I wind about, and in and out,

With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel;

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

DEVELOPMENT XXVII.

AN EVENING SCENE.

Sweet was the sound, when oft at evening's close
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose.
There, as I passed, with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came softened from below;
The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung,
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young,
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool,
The playful children just let loose from school,
The watch-dog's voice that bayed the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind;—
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade,

And filled each pause the nightingale had made.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH.

SUBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTION.

Write descriptions of familiar scenes and familiar things. Mingle freely your reflections. Select from the following subjects:

A Moonlight Ride.
A Fishing Excursion.

A Thunder Storm.

The Fall of the Leaves.

The Uses of Pencils.

The Toothache.

Christmas Eve.

Shells.

Apple Blossoms.

Ears.

A Balky Horse.

Describe as vividly as possible some place. Interweave some incident, or a description of some person whom you have known. The following subjects may prove suggestive:

A Churchyard where a Friend Lies Buried.

An Old Mill and the Miller.

A Rickety Tenement where Lives a Brave Little Lad.

A Blacksmith Shop and the Blacksmith.

A Beach, and Children at Play.

The Old Jail and a Prisoner.

Describe both the appearance and character of some

person either real or imaginary.

dents you may

The Peddler.

The Tramp.

Little Barefoot.

A Gipsy.

Interweave some inci

have heard or read.

Some subjects are:

The Apple Woman.

The Scissors Grinder.

A Teacher.

An Old Schoolmate.

CHAPTER VII.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR

COMPOSITION.

In this chapter we suggest how the methods already given, Reproduction, Paraphrasing, etc., may be applied somewhat more broadly to the materials of fiction, history, travel, etc. Some additional methods are also given.

The poems, tales, etc., are, of course, merely suggestive, for the literary material accessible to one teacher may not be accessible to another. Much of the work is adapted to the grade for which the main part of the book is designed; but much will, it is thought, be found quite difficult enough for a more advanced grade. The adaptation of these subjects to the ability and needs of the pupil must be left entirely to the judgment of the teacher.

FICTION AND POETRY.

1. REPRODUCTION OF SHORT STORY.-Read some interesting story; think it over; then write it out in your own way, as vividly as you can. Summarize as little as possible. Suitable for this purpose are the stories in:

Hawthorne's "Twice Told Tales," "The Wonder Book," "Tanglewood Tales"; Lamb's "Tales of Shakespeare"; Hans Andersen's "Tales"; etc.

II. REPRODUCTION OF SHORT POEMS.- In the same manner, put into prose short poems that contain something of a story: as—

Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride"; Browning's "The Pied Piper"; Macaulay's "Horatius at the Bridge"; Scott's "Cadyon Castle"; Bryant's "Little People of the Snow"; Tennyson's "Dora," "The May Queen," etc.

III. REPRODUCTION OF SCENES.-Narrate freely, in your own way, with as much detail as possible, interesting scenes from works of fiction or poetry. Introduce the scene with a brief summary of events immediately preceding. Examples of suitable scenes are:

The Chase, The Cross of Fire, from Scott's "Lady of the Lake"; Little Nell on her Journey, from Dickens's "Old Curiosity Shop"; Giant Despair and his Prisoners, from Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress"; The Death of Hector, from Church's "Stories from Homer"; etc. The writings of Miss Alcott, Mrs. Dodge, Mr. Aldrich, Captain Mayne Reid, etc., will also furnish admirable material for these exercises.

IV. SUMMARY OR REVIEW.-The object of the preceding exercises is vivid narration; the same or similar scenes, poems, or stories may be condensed into a summary; that is, told briefly. This is an admirable exercise. Additional examples are:

"Miles

Tennyson's "Enoch Arden"; Longfellow's "Evangeline," Standish"; Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," "Legend of Sleepy Hollow"; George Eliot's "Silas Marner," etc.

V. PARAPHRASE.—Paraphrase any short poem, or any selected passage from prose or poetry: as—

Wordsworth's "Grace Darling"; Whittier's "Rivermouth Rocks," "Maud Muller," etc.

VI. BIOGRAPHY.-Give a sort of biography of some character of fiction; that is, trace his career without regard to the other characters, relate his exploits, giving freely your own opinion of him. Examples are:

Scrooge, from Dickens's “Christmas Carol”; Meg Merrilies, from Scott's "Guy Mannering"; Locksley, the Outlaw, from Scott's "Ivanhoe"; Artful Dodger, from Dickens's "Oliver Twist"; Squeers, from Dickens's "Nicholas Nickleby"; Achilles, from Church's "Stories from Homer"; Blind Muriel, from Miss Muloch's "John Halifax"; Brutus, from Shakespeare's play of "Julius Cæsar"; etc.

VII. BOOK REVIEW.- Write a summary of an entire book or play: as—

Kingsley's "Water Babies"; Hughes's "Tom Brown at Rugby "; Fouqué's "Undine "; St. Pierre's "Paul and Virginia"; Hawthorne's "Marble Faun"; De Foe's "Robinson Crusoe "; Johnson's "Rasselas"; Scott's "Marmion"; Shakespeare's "Othello," "The Tempest," etc.

HISTORY AND TRAVEL.

I. REVIEWS.-Write reviews of histories, travels, biographies, descriptions of famous places, etc:

as

Plutarch's "Lives"; Towle's "Heroes of History"; Strickland's "Queens of England"; Du Chaillu's "Land of the Midnight Sun"; Irving's "Alhambra," etc.

II. ORIGINAL ESSAYS.-Write original essays upon themes drawn from history, travel, descriptions of famous places, inventions, etc.

Whatever you are interested in and wish to pursue more fully, will furnish an excellent theme for writing. Indeed you should not read so much to obtain material for writing, as you should write to fix in the mind the matter already read.