Iffioss. 127 
Soon with some daring tugs, I brought a lumbering 
volume slap 
Down on the floor! I sat down too, and dragged it on 
my lap. 
The binding was antique and worn—the title-page was 
out, 
And yet the treasure won from me a child’s exultant 
shout; 
For there were pictures many, of beast, and fish, and 
bird; 
And thou wert there, thou good Keindeer, of whom so 
much I’d heard. 
And that great heavy ancient book was such a prize 
to me! 
It told me of the monstrous whale, and the small good 
honey-bee; 
It told me of the elephant, the tiger, the gazelle, 
Of the vast luxuriant jungles, and the lone, bright 
desert well; 
Of humming-birds that sip the dew of flowers as they fly, 
Of prairies wild, and wide, and green; of snowy moun¬ 
tains high: 
I read there of the Northern sea, where iceberg islands 
float, 
And crush the great three-masted ship, as ’twere a 
cockle-boat; 
I read about the harmless seals, and the shaggy Polar bear, 
And the mighty troops of hungry wolves that roam and 
riot there. 
I read of Nature’s glorious works, and wondering went on, 
And found before me pleasures, whose round will ne’er 
be done. 
