phrases or clauses should be read rather rapidly, as the units of the composition, and the pauses should be clearly and fully marked. In reading, have in mind the phrasing and the monotone of the musical chant, and give the poetry the same movement. In some of Whitman's poems he exaggerates his mannerisms offensively; but in this funeral hymn the chant is most appropriate. It is used effectively also in Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking, and in a number of the other of his best poems. OUT OF THE CRADLE ENDLESSLY ROCKING I. This poem was first called A Child's Reminiscences. It is an account of Whitman's earliest conscious, strong poetic impulse. The boy lived in a small town on Long Island, which he calls by its Indian name, Paumanok. The circumstances under which his soul was so deeply touched we learn from the poem. II. Read the poem carefully with these notes. Lines 1-22 give the circumstances under which the man recalls the experience and writes the reminiscence (lines 2022). Line 1: "The cradle endlessly rocking" is the sea. Line 3: At what time of year does Whitman revisit his old home? When does he go down to the beach to muse? Line 4: The child he remembers had gone out in the night, too. Line 11: The bird-notes recall the bird-song of earlier days (lines 8, 9). The paragraph is composed of one of Whitman's long series, and the main part is at the end; it is a periodic sentence. "I, a man, sing a reminiscence out of all" these things, which bring to memory my boyhood experience in the same scene. Line 23 begins the reminiscence. Line 24 gives the time of the experience. Lines 23-31 tell of the boy's love for and interest in the birds. Lines 32-40 give the song of the male bird; he shows his happiness in his union with his mate by the repetition of "we two." Lines 41-45 tell of the disappearance of the female. Lines 46-129 show the loneliness of her mate through the remainder of the season, and the boy's sympathy with the bird. Line 62: "Has treasured" them because they taught him so much (line 69). The poet "translates" the bird's song into English words. Lines 130ff. describe the scene in which the boy hears the bird's song of "lonesome love." The "fierce old mother" is the sea. With line 135 compare line 10; the scene of the boy's experience is identical with the scene of the man's reverie. Line 136 turns to the effect of the scene and the song on the boy. Line 139: See line 18. The trio (line 140) are the bird, the sea, and the boy's questioning soul. Line 142: Whitman, receiving his first poetic impulse. Line 144: Demon has its old meaning, "spirit." Lines 146-149: The poetic spirit of the boy is awakened by the scene, the music, and the emotion. Line 151: In his poetry. Line 153: The cries he heard from the bird. Line 154: See lines 146, 147. Line 155: See line 135. Lines 156, 157: The "divine fire" of poetic inspiration. Line 160: He wants the clue to the unknown longing (line 157). The word is given in line 169. Line 169: The first time "the knowledge of death" and "the thought of death" came to the boy personally and powerfully must have been with the loss of the bird. Line 170: See line 140. Line 175: "Demon," see line 143. Line 176: See line 134. Line 177: He has heard the same song many times since in the world. See line 12. Line 178: This was the beginning of his poetic inspiration. Lines 179-183: See lines 165-169 and 14. the sea, III. The poem draws material from nature the bird, the moonlight scene. These are brought into connection with humanity, teaching the boy's soul the great secret of existence-Death. Compare this with the influence of the lilac, the star, the bird on the man who wrote the burial hymn for Lincoln, and reached, through the song of the thrush, serenity and cheerfulness in the presence of death. In both poems the listener gives articulate language to the bird's song "translates" it. In Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking the bird sings him a song of unsatisfied love (line 153); the boy's questioning soul demands the clue to this mystery of life (line 158); and the sea whispers him the final word, superior to all (line 161): the word that names the condition in which all mysteries shall be made manifest and all longings shall be satisfied. The poem is important as giving an account of the beginning of conscious poetic inspiration in Whitman. For Whitman's attitude toward death, see again the references given in the study of When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. Make a list of the adjectives applied to death in this poem, and compare them with those used in other poems. IV. Refer to the list of Whitman's peculiarities of style given in the study of When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, and illustrate each item from this poem. V. Read the poem aloud. Remember that Whitman has written a rhythmic chant, not a poem in conventional meter. CHAPTER XXI RALPH WALDO EMERSON REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES Life, by George Willis Cooke; Boston, 1881 Life, by Richard Garnett; London, 1888. Life and Works, by Elizabeth L. Cary; New York, 1904. Emerson, by F. B. Sanborn; Boston, 1885. Life, by George E. Woodberry; New York, 1907. SUPPLEMENTARY READING Voluntaries (1863), Terminus, Threnody, Dirge, The Apology, The Humble-Bee, Fable, Concord Hymn, Boston Hymn, The Rhodora, The Snow-Storm, Each and All, Woodnotes I. Representative Men, Nature, The Over-Soul. SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF EMERSON'S ESSAYS Emerson's purpose is not so much to think a subject through for his readers and give them the result of his meditation as it is to startle them into thinking for themselves. This his style is peculiarly fitted to do. He does not "look at both sides of a question," and load his sentences with clauses qualifying the main statement; rather he throws at the reader a strong assertion, so one-sided that at first it almost provokes contradiction. His purpose being to stimulate thought, he could use no better device. His short, pointed sentences rouse the mind to vigorous action. Another effect of his short sentences is that when he writes, in different essays or in different parts of the same essay, on different phases of a subject, he seems to contradict himself. As we read him, we are always to understand that we are looking at his theme from one angle only. He looks out upon society and sees a tendency to bend too far in one direction; he declares strongly for a bias in the opposite direction; and the resultant is a perpendicular — the correct position, and the one he really desires and expects to obtain. We cannot choose a sentence expressing in his strong fashion a one-sided opinion, and say, "Emerson thought thus or so." We must make a composite picture of his utterances on a subject. We shall then find him wellbalanced, temperate, and reasonable. Since Emerson's purpose is to put strongly one side or phase of a subject, we can readily see that his essays do not outline as easily as those of a more formal writer, who regards his subject, in an orderly and logical fashion, first on one side, then on another, from every angle and point of view. Neither could they be studied as models of coherence. Words of transition are conspicuously wanting, and the progress and connection of his thought is not always immediately apparent. These characteristics, also, tax the reader's powers of interpretation and stimulate his mind. Statements of abstract truths must be illustrated by examples, stories, anecdotes, etc., that they may become not only more clear but more vital. Frequently Emerson does this for the reader; when he does not, the reader should do it for himself. The studies suggested here assume that the student is provided with an annotated text, which gives him sufficient help on allusions; the notes and questions here will not then, as a rule, mention allusions to mythology, history, biography, etc. The student is expected to explain also, without special question, the figures and comparisons used by the author. If he will note carefully the sources from which they are drawn, he will learn much of the mind and scholarship of Emerson. He should study also, without further question, every sentence in its relation to the general thought. The expression is often so unique that, without careful attention, a |