LESSON XVIII. MEMORIZATION.-ORPHEUS. Orpheus with his lute made trees There had made a lasting spring. Everything that heard him play, Hung their heads, and then .ay by; In sweet music is such art2, Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or hearing die.-William Shakspere. 1as if. 2 that (understood). EXERCISE. Gain brevity, subordination, and rhythm by reducing each of the following groups of sentences to one compact long sentence:-(1) I parted with the old angler. I inquired after his place of abode. I happened to be near the village. It was a few evenings later. I had the curiosity to seek him out. (2) I found him. He was living in a small cottage. The cottage contained only one room. The cottage was a perfect curiosity in its method. The cottage was a perfect curiosity in its arrangement. (3) It was on the skirts of the village. It was on a green bank. It was a little back from the road. It had a small garden in front. The garden was stocked with kitchen herbs. The garden was adorned with flowers. (4) His schoolhouse was a low building. It was composed of only one room. It was rudely constructed of logs. The windows were partly glazed. The windows were partly patched with leaves of copy-books. (5) The school-house stood in a rather lonely situation. It stood in a pleasant situation. It stood just at the foot of a woody hill. It had a brook running close by. It had a formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. COMPOSITION.-Tell the story of "Orpheus and Eurydice." Theme. Introduction: The sweet singer, Orpheus (or'fews) — All living things charmed by his music: birds, trees, streams. The Story: His beautiful young wife, Eurydice (yew rid'i sē) -A serpent stings her and she dies-Orpheus seeks her in the Land of the Shades-His music wins a passage across the River of Death, and makes the watch-dog of the pass let him enter the land of the dead-Pluto, king of the Lower World, grants his prayer and restores Eurydice to him-But there is one conditionHe must not look back at Eurydice till they are out of the Shades -They near the Upper World—Orpheus cannot forbear giving one backward glance-His wife must return to the Land of Shades. Conclusion: The grief of Orpheus till his death. LESSON XIX. MEMORIZATION. FROM "A WISH." Happy the man whose wish and care Content to breathe his native air In his own ground. Sound sleep by night; study and ease Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die ; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie. -Alexander Pope. (Written at the age of twelve). EXERCISE. Turn each clause in the following into a simple sentence, whenever the clause is really an independent principal statement : The pupil must sedulously avoid long compound sentences joined arbitrarily by and's, but's, so's, and then's. (1) I am not going to relate the voyage in detail, it was fairly prosperous and the ship proved to be a good ship, the crew were capable seamen and the captain understood his business. (2) The crowd surged about the entry and some made their way in but others were crushed against the barriers but one poor woman was overcome with fear so she cried out for help so a passage was made for her and she escaped. (3) The boat sank by the stern and so far there was no harm done and no lives were lost and we could wade ashore in safety but there were all our stores at the bottom and only two guns remained fit for service. (4) The fair breeze blew and the white foam flew and the furrow followed free and we were the first that ever burst into that silent sea. (Compound by punctuation only.) (5) It was on an autumn day when the grapes were ripe and a fox sneaked into a vineyard and there he saw a great many bunches of grapes hanging on high, so he tried to reach them and jumped and jumped but he could not jump high enough, so he could not get them and he got very tired at last, so he said to himself "Pshaw! I don't care, the grapes are sour anyway.” COMPOSITION.-Tell the story of "King Midas." Title. Introduction: Silenus, the jovial Satyr, often drunk, once lost his way-Brought to King Midas he was royally received — His pupil, the young god Bacchus, offers the King as recompense any gift he will choose. The Story: Midas's choice is the Golden Touch--that is, that everything he touches shall turn to gold-Result as to flowers, books, food, drink-The gift is a curse, not a blessing--Prayer to Bacchus-The god in pity takes it away. Conclusion: Midas bathes in river Pact'olus-Is free from the fatal gift-The river sands are still golden to-day. COMPOSITION- I. Phaeton. 2. Niobe. 3. The Garden of the Hesperides. 4. Atalanta's Race. 5. King Admetus. 6. Hero and Leander. 7. Pyramus and Thisbe. 8. Ulysses and the Sirens. 9. Ulysses and the Lotos-Eaters. 10. Scylla and Charybdis. II. Nausicaä. 12. The Death of Hercules. 13. Theseus and Ariadne. 14. Iphigenia. 15. The Death of Hector. 16. Laocoön. 1 Material for these compositions is found in Gayley's "Classic Myths in English Literature." (Boston: Ginn and Co.) CHAPTER V.-STORIES FROM ANCIENT HISTORY. LESSON XX. MEMORIZATION.—FROM “The Isles of Greece." The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece ! The mountains look on Marathon- And musing there an hour alone, I dreamed that Greece might still be free; I could not deem myself a slave. -Lord Byron. THEME: THe Battle OF MARATHON. For a century and a half the cities of Greece struggled against Persian invasions, until at last the Greeks themselves under Alexander invaded and conquered Persia. Early in this struggle Darius (dar i' us), the Persian King, sent heralds to Greece demanding earth and water as tokens of subjection to him. Some of the cities weakly yielded, but Athens and Sparta, the leading cities of Greece, refused. Darius in wrath moved his forces against them, and encamped on the plain of Mar'athon, supported by his fleet, which lay in the bay of the same name. Athens had great cause to fear, for Marathon was but twentytwo miles from the city; yet no Athenian dreamed of submitting without a blow for freedom. The Athenians sent for aid to Sparta. So swift of foot was the courier Phidippides (fi dip i dēs) that he made the journey of one hundred and fifty miles in forty-eight hours. Sparta promised her help, but by ancient custom the Spartan troops might not set out until the moon was past its full. This meant a delay of five days, during which time Athens might fall and Greece be ruined. The Athenians, by the advice of their chief general, Miltiades (mil tī' ah dēs), marched straight to Marathon. Looking down from the hills they saw the great Persian army, which must have out-numbered their little band almost ten to one. The Greeks, descending to the plain, spread out in a long thin line, and charged across the open at a full run, sounding their war-cry as they advanced. So furious was their onslaught that the Persians could use neither cavalry nor bowmen. The Persian line on both wings broke and fled to the ships. In the centre the Greeks, breathless from their long run, were driven back. But Miltiades brought up his victorious wings, and attacking the Persian centre with his entire force soon had the enemy in full flight. The marshes swallowed up many of the flying men, hundreds fell by the swords of the victors, but a vast number made good their escape to the ships. The Greek loss was only one hundred and ninety men. The Persian fleet would fain have attacked Athens in the absence of the Greek forces, but Miltiades, divining their purpose, marched back his weary troops and reached Athens just soon enough to save it. Baffled at all points, the Persians sailed away, and Athens, for the time, was safe. EXERCISE I. A.-Make two connected sentences about (1) Persia, (2) Alexander the Great, (3) an encampment, |