Lesson:

1. Out from Jerusalem


The king rode with his great


War chiefs and lords of state,


And Sheba's queen with them.





2. Proud in the Syrian sun,


In gold and purple sheen,


The dusky Ethiop queen


Smiled on King Solomon.





3. Wisest of men, he knew


The languages of all


The creatures great or small


That trod the earth or flew.





4. Across an ant-hill led


The king's path, and he heard


Its small folk, and their word


He thus interpreted:





5. 'Here comes the king men greet


As wise and good and just,


To crush us in the dust


Under his heedless feet.'





6. The great king bowed his head,


And saw the wide surprise


Of the Queen of Sheba's eyes


As he told her what they said.





7. 'O king!' she whispered sweet,


'Too happy fate have they


Who perish in thy way


Beneath thy gracious feet!





8. 'Thou of the God-lent crown,


Shall these vile creatures dare


Murmur against thee where


The knees of kings kneel down?'





9. 'Nay,' Solomon replied,


'The wise and strong should seek


The welfare of the weak;'


And turned his horse aside.





10. His train, with quick alarm,


Curved with their leader round


The ant-hill's peopled mound,


And left it free from harm.





11. The jeweled head bent low;


'O king!' she said, 'henceforth


The secret of thy worth


And wisdom well I know.





12. 'Happy must be the State


Whose ruler heedeth more


The murmurs of the poor


Than flatteries of the great.'





ABOUT THE AUTHOR


By John Greenleaf Whittier, born near Haverhill, Mass., in 1807, and died at Hampton Falls, N. H., in 1892.


Until he was eighteen years old he worked on the farm, and during that time learned the trade of a shoemaker.


He afterwards became an editor, and one of the first poets of America.





DEFINITIONS


4. Interpreted: Explained the meaning of.


5. Greet: Address, salute.


9. Welfare: Happiness.


10. Train: A body of followers.


12. Flatteries: Praises for the purpose of gratifying vanity or gaining favor.