"I'm taking comfort," he muttered, with his mouth in the dirt.

7. Taking his comfort! There he lay,--squalid and loathsome under the
bright heaven,--an imbruted man. The holy harmonies of Nature, the sounds
of gushing waters, the rustle of the leaves above him, the wild flowers,
the frost bloom of the woods,--what were they to him? Insensible, deaf,
and blind, in the stupor of a living death, he lay there, literally
realizing that most bitterly significant eastern malediction, "May you eat
dirt."
--Whittier.

DEFINITIONS.--l. Tran'sient (pro. tran'shent), of short duration.
E'qui-nox, the time of year when the days and nights are of equal length,
i.e., about September 23d or March 21st. Rigor, severity. 2.
Pic-tur-esque' (pro. pik-tur-esk'), fitted to form a pleasing picture. 3.
Pan-o-ra'ma, a complete or entire view in every direction. 5. Rev'er-ie,
an irregular train of thoughts occurring in meditation. Bes'tial (pro.
bes'chal), brutish. Lit'er-al-ly, according to the first and natural
meaning of words. 6. Pros'trate, lying at length. Grov'el-er, a base
wretch. Bloat'ed, puffed out. 7. Im-brut'ed, reduced to brutality.
Har'mo-ny, the fitness of parts to each other in any combination of
things. Re'al-iz-ing, making one's own in experience. Mal-e-dic'tion, a
curse.

NOTES.--The localities named in this selection are in the vicinity of
Haverhill, Mass., where the old Whittier homestead is situated.

4. Claude Lorrain (b. 1600, d. 1682), whose proper name was Claude Gelee,
was a celebrated landscape painter, born in Champagne, Vosges, France.