"These twenty nobles, " he said, " which, with the bugle, thou hast fairly won, are thine own; we will make them fifty, if thou wilt take livery and service with us as a yeoman of our bodyguard, and be near to our person. For never did so strong a hand bend a bow, or so true an eye direct a shaft. ""Pardon me, noble prince, " said Locksley; " but I have vowed that if I ever took service it should be with your royal brother, King Richard. These twenty nobles I leave to Hubert,who has this day drawn as brave a bow as his grandsire did at Hastings. Had his modesty not refused the trial, he would have hit the wand as well as I. "Hubert shook his head as he received with reluctance the bounty of the stranger; and Locksley, anxious to escape further observation, mixed with the crowd, and was seen no more.
Sir Walter Scott, in Ivanhoe.
Author.-Scott (see "Rosabelle ").
General Notes.-This is an excerpt from lvanhoe; it pictures a supposed incident in the reign of King Richard the First, whose kingdom was for the time being ruled by Prince John. Find, if you can, pictures showing the costume of the period. Gunpowder had not yet come into use, and the arrow was the most deadly missile. Make a list of the characters, giving to each a brief description. Locksley was, of course, Robin Hood, one of the world"s most picturesque robbers. Find, in your dictionary, meanings for baldric, yeoman, prevost, clout noble(coin). Discuss the reference to the more or less mythical King Arthur. Write a similar account of a " Rifle-shooting Contest. "LESSON 54
CROSSINg THE BAR
Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea.
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam,When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;For, though from out the bourne of Time and PlaceThe flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
Tennyson.
Author.-Tennyson (see "The Bugle Song ").
General Notes.-Discuss all that is involved in the words "sunset," "evening star, " "moaning of the bar, " " tide, " "bourne of Time and Space. " Mark the serene majesty and simplicity of the poem. In the last two lines the metaphor is hard to follow. Could we say that here Captain and Pilot are one ? Recall other poems on the same theme- Browning"s Prospice, Henley"s The Happy Passing, Gordon"s The Sick Stockrider, etc. Which do you prefer ?
LESSON 55
THE pATRIOT
It was roses, roses, all the way,
With myrtle mixed in my path like mad; The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,A year ago on this very day.
The air broke into a mist with bells,
The old walls rocked with the crowd and cries; Had I said, "Good folk, mere noise repels-But give me your sun from yonder skies ! "
They had answered, " And afterward, what else ? "Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun To give it my loving friends to keep!
Naught man could do, have I left undone: And you see my harvest, what I reapThis very day, now a year is run.
There"s nobody on the house-tops now- Just a palsied few at the windows set;For the best of the sight is, all allow, At the Shambles" Gate-or, better yet, By the very scaffold"s foot, I trow.
I go in the rain, and, more than needs, A rope cuts both my wrists behind;And I think by the feel my forehead bleeds,
For they fling, whoever has a mind,
Stones at me for my year"s misdeeds.
Thus I entered, and thus I go.
In triumphs, people have dropped down dead. "Paid by the world, what dost thou oweMe ? " God might question; now instead, "Tis God shall repay: I am safer so.
Robert Browning.
Author.-Robert Browning (1812-1889), one of the greatest of modern English poets. Though he is not famous as a dramatist, the plays Luria, A Blot in the "Scutcheon, and The Return of the Druses have some intensely dramatic scenes. Pippa Passes, In a Gondola, and In a Balcony contain some great lyric and tragic notes. But Men and Women, Dramatis Person?, and The Ring and the Book represent the finest flower of Browning"s achievement. What other short poems of his do you know ?
General Notes.-A true patriot is one who so loves his country that his one desire is for her sake to give, not to get. The true patriot oftensuffers, for " the kingliest kings are crowned with thorn. " Again, the mob is fickle, as appears in the poem. Browning"s patriot need not be any particular historical personage; he is a type of all those who have loved and served and suffered in what seemed to be a great cause. Two pictures are given-the first of the mob"s adulation, the second of the mob"s execration. Contrast the roses, myrtle, flags, bells, hurrahs of the one with the rope, stones, scaffold of the other. What interval of time separates them ? What is the patriot"s dying consolation? Can you find real examples in history, ancient or modern?
LESSON 56
pERSEuS AND ANDROmEDA
[After slaying the Gorgon, the Greek hero Perseus finds Andromeda chained toa rock in the sea. He frees her, and asks her name.]
Andromeda answered weeping--