Put on his wings and strapped them tight, "Hush!" Reuben said, 10 He's opened the winder, I see his head! He stretches it out, An' pokes it about, Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear, An' nobody near; 15 Guess he don'o' who's hid in here! 20 Of his springboard, and teeters to try its strength. "Now he stretches his wings like a monstrous bat; 25 Peeks over his shoulder, this way an' that, Fer to see 'f the''s anyone passin' by; But the' 's on'y a ca'f an' a goslin' nigh. They turn up at him a wonderin' eye, To see the dragon! he's goin' to fly! Away he goes! Jiminy! what a jump! Flop flop an' plump To the ground with a thump, Flutt'rin' an' flound'rin', all 'n a lump!" As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear, In the midst of the barnyard, he came down, 5 IO Broken tail and broken wings, Shooting stars and various things, Barnyard litter of straw and chaff. Away with a bellow fled the calf, And what was that? Did the gosling laugh? 'Tis a merry roar From the old barn door, And he hears the voice of Jotham crying, "Say, D'rius! how do you like flyin'?" Slowly, ruefully, where he lay, Darius just turned and looked that way, As he stanched his sorrowful nose with his cuff. 25 "Wall, I like flyin' well enough," He said, "but the' ain't sich a awful sight O' fun in't when ye come to light." 5 Moral I just have room for the moral here: On spreading your wings for a loftier flight, The moral is, Take care how you light. 1. Tell the story of Icarus and Dædalus. Compare Darius's flying machine with a modern airplane. When and by whom was the airplane perfected as a practical flyer? 2. How much of the story is told from Darius's standpoint? Through whose eyes do we see the rest? 3. Describe Darius. Is he really a clever lad? Why do we laugh at his experiment? 4. The poem is written partially in dialect. Explain what “dialect" is. What other poems do you know that are in dialect? 5. J. T. Trowbridge (1827-1916) was a clever American writer of verse and fiction, chiefly boys' books. Can you find anything of interest about him? ΙΟ AUNT DOLEFUL'S VISIT OW do you do, Cornelia? I heard you were sick, and I stepped in to cheer you up a little. My friends often say, "It's such a comfort to see you, Aunt Doleful. You have such a flow of conversation, and are so lively." 5 Besides, I said to myself as I came up the stairs, "Perhaps it's the last time I'll ever see Cornelia Jane alive." You don't mean to die yet, eh? Well, now, how do you know? You can't tell. You think you are getting better; but there was poor Mrs. Jones sitting up, and everyone To saying how smart she was, and all of a sudden she was taken with spasms in the heart and went off like a flash. But you must be careful and not get anxious or excited. Keep quite calm and don't fret about anything. Of course things can't go just as if you were downstairs; and I wondered whether you knew your little Billy was sailing about in a tub on the mill pond, and that your little Sammy 5 was letting your little Jimmy down from the veranda roof in a clothes basket. Goodness! what's the matter? I guess Providence'll Don't look so. You thought Bridget take care of them. was watching them? Well, no, she isn't. I saw her talk-10 How is Mr. Kobble? Well, but finds it warm in town, eh ? 15 Well, I should think he would. They are dropping down by hundreds there with sunstroke. You must prepare your mind to have him brought home any day. Anyhow, a trip on these railroad trains is just risking your life every time you take one. Back and forth every day as he is, is just trifling with danger. Scarlet fever has broken out in the village, Cornelia. Little Isaac Potter has it, and I saw your Jimmy playing with him last Saturday. 20 Well, I must be going now. I've got another sick 25 friend, and I sha'n't consider my duty done unless I cheer her up a little before I sleep. You don't look so well as you did when I came in. But if anything happens, send for me at once. If I can't do anything else, I can cheer you up a little. 1. This is an old, favorite recitation. What do you think of this type of humor as compared with Mark Twain's? GRADGRIND'S IDEA OF EDUCATION BY CHARLES DICKENS Thomas Gradgrind was proud of himself. He was a "self-made" man who attributed his own successes in life to his mastery of Facts. He is here represented as officially testing a school upon its knowledge of his favorite Facts. "NOW OW what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to 5 them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children. Stick to Facts, sir; nothing but Facts." The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged 10 in order, ready to have gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim. Thomas Gradgrind, sir. A man of realities. A man of facts and calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four and nothing over, 15 and who is not to be talked into allowing for anything over. Thomas Gradgrind, sir, with a rule and a pair of scales and the multiplication table always in his pocket, sir, ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature and tell you exactly what it comes to. 20 It is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arithmetic. You might hope to get some other nonsensical belief into the head of George Gradgrind, or Augustus |