ehrys'o-līte, a beautiful green king'man, relative. precious stone. fâre, live and act. peers, persons of equal rank. teth'er, limits, furthest reach. PREPARATORY NOTES. This beautifully tender poem is by Edmund Clarence Stedman (b. 1833), a native of Connecticut. Mr. Stedman's poetry exhibits many moods, but is always refined and artistic, and sometimes exceedingly powerful. In a prose volume ("The Victorian Poets") he has shown himself one of the most subtle and discriminating of modern critics. (1) Drake (Sir Francis); Frobisher (Sir Martin): these were famous English navigators of the sixteenth century. (1) winged pilot: the Angel of Death.—(1) hoary Mimer's well and tree in the Scandinavian mythology were placed in the far north, "in that mysterious meeting-place of sea and sky:" Mimer was the guardian of "Wisdom's Well." (3) pricking of his chart: refers to the tracing of a ship's course by means of punctures on a chart. (4) in the groves is taught: an allusion to the grove of Academus, near Athens, under whose olives and plane trees Plato and his followers, called Academic philosophers, taught. — (4) farthest Indies: an allusion to the ancient Hindu lore. 1. I have a little kinsman Whose earthly summers are but three, Greater than Drake or Frobisher, Than all their peers together! He is a brave discoverer, And, far beyond the tether Of them who seek the frozen Pole, Has sailed where the noiseless surges roll. A wingéd pilot steered his bark 2. Suddenly, in his fair young hour, "Henceforth thou art a rover! 3. Since that time no word From the absent has been heard. Who can tell How he fares, or answer well What the little one has found Since he left us, outward bound? From the pricking of his chart How the skyey roadways part. Hush! does not the baby this way bring, To lay beside this severed curl, Of chrysolite or pearl? 4. Ah, no! not so! We may follow on his track, And yet I dare aver He is a brave discoverer Of climes his elders do not know. He has more learning than appears On the scroll of twice three thousand years, Or from farthest Indies brought; - He knows, perchance, how spirits fare, — What is their guise and speech In those lands beyond our reach,— And his eyes behold Things that shall never, never be to mortal hearers told. LANGUAGE STUDY. I. What expression (1) means, who is only three years old? What is the allusion in "who seek the frozen Pole" (1)? What lines in stanza 1 mean, he has died? What is meant by one who bore a flower" (2)? Give synonyms of: voyager; surges; bark; command; return; severed. Write the analysis of: voyager; discoverer; unknown; noiseless. Write the analysis of: portal (porta); severed (parare); mortal (mors). II. In stanza 1 select a complex sentence. Select an exclamative sentence in stanza 3. Analyze: "We may follow on his track, but he comes not back." Arrange in the prose order: "And yet a voyager is he greater than Drake or Frobisher." III. The fact expressed in this poem is that a child has died: what beautiful strain of imagery does the poet use to convey this? Point out what you consider fine uses of this image. Select skillfully chosen describing words (epithets), as "severed curl" (stanza 3). Note the arrangement of words in "sweet smile innocent." 1. If a man has not done any thing wrong, a knock may come at dead of night, and he will not be startled. 2. Think of your own faults the first part of the night (when you are awake), and of the faults of others the latter part of the night (when you are asleep). 3. Even if you should be uncivil to a great man, be sure that you are respectful to a small man. 4. To go a long journey to offer incense in a distant temple, is not so good as showing kindness near home. 5. Use men as you use wood: if one inch is rotten, you do not throw away the whole piece. 6. Do not unto others what you would not have them do to you. 11.- Knickerbocker Life in New York. am-phĭb ́i-oŭs, capable of living | et'i-quette, laws of politeness. in both water and air. bûrgh'er, a well-to-do citizen. gris'ly, frightful, terrible. eom-mu'ni-ty, possession in comprī-mē'val, belonging to early Dělft, or dělf, white earthenware rhomboids, oblique-angled parof Delft, Holland. allelograms. PREPARATORY NOTES. The following is an extract from Irving's "History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker." Knickerbocker was a purely imaginary author, but the popularity of the book caused the name to be given to the old Dutch families of New York. Washington Irving (born in the city of New York in 1783, and died 1859) is the most classic of American authors. He is distinguished for his graceful style, rich humor, and simple pathos. —(2) St. Nicholas, the Santa Claus of the Dutch. − (4) sanc'tum sanc-tor'um (sănk'tum sănk-tōr'um, Latin, "holy of holies"), hence the most private apartment. 1. In those good old days of simplicity and sunshine, a passion for cleanliness was the leading principle in domestic economy, and the universal test of an able housewife. 2. The front door was never opened, except for marriages, funerals, New Year's Day, the festival of St. Nicholas, or some such great occasion. It was ornamented with a gorgeous brass knocker, which was curiously wrought,- sometimes in the device of a dog, and sometimes in that of a lion's head, and daily burnished with such religious zeal, that it was often |