Write a brief description of some beautiful sunset which you can recall, presenting as vividly as possible the colors and effects produced.

LESSON X

COMPARISON

In literature, statements regarding qualities which objects possess are often made clearer and stronger by comparing them to well-known objects in nature that possess the same qualities. For instance, in speaking of anything that is white, it is often said to be as white as snow, or of something that is hard, it may be said to be as hard as flint.

Tell of what quality each of the following is used as the type, and write a sentence containing a comparison about this quality:

honey

the bee or the ant

Explain the comparison in each of the following:

The apple blossoms fell like flakes of snow.

The Ocean's voice is like the thunder, and his sleep,
Is a giant's slumber, loud and deep. - BARRY CORNWALL.

She looks as clear

As morning roses newly wash'd with dew. - SHAKESPEARE.

Blue were her eyes as the fairy flax,

Her cheeks like the dawn of day. — LONGFELLOW.

Joy comes and goes, hope ebbs and flows

Like the wave. - ARNOLD.

LESSON XI

STUDY OF A POEM

THE RIVULET

This little rill that, from the springs
Of yonder grove its current brings,
Plays on the slope awhile, and then
Goes prattling into groves again,
Oft to its warbling waters drew
My little feet, when life was new.
When woods in early green were dressed,

And from the chambers of the west

The warmer breezes, travelling out,
Breathed the new scent of flowers about,
My truant steps from home would stray,
Upon its grassy side to play,
List the brown thrasher's vernal hymn,
And crop the violet on its brim,
With blooming cheeks and open brow,
As young and gay, sweet rill, as thou.

And when the days of boyhood came,
And I had grown in love with fame,

STUDY OF A POEM

Duly I sought thy banks, and tried
My first rude numbers by thy side.
Words cannot tell how bright and gay
The scenes of life before me lay.
Then glorious hopes, that now to speak
Would bring the blood into my cheek,
Passed o'er me; and I wrote, on high,
A name I deemed should never die.

Years changed thee not. Upon yon hill The tall old maples, verdant still,

Yet tell, in grandeur of decay,

How swift the years have passed away,
Since first, a child, and half afraid,

I wandered in the forest shade.

Thou, ever joyous rivulet,

Dost dimple, leap, and prattle yet;
And sporting with the sands that pave
The windings of thy silver wave,
And dancing to thy own wild chime,
Thou laughest at the lapse of time.
The same sweet sounds are in my ear
My early childhood loved to hear;
As pure thy limpid waters run,
As bright they sparkle in the sun;
As fresh and thick the bending ranks
Of herbs that line thy oozy banks;
The violet there, in soft May dew,
Comes up, as modest and as blue;
As green amid thy current's stress,
Floats the scarce-rooted watercress;
And the brown ground-bird in thy glen,
Still chirps as merrily as then.

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Thou changest not- but I am changed
Since first thy pleasant banks I ranged;
And the grave stranger, come to see
The play-place of his infancy,
Has scarce a single trace of him
Who sported once upon thy brim.
The visions of my youth are past-
Too bright, too beautiful to last.
I've tried the world-it wears no more
The coloring of romance it wore.
Yet well has Nature kept the truth
She promised to my earliest youth;
The radiant beauty shed abroad
On all the glorious works of God,
Shows freshly, to my sobered eye,

Each charm it wore in days gone by. - BRYANT.

This poem is given for study for the purpose of considering the elements used by a poet in describing a stream of water. It will be found that certain features, such as the location and surroundings of the stream, its motion and sound, are mentioned. These are the literary materials, and an understanding of how poets use these materials, and with what effect, adds to the pleasure of the reading and study of poetry.

After reading the poem aloud in class, such words and passages as "its current brings," "early green," "truant steps," vernal," "my first rude numbers," and others which may require explanation should be discussed.

66

Describe the pictures and scenes presented. The first stanza gives the picture of a spring day of which every

STUDY OF A POEM

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one will feel the beauty. The boy playing by the bank of the stream, picking the violets, and listening to the birds, will call to the minds of many children a delightful experience of their own. The picture of the stream in the third stanza is one which will give much pleasure also.

Select all words and groups of words in which the motion of the stream is mentioned. Consider whether these indicate strong and vigorous, or gentle motion.

Select the words used in speaking of the sound made by the water. Are the sounds musical? Why did the poet love to hear them? Notice whether these suggest joy, merriment, or sadness.

Give words used in describing the appearance of the water and explain how they add to the clearness and beauty of the description of this stream.

Consider how this rivulet was connected with the life of the poet, and why he loved it. When and why did he go to the brook "when life was new"? How does he compare himself to the rivulet at that time? Why do you think he went to the brook, when he was older, to try his "first rude numbers" by its side? Why did he visit the stream after he became a man? particularly reminded upon this visit? ing this stream does the poet impress upon our minds? With Bryant's description of the rivulet still fresh in mind, read "The Brook," by Lord Tennyson. Consider how its location, the motion, the sound, and the appearance of the water enter into his description; and observe

Of what was he What fact regard