Use ten of the following prepositions in sentences: On, of, below, under, from, into, in, against, for, over, toward, about, up, down, through, at, across, against, beneath. Analyze each phrase you make according to this model : We walked through the forest. Through the forest is an adverb ial phrase because it modifies the verb walked. The principal word is the noun forest, which is modified by the adjective the. The introducing word is the preposition through, which shows the relation in sense between forest and walked. What is a preposition? (Answer by telling its use.) 39 TO THE DANDELION [James Russell Lowell, one of our great poets and essayists, was a friend and neighbor of Longfellow, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived in Elmwood, a house quite as beautiful and nearly as old and historic as that of Longfellow. He was for a time United States minister, as it is called, in Spain and England, - that is, he had the great honor of being chosen by the President to represent the United States in these countries, taking charge of all official business which we transacted there.] DEAR common flower, that grow'st beside the way, First pledge of blithesome May, Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold, High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they 5 5 An Eldorado in the grass have found, Which not the rich earth's ample round May match in wealth-thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer blooms may be. Then think I of deep shadows on the Of meadows where in sun the cattle Where, as the breezes pass, The gleaming rushes lean a thousand Of leaves that slumber in a cloudy mass, Or whiten in the wind, of waters blue That from the distance sparkle through Some woodland gap, — and of a sky above Where one white cloud like a stray lamb doth move. My childhood's earliest thoughts are linked with thee; Beside the door, sang clearly all day long, And I, secure in childish piety, Listened as if I heard an angel sing With news from Heaven, which he did bring Fresh every day to my untainted ears, When birds and flowers and I were happy peers. * How like a prodigal doth Nature seem, 5 10 When thou, for all the gold, so common art! Thou teachest me to deem 15 More sacredly of every human heart, Since each reflects in joy its scanty gleam Of Heaven, and could some wondrous secret show, And with a child's undoubting wisdom look On all these living pages of God's book. - JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 20 pledge, promise; blithesome, cheerful, gay; Eldorado; a name given by Spaniards in the sixteenth century to a country abounding in gold, which was said to exist somewhere in the New World; piety, love for God, religious feeling; untainted, not spoiled, pure, not knowing evil; peers, equals; prodigal, a wasteful person, a spendthrift; deem, think; sacredly, with respect or reverence. Stanza 1. Whom does the poet address? Notice the great number of figures. Why does the poet use the word harmless in verse 2? What word might you substitute for pledge in verse 3? To whom are the children compared? Explain the comparison. Express in common language "the rich earth's ample round.” Stanza 2. The dandelion brings to his recollection other things in nature in a succession of beautiful pictures. What words give color to the scenes? Which descriptions have words suggesting Which use of figurative language in this stanza seems Stanza 3. What other reasons has he What beautiful thought about childhood movement? to do we get here? Stanza 4. Explain the figures in verses 1-2. In the remaining verses we get the main thought of the poem. Do some people despise common flowers? Do some people despise poor, common men and women? What reasons did the poet find for loving the dandelion? What reasons for loving all human beings? In stanza 1 who are shown as seeing the beauty in the common flower? In stanza 3 who heard in the robin's song an angel's message? What is meant by "living pages of God's book"? What kind of wisdom must one have to learn the wondrous secrets that these living pages might show? You see how the thought of the child's undoubting wisdom, which leads him to see beauty everywhere and hear God's voice in nature, runs through all the verses, and is used by the poet in stanza 4 to teach him how to regard all human beings. Notice the arrangement of the rhymed lines. Spelling. Blithesome, piety, untainted, prodigal, pledge, sa credly. Word Study. In this lesson select any words containing prefixes or suffixes whose meaning you have learned. In the last stanza what word do you see whose stem meaning you have learned? Composition. In writing you must always keep in mind for whom the writing is intended. If you are writing to your teacher, you might use words or expressions that would not be understood by your little brother or sister. Remember the most important thing in any writing is to make your meaning clear. Suppose that you wish to explain to some other boy or girl a certain game. First think of the person who is to read the explanation. Consider his age, or his previous experience in playing games of this kind. Then suit your explanation to the reader. Explain carefully, making your meaning clear by comparisons, or often by a little drawing. Suppose you are to explain the game tit-tat-to. do so in some such way as this: You might In playing tit-tat-to there are two opponents: let us call one A and the other B. The game is played in spaces made by two pairs of parallel lines, crossing each other at right angles, like this: A uses a cross like this, x; B uses a cipher, 0. A tries to fill three adjoining spaces in the diagram with his mark. B tries to prevent him by putting his cipher in between the crosses, while at the same time trying to get three ciphers in adjoining spaces. Each fills a space in turn. # The winner is he who first succeeds in filling three adjoining spaces with his mark. In this case A is the winner: X 0 You would probably understand this explanation. But suppose it was intended for a child of seven years old, who would not know the meaning of opponents or parallel lines, or lines at right angles? Then paragraph 1 might be simplified by saying: "Two persons can play the game." Paragraph 2 might be simplified by saying: "It is played with lines crossing like this," and so on. |