The Danish king1 could not in all his pride But seated in this chair, I can in rhyme I see again, as one in vision sees, And hear the children's voices shout and call, I see the smithy with its fires aglow, I hear the bellows blow, And the shrill hammers on the anvil beat The iron white with heat! And thus, dear children, have ye made for me And to my more than threescore years and ten The heart hath its own memory, like the mind, And in it are enshrined 5 The precious keepsakes, into which is wrought The giver's loving thought. 1 Danish king. The allusion is to King Cnut (see Fifth Reader, Lesson 99). 2 repel. See Glossary. 8 roll 4 threescore, ctc. When was Longfellow born? 5 enshrined, as though put in a shrine, or receptacle for sacred Time. Explain this relics. figurative expression. 6 precious. See Glossary. Only your love and your remembrance could And make these branches, leafless now so long, 1 2. THE DAY IS DONE. THE day is done, and the darkness I see the lights of the village Gleam through the rain and the mist, A feeling of sadness and longing, As the mist resembles the rain. Come, read to me some poem, 1 give life... Blossom. Literal or figurative? 4 As the mist, etc. Show the appositeness of this beautiful simile. 5 lay, song. 2 wafted (allied to wave), floated. 8 akin (a, off, and kin, race, kind), literally, of the same kind; related ban, or proclamation: hence, to 6 banish, originally to put under to, like. Note that this adjective exile, and secondarily to drive follows the noun it modifies. away. Not from the grand old masters, Not from the bards sublime, For, like strains of martial music, Read from some humbler poet, Whose songs gushed from his heart. Who, through long days of labor, Such songs have power to quiet Then read from the treasured volume4 And lend to the rhyme of the poet The beauty of thy voice. 1 corridors of Time. What is the figure of speech? 2 As showers. Or tears, etc. What are these two comparisons used to illustrate? 3 the benediction. Explain the meaning of the word here. What is the figure of speech? 4 the treasured volume. What is the thought? And the night shall be filled with music, 3. THE BELL OF ATRI. [From the Tales of a Wayside Inn.] AT Atri2 in Abruzzo, a small town Of ancient Roman date, but scant renown,— 6 Then rode he through the streets with all his train, And, with the blast of trumpets loud and long, Made proclamation, that whenever wrong 1 Shall fold. away. A muchquoted couplet. It contains a metaphor and a simile: point out each, and show their appropriateness. 2 Atri (pron. ä'tre), a town of Italy, anciently Hadria, the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. 3 Abruzzo (pron. ä-broot'so), a province of Italy. 4 have run... sat down. What is the figure of speech? 5 Re Giovanni (pron. rā jo-và'nē), Italian for King John. 6 projecting. See Glossary. Was done to any man, he should but ring How swift 2 the happy days in Atri sped,3 5 The hempen rope at length was worn away, By chance it happened that in Atri dwelt A knight, with spur on heel and sword in belt, He sold his horses, sold his hawks and hounds, 1 syndic, an officer of justice. 2 swift swiftly. 8 sped, made haste. 4 decay. See Webster. 5 unraveled. Explain. 6 votive (from Latin votum, al vow), given by vow, given as an offering. hoods: that is, the cloth blinders put on the hunting hawk in the early stages of the chase. 8 prodigalities. Givea synonym. |