5 10 15 20 Not from the grand old masters, Not from the bards sublime, For, like strains of martial music, And to-night I long for rest. Read from some humbler poet, Whose songs gushed from his heart. As showers from the clouds of summer, Or tears from the eyelids start; And the night shall be filled with music, -HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. wafted, borne gently; bards, poets; corridors, galleries or passages; infest, to trouble greatly. Stanza 1. Have you noticed how the general feeling of a poem is often given in the opening stanza? Do you remember Lochinvar ? Lord Ullin's Daughter? Old Ironsides? What feeling do you get from the figure here? In what way is night represented? Stanzas 2-3. Is there anything in these stanzas or in stanza 1 to explain the feeling of sadness? Stanza 4. How is his restless feeling to be soothed? Is the word soothed a good one to use here? Stanza 5. Can you mention any grand old master or bard sublime? In what way are their footsteps distant? Stanza 6. Explain his reason. for not wishing to hear their poems at this time. Stanza 7. What figures here? Stanza 8. Have you noticed any resemblance between poetry and music? Stanza 9. Point out the two figures in this stanza. Stanza 10. Is poetry more beautiful when read aloud well? Stanza 11. Another very beautiful figure. Point out the resemblances. Which stanzas seem to you the most beautiful? Commit them to memory. Spelling.-Wafted, bards, corridors, melodies, benediction, infest. Word Study. Select the words that you think would not be used in ordinary speech. Give synonyms for these poetic words. Grammar. When you ask a question, will should not be used before I or we. Say, Shall I go? not Will I go? Say, Shall we go? not Will we go? Fill the blanks: Where there, what- I do? go together? we go home? When I reach we be ready to return soon? we go now? I go alone? we In declarative sentences shall used with I or we simply shows future time, and will with I or we shows purpose or determination. Fill the blanks: I be home soon; then I help you. We go. I fear we be late. I think I certainly not be there to-morrow. we help you now? We do so gladly. Write five sentences using shall or will with I or we. 45 QUEEN ELIZABETH AND SIR WALTER RALEIGH [In reading this extract from Sir Walter Scott's novel, Kenilworth, you should bear in mind that the scene is London three hundred years ago, and that the persons are Elizabeth, the brilliant queen under whom England defeated Spain, and became the mistress of the seas, --and Walter Raleigh, who became a royal favorite. The incident. related is founded on an old and probably true tradition. This was the Sir Walter Raleigh who made the first settlements in America, calling the land Virginia, after the virgin (unmarried) queen. After Elizabeth's death he was thrown into prison, where he remained twelve years. He was then released, only to be sent on a wild expedition to Guinea to find gold. Unluckily he came back without any. The old charge of treason was revived, and he was beheaded. To appreciate the selection, you should understand that Blount and Raleigh were both young men in the service of the Earl of Sussex, one of the queen's chief officers, and were sent to her with an important message from him. They reached London just as the queen was about to embark on the Thames.] "IT seems to me," said Blount, "as if our message were a sort of labor in vain; for see, the queen's barge lies at the stairs, as if her Majesty were about to take water." It was even so. The royal barge, manned with the queen's watermen, richly attired in the regal liveries, and having the banner of England displayed, did indeed lie at 5 the great stairs which ascended from the river. As they approached the gate of the palace, one of the sergeants told them that they could not at present enter, as her Majesty was in the act of coming forth. "Nay, I told you as much before," said Blount; "I 10 pray you, my dear Walter, let us take boat and return." "Not till I see the queen come forth," returned the youth, composedly. At this moment the gates opened, and ushers began to issue forth. After this, amid a crowd of lords and ladies, 15 yet so disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all sides, came Elizabeth herself, then in the prime of womanhood, and in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty. The young cavalier had probably never yet approached 20 so near the person of his sovereign, and he pressed forward as far as the line of warders permitted, in order to avail himself of the present opportunity. His companion, on the contrary, cursing his imprudence, kept pulling him backward, till Walter shook him off impatiently, and 25 letting his rich cloak drop carelessly from one shouldera natural action, which served, however, to display to the best advantage his well-proportioned person- unbonneting at the same time, he fixed his eager gaze on the queen's approach with a mixture of respectful curiosity and modest yet ardent admiration, which suited so well with his fine 5 features that the warders, struck with his rich attire and noble countenance, allowed him to approach the ground over which the queen was to pass somewhat closer than was permitted to ordinary spectators. Thus the adventurous youth stood full in Elizabeth's eye-an eye never 10 indifferent to the admiration which she deservedly excited among her subjects, or to beauty of form which chanced to distinguish any of her courtiers. Accordingly, she fixed her keen glance on the youth, as she approached the place where he stood, with a look in which surprise at his boldness 15 seemed to be unmingled with resentment, while a trifling accident happened which attracted her attention toward him more strongly. The night had been rainy, and, just where the young gentleman stood, a small quantity of mud interrupted the 20 queen's passage. As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant, throwing his cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to insure her stepping over it dry-shod. Elizabeth looked at the young man, who accomplished this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence, and a blush that 25 overspread his whole countenance. The queen was confused, and blushed in her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and embarked in her barge without saying a word. |