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125:13 Trumpet-flower. A climbing-plant with showy orange and scarlet flowers. Pendulous. Hanging, swinging, fastened at one end.

125: 15

125:23 Bison. Buffalo.

125:29

Lee. A sheltered place, here the side of the island over which the wind blew. 125: 30 Palmettos. A kind of palm-tree, the cabbage-palm of the southern states. grows without branches to a height of 150 feet and is crowned by a head of large leaves. 125:35 Tholes. The pins used to keep an oar in its place.

The stem

126: 8 Buoy. A floating cask or piece of wood fastened over the spot where a rock or anchor lies.

126: II

126: 33

Têche (tesh). A bayou or river in Louisiana.

Frenzied Bacchantes. Those who took part in keeping the feasts of Bacchus, the god of wine and drunkards, at which there was much mad or frenzied riot and dancing.

127: 9 Spanish moss. A plant which appears like a mass of gray fibres or threads hanging down from the trees in the southern states.

127: 9 Mystic mistletoe.

A plant which grows on the trunk of the oak and other trees. It was held in great reverence by the ancient Celtic nations, and used in the mystic or secret religious rites of their priests, the Druids.

127: 10 Yule-tide. Christmas time. A. S. Iule, Christmas, and tid, time.

127:33 Doublet. A close-fitting garment reaching to a little below the waist. From double, because it was originally made of two plies or double cloth for defence against blows.

127: 34 Sombrero. A hat with a broad brim for shade.

128: 37

129: I 129: I

Adayes. In Texas.

Trails. Indian paths through the forest, tracks followed by the hunter.

Ozark Mountains. A range of mountains west of the Mississippi in the states of Arkansas and Missouri.

129: 4 Fates. The goddesses who were supposed to hold the lot or fate of men in their hands. 129: 9 Olympus. A mountain in ancient Greece, the home of the gods.

129: 18 Ci-devant. Former. Fr. ci, for ici, here, and devant, before.

129: 19 Domains. The lands ruled over by a king or lord, the land around one's house and which one possesses.

129: 19 Patriarchal. Like a patriarch or ruler and father of a family, aged and reverend looking.

129: 19 Demeanor. Behavior, carriage, bearing.

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130: 4 Keel. The principal timber in a ship, extending along the bottom and supporting the whole frame; a ship itself.

130: 20 Cured, etc. The poet here refers to an old charm for the cure of disease. Eli is Ashmole, in his diary, April 11, 1681, says, "I took early in the morning a good dose of elixir, and hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away. Thanks be to God."

130:23 Creoles. In Spanish America natives of that country descended from European

ancestors.

131:13 Carthusian. One of the orders of monks named Carthusians, from Chartreuse, a village in France where they were established. They are not allowed to go out of their cells except to church, nor speak to any person without leave.

131:23 That temple. The sky.

131:24 Upharsin. See Daniel v., 25.

132: 3 Oracular. Belonging to or speaking like one of the ancient oracles, with authority as from the gods, Oracles were supposed answers given by the gods at certain places to men's inquiries; one of these places was a cave in the island of Crete. L. oro, to speak.

132: 21

132: 24

Garrulous. Inclined to talk; talkative.

Far in the West, etc.

The poet here describes the vast regions of the United States around and beyond the Rocky Mountains.

132: 25 Perpetual. per petulus.

Continuing without end, here, never absent. Fr. perpetuel, from L.

132:26 Ravine. A long, deep hollow formed by a mountain stream, a deep glen with steep sides. Fr. ravin, from ravir, to tear away.

132:26 Gorge. A narrow passage or entrance, especially between mountains.

132: 28 Oregon. Now named the Columbia River.

132:30
132:00 Precipitate. With headlong haste, very rapidly.

Nebraska. Nebraska or Platte River, flows into the Missouri.

132: 31

River.

Fontaine-qui-bout. Fr. boiling spring; the name of a creek running into the Arkansas

132:31 Sierras. Masses of mountains with jagged tops like the teeth of a saw. Span. sierra, a

saw.

133: 5 Amorpha. A plant with a dark purple flower. It is so named from the irregular form of the flower, sometimes called false indigo or lead-plant.

133: 7 133: 7

Elk. The largest living species of the deer family.

Roebuck. A species of deer much smaller than the elk.

133: 10 Ishmael's children. The Indians, who wandered up and down like Ishmael without a fixed home and always at war.

133: 17 Taciturn. Silent by habit or nature.

133: 17 Anchorite. One who retires into a solitary place to give himself up to meditation and religious duties, a hermit. Gr. anachoretes, from ana, back, and choreo, to retire.

133:22 Trappers. See note on 121: 31.

133: 29

Fata Morgana. A name given to a striking deception of the eyesight, which has been principally remarked in the Strait of Messina, between the coasts of Sicily and Calabria. The images of men, horses, towers, palaces, columns, trees, etc., are occasionally seen from the coast, sometimes in the water, and sometimes in the air or at the surface of the water. It is a kind of mirage. Italian, because supposed to be the work of a fata or fairy called Morgana. 133:34 Shawnee. An Indian tribe now situated west of the Mississippi.

133:35 Camanches. An Indian tribe of Mexico and Texas, extremely warlike and fond of plunder.

134: 19 Mowis, etc. The Indian woman here relates traditions current among her people. 134: 24 Weird. Unearthly, not human.

134: 24 Incantation. A magical song, spell, or charm.

125: 15 Black Robe chief. The priest, in allusion to the color of his dress.

135:23 Jesuit. One of the Society of Jesus, a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard, in the sixteenth century. They soon spread over most parts of the world as missionaries. 135:29 Aerial. High in air, airy.

135:29 Vespers. The evening service in the Catholic Church.

135:30 135:33

mission.

Susurrus.

A continued hissing sound, a whisper.

Benediction. The blessing pronounced by the priest on the congregation before dis

137: 6 Water-gourd. A vessel for holding water, so named from being shaped like the outer shell of the fruit called a gourd.

136: 8 Six suns. Six days, or the number of times that the sun has risen.

136: 18

Betimes. Early, soon, before it is late.

136:25 Cloister. An arcade or long passage arched over, in which the monks walked for ex

ercise.

136:25 Mendicant. Begging, living upon charity. It is the name of an order of begging friars or monks.

137: 1 Compass-flower. A handsome American plant, allied to the sunflower. Certain of its leaves, when growing, turn to the north and south.

137: 7 Asphodel. A plant of the lily kind, with flowers of different colors and great beauty. 137: 7 Nepenthe. A magic drink anciently believed to make persons forget their sorrow; the word is now used of a medicine which relieves pain.

137: 10 Wold. A plain, an open country.

137:12 Saginaw. A river of Michigan, flowing into Saginaw Bay, a branch of Lake Huron. 137:13 St. Lawrence. The river which issues from Lake Ontario, and drains the chain of great lakes in North America. It has a total length of over two thousand miles.

137: 22 Moravian. A name given to a religious body which took its rise in Moravia in Austria at the time of the Reformation. The Moravians are distinguished for their humble piety, and have established missions in almost every part of the world.

138: 1 Delaware. The river forming the eastern boundary of the state of Pennsylvania and falling into Delaware Bay.

138: 2 Penn the apostle. William Penn, an Englishman, and member of the Society of Friends. He suffered imprisonment in England for preaching the Gospel, and emigrated to America with some of his brethren to enjoy liberty of conscience. He founded the state of Pennsylvania in 1682 which was so named in honor of him. In his dealings with the native Indians he was noted for his love of justice.

138: 3 City he founded.

Philadelphia (meaning "brotherly love").

138: 5 Streets still re-echo. Many of the streets of Philadelphia bear the names of trees that formerly grew where the city now stands, or still grow in the neighborhood.

138: 6 Dryads. The nymphs or goddesses who presided over trees or woods.

138: 13

Thee and Thou. The Society of Friends or Quakers use thee and thou instead of you when addressing anyone.

138:29 Transfigured. Changed in form or appearance.

138:31 Abnegation. Denial.

138:34 Aroma. The sweet smell of plants, or the quality which gives them a sweet smell. 139: 2 Sisters of Mercy. An order of women belonging to the Catholic Church, bound by religious vows to spend their lives in visiting the sick and criminals, and such like acts of charity and mercy.

139: 7 In early days before the advent of policemen, watchmen patrolled the streets of cities at night time, calling out the hours, finishing with the cry, "All is well."

139: 9 Suburbs. Now Germantown.

139:13 Presage. To foreshow, to show by a present sign what is about to happen.

139: 18 Brackish. Salt in some degree, a word applied to fresh water mixed with salt water, so that it is spoiled for use.

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140: 24

114: 4

Flowerets. Small flowers.

Reverberation. Act of echoing or sounding backward and forward.

142: 2 Misty Atlantic. So called from the fogs which prevail in the Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia. See note on 120: 29.

142: 6 Norman caps. High white caps still worn by the women in the ancient province of Normandy in France. 142: 8

While from its rocky caverns, etc. See lines 5, 6. The poet beautifully concludes his tale of the vicissitudes of human life by repeating someof the opening lines of the poem. The heroes of his drama have long sinced passed away, a few descendants alone are left to tell the story of their love and trials; but the same unchanging Ocean "speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the Forest.'

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

GRAY

Thomas Gray was born in London, the birthplace likewise of Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, and Pope, on December 26, 1716. His father, Philip Gray, a selfish and extravagant man, was what we should now call a stockbroker. His mother, Dorothy Antrobus, a native of Buckinghamshire, kept a milliner's shop in the city. Thomas was the only survivor of their twelve children. He was educated at Eton, where he made the acquaintance of Horace Walpole, son of the great statesman, Sir Robert Walpole, and formed with him a friendship that, with brief intervals of estrangement, lasted through life. On leaving Eton, Gray, who seems to have been a shy and studious lad, proceeded to Cambridge, first to Pembroke College, and afterwards to Peterhouse, where he remained until 1738. In the next year he started with Horace Walpole to make, as was then the custom with young men, the grand tour of Europe, and was away from England three years. They travelled through France and Italy. Some dispute over a trivial matter caused a separation in 1741, and each proceeded on his way alone. But the breach was healed within three years, and notwithstanding the marked difference of their temperaments the two men remained intimate for the rest of their lives. On the death of his father Gray had to face poverty, and determined to study law as a means of livelihood. But his pecuniary position improving, he abandoned the idea, and went to live at Stoke Pogis, in Buckinghamshire. Until 1759 he divided his time between Cambridge and Stoke. He published poems in 1747 and 1748, and the famous Elegy written in a Country Churchyard in 1751. To his great and lasting grief Gray lost his mother in 1753. Habitually reserved, it was this event that called forth perhaps the only outward expression of his feelings. On her tombstone he inscribed the words that he "had the misfortune to survive her"; and in a letter to a friend written in 1766 he says: "I have discovered a thing very little known, which is, that in one's whole life one can never have more than a single mother." In 1759 Gray left Stoke for good, and spent the next three years in London, chiefly occupied in making researches at the British Museum. The rest of his life was, if possible, even less eventful than what had gone before. Like Wordsworth, Gray was satisfied with the contemplative life. He never married, although it is supposed that at one time he thought of becoming the husband of Miss Harriet Speed, the niece of Lady Cobham, Gray's neighbor at Stoke. Gray died at Cambridge, July 30, 1771, and was buried at Stoke, in the vault containing the remains of his mother.

Gray wrote but little. In a letter to Horace Walpole he calls himself "but a shrimp of an author." Yet that little is of so fine a quality that it places Gray among the greatest of our poets. He has been well described as an artist in verse.

ELEGY

WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD

NOTE

This poem was begun at Stoke in 1742, and finished at Cambridge in 1750. It was then circulated in manuscript by Horace Walpole, and finally published by Dodsley in 1751. The poem is a fine expression of the thoughts that occur to most serious-minded men when contemplating the great mystery of death. Gray possessed in a very high degree the art belonging to all great poets of expressing finely and for once and always the ordinary thoughts of men. Thus it is that so many of the lines of the poem (more than in any other poem in the language of a like length) have become familiar in our mouths as household words.

The scene of the poem is probably the churchyard of Stoke Pogis, in Buckinghamshire, where Gray and his mother are buried.

The Elegy has been highly praised by most of Gray's critics, but perhaps the most interesting criticism is that of General Wolfe, who, while visiting his ships the night before the taking of Quebec, spoke of Gray's Elegy, and said, “I would prefer being the author of that poem to the glory of beating the French to-morrow." And he then repeated the stanza beginning, "The boast of heraldry." The form of the poem is perfect. Each stanza is composed of four lines, each containing five iambic feet (i. e. a foot of two syllables, the second accented) rhyming alternately. This metre is known as the Heroic Quatrain, and was used by Sir John Davies in the Nosce Teipsum (1599), by Davenant in Gondibert (1651), and by Dryden in the Annus Mirabilis (1667). Alliteration (i. e. several words in one line or stanza beginning with the same letter, thus aiding the melody and music of the verse), and the constant inversion of the usual order of words, a thing permissible in poetry, are both used here with admirable effect. That Gray was a great polisher of his work is well proved by the number of alterations he made in this poem before he was satisfied with it.

5

[A picture of Nature: the coming on of night.]

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,

Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:

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