Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools Part 14

COLLATERAL READINGS

To Have and to Hold Mary Johnston Prisoners of Hope " "

The Long Roll " "

Cease Firing " "

Audrey " "

The Virginians W.M. Thackeray White Ap.r.o.ns Maude Wilder Goodwin The Gold Bug Edgar Allan Poe Treasure Island R.L. Stevenson Kidnapped " "

Ebb Tide " "

Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coast Frank R. Stockton Kate Bonnett " "

Drake Julian Corbett Drake and his Yeomen James Barnes Drake, the Sea-king of Devon G.M. Towle Raleigh " "

Red Rover J.F. Cooper The Pirate Walter Scott Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe Two Years before the Mast R.H. Dana Tales of a Traveller (Part IV) Washington Irving Nonsense Novels (chapter 8) Stephen Leac.o.c.k The Duel (in _The Master of Ballantrae_, chapter 4) R.L. Stevenson The Lost Galleon (poem) Bret Harte Stolen Treasure Howard Pyle Jack Ballister's Fortunes " "

Buried Treasure R.B. Paine The Last Buccaneer (poem) Charles Kingsley The Book of the Ocean Ernest Ingersoll Ocean Life in the Old Sailing-Ship Days J.D. Whidden

For Portraits of Miss Johnston, see Bookman, 20:402; 28:193.

THE GRa.s.sHOPPER

EDITH M. THOMAS

Shuttle of the sunburnt gra.s.s, Fifer in the dun cuira.s.s, Fifing shrilly in the morn, Shrilly still at eve unworn; Now to rear, now in the van, Gayest of the elfin clan: Though I watch their rustling flight, I can never guess aright Where their lodging-places are; 'Mid some daisy's golden star, Or beneath a roofing leaf, Or in fringes of a sheaf, Tenanted as soon as bound!

Loud thy reveille doth sound, When the earth is laid asleep, And her dreams are pa.s.sing deep, On mid-August afternoons; And through all the harvest moons, Nights brimmed up with honeyed peace, Thy gainsaying doth not cease.

When the frost comes, thou art dead; We along the stubble tread, On blue, frozen morns, and note No least murmur is afloat: Wondrous still our fields are then, Fifer of the elfin men!

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

Why is the gra.s.shopper called a "shuttle"? What does the word _still_ mean here? Who are the "elfin clan"? By whom is the sheaf tenanted? What is a _reveille_? Does the gra.s.shopper chirp at night? Why is its cry called "gainsaying"?

See how simple the meter (measure) is in this little poem. Ask your teacher to explain how it is represented by these characters:

-u-u-u- -u-u-u-

[Transcriber's note: The u's represent breve marks in the text]

Note which signs indicate the accented syllables. See whether or not the accent comes at the end of the line. The rhyme-scheme is called a _couplet_, because of the way in which two lines are linked together.

This kind of rhyme is represented by _aa_, _bb_, _cc_, etc.

EXERCISES

Find some other poem that has the same meter and rhyme that this one has. Try to write a short poem of five or six couplets, using this meter and rhyme. You do not need to choose a highly poetic subject: Try something very simple.

Perhaps you can "get a start" from one of the lines given below:--

1. Glowing, darting dragon-fly.

2. Voyager on dusty wings (A Moth).

3. Buzzing through the fragrant air (A Bee).

4. Trembling lurker in the gloom (A Mouse).

5. Gay red-throated epicure (A humming-bird).

6. Stealthy vagrant of the night (An Owl).

7. Flashing through your crystal room (A Gold-fish).

8. Fairyland is all awake.

9. Once when all the woods were green.

10. In the forest is a pool.

COLLATERAL READINGS

On the Gra.s.shopper and Cricket John Keats To the Gra.s.shopper and the Cricket Leigh Hunt Little Brother of the Ground Edwin Markham The Humble Bee R.W. Emerson The Cricket Percy Mackaye The Katydid " "

A Glow Worm (in _Little Folk Lyrics_) F.D. Sherman Bees " " " " " "

MOLY

EDITH M. THOMAS

The root is hard to loose From hold of earth by mortals, but G.o.ds' power Can all things do. 'Tis black, but bears a flower As white as milk. (Chapman's Homer.)

Traveller, pluck a stem of moly, If thou touch at Circe's isle,-- Hermes' moly, growing solely To undo enchanter's wile.

When she proffers thee her chalice,-- Wine and spices mixed with malice,-- When she smites thee with her staff To transform thee, do thou laugh!

Safe thou art if thou but bear The least leaf of moly rare.

Close it grows beside her portal, Springing from a stock immortal,-- Yes, and often has the Witch Sought to tear it from its niche; But to thwart her cruel will The wise G.o.d renews it still.

Though it grows in soil perverse, Heaven hath been its jealous nurse, And a flower of snowy mark Springs from root and sheathing dark; Kingly safeguard, only herb That can brutish pa.s.sion curb!

Some do think its name should be Shield-heart, White Integrity.

Traveller, pluck a stem of moly, If thou touch at Circe's isle,-- Hermes' moly, growing solely To undo enchanter's wile!

NOTES

=Chapman's Homer=:--George Chapman (1559?-1634) was an English poet. He translated Homer from the Greek into English verse.

=moly=:--An herb with a black root and a white flower, which Hermes gave to Odysseus in order to help him withstand the spell of the witch Circe.

=Circe=:--A witch who charmed her victims with a drink that she prepared for them, and then changed them into the animals they in character most resembled.

=Hermes=:--The messenger of the other Greek G.o.ds; he was crafty and eloquent.

=The wise G.o.d=:--Hermes, or Mercury.