or beyond; as, hypercritical, critical over or beyond what is just.

32. HYPO, under; as, hypothesis, a placing under.

33. IN, and its forms, IG, IL, IM, IR, before an adjective, signify not; as, invisible, not visible; illegal, not lawful; irregular, not regular.

34. IN, and its forms, IL, IN, IR, before a verb, signify in, into, on, or upon; as, inject, to cast into; illume, to put light into; insist, to stand on; impcrt, to bring in.

35. INTER, between, among; as, interpose, to place between; intermix, to mix among.

36. MIs, ill, wrong; as, masconduct, ill conduct; misguide, to guide wrong.

37. OB, and it forms, O, Oc, Or, OP, signify in front, in the way of, against, in, or on; as, obtrude, to thrust in the way; oppose, to place in front of, or against.

38. OUT, beyond, excess; as, outlive, to live beyond; outrun, to run beyond.

39. OVER, above, excess, beyond; as, overflow, to flow over or above; overcharge, to charge beyond.

40. PARA, beside, near, like; as, parallel, extending in a like direction.

41. PER, through, fully, by; as, perfect, fully done; pervade, to go through.

42. PERI, round about; as, perimeter, a measure round about.

43. POST, after; as, postscript, written after.

44. PRE, before; as, predict, to tell before; precursor, a runner before.

45. PRETER, beyond, past; as, preternatural, beyond what is natural. 46. PRO, for, fore, forth, forward; as, pronoun, for or instead of a noun; proceed, to go forward; provoke, to call forth.

47. PUR, for; as, purchase, to buy for a price; purvey, to carry or pro vide for.

48. RE, back, again; as, retract, to draw or take back; republish, to pub tish again.

49. RETRO, backward, back; as, retrograde, going backward; retrospect, a looking back.

50. SE, aside, or apart from; as, select, to choose from; secede, to go aside.

51. SINE, without; as, sinecure, without care or labor; sincere, without wax, pure, (honey;) simple, without a fold.

52. SUB, and its forms, -Su, Suc, SUF, SUG, SUM, SUP, Sus, signify under, after, from under, up; as, subscribe, to write under; suffer, to bear under; suppress, to press under; support, to bear up; sustain, to hold up. 53. SUPER, above, over, excess; as, supervise, to look over; superfluous, flowing to excess, more than is necessary.

54. SUR, above, over, upon; as, surmount, to rise above; survive, to live above or beyond.

55. SYм, and its forms, SY, SYL, SYs, signify together, with; as, sympathy, a suffering or feeling with; system, standing together or with.

56. TRANS, beyond, through, change, over; as, transgress, to go over or beyond; transport, to carry over; transparent, appearing througn, transform, to change the form.

57. UN, before an adjective, signifies not; as, unable, not able.

58. UN, before a verb, signifies, undo, take off; as, undress, to take off clothes; unfetter, to undo fetters.

« VorigeDoorgaan »