NARRATIVE COMPOSITION.

And buzzing near was a bumble-bee,
Crinkling, yellow, and fat.

“Ho,” said the owl, “but the sun is so bright,
So torrid, blazing away!"

"Oh," said the bat, "for the shades of night,
This horrid, dazzling day!"

"Psho," said the bee, "if that is all,

Blundery, blind old bat,

Yonder's a cloud coming up at your call,-
Thundery,-black as a hat."

"Ah!" cried the bat and the owl together,
"Tumbling, great black cloud,

Bring us some fine, dark, thundery weather,
Rumbling fierce and loud."

Up came the cloud, flying far and wide,
Wizzardly wierd and strong,—
Brisk little hurricane sitting inside,
Blizzardly bowling along.

Off went the owl like a thistle-down puff,
Ruffled-up, rolled in a ball!

Off went the bat like a candle-snuff,
Shuffled-up, toes and all!

Off went the twig and off went the tree,
Scurrying down to the ground,

Nothing was left, save the humble-bee,
Worrying thus to be found.

Yet snug as a bug in the roots of the tree,
Where he grumbled: “What a catastrophe!
I was simply thunderstruck!" said he.
"And I'm sure I prefer the glare

Of the hottest day to that whirling air!

Such a draught! I hope I have not caught cold!

But I know I was over and over rolled.

Am I really safe and sound?"—St. Nicholas.

87

Write out the narrative of the preceding poem from the following outline:

Introduction .

Body.

What was in the caraway tree.
The owl's and the bat's complaint.
What the bee said.

The owl's and the bat's wish.
The coming of the cloud.

What the cloud contained.

Fate of the owl and the bat.

Where the bee was.

The bee's fright and what he said.

Conclusion: Lesson taught by the story.

Hears London streets are paved with gold.
Reaches there disappointed, freezing, starving.

Kind man takes him home.

Dick is put in charge of cook.

Bow bells ring, and seem to keep saying, "Turn
again, turn again, thrice Mayor of London."
Dick returns.

Receives a penny for blacking a guest's shoes.
Buys a cat.

Takes cat to garret, and is freed from mice.

Master sends ship to foreign ports.

Each servant sends something to sell, and on return of ship is to receive money.

Dick sends cat.

Body (continued)

NARRATIVE COMPOSITION.

Ridicule of other servants.
Ship anchored in a foreign port.
Captain invited to dinner by King.

King and guests annoyed at table by rats.
Captain brings Dick's cat.

Destruction of rats.

89

Cat sold for rare jewels and a fabulous sum of

money.

Ship returns home.

Servants called to receive their money.

Master tells Dick of his fortune.

Dick's astonishment and joy.

Conclusion: Rich and generous Sir Richard Whittington becomes Lord Mayor of London three times.

LESSON 8.

THE LAZY FARM-BOY.

Lazy in spring-time, before the leaves are green,
Lazy in summer-time, beneath their leafy screen,
Sure a lazier farm-boy never yet was seen!

His cheeks are round as apples, and browned by sun and breeze,
He bears a pair of patches upon his sturdy knees,

And wears the pleasant countenance of one who loves to please.
The weeds are growing fast, and the master takes his hoe,
And bids his farm-boy follow him, whether he will or no;
He follows, as a farm-boy should, but he follows very slow.

His master leads him to the field, and shows him all his task,
And leaves him when in sunbeams the earth begins to bask,
Just as the boy would like "How long ere dinner-time?" to ask.

After awhile he thinks he hears an early apple fall,
Now surely from the little wood he hears a phoebe call!
So he halts among the pumpkins beside the pasture-wall.

For half an hour he gazes to find the apple-tree,
And listens for the phoebe, but is not sure 't is she,

Then he takes his hoe and marvels so many weeds should be.

And now the face of heaven wears not a single cloud,
The lazy boy above his hoe is for a brief space bowed,
despondent, he stops short before a weedy crowd.

But soon,
"I think," he says, ("I am so tired!)—it must be nigh to noon;
I'll listen for the mid-day bell; it should be ringing soon."
He lies down in the shade to hear, and whistles a slow tune.

There is no sound, the breezes die, he soon falls fast asleep;
The weeds do not stop growing-thus will our labors keep.
He wears a smile, for in his dream he hears a squirrel cheep.

Roused by the clanging bell of noon, he wakes with startled moan;
"I wonder how it is," he says,
66 so many weeds were sown!"
"Because," I answer, "smart farm-boys are not like clover grown."

-St. Nicholas.

With the following helps make an outline for writing a narrative from the foregoing poem:

From stanza one make one point for the introduction. Select the main thought in stanza two for the first point in the body of your story.

Make three points of the three things told in stanza three. From the remaining stanzas make points of the different things that the boy does.

Draw your own conclusion.

Write a story from the outline that you have made.

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUBJECTS FOR NARRATIVE COMPOSITIONS.

"St. Nicholas," both prose and

poetry.

"Wide Awake."

Children's Reading Books.

Children's stories and poems of

standard authors.

Stories of Animals.

Stories of Plants.

Stories of Persons.

"Harper's Young People."
"Youth's Companion."

Have children tell stories read
at home.

Stories from History.

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION.

LESSON 9.

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS.

BUTTERFLIES.

The bees were too busy making honey,
The birds were too busy building nests,
To carry one morning a message grave,
To Elfland, for one of the fairy guests:
(For this was before the butterflies
Had ever been thought of under the skies.)
Then the vexed fairy, who wished to send
The message, leaned from a lily-bell,
And in her tiny, silvery voice,

She scolded poor old Dame Nature well:
"Find us," said she, a messenger light,
Or else we fairies troop home this night."
Dame Nature, who sat on a high green knoll,
Spinning away in the golden light,
Pushed her spectacles back on her brow,

And thought for a moment with all her might;

"I must do something, for well I know

The flowers will pine if the fairies go!"

Then some pansies she picked and gave them wings,

A velvet poppy petal or two,

Streaked them with gold and set them afloat,

And they sailed away in the breezy blue.

And this is the way that Dame Nature wise,
Fashioned the first of the butterflies.

91

Tell in prose what the writer of the preceding poem has said. Introduction . Birds, bees, message.

Why fairy could not send message.
The fairy's anger.

What the fairy told Dame Nature.