Her snow-white arms are round my neck. Her lips my own do seek, Her curls of silken, golden hair Fall down upon my cheek; I hear her voice and watch her eyes, And whisper low--“above Such voices fill the air--and there There be such eyes of love!” When trouble fills my aching breast And I am grief’s sad prey, Her prattling lips and gentle glee Drive all the gloom away; She lays her head upon my heart And hushes every sigh: I dare not think how cold the world Would be if _she_ should die! * * * * * =THE USEFUL ARTS IN OTHER NATIONS AND TIMES.= =BY CHARLES WILLIAMS.= For several centuries after the irruption of the Barbarians and the fall of Rome, there are scarce any visible traces of the existence of those manufactures which attained so high a development in the old world. This remark, of course, applies merely to Europe, for arts and refinement still continued uninjured in the Eastern empire; and thence, on the revival of Italian commerce, the knowledge of many inventions and useful arts flowed westward. In the ninth century, the inhabitants of the cities in Italy began to rebuild their ancient walls; and the security conferred by fortified towns, together with the union of their citizens for mutual defense, soon caused a decided advance in the useful arts. Their progress was necessarily slow, in consequence of many disturbing political and social evils. We will give a few examples from an ancient historian[11] cited by Muratori, to show the condition of the most civilized country of Europe in the former half of the thirteenth century.