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diff --git a/24857.txt b/24857.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..63b08db --- /dev/null +++ b/24857.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18247 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 10, by +Charles Herbert Sylvester + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 10 + The Guide + + +Author: Charles Herbert Sylvester + + + +Release Date: March 16, 2008 [eBook #24857] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND, VOL. +10*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Julia Miller, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 24857-h.htm or 24857-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/8/5/24857/24857-h/24857-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/8/5/24857/24857-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of + these changes is found at the end of the text. Inconsistencies + in spelling and hyphenation have been maintained. A list of + inconsistently spelled and hyphenated words is found at the + end of the text. + + + + + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND + +A New and Original +Plan for Reading Applied to the +World's Best Literature +for Children + +by + +CHARLES H. SYLVESTER + +Author of English and American Literature + +VOLUME TEN--THE GUIDE + +New Edition + + +For parents, teachers, and all who have +children under their charge; for adults +who wish to renew their acquaintance +with the friends of their youth, or to +open for the first time the world's great +treasure house of literature; for youthful +readers who must study the classics + + + + + + + +[Illustration: OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES +NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE +HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW +WASHINGTON IRVING +JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER +JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL +WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT] + + + + +Chicago +Bellows-Reeve Company +Publishers + +Copyright, 1922 +Bellows-Reeve Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + I. INTRODUCTION 1 + + II. JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND--ITS CONTENTS AND PLAN 7 + The Masterpieces 9 + Arrangement and Grading 10 + The Studies and Helps 13 + Studies 15 + Notes 15 + Introductory Notes 15 + Biographies 16 + Pronouncing Vocabularies 16 + Pictures 17 + Tables of Contents 17 + Index 17 + The Nursery Rhymes 18 + Discussion of each Volume 24 + Volume One 24 + Volume Two 26 + Volume Three 28 + Volume Four 29 + Volume Five 29 + Volume Six 30 + Volume Seven 31 + Volume Eight 33 + Volume Nine 34 + Volume Ten--The Guide 35 + + III. PICTURES AND THEIR USE 36 + What Should We Notice in a Picture? 36 + Line 36 + Light and Shade 37 + Tone and Color 39 + Composition 39 + Atmosphere and Perspective 40 + Application of Principles 41 + _Bob and Tiny Tim_ 41 + Pictures and Their Value in Literature 44 + On the Use of Pictures in _Journeys_ 48 + _Nursery Rhymes_ 51 + _Jack and the Beanstalk_ 52 + _Nurse Helps Me when I Embark_ 52 + _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_ 53 + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks_ 54 + _Tom and the Dragon Fly_ 55 + _The Swallow and the Stork Came_ 55 + _Down Tumbled Wheelbarrow_ 58 + _Geraint Hears Enid Singing_ 60 + + IV. TELLING STORIES 63 + _The Fairies of the Caldon-Low_ 68 + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_ 71 + _The Ballad of Agincourt_ 74 + _Herve Riel_ 78 + + V. READING, AND THE BUILDING OF CHARACTER 85 + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ 95 + _Lead, Kindly Light_ 98 + _Poor Richard's Almanac_ 101 + + VI. FATHER AND SON 107 + + VII. MEMORIZING 128 + One Hundred Choice Quotations 131 + + VIII. HOW TO READ FICTION 143 + Different Kinds of Literature 143 + Reading Stories 145 + Plot 149 + _Cinderella_ 150 + Persons 156 + _The Hardy Tin Soldier_ 158 + The Scenes 162 + _The Dog and His Shadow_ 164 + _The Fox and the Stork_ 166 + _A Christmas Carol_ 168 + The Lesson and the Author's Purpose 170 + _The Fir Tree_ 173 + The Method and Style of the Author 174 + Emotional Power 176 + _Rab and His Friends_ 177 + General Principles and Reflections 181 + Completed Studies 185 + _The Hare and the Tortoise_ 185 + _The Fox and the Crow_ 187 + _The Drummer_ 193 + _Tom, the Water Baby_ 198 + _The Passing of Arthur_ 214 + + IX. CLOSE READING OR STUDY 224 + _Rab and His Friends_ 225 + _Braddock's Defeat_ 227 + _Industry and Sloth_ 229 + _Why the Sea is Salt_ 231 + _Faithless Sally Brown_ 232 + _The Definition of a Gentleman_ 234 + _Adventures in Lilliput_ 235 + _The Heart of Bruce_ 238 + _Annie Laurie_ 243 + _The Lost Child_ 243 + _David Crockett in the Creek War_ 244 + _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ 248 + From _The Death of Caesar_ 253 + + X. CLOSE READING (Concluded) 256 + The Author 257 + Sentences 258 + Figures of Speech 259 + Allusions 259 + Basis of Figures 262 + Simile 263 + Metaphor 264 + Synecdoche and Metonymy 265 + Apostrophe and Personification 266 + Studies in Figures 268 + _Ode to a Skylark_ 268 + _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_ 270 + _The First Snowfall_ 270 + + XI. READING POETRY 272 + _The Reaper and the Flowers_ 272 + _The Brown Thrush_ 276 + _The Child's World_ 277 + _Seven Times One_ 278 + _The First Snowfall_ 281 + _The Potato_ 285 + _Origin of the Opal_ 285 + _The Barefoot Boy_ 286 + _The Bugle Song_ 287 + _The Petrified Fern_ 291 + _The Forsaken Merman_ 295 + _The Cloud_ 301 + _Ode to a Skylark_ 306 + + XII. READING ALOUD 311 + Articulation and Enunciation 311 + Emphasis and Inflection 312 + Emotional States 312 + Pitch 312 + Rate or Time 313 + Quality 315 + Force 315 + + XIII. LITERATURE AND ITS FORMS 317 + Prose 318 + Methods of Expression 318 + Narration 318 + Description 321 + Exposition 321 + Argumentation 322 + Forms of Prose 322 + Fiction 322 + Essays 322 + Orations 324 + Drama 325 + Poetry 327 + Structure of Poetry 328 + Rhythm 328 + Rhyme 329 + Alliteration 330 + Kinds of Poetry 331 + Epic 331 + Lyric 333 + Songs 333 + Ode 335 + Elegy 335 + Sonnet 337 + _Victor and Vanquished_ 338 + Dramatic 339 + Miracle Plays 340 + Morality Plays 340 + Masques 341 + Tragedies and Comedies 341 + + XIV. JOURNEYS IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--READING AND + LANGUAGE 345 + Reading 348 + Language 349 + Oral Lessons 352 + _The Wind and the Sun_ 357 + Written Lessons 360 + Introduction 360 + Literature in Written Lessons 363 + Narration 363 + _Robin Hood and the Stranger_ 363 + Description 365 + _The King of the Golden River_ 366 + Exposition 368 + _Cid Campeador_ 368 + Argument 370 + _The Boston Massacre_ 370 + Conclusion 376 + _An Exciting Canoe Race_ 376 + + XV. JOURNEYS IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--NATURE STUDY 380 + Seven Long Selections 381 + _Tom, the Water Baby_ 381 + _Robinson Crusoe_ 382 + _The Swiss Family Robinson_ 382 + _Brute Neighbors_ 383 + _The Pond in Winter_ 384 + _Winter Animals_ 384 + _Trees and Ants that Help Each Other_ 385 + Classified Selections 386 + Flowers and Plant Life 386 + Birds 387 + Four-footed Animals 389 + Reptiles 391 + Insects 391 + Denizens of the Water 391 + Natural Phenomena 392 + Geography in Nature 392 + Complete Study 393 + _The King of the Golden River_ 393 + + XVI. JOURNEYS IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--GEOGRAPHY AND + HISTORY 400 + Classified References 402 + Model Geography Lesson 411 + The Wind 411 + Model History Lessons 413 + Alfred the Great 413 + Burgoyne's Campaign 419 + + XVII. JOURNEYS IN ITS RELATION TO THE HIGH SCHOOL 425 + Classification of Studies 427 + Type Studies 431 + + XVIII. RECITATIONS AND SPECIAL DAYS IN SCHOOL 436 + Bird Day 437 + Memorial Day 438 + Christmas 438 + Birthdays 438 + Dramatization 439 + An Old-Fashioned Afternoon 440 + + XIX. HANDY LIST OF THE STUDIES IN JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND 441 + Volume One 442 + Volume Two 443 + Volume Three 445 + Volume Four 446 + Volume Five 446 + Volume Six 447 + Volume Seven 448 + Volume Eight 449 + Volume Nine 449 + + XX. SUPPLEMENTARY BOOK LISTS 451 + For the Separate Volumes 454 + Volume One 454 + Volume Two 455 + Volume Three 457 + Volume Four 458 + Volume Five 459 + Volume Six 460 + Volume Seven 461 + Classified Lists 462 + Fiction 463 + Poetry and Drama 464 + Essays 464 + Nature 465 + Biography 465 + History 465 + Travel and Geography 466 + Miscellaneous 466 + + APPENDIX-- + Handy Table of English Writers 469 + Handy Table of American Writers 473 + + GENERAL INDEX 475 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +HALFTONE PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS + + + PAGE + GROUP ONE Frontispiece + _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ + _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ + _Nathaniel Hawthorne_ + _Washington Irving_ + _John Greenleaf Whittier_ + _James Russell Lowell_ + _William Cullen Bryant_ + + GROUP TWO 52 + _William Shakespeare_ + _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ + _Robert Browning_ + _Sir Walter Scott_ + _William Wordsworth_ + _Geoffrey Chaucer_ + _Joseph Addison_ + + GROUP THREE 100 + _Cardinal Newman_ + _Sir Francis Bacon_ + _Jonathan Swift_ + _Daniel Defoe_ + _Cardinal Wiseman_ + _Cervantes_ + _Father Ryan_ + + GROUP FOUR 148 + _Julia Ward Howe_ + _Benjamin Franklin_ + _Henry David Thoreau_ + _Patrick Henry_ + _William H. Prescott_ + _Francis Parkman_ + _James Fenimore Cooper_ + + GROUP FIVE 198 + _Edgar Allan Poe_ + _Donald G. Mitchell_ + _James Whitcomb Riley_ + _Thomas Buchanan Read_ + _Eugene Field_ + _John Howard Payne_ + _John G. Saxe_ + + GROUP SIX 246 + _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_ + _Phoebe Cary_ + _Alice Cary_ + _Lucy Larcom_ + _Felicia Hemans_ + _George Eliot_ + _Jean Ingelow_ + + GROUP SEVEN 294 + _Robert Burns_ + _Robert Southey_ + _William Cowper_ + _Lord Byron_ + _John Keats_ + _Percy Bysshe Shelley_ + _Samuel Taylor Coleridge_ + + GROUP EIGHT 342 + _Rudyard Kipling_ + _Robert Louis Stevenson_ + _Paul Du Chaillu_ + _Thomas Hughes_ + _Hans Christian Andersen_ + _Jakob Grimm_ + _Wilhelm Grimm_ + + GROUP NINE 400 + _John Ruskin_ + _Oliver Goldsmith_ + _Matthew Arnold_ + _Thomas Babington Macaulay_ + _John Bunyan_ + _Thomas De Quincey_ + _Charles Lamb_ + + GROUP TEN 454 + _John Tyndall_ + _Charles Kingsley_ + _Thomas Moore_ + _Alexander Pope_ + _Thomas Campbell_ + _David Livingstone_ + _George MacDonald_ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +Everyone who associates with children becomes deeply interested in them. +Their helplessness during their early years appeals warmly to sympathy; +their acute desire to learn and their responsiveness to suggestion make +teaching a delight; their loyalty and devotion warm the heart and +inspire the wish to do the things that count for most. Everything +combines to increase a sense of responsibility and to make the elders +active in bringing to bear those influences that make for character, +power and success. + +Every worthy teacher in every school gives more than her salary commands +and puts heart power into every act. By example and precept the lessons +are taught and growth follows in response to cultivation. But the +schools are handicapped by lack of time for much personal care, by lack +of facilities for the best of instruction and by the multiplicity of +things that must be done. Under the best conditions a teacher has but a +small part of a child's time and then instruction must be given usually +to classes and not to individuals. Outside of school for a considerable +time each day the child falls under the influence of playmates who may +or may not be helpful, but the greater part of every twenty-four hours +belongs to the home. + +Parents, guardians, brothers and sisters, servants, consciously or +unconsciously, wisely or unwisely, are teaching all the time. It is from +this great complex of influences that every child builds his character +and lays the foundation of whatever success he afterwards achieves. + +Undoubtedly the home is the greatest single influence and that is +strongest during the early years. Before a boy is seven the elements of +his character begin to form; by the time he is fourteen his future +usually can be predicted, and after he is twenty, few real changes are +brought about in the character of the man. The schools can do little +more than plant the seeds of culture; in the family must the young +plants be watered, nourished and trained. Then will the growth be +symmetrical and beautiful. + +When the school and the home work together, when parents and teacher are +in hearty sympathy, the great work is easily accomplished. But this +harmony in interest is difficult to secure. In the first place it is not +possible frequently for parents and teachers to become acquainted; +usually is it impossible for them to know one another intimately. Here +there are two forces, each ignorant of the other, but both trying for a +common end. Again, parents in many, many instances are not acquainted +with the schools nor with the methods of instruction which are followed +therein. What is done by one may be undone by the other. If there could +be a common ground of meeting, much labor would be saved and greater +harmony of effort established. + +When fathers and mothers are willing to take time enough from their +other duties to show that sympathetic interest in juvenile tasks which +is the greatest stimulus to intelligent effort, when they wish to know +what work each child is doing and where in each text book his lessons +are, when the multiplication table and the story of Cinderella are of as +much importance as the price of meat or the profit on a yard of silk, +then will the parents and the teachers come together in whatever field +appears mutually acceptable. + +Everybody reads, and reading is now the greatest single influence upon +humanity. The day of the orator has passed, the day of print has long +been upon us. No adult remains long uninfluenced by what he reads +persistently, and every child receives more impressions from his reading +than from all other sources put together. + +Someone has shown forcibly by a graphic diagram the ideas we are most +anxious to establish. In this diagram of _Forces in Education_, the +circle represents the sum total of all those influences which tend to +make the mind and character of the growing child. That half of the +circle to the right of the heavy line represents the forces of the +school; the half to the left, the forces that come into play outside the +teacher's domain. In school are the various studies taught; reading, +writing, language, nature, geography, history, arithmetic. Other things +such as morals, manners, hygiene, etc., come in for their share of force +in the division "Miscellaneous." Out of school the child's work +influences him; his playmates affect him more; the example and +instruction of his parents form his habits, thought and character to a +still greater extent; but more than any one, as much as the three +combined, does his home reading shape his destiny. + +[Illustration] + +That this last statement is no exaggeration is proved by the testimony +of many a wise and thoughtful man, by the observation of teachers +everywhere. When a child has learned to read, he possesses the +instrument of highest culture, but at the same time the instrument of +greater danger. Bad books or bad methods of reading good books lead the +reader's mind astray or stimulate a destructive imagination that affects +character forever; but good books and right methods of reading make the +soul sensitive to right and wrong, improve the mind, inspire to higher +ideals and lead to loftier effort. + +Here is the one fertile field wherein teacher, parent and every other +person interested in the welfare of children and youth may meet and work +together in the noblest cause God ever gave us the grace to see. + +"I have a notion," said Benjamin Harrison, "that children are about the +only people we can do anything for. When we get to be men and women we +are either spoiled or improved. The work is done." One of the best +things we can do is to create a taste for good reading and cultivate a +habit of reading in the right manner. It is an easy and a delightful +task. + +How many parents do it? Let them live with their children in the realm +the little ones love. Let them read the fairy tales, the myths, the +stories, the history that childhood appreciates, not in a spirit of +criticism or in the role of a dictator but as a child of a little larger +growth, a man or woman with a youthful mind. + +How many teachers assist? By so teaching that reading becomes an +inspiration in itself; that only mastery contents; that beauty, high +sentiment, lofty ideals may be found and followed; by making the reading +recitation the one delightful hour of the day. + +If any mature person at home can spend each week a few hours in reading +and talking with the children about what has been read he will be +surprised to find how lightly the time passes and how quickly his own +cares and anxieties are dissipated. He will find greater delight than he +has ever known in the society of his equals; and the younger ones, whose +minds glow with helpful curiosity and absorbing interest will be kept +to that extent from the street and its attractions, while at the same +time they are learning those things that count for most in life's great +battle. + +Let no one feel in the least uncertain of his power to interest and +delight. Let him have no hesitation in joining in with the children, in +meeting them on their level and in sharing thought and feeling with +them. By being a child himself he most easily makes of himself a wise +and inspiring leader. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND--ITS CONTENTS AND PLAN + + +_Journeys Through Bookland_ is what the title signifies, a series of +excursions into the field of the world's greatest literature. +Accordingly, the base of the work is laid in those great classics that, +since first they found expression in words, have been the education and +inspiration of man. But these excursions are taken hand-in-hand with a +leader, whose province it is to explain, to interpret, to guide and to +direct. Suiting his labors to the age and acquirement of the readers he +helps them all, from the child halting in his early attempts to +interpret the printed page to the high school or college student who +wishes to master the innermost secrets of literature. In no small sense +is this leadership a labor of love, for it follows an experience of +twenty years of personal instruction in the public schools and among the +teachers of the country. + +_Journeys Through Bookland_ must be considered as a unit; for one plan, +one purpose, controls from the first page of the first volume to the +last page of the tenth. The literary selections were not chosen +haphazard nor were they graded and arranged after any ordinary plan. In +this respect they differ in character and arrangement from the +selections in any other work now upon the market. + +Moreover, the notes, interpretations, original articles and multifarious +helps are an integral part and are inseparable. In this respect, again, +is the work original and unique. + +Further, the pictures, of which there are many hundreds, were drawn or +painted expressly for _Journeys Through Bookland_ and are as much a part +of the general scheme as any other help to appreciation. Again, the type +page, the decorations, the paper, binding and endsheets, all combine to +give an artistic setting to literary masterpieces and a stimulating +atmosphere for literary study. + +The masterpieces which make the field of the _Journeys_ naturally fall +into three classes. First, there is the literature of culture, those +things which you and I and everybody must know if we expect to be +considered educated or to be able to read with intelligence and +appreciation the current writings of the day. To this class belong all +those nursery rhymes, lyrics, classic myths, legends and so on to which +allusion is constantly made and which are themselves the legal tender of +polite and cultured conversation. Next, there are those selections whose +power lies in the profound influence they exert upon the unfolding +character of boy or girl. As a child readeth so is he. Masterpieces of +this type abound in the books and it is by means of them that the author +hopes and expects to exert his greatest influence upon his unknown +friends among the children. The third group consists of the masterpieces +which lend interest to school work and make it pleasanter, easier and +more profitable. It is what some may call the practical side of +literature. It is what, at first, appeals most strongly to those who +have read little, but which ultimately appears of less value than the +influence of cultural and character-building literature. + +Any treatment of _Journeys_ that is worthy of the name must consider the +masterpieces themselves in their three great functions, as well as the +devices by which the selections are made effective. + + +_1. The Masterpieces_ + +The table of contents at the beginning of each volume shows a wide +selection of the best things that have ever been written for +children--not always the new things, but always the best things for the +purpose. The masterpieces are the tried and true ones that have long +been popular with children and have formed a large part of the literary +education of the race. + +There are a host of complete masterpieces and many selections from other +works which are too long to print here or which are otherwise +unavailable. It has often happened that something written for older +heads and for serious purposes has in it some of the most charming and +helpful things for the young. For instance, _Gulliver's Travels_ is a +political satire, and as such it is long since dead. Yet parts of it +make the most fascinating reading for children. Moreover, Swift and many +other great writers defiled their pages with matter which ought to be +unprintable. To bring together the good things from such writers, to +reprint them with all the graces of style they originally possessed, and +yet so carefully to edit them that there can be no suggestion of +offense, has been the constant aim of the writer. + +The books contain, too, many beautiful selections translated from +foreign languages and made fresh, attractive and inspiring. Many of the +old fables and folk stories have been rewritten, but others which have +existed long in good form have been left untouched. In the great +masterpieces no liberties have been taken with the text without making +known the fact, and in every case the most reliable edition has been +followed. It is hoped that children will have nothing to "unlearn" from +the reading of these books. + +There are not a few old things in the set that are really new, because +they have heretofore been inaccessible to children except in musty books +not likely to be met. + +This is no haphazard collection made hastily, and largely at the +suggestion of others. Everything in the books has been read and reread +by the writer. True, he has availed himself of the help of others, and +to many his obligations are deep and lasting; but in the end the +responsibility for selection and for the quantity and quality of the +helps is wholly his. + + +_2. Arrangement and Grading_ + +The contents of the books have been graded from the nursery rhymes in +the first volume to the rather difficult selections in the ninth volume. +In the arrangement, however, not all the simplest reading is in the +first volume. It might be better understood if we say that one volume +overlaps another, so that, for instance, the latter part of the first +volume is more difficult than the first part of the second volume. When +a child is able to read in the third volume he will find something to +interest him in all the volumes. + +What has been said, however, does not wholly explain the system of +arrangement. Fiction, poetry, essays, biography, nature-study, science +and history are all fairly represented in the selections, but no book is +given over exclusively to any subject. Rather is it so arranged that the +child who reads by course will traverse nearly every subject in every +volume, and to him the different subjects will be presented logically in +the order in which his growing mind demands them. We might say that as +he reads from volume to volume, he travels in an ever widening and +rising spiral. The fiction of the first volume consists of fables, fairy +tales and folk stories; the poetry of nursery rhymes and children's +verses; the biography of anecdotal sketches of Field and Stevenson; and +history is suggested in the quaintly written _Story of Joseph_. On a +subsequent turn of the spiral are found fiction from Scott and Swift; +poetry from Homer, Vergil, Hay, Gilbert and Tennyson; hero stories from +Malory; history from Washington Irving. + +If, however, some inquiring young person should wish to read all there +is on history, biography or any other subject, the full index in the +tenth volume will show him where everything of the nature he wishes is +to be found. + +Another valuable feature of arrangement is the frequent bringing +together of selections that bear some relation to one another. A simple +cycle of this sort may be seen where in the eighth volume the account of +Lord Nelson's great naval victory is followed by _Casabianca_; a better +one where in the fifth volume there is an account of King Arthur, +followed by tales of the Round Table Knights from Malory, and _Geraint +and Enid_ and _The Passing of Arthur_ from Tennyson. By this plan one +selection serves as the setting for another, and a child often can see +how the real things of life prove the inspiration for great writers. +Again, in the fourth volume is _The Pine Tree Shillings_, a New England +story or tradition for girls; this is followed immediately by _The +Sunken Treasure_, a vivid story for boys; next comes _The Hutchinson +Mob_, a semi-historical sketch, followed in turn by _The Boston +Massacre_, which is pure history. The cycle is completed by _The Landing +of the Pilgrims_ and _Sheridan's Ride_, two historical poems. + +_Graphic Classification of Masterpieces_ on page 14 will show more +clearly what is meant by the overlapping of subjects. In the column at +the left are given the names of the subjects under which the selections +have been classified, running from _Fables_ to _Drama_, and _Studies_, +the last name including all the varied helps given by the author. Across +the top of the table the Roman numerals, I to X, indicate the numbers of +the ten volumes. The shading in the squares shows the relative quantity +of material. In using the _Classification_, "read across to learn in +which volume the subjects are treated; read down to find what each +volume contains." Thus: The first volume contains (reading down), a +great many fables, many fairy stories and much folk lore, a few myths +and old stories, a little biography, some biblical or religious +material, selections that may be classified under the heads of nature, +humor and poetry; but there is no account of legendary heroes, no travel +and adventure, no history, nothing of a patriotic nature and no drama. +On the other hand (reading across), there are many fables in the first +volume, a few in the second but none thereafter; a few myths and some +classic literature are found in the first three volumes, more in the +fourth and fifth, but the number and quantity decrease in the sixth and +do not appear thereafter; nature work is to be found in all the volumes +but is strongest in the seventh; drama appears in the eighth and the +ninth. Biography has a place in all volumes, but is strongest in the +seventh; while the Studies, appearing in all volumes, reach their +highest point in the tenth. + + +_3. The Studies and Helps_ + +As has been said, the chief factors in making _Journeys Through +Bookland_ unique and of greatest value are the many helps that are given +the readers, young and old. These helps are varied in character and are +widely distributed through the volumes. They must be considered one at a +time by the person who would assist others to use them to the best +purpose. These helps consist of what are technically known as studies, +notes, introductory notes, biographies, pronouncing vocabularies, +pictures, tables of contents and index. The following comments will make +clear the purpose of each. + + GRAPHIC CLASSIFICATION OF MASTERPIECES + -------------------------------------------------------------------- + | | | | | | | | | | | | + | Analysis | I | II |III | IV | V | VI |VII |VIII| IX | X | + | | | | | | | | | | | | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | + | |++++|----| | | | | | | | | + | Fables |++++|----| | | | | | | | V | + | |++++|----| | | | | | | | o | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ l | + | Fairy Stories |++++|++++|----| | | | | | | u | + | Folk Lore |++++|++++|----| | | | | | | m | + | |++++|++++|----| | | | | | | e | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | + | Stories Old |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++|++++|----|----| X | + | and New |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++|++++|----|----| | + | |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++|++++|----|----| i | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ s | + | Myths and |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++| | | | | + | Classic |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++| | | | a | + | Literature |----|----|----|++++|++++|++++| | | | | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ G | + | Legendary | | |----|++++|++++|++++| | | | u | + | Heroes | | |----|++++|++++|++++| | | | i | + | | | |----|++++|++++|++++| | | | d | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ e | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++|----| | + | Biography |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++|----| f | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++|----| o | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ r | + | Travel and | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|----| | + | Adventure | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|----| P | + | | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|----| a | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ r | + | | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|++++| e | + | History | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|++++| n | + | | | | |----|----|----|----|++++|++++| t | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ s, | + | Biblical, |----|----| |----|----|----|----| |----| | + | Moral, |----|----| |----|----|----|----| |----| T | + | Religious |----|----| |----|----|----|----| |----| e | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ a | + | | | |----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++| c | + | Patriotism | | |----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++| h | + | | | |----|----|----|----|----|++++|++++| e | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ r | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|----|----| s | + | Nature |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|----|----| | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|++++|----|----| a | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ n | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| d | + | Humor |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| S | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ t | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| u | + | Poetry |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| d | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| e | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ n | + | | | | | | | | |----|----| t | + | Drama | | | | | | | |----|----| s | + | | | | | | | | |----|----| | + ----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|++++| | + | Studies |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|++++| | + | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|++++| | + -------------------------------------------------------------------- + + Read across to learn in which volumes the subjects are treated; + read down to find what each volume contains. + +_a. Studies._ Every volume contains a large number of helps of different +kinds for young people. Usually these are in connection with some +selection and are adapted to the age of the boy or girl most likely to +read the piece. As each study is presented in an interesting and +informal manner and does not cover many points, it is felt that young +people will enjoy them only less than the masterpieces themselves. + +The studies are arranged as systematically as the selections, and are +graded even more carefully. Their scope and method will be more fully +explained in subsequent sections of this volume. + +_b. Notes._ These consist of explanatory notes, that are placed wherever +they seem to be needed. They explain words not usually found readily in +the dictionaries, foreign phrases, and such historical or other +allusions as are necessary to an understanding of the text by youthful +readers. These notes are placed at the bottom of the page that needs +explanation, and so are immediately available. In such a position they +are more liable to be read than if gathered together at the end of the +volume. They are neither formal nor pedantic, and are as brief as is +consistent with clearness. Their purpose is to help the reader, not to +show the writer's knowledge. + +_c. Introductory Notes._ At the heads of selections from longer +masterpieces are introductory notes which give some little account of +the larger work and enough of the context so that the selection may not +seem a fragment. In some instances this note gives the historical +setting of a masterpiece or tells something of the circumstances under +which it was written, when those facts help to an appreciation of the +selection. Sometimes an acquaintance with the personality of an author +is so necessary to a clear understanding of what he writes that a brief +sketch of his life or a few anecdotes that show his character are given +in the note preceding what he has written. These notes are printed in +the same type as the text, especially in the first four volumes, for +they are felt to be worthy of equal consideration. + +_d. Biographies._ Besides the biographical notes appended to selections, +there are not a few more pretentious sketches that have been given +prominent titles in the body of the books. These have been prepared +expressly for this work, either by the editor or by some one fully +acquainted with the subject and accustomed to writing for young people. +These biographies are written from the point of view of young people, +and contain the things that boys and girls like to know about their +favorite authors or some of the noble men and women whose lives have +made this world a better and a happier place in which to live. In the +earlier volumes they are brief, simple, and largely made up of +anecdotes; later they are more mature, and show something of the reasons +that make the lives interesting and valuable material for studies. There +are, also, in the books a few lengthy extracts from some of the world's +great biographies. Care has been exercised in the selection of these, so +that in each case, while the extract is of interest to young people, it +is also fairly representative of the larger work from which it has been +taken. + +_e. Pronouncing Vocabularies._ Children often find difficulty in +pronouncing proper names, and not many have at hand any books from which +they can obtain the information. At the end of every volume is a list of +the important proper names in that book, and after each name the +pronunciation is given phonetically, so that no dictionary or other +reference work is necessary. Since each volume has its own list, it is +not necessary even to lay down the book in hand and take up the last +volume. + +_f. Pictures._ The illustrations in the several volumes form one great +feature in the general plan. They alone will do much to interest +children in the reading, and if attention is called to them they will be +found to increase in value. The color plates in each volume, the +numerous fine halftones of special design, and the hundreds of pen and +ink drawings that illuminate the text have been painted and drawn for +these books, and will be found nowhere else. More than twenty artists +have given their skill and enthusiasm to make the books brighter, +clearer, and more inspiring. The initial letters and the many fine +decorations also belong exclusively to the set, and combine to give it +esthetic value. Everything of this nature will command attention and +hold interest. + +_g. Tables of Contents._ Beginning each volume is a table showing the +contents of the volume and the names of authors. It forms a means of +ready reference to the larger divisions of the work and is a handy +supplement to the index. + +_h. Index._ At the end of the tenth volume is an index to the whole ten +volumes. There may be found not only each author and title in +alphabetical order, but also a complete classification of the +selections in the set. To find the history in this series, look in the +index under the title "History." When a topic has as many sub-divisions +as has "Fiction," for instance, or "Poetry," cross references are given. + + +_4. The Nursery Rhymes_ + +When a child is taught the little nursery rhymes which to us may seem to +be meaningless jingles, he is really peeping into the fields of +literature, taking the first steps in those journeys that will end in +Shakespeare, Browning and Goethe. When his infantile ear is caught by +the lively rhythm and the catchy rhymes, he is receiving his first +lessons in poetry. That the lessons are delightful now he shows by his +smiles, and in middle life he will appreciate the joy more keenly as he +teaches the same little rhymes to his own children. + +Most children know the rhymes when they come to school and they will +like to read them there. A child's keenest interest is in the things he +knows. Later, perhaps in the high school or the grammar grades, he will +be interested again in learning that the rhymes are not wholly frivolous +and that there may be reasons why these rhymes should have survived for +centuries in practically unchanged forms. Some of the facts that may be +brought out at various times are the following: + +I. There is a hidden significance in some of the nursery rhymes. For +instance: + +_a. Daffy-Down-Dilly_ (page 47). In England one of the earliest and most +common of spring flowers is the daffodil, a bright yellow, lily-like +blossom, with long, narrow green leaves all growing from the bulb. The +American child may know them as the big double monstrosities the florist +sells in the spring, or he may have some single and prettier ones +growing in his garden. The jonquil and the various kinds of narcissus +are nearly related white or white and pink flowers. This picture on page +47 of _Journeys Through Bookland_ shows a few daffodils growing. Miss +Daffy-Down-Dilly, then, in her yellow petticoat and her green gown, is +the pretty flower; and the rhyme so understood brings a breath of spring +with it. + +_b. Humpty Dumpty_ (page 55). This is really a riddle of the +old-fashioned kind. There are many of them in English folk lore. Usually +a verse was repeated and then a question asked; as, "Who was Humpty +Dumpty?" The artist has answered the question for us in the picture. +Possibly many people who learned the rhyme in childhood never thought of +Humpty as an egg. + +What answer would you give to the question, Who was Taffy (page 54)? For +similar riddles, see _Nancy Netticoat_ (Vol. I, p. 72), _The Andiron_ +(page 245) and _St. Ives_ (page 202). + +II. Some were intended to teach certain facts. For instance: + +_a._ When children were taught the alphabet as the first step to +reading, _The Apple Pie_ (page 43) gave the letters in their order, +including the obsolete "_Ampersand_." + +_b._ As children grew a little older and could begin to read what they +already knew, things in which the same words were many times repeated +were helpful. Two examples are _The House that Jack Built_ (page 56) +and _There Is the Key of the Kingdom_ (page 45). + +_c._ The numbers from one to twenty were taught by _One, Two_ (page 41). + +_d._ The days of the week were taught by _Solomon Grundy_ (page 42), +which with its amusing provision for repetition is sure to catch the +fancy of a child and keep his thoughts on the words. + +III. Some of them teach kindness to animals: + +_a. Dapple Gray_ (page 22). + +_b. Ladybird_ (page 12). This is sometimes known as ladybug, and the +_bug_ is the little, round, reddish beetle whose wings are black dotted. +It is a pretty, harmless beetle that gardeners like to see around their +plants. Children repeat the rhyme when they find the beetle in the house +and always release it to "fly away and save its children." + +_c. Poor Robin_ (page 16). + +_d._ Old Mother Hubbard's amusing adventures with her dog (page 24) +leave a very kindly feeling toward both. + +IV. Some are philosophical, or inculcate moral precepts or good habits, +in a simple or amusing way. + +_a. Early to Bed_ (page 34). + +_b. Little Bo-Peep_ (page 9). Is it not better to let cares and worries +alone? Why cry about things that are lost? + +_c. Three Little Kittens_ (page 13) suggests care for our possessions. + +_d. There Was a Man_ (page 60) has the same idea that we often hear +expressed in the proverb "A hair from the same dog will cure the +wound." + +_e. Rainbow in the Morning_ (page 48) has some real weather wisdom in +it. + +_f. There Was a Jolly Miller_ (page 47), gives a good lesson in +contentment. + +_g. A Diller, A Dollar_ (page 59). + +_h. See a Pin_ (page 59) suggests in its harmless superstition a good +lesson in economy. + +_i. Little Boy Blue_ (page 33) makes the lazy boy and the sluggard +unpopular. + +_j. Come, Let's to Bed_ (page 34) ridicules sleepiness, slowness and +greediness. + +V. Mother's loving care, at morning and evening, when dressing and +undressing the baby or when putting the little folks to bed, has +prompted several of the rhymes: + +_a. This Little Pig_ (page 5) the mother repeats to the baby as she +counts his little toes. + +_b. Pat-a-Cake_ (page 4) is another night or morning rhyme; and here +mother "marks it with" the initial of _her_ baby's name and puts it in +the oven for her baby and herself. Another of similar import is: _Up, +Little Baby_ (page 7). + +_c. Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling_ (page 7) has kept many a little boy awake +till he was safely undressed. + +_d._ What an old rhyme must _Bye, Baby Bunting_ be (page 6)! It goes +back to the days when "father went a-hunting, to get a rabbit skin to +wrap Baby Bunting in." Some one, more recently, has added the idea of +_buying_ the rabbit skin. + +_e._ The simple little lyric, _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_ (page 44) +has filled many a childish soul with gentle wonder, and many a +night-robed lassie has wandered to the window and begged the little +stars to keep on lighting the weary traveler in the dark. + +VI. Some of the rhymes are pure fun, and even as such are worthy of a +place in any person's memory: + +_a. There Was an Old Woman_ (page 36); _Great A_ (page 14); _Jack Be +Nimble_ (page 28); _To Market, to Market_ (page 6), and _There Was a +Monkey_ (page 14); _Goosey-Goosey_ (page 21); _Hey, Diddle, Diddle_ +(page 23); _There Was a Rat_ (page 14), and others, belong to this +category. + +_b. Three Blind Mice_ (page 12) is an old-fashioned _Round_. Many a band +of little folks has been divided into groups and has sung the +nonsensical rhymes until every boy and girl broke down in laughter. Do +you poor modern people know how it was done? The school was divided into +a half-dozen sections. The first section began to sing and when its +members reached the end of the first line, the second section began; the +third section began when the second reached the end of the first line, +and so on till all sections were singing. When any section reached the +word "As--" they began again at the beginning. The first line was +chanted in a low, slow monotone, the others were sung as rapidly as +possible to a rattling little tune on a high pitch. Imagine the noise, +confusion and laughter. Many a dull afternoon in school has been broken +up by it, and countless children have returned to their little tasks +with new enthusiasm. The old things are not always to be scorned. + +_c. Old King Cole_ (page 52) is a jolly rhyme, and the illustration is +one of the finest in the books. Everybody should study it. + +VII. Two, at least, of the rhymes are of the "counting out" kind. Often +children want to determine who is to be "It" in a game of tag, who is to +be blinded in a game of hide-and-seek, or who takes the disagreeable +part in some other play. They are lined up and one begins to "count out" +by repeating a senseless jingle, touching a playmate at each word. The +one on whom the last word falls is "out," safe from the unpleasant task. +One at a time they are counted out till only the "It" remains. + +_Wire, brier_ and _One-ery, Two-ery_ (page 51) are examples. The artist +has shown a group being counted out, in her very lifelike picture on +pages 50 and 51. + +VIII. There are some errors in grammar in the rhymes, many words you +cannot find in a dictionary, and some of the rhymes may seem a little +coarse and vulgar; but they have lived so long in their present form +that it seems almost a pity to change them. Encourage the older children +to find the errors and to criticise and correct as much as they wish. +Probably they will not like the rhymes in their new form and correct +dress any better than we would. + +IX. There is really a practical value, too, in a knowledge of the +nursery rhymes. Allusions to them are found in all literature and many a +sentence is unintelligible to him who does not recognize the nursery +rhyme alluded to. It would be safe, almost, to say that not a day passes +in which the daily papers do not contain allusions to some simple little +lines dear to our childhood. They are not to be sneered at; they are to +be loved in babyhood and childhood, understood in youth, and treasured +in middle life and old age. + + +_5. Discussion of Each Volume_ + +Our _Journeys Through Bookland_ contains a wealth of material and a host +of studies and helps. It is not an easy matter to get even the plan of +it into one's mind in a few minutes. The object of this volume is to +guide the parent, teacher or student and to show as many of the +important phases of _Journeys_ as is possible. In other chapters we take +up different methods of reading or show ways in which the books can be +used to accomplish certain definite purposes, and how to select the +material needed for any occasion. By means of cross references to the +other books this volume serves as a key to them all. + +_Volume One._ The first sixty pages of this volume are given over to the +best known of the old nursery rhymes. That they are old is one of their +great merits. That all cultured people know them is proof of their value +and interest. The words are old words but the pictures are new. Every +one was drawn expressly for _Journeys_ and all show the conception of +artists who have not lost the appreciation of childhood. Little children +love the rhymes and will learn them and repeat them at sight of the +pictures long before they can read. Elsewhere in this volume are +suggestions which show how the rhymes may be used profitably. + +_Journeys_ does not pretend to teach reading in the sense in which it is +understood in the kindergarten and the early primary grades. Rather it +begins to be of service as a reader only after the child has been +taught how to read for himself. Children in the third grade will read +many stories for themselves; from the fourth grade on they are nearly +all independent readers. Every teacher knows, however, that children +like to listen to stories which it would be utterly impossible for them +to read, and that later they best love to read the things which they +have heard from the lips of parent or teacher. Therefore, the literature +of the first volume forms a treasure house from which the parent may +draw many a good story to tell, and where he may find more that will be +excellent for him to read aloud. The taste for the best literature is +often formed in early childhood. So no child is too young for _Journeys_ +and no child is too old. The real things we read over and over with +increasing interest as the years go on. Elsewhere in this volume are +directions for story-telling, and many especially good selections are +named. What the parent shall read aloud is best left to him to +determine; at first he will do well not to read aloud any of the +comments with which the books are fitted. If he finds that the interest +warrants it he can use the comments for himself and ask questions that +will lead to thoughtful consideration of what is being read, even by +very young children. The only thing necessary is that the reading should +be taken seriously and that the parent should be as much interested as +the youthful listener. + +There are stories and poems, fairy tales and folk lore, biography in +simple anecdotes of the great favorites of children and toward the end +of the volume a few rather difficult selections for older children. In +this volume as in all of them it is hoped that parents will look over +the table of contents again and again, select the things that seem best +and suit them to the occasion. How beautiful the lullabies are for the +babies, and how much the older boys and girls will enjoy them when read +at baby's side! When the children are interested in the whimsical rhymes +of Stevenson, his biography should be read; and Eugene Field's life is +interesting when his sweet poems are lending their charm to the evening +by the fireside. Some of the fables contain deep lessons that may be +absorbed by the older children while the younger ones are interested in +the story only. + +_Volume Two._ The selections in the first part of the second volume are +intentionally simpler than the last ones in the first volume. It is a +good thing for a child to handle books, to learn to find what he wants +in a book the greater part of which is too difficult for him. Oliver +Wendell Holmes thought it was an excellent thing for himself that he had +had the opportunity to "tumble around in a library" when he was a +youngster. Every student who has had the opportunity so to indulge +himself has felt the same thing. There are so many books published every +month and so much reading to be done that a discriminating sense must be +cultivated. No one can read it all or even a small part of it. Older +people will discriminate by reading what they like. Children must learn +to handle books and to find out what they are able to read. To put into +their hands all they can read of the simple things they like is not +wise. Most children read too much. Fairy stories are all right in their +way, but to give a child all the fairy tales he can read is a serious +mistake. Hundreds of pretty, inane, senseless stories in attractive +bindings with pretty, characterless illustrations tempt the children to +vitiate their taste in reading, long before they are able by themselves +to read the best literature. + +Because they are valuable, there are fairy stories in _Journeys_; +because their use may be abused, there are few of them; because +something else should be read with them, they are not all in one volume +nor in one place in a volume. The same rule of classification applies to +other selections than fairy tales. + +This is the volume in which the myths appear in the form of simple +tales: three from the northland, two from Greece. Each story is +attractive in itself, has some of the interest that surrounds a fairy +tale and serves as the fore-shadowing of history. That they are +something more than fairy tales is shown in the comments and elementary +explanations that accompany them. + +Little poems, lullabies, pretty things that children love are dropped +into the pages here and there. Children seem to fear poetry after they +have been in school a little while, largely because they have so much +trouble in reading it aloud under the criticisms of the teacher and +because the form has made the meaning a little difficult. It is, +however, a great misfortune if a person grows up without an appreciation +of poetry when it is so simple a matter to give the young an abiding +love for it. A little help now and then, a word of appreciation, a +manifestation of pleasure when reading it and almost without effort the +child begins to read and love poetry as he does good prose. + +The beginnings of nature study appear in the second volume in the form +of beautiful selections that encourage a love for birds and other +animals, and _Tom, The Water Baby_, is a delightful story, half fairy +tale, half natural history romance. + +In this volume also is found _The King of the Golden River_, perhaps the +best fairy story ever written. + +_Volume Three._ A glance at the table of contents in the third volume +will show the general nature of the selections. Fairy stories or tales +with a highly imaginative basis predominate. There are some that are +humorous, as for instance the selections from the writings of Lewis +Carroll, and one or two of the poems. + +The long selection from _The Swiss Family Robinson_ is a good +introduction to nature literature and contains all of the book that is +worth reading by anyone. The two tales from _The Arabian Nights_ are +among the best in that collection and are perhaps the ones most +frequently referred to in general literature and in conversation. The +story of Beowulf and Grendel is a prose rendering of the oldest poem in +the English language, and valuable for that reason. While it is rather +terrifying in some of its details its unreality saves it from harmful +possibilities. Parents and teachers are inclined rather to overestimate +the unpleasant consequences of reading terrifying things when they are +of this character. Few, if any, children will read the story if it +displeases them and those who do will not retain the disagreeable +impression it makes for any great length of time. + +In this volume we begin our acquaintance with the legendary heroes of +the great nations. _Frithiof_, _Siegfried_, _Robin Hood_ and _Roland_ +are all in this book, to be followed by _Cid Campeador_ in Volume IV. + +_Volume Four._ In this volume, with many fine poems and tales +interspersed, is found the continuation of the legendary hero stories +begun in Volume III, also as a natural sequence, a cycle of history that +begins with a story and ends in a narrative of an actual historical +occurrence. These may be found in the six selections beginning with _The +Pine-Tree Shillings_. The article on _Joan of Arc_, the story of +_Pancratius_ and the account of _Alfred the Great_, though not related +in any way, yet still serve to carry out the idea that this volume is +largely an introduction to readings in history. + +_The Attack on the Castle_ is a stirring account of a mediaeval battle. +It prepares the way to the mediaeval spirit made more prominent in the +next volume. In _The Arickara Indians_ the boys will begin to find the +interest that the aborigines always have for our youth. + +_Volume Five._ The legendary great, the half-historical personages that +have been for so many centuries the inspiration of youths of many lands +are found again in this volume in the person of the Greek heroes and, at +much greater length, in England's famous King Arthur. The story of his +Round Table and its knights is told in an extremely interesting way. The +spirit of Sir Thomas Malory is retained in his quaint accounts and +Tennyson's noble poems show how great a factor the legends of Arthur +have been in literature. Besides the articles that are instructive there +are a few that are highly entertaining or merely humorous, for every +child has a right to read sometimes for amusement only. It will be seen +that some classes of literature have ceased to appear and that others +are coming into view. The "spiral arrangement" is nicely illustrated in +the reappearance of history and the legendary heroes and in the +disappearance of myths and fairy tales, for which there is, however, +some compensation in the highly imaginative _Gulliver's Travels_, an +extract from Dean Swift. + +In this volume are also included a little cycle on one of the great +heroes of the Scotch, Robert Bruce. These carry on the series of +selections on legendary heroes, begun in Volume Three. These are +followed by stories of adventure, of frontier life in the Central West, +tales from the early history of our country. _Reminiscences of a +Pioneer_, _The Buccaneers_, _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_, and +_Braddock's Defeat_ are examples of this kind of literature. These +selections are authentic accounts from original sources and are among +those things which boys really like, but which have not heretofore been +accessible to them. Patriotic Poems, somewhat in the same vein, are +given where they will be noticed and read. + +_Volume Six._ In this volume the series of legendary and semi-historical +selections is completed. It includes the best of the legends concerning +the national hero of Persia, also the story of _The Tournament_ from +_Ivanhoe_, inserted here as a fitting introduction to Scott's novels. +There are several examples of nature studies in literature and several +fine stories that have their place in the education of everyone. The +best of these stories and one of the finest ever written is _Rab and His +Friend_. A cycle of a religious nature is found in those selections +which are named _The Imitation of Christ_, _The Destruction of +Sennacherib, Ruth_, and _The Vision of Belshazzar_. + +The longest and best story in this book is _A Christmas Carol_ by +Charles Dickens. This is a model in construction and furnishes the basis +for all the studies that would naturally accompany the most elaborate +piece of fiction. + +The sixth volume is one of interest and one that will give plenty of +opportunity for study to those who have the inclination to follow out +the suggestions that accompany the selections. Close study should be +upon those things which are already somewhat familiar. The high school +student will find his time more profitably spent in working on the +things in this volume than in poring over the more difficult +masterpieces that are sometimes prescribed in courses of study. What we +desire is power to read, understand and appreciate, and that is obtained +by study upon those things that interest us and about which we know +enough to enable us to use our minds to best advantage. + +_Volume Seven._ On the whole, this is a more mature volume than any that +has preceded it and yet there are some selections of a simple character +inserted for the purpose of interesting those who cannot yet read very +heavy literature. From this point on, however, there is little +difference in the grade of the volumes. The way in which the literature +is studied marks the difference in rank. In fact, when a person can read +intelligently and with appreciation such selections as appear in this +volume he can read anything that is set before him. There may be some +things that will require effort and perhaps explanation, but it is +merely a question of vocabulary and parallel information. Besides the +stories, there are selections in every department of literature except +those that have been passed in the progress of the plan of grading. The +legendary heroes, the myths and the stories of classic literature are no +longer to be found. In their place are more selections on nature, more +of biography and history and the real literature of inspiration. Some of +the last group appear in the form of fine lyrics which everyone loves +but which are made more attractive and inspiring by proper setting and +helpful interpretations. + +In this volume biography, which has had its share of attention in every +volume, becomes a strong feature, especially in the fine sketches that +are given of famous writers. It is a fact that most writers have lived +so quietly and in such comparative seclusion that their lives are devoid +of the exciting events that make the liveliest appeal to young people, +yet every one has done so much for the world and in such varied ways +that there are things in their lives that interest and enthrall the mind +if only they are properly presented. Our great American writers have +been noble men and women and their lives are models worthy of imitation. +That is the thing for us to glory in and for our young people to know, +for it is not by any means a universal fact that people who wrote +inspiring literature have lived inspiring lives. The literature of +nature is probably stronger in this volume than in any other and the +selections are of the most absorbing kind. It is not expected to give a +vast amount of information but to create a love for reading about the +great facts in nature and an appreciation of the beauties in the +writings of those who love it. This is the last volume in which there is +much fiction and it marks the beginnings of the really fine essays which +form a large part of the succeeding volume. The history is of a higher +type and includes excerpts from the writings of some of our greatest +historians. + +_Volume Eight._ The notable feature of the eighth volume is the +selection from the plays of Shakespeare. Nothing is more important in +the literary education of a child than his proper introduction to the +greatest of our great writers, and this has been accomplished in the +following manner. _The Tempest_ was selected as the play, because it is +simple and lively in its style, appeals to young people and has in it +just enough of the marvelous, the beautiful and the terrible to make a +decided impression on one who reads it for the first time. There are +other plays that are greater but none that may be taught so easily to +juvenile readers. In this volume there is a brief article on the reading +of Shakespeare; this is followed by the inimitable tale of _The Tempest_ +by Charles and Mary Lamb; this by the play, _The Tempest_, practically +as it was written; and this, in turn, by a long series of interesting +studies on the drama. The whole is attractive from start to finish and +the studies are certain to lead the reader to think. + +The drama, then, is the new feature of the ninth volume, but this is +also the volume of fine essays, the highest type of prose. The essays +are best represented by the following titles, all of which may be found +in the table of contents of the eighth volume: _The Alhambra_ by Irving, +_A Bed of Nettles_ by Allen, _Dream Children_, by Charles Lamb. These +titles, too, show how broad is the field covered by the essay and how +delightful a variety there may be in the one style of composition. The +departments of Travel and Adventure, Patriotism and History have not +been neglected. On the whole it is a serious volume, one which will give +the high school student and the older members of the family a plentiful +supply of good reading material and a suggestion of study for the +evenings of many a winter day. + +_Volume Nine._ Most of the selections in this volume are rather +difficult reading for young people but there are helps enough to make +the task a pleasant one. The series of essays, begun in Volume Eight is +here continued, with _The Ascent of the Jungfrau_ by Tyndall, _A +Dissertation upon Roast Pig_ and _The Praise of Chimney Sweepers_ by +Charles Lamb, and two representative essays by Sir Francis Bacon. The +studies are of an advanced nature and if carried out as intended will be +of decided service to high school students. In a few cases the +selections are simple, like _Robert of Lincoln_, for instance, but the +studies that accompany it are the more complete. It is hoped by such an +arrangement to show how inexhaustible a field for study literature +offers and how many things there are to be known about the least of our +fine lyrics. _The Ode on a Grecian Urn_ is of a different type. This +poem makes no direct appeal to sentiment or to the knowledge of the +average young person, yet by study it is seen to be a lyric of +exquisite beauty. This volume introduces the writings of several authors +who have not before appeared because of their slight appeal to young +people. Among them may be mentioned particularly Addison, Boswell, and +Bacon. The volume contains also orations that should be studied as +models, viz: _The Gettysburg Address_, _The Fate of the Indians_ and +_The Call to Arms_. Each has a series of studies following it. As a +relief from the serious work of the volume there are included an extract +from _Pickwick Papers_; that fascinating story, _The Gold-Bug_; and the +delightful essay, _Modestine_, an extract from _Travels with a Donkey_, +by Stevenson. + +_Volume Ten._ At the end of this volume are given two tables; the first +arranges the leading English writers chronologically, and the second +follows a similar plan with the American authors. The index with which +the book closes is for the entire series and enables the reader to find +the selections readily, if he knows either the title or the name of the +author; to find all the selections on any given topic; and to find the +studies quickly if they are wanted. The index should prove as useful as +any of the devices with which the books are filled. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PICTURES AND THEIR USE + + +_I. What Should We Notice in a Picture?_ + +In his excellent little book, _How to Judge of a Picture_, Van Dyke +speaks of the things that constitute a good painting as follows: "First, +it is good in tone, or possess a uniformity of tone that is refreshing +to the eye; second, it is good in atmosphere--something you doubtless +never thought could be expressed with a paint-brush; third, it is well +composed, and a landscape requires composition as well as a figure +piece; fourth, 'values' are well maintained, its qualities good, its +poetic feeling excellent." A second writer has said that beauty is +manifested in four ways: by line, by light and shade, by color and by +composition. We will consider these characteristics in order. + +_a. Line._ We define the boundaries of objects and limit space by means +of lines, and the use of lines constitutes drawing in pictures. These +lines so used may be narrow or broad, straight or curved, perfect or +broken, and definite or vague and undetermined. Upon their proper use, +however, depends the beauty of proportion, the strength of personality +and the impressions of truthfulness and reality. There are few rigid +lines in nature. What we see is an impression of line, not sharp lines. +If you look at a book you may see the sharp lines that bound its edges +but if you move it away a little or put it in shadow its boundaries are +a little hazy and gradually you lose the impression of the lines that +bound it and see only a book. A tree has no sharp outline except when it +stands on a horizon and looks like a silhouette against the light. +Ordinarily it is a mass of moving light and shade, of color. The leaves +are not separately limited by lines and yet we know that leaves are +there. If the artist drew each leaf separately and accurately the +general effect would be extremely unnatural and instead of a tree we +should see only the minute carefulness of a painter who had failed. +Perfect lines, then, are rare in good pictures. The artist does not +intend to make exact representations of reality but to convey the +_appearance_ of reality, and just in so far as he succeeds in conveying +that appearance of reality is he successful. This does not mean that +good drawing is not necessary in a picture; it merely tells you what +constitutes good drawing. If the lines of the human figure are perfect +it is almost certain that the figure will be strained, unnatural and +without the appearance of life or motion. In a good picture the lines of +good drawing are present but they are broken, subdued and lead into one +another as do the lines we see in nature. + +_b. Light and Shade._ It is the distribution of light and shadows in a +picture that gives it the appearance of reality. A mere outline drawing +is flat and has no semblance of life. The paintings of the ancient +Egyptians are good examples of pictures that have no light and shade, +and we all know how flat, stiff and unreal they appear. In pen and ink, +and charcoal drawings, light is indicated by white and shadow by black, +but between the two extremes are introduced various shades and tints of +gray that make the variety of tone in shadows. This varying of the +strength of shadows is everywhere in nature, though most of us are blind +to it. In looking at any object for the purpose of distinguishing the +lights and shades upon it we should half close our eyes and look +intently at all parts of it. Under an inspection of this sort the +building which we thought to be all of even light is seen to be dotted +with patches of shadow of different intensity, showing that there are +projections where the light from the sun strikes clearly or depressions +into which it cannot enter so freely. A picture should give the same +effect, and it is this effect, which includes also the distance from the +eye as well as the shades from the light source, that we call "values." +If we look at a tree in the way described we see that it is covered with +patches of green in light or dark tints and that these color values are +the lights and shades of which we are speaking. There will be one point +of highest light and an opposing point of deepest shadow, and upon the +proper arrangement of these as well as upon the patches of minor +importance depends the lifelike appearance of the objects in the +picture. Van Dyke says there are three things concerning light and shade +that should be looked for in every picture, viz.: that everything, no +matter how small it be, has its due proportion of light and shade; that +there be one point of compass from which the light comes; that there be +a center of light in the picture itself, from which all other lights +radiate and decrease until they are lost in the color or shadow. + +_c. Tone and Color._ The first thing that seizes the eye in a painting +is color, and the brightest, gayest colors are the ones that are most +likely to attract. In fact they are the only colors that the +inexperienced may see, for many a person is blind to the subdued tints +and shades that are really the most attractive to the trained eye. Good +coloring, then, does not mean brightness alone. It is the relationship, +the qualities and the suitableness of colors one to another, whether +they be in shadow, half-tint or light, that constitute good coloring. +Brilliant dresses and inharmonious ornaments strike the refined eye with +displeasure, the wearer is "loud" in her dress. Subdued colors relieved +here and there with a harmonious dash of brightness show correct taste. +So in pictures those that have the low or deep tones, that are rich and +harmonious, are the ones that are most appreciated by the experts, and +are the ones usually found to have been painted by the masters. +Nevertheless if high color combines richness and harmony it shows a fine +skill. Tone has to do with the quantity of color used in the painting, +and harmony with the qualities of colors. Tone and harmony must combine +to make perfect coloring. + +_d. Composition._ If we study any great poem, drama or novel, one that +is constructed with a due regard for unity, we find there is one central +character or idea and that all other persons, all incidents, scenes and +all the little devices that go to give reality to the conception are +subordinated to the central person or idea. Unless this is done the +creation lacks unity and therefore lacks force, beauty and coherence. +The same facts hold true of a picture. Every good picture is so +arranged and drawn that the important idea is centralized and the parts +are unified and harmonized until the whole is single in its effect. This +is accomplished by what is called in the language of the painter, +"composition." Important things are recognized and lesser things +subordinated to give beauty, clearness and brilliancy to the central +idea. While these facts are most obvious in pictures that contain +figures, it is no less true in landscapes or other pictures which +contain no figures. For instance, a moonlight scene on the Hudson would +have as its central idea the beauty of the light on the water and the +mountains. To secure this the artist would keep down the lines of the +mountains, subordinate the details in the foreground and place as the +central idea in the picture the pale shimmering light from the moon +whether that body be itself visible or not. Oftentimes in looking at a +picture it is difficult to tell wherein its excellent composition lies, +but the absence of strength and unity is unerringly felt. + +_e. Atmosphere and Perspective._ We are all familiar with the diminished +size of objects seen at a distance and realize that the apparent coming +together of two parallel lines, as those of a railway track, is owing to +the same cause. We know, too, that this diminishing must be shown in a +picture or there is no sense of distance for the spectator. What is not +so clear to us usually, is that there is as great a difference in color +and the appearance of objects. The diminution of size is linear +perspective and the change of color due to distance and atmospheric +conditions is commonly called aerial perspective. The tendency among +amateurs is to paint a tree green no matter how far away from the +spectator it is, while a little observation and study would show the +veriest tyro that the green of a distant tree has faded till to the eye +it looks a bluish gray. Moreover, outlines have faded and seem to flow +into those of other objects, and all combine to give to the picture the +true appearance of distance, which is what the artist seeks and the one +who looks at the picture has a right to expect. + +_f. An Application of the Foregoing Principles._ What has been said on +this subject of judging a picture may be made clearer by an application +to one of the pictures in _Journeys_. Let us take, for instance, the +color plate facing page 304, in Volume VI. It is a reproduction in color +of the painting in water colors, _Bob and Tiny Tim_, and will show what +is meant by the comments above almost as well as the original painting +would have done. + +1. Tone and color. Are the colors in the picture bright and gay or are +they subdued? What are the brightest colors? Are the colors harmonious +or do they "quarrel" as they come to the eye? + +Are the shades of blue and purple and lighter colors in the clothing of +the various persons glaring or subdued? Do you observe any inharmony +which offends the eye, or are you pleased with contrasting colors and +tones? The harmony in color is due to the choice of colors that do not +contrast too strongly. The artist knew which were complementary colors; +that is, which, united, form white. Which colors in the picture do you +think show warmth, and which show cold, as suitable to out-of-door +scenes? What effect on the rest of the picture does the olive green of +the interior of the room have? What effect does the gray green of the +open door have? + +2. Light and Shade. Is the picture flat and without appearance of life, +or do the persons and objects stand out in a life-like manner? Are parts +of the picture in shade, so that outlines are lost? The artist has shown +the left of the building in the foreground as in shadow; how is this +effect produced? Do you observe gradations of tone in the shawl on Tiny +Tim, which indicate relative light and shadow? Where is the highest +light in the picture, and where the darkest shadow? Are the lights +strong as if the sun were shining, or soft and diffused, as is +noticeable on a snowy winter's day? + +3. Line. Although you cannot see Bob's feet in the picture, do you feel +that his body is well supported? Is his position natural, as of one +carrying a burden on one shoulder? Are the lines of the figures in the +foreground clear and distinct? How do they compare with the lines of the +figures and building across the street? In both cases the artist gives +us all that is necessary to convey the impression of reality. In the use +of oils and water colors, sharp lines are avoided. Colors are used so +that different surfaces and effects flow into one another; the lines are +concealed and we have the very counterfeit of reality. This constitutes +good drawing. + +4. Composition. What is the central idea of the picture? The artist has +brought the principal figures into the immediate foreground; do the +arrangement of color, contrasts of tone values, and the smaller figures +in the background give life and significance to the figures of Bob and +Tiny Tim? Would the effectiveness of the picture be greater or less if +the artist had failed to show the snowy outdoor scene, with its holiday +spirit? Do you recall the incident in the story portrayed by the +picture? Are the characteristics of Bob and Tiny Tim, as described by +Dickens, faithfully followed by the artist? Do their faces show the +spirit of Christmas? If you had not read the story, would you not feel a +glow of sympathy for the little boy, and a wish that you could join in +making a happy holiday for him? Has not the artist succeeded in bringing +the scene described by the author more vividly and beautifully to us? + +5. Atmosphere and Perspective. How far from the figures of Bob and the +little boy are the people on the sidewalk? How does the artist express +the idea of relative distance? Are there any lines in the picture which +help us to determine distance? If the eye follows the lines of the cross +pieces on the door, will they not come together if extended far enough +to the left? Of course the buildings across the street are not very far +away, but their outlines are a little hazy. Does this haziness help to +give the effect of distance? Do you think the door was really a +gray-green? Has the artist used this tone to show the effect of the +outdoor light on a gray, or possibly a white door? The building across +the street, at the left, has yellow and red and purple tones; do you +think these were the actual colors? If not, why has the artist selected +these particular shades? Do parts of buildings or other objects in +shadow take on different shades from parts in bright lights? What +colors appear most frequently in the picture? Has the artist succeeded +in giving the picture the atmosphere of Dickens's story? + + +_II. Pictures and Their Value in Literature_ + +Pictures are in themselves a language--the oldest as well as the most +universal tongue of the world. The primitive man of all races resorted +to a picture-writing in his first efforts to transcribe his thoughts and +emotions into a more lasting form than the oral expression. Our earliest +authentic history of the customs, beliefs and life of the ancient +Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Chinese and even our own American +Indians comes to us from the pictured records they left on stone, wood +or clay. + +In the present age, what child does not yield to the magic rhythm and +the compelling lilt of the old nursery rhymes! With what added joy does +he discover that there are pictures for these treasured jingles! And +long before the printed words can be recognized he enters the alluring +world of books by "reading" the illustrations. With glowing eyes on the +picture he repeats the rhyme he had learned from its many demanded +repetitions. + +By giving him simple, clear, realistic conceptions through pictures, we +influence the child to read eagerly the text, to discover the whole +story, of which such a fascinating hint is given in the portion +illustrated. These first pictures must satisfy the child's love of +action and movement, and portray only the most dramatic scenes, the big +important facts with all superfluous happenings omitted. + +In fables, where the primary purpose is to convey an abstract truth, a +something bigger and broader than the mere interesting events described, +the illustrations add much to the meaning and purpose of the text. Here +the artist shows not only the physical attributes of the real animal, +but in a subtle way goes a step further and through the features or the +attitude suggests the characteristics attributed in the fable. Thus +unconsciously the little reader gets from the picture an increased +conception of the sly, clever, crafty ways of the fox or the slow, +plodding, steadfast patience of the tortoise. + +As literature develops from the simple nursery rhyme and the brief, +abrupt fable to the fairy tale with its illusive beauty, so the pictures +should advance in a parallel and a closely related manner. The +illustrations now take on a mysterious, unreal, esthetic quality, in +harmony with the world of fairy lore, and train the imagination as much +as the direct words of the author. The child realizes that the forest +scenes which furnish the background for so many of his favorite fairy +tales have a subtle beauty which has never been seen by him. Gradually +through such pictures he is led to seek an ideal beauty in the real +world. He also becomes able not only to appreciate the poetic rendering +of this expression of the ideal but is capable of forming more varied +mental images of things about which he reads; to put more of his own +individuality, his own conceptions, into his mental picture. + +The passing ages have so completely revolutionized the customs and ways +of life that the child of today finds comparatively little in his +familiar surroundings which he can link with the world of history and +legend. Literature should be supplemented by pictures to bridge this +chasm and to bring legendary and historical heroes into the child's own +world and enable him to follow their thoughts, interpret their emotions +and appreciate their actions. + +The child who sees a picture of court life where the cavalier is attired +in richly colored velvet, silk, lace, and jewels, and surrounded by the +luxuries of the court, and compares it with another of the same period +which portrays a Puritan in his somber-hued, severe suit, stiff linen +collar and cuffs, broad-brimmed, plain hat and not a single jewel or +ornament used for mere decorative or esthetic value, realizes the vast +difference in the types and character of the two men. He is furnished +with an appropriate mental atmosphere in which to follow their history +and in which to comprehend the inevitable clash that came between the +Cavaliers and the Roundheads. He will then eagerly and sympathetically +follow the Pilgrims in their lonely stay in Holland and in their brave +struggle in the new country. Here, again, the various pictures portray a +land and climate as vigorous, uncompromising and stern as the characters +of the Pilgrims themselves. Then the great forests, the felling of the +trees, the erection of the log houses and forts, the meeting of Puritans +with the neighboring Indians, with their curious costumes, homes, +customs and occupations, introduce other phases of life that put the +child in a receptive mood for the reading of colonial history, Indian +legends and stories of pioneer life. + +Familiarity with the author's portrait, with pictures of his home or his +favorite scenes, brings a something of the writer's personality to the +child. He feels the story is told _more directly to him_. A sympathetic +bond is established that leads him to a more intimate and a more +intelligent acquaintance with the author's emotions, thoughts, style and +purposes as expressed in his works. He reads Thoreau's _Journal_, and +notes uncomprehendingly, the potent sway of nature over the heart and +life of the man. It requires the keen vision and the genius of the +artist to give him a realization of the mesmeric influence nature +frequently exerts. + +If this author's portrait is the work of a great artist it will perform +a double service. For example, the reproduction of the _Aesop_ of +Velasquez not only gives the child an idea of the appearance of that +creator of the wonderful fables, but it also introduces the great +Spanish artist who has depicted marvelous interpretations of life on +canvas and has so wonderfully influenced the style and method of the +work of many of the artists who succeeded him. + +The world of literature is filled with poems and stories which emphasize +abstract truths, teach needed lessons or give universal principles of +beauty. Many of these have been the subject and the inspiration of +pictures. And, in the re-telling of the poem or story with brush or pen, +the artists have added a something of their own individuality and +character which serves not only to emphasize and perpetuate themselves +through their pictured translation of these noble thoughts, but also +makes the principles inculcated by the author become a part of the +child's moral creed. + +All have long realized the value of pictures in connection with stories +involving scientific knowledge, but the co-operation of the artist with +the author in presenting literature to children is of equal importance. +The picture arrests the interest of the child and wins his love for +books long before he can read; it arouses his desire to master the +meaning of the printed forms, that he may discover the story for +himself; it gives him facts regarding unfamiliar things without which +knowledge the printed symbol means little; it leads him to the discovery +of unseen beauties in his environment; it develops his imagination; it +arouses his creative faculties; it aids him to grasp the deepest, +highest meaning of the world's literature; it opens up the undreamed +beauties of the vast world of art; it interprets abstract thoughts until +they become a part of his character, and CHARACTER is the true end of +all READING and of all EDUCATION. + + +_III. On the Use of the Pictures in "Journeys"_ + +Children love pictures, and they love to make them. We of riper years +are inclined to forget how very strong was our pictorial instinct when +we were young. A little girl may make on a sheet of paper a few +irregular lines not very well connected, wholly meaningless to us, and +see in them very plainly every lineament of her favorite doll. She sees +no lines, no paper, only her own precious doll. A little later she will +draw pictures to illustrate a story, and while we may see nothing in her +work, she sees enough to make the story more real, and is in this way +preparing herself to read more intelligently and with greater +appreciation as she grows older. We should not laugh at these crude +drawings, nor try to make them better. They express her ideas in her +way, and that is enough. On the other hand, we should encourage her to +try other pictures for other stories till she learns herself to distrust +her drawings, or finds a way to express herself so that others may +understand what she thinks and feels. + +Pictures mean something, always. In the first place they show to him who +can read them what some one else has thought and felt. If they are meant +to illustrate something in literature, they may fail because the artist +has not caught the spirit of what he is trying to depict, or because he +lacks in execution. On our side, they may fail because we cannot +interpret his work, either from lack of understanding or from the +dullness of our sensibilities. Again, we may object to the artist's +interpretation of the literature, and his pictures may merely excite our +opposition. Usually, however, we see through the artist's eyes from a +new point of view, so that, even if we do not altogether approve what we +see, we are led to question and find for ourselves something new, +pleasing and helpful. + +Children are harsh critics, not only of pictures but of literature +itself, and the critical spirit is a good one to cultivate, if it is not +allowed to fall into captious fault-finding. On the whole, however, it +is far better to point out the good things in a picture than to call +attention to poor execution or poor conception. Leave criticism +generally to those infrequent cases in which the artist has actually +blundered because he has not read the selection closely or accurately, +or has been careless in the things he ought to know. For instance, it +would be absurd to show King Arthur in a modern dress suit, or to put +fire-arms in the hands of the Indians who met Columbus for the first +time. But such faults occur infrequently. Usually the pictures are +careful studies, and give many a hint on costuming, manners and customs, +as well as on the proper surroundings of the characters. + +Some selections are so universal in their nature, so freely applicable +to all times and places, that the artist may be allowed to delineate any +people, anywhere, at any time. Nursery rhymes, so often alluded to, lend +themselves to an endless variety of imaginary people and places. The old +woman might be living still in her shoe and whipping her children +soundly, in a twentieth-century wrapper, or clothed in skins she might +send them supperless to bed in pre-historic ages. Whether Jack and Jill +wore wooden shoes or patent-leather pumps we shall never really know; +perhaps their little feet were encased in moccasins, or they may have +been bare and ornamented with rings: what we do know is that Jack broke +his crown and Jill came tumbling after. + +So we will give the artists all the latitude they wish, as long as they +keep the facts straight, and we will try to help the children to see +what the artist saw, and so get clearer visions for themselves. + +The pictures in these books are from many artists, all of whom have +given an interpretation of the selection they were working upon, and +have given it in such a way as to be helpful and inspiring to their +youthful readers. Every time the artists have tried to get a child's +view of things and to draw so that a child will like their work. Their +enthusiasm has been boundless, and their execution remarkably good. Some +of their pictures are gay, some are grave, a few sad; some are highly +imaginative and others very realistic. Not a few are wonderfully +beautiful. Among so many designs, so many kinds, everyone will find +something to admire. + +Among the many, let us take a few for a brief study to show that they +may be used with children to make literature clear, to give interest and +keener appreciation. + +The very first picture in Volume One (sub-title, _Nursery Rhymes_, page +1) is frankly intended as an introduction to the rhymes which follow, +and is also a good illustration of many of the principles stated in this +chapter. + +The little boy is fond of his playthings and especially of his toy cat, +but you see he is giving his chief thought just now to the rhymes and +jingles which his mother is repeating, while the baby is absorbed and +happy in looking at the pictures. Do you see the sewing-basket with the +knitting which the mother has laid aside while she devotes an hour to +play? Do the other books on the table suggest that she sets a value on +good reading as an important element in the training of children even as +young as these in the picture? The idea is carried out further in the +decorations of the draperies around the window. You see there in simple +outline characters which appear in fuller detail with the rhymes which +follow in this volume. The color tones are subdued and restful, not loud +and glaring, but they are so happily blended, or contrasted, that both +persons and objects are clear and distinct. It tells without words the +story of happy childhood. + +_Jack and the Beanstalk_ (Volume One, page 159) is a picture which will +repay study. A child's imagination reaches out more or less vaguely, +though often to his satisfaction, for a visualization of the +exaggerations of nature which appear in almost all fables and fairy +tales. Our artist has given this subject a realistic touch, which makes +Jack's adventure seem almost possible. + +Does the beanstalk look natural? Does it look like the beanstalk which +grows in your garden? Are the bean pods like those you have seen? Is the +color natural? Does the stalk look strong enough to bear Jack's weight? +How high up do you think he must go to reach the giant's home? How is +the impression of height given? Do you see the landscape stretching away +in the distance? Do the fields and the stream look far away? Do you +think Jack became frightened or dizzy as he went on--up and up? Doesn't +the picture help you to understand his courage and determination to +carry out his purpose? + + [Illustration: ALFRED TENNYSON + ROBERT BROWNING + WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE + SIR WALTER SCOTT + WILLIAM WORDSWORTH + GEOFFREY CHAUCER + JOSEPH ADDISON] + +_Nurse helps me when I embark_ (Volume One page 127) is a fine picture +for study. Ask questions like the following: What toys do you see in the +picture? Do boys like toys which suggest adventure? Do you think he +likes his small boat? Why? Did it suggest to his mind that he would call +his bed a boat, and sail away in it to dreamland? Is he saying his +prayer? Will the small candle give light enough? Why does it smoke? What +kind of a bed is it? What is the canopy over the bed made of? +Interesting questions may be asked about the poem: What is a prudent +sailor? What do prudent sailors have to take on board? What is a pier? +What is the pier beside which the boy finds his vessel fast? + +On page 262 of Volume One is printed _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_, Eugene +Field's musical lyric for little ones. The attractive picture may be +looked at before the poem is read. Questions help the children more than +explanations and comments, particularly where they are logically asked. +The natural order is to ask about the prominent things first, and then +about minor details, thus: How many children are there? Where are they? +What does their boat look like? What is the child nearest the toe of the +shoes doing? Where are the other two standing? What have they in their +hands? What are they doing with the net? Are they catching any fish? +Where is the moon? What can you see in the moon? Is the face laughing? +Now let us read the poem, and when we have done so, let us see what +lines in particular the artist was thinking about. Who are the three +children? "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." What did they do? "Sailed off in a +wooden shoe ... into a sea of dew." What did the moon say? "'Where are +you going and what do you wish?'" What did the children answer? "'We +have come to fish for the herring fish.'" What kind of nets have they? +"Nets of silver and gold." What did the old moon do? "The old moon +laughed and sang a song." What were the herring fish? "The herring fish +were the little stars." How long did they fish? "All night long their +nets they threw." Where did they throw their nets? "To the stars in the +twinkling foam." * * * * Were there really three little children? No. +How many were there? Only one. Who, then, were Wynken and Blynken? The +little child's eyes. And who was Nod? His head. What was the wooden shoe +that sailed the skies? Only a trundle-bed. What then was all this story +about fishing from a wooden shoe for herring fish with nets of silver +and gold? Only a wee one's dream. How can you see the "wonderful sights +that be"? By shutting our eyes while mother sings. Don't you suppose the +artist shut her eyes when she thought of the picture, and perhaps +dreamed of the time when she lay in her little bed and her mother sang +of the wonderful sights that be? Wasn't that just why she made such a +beautiful picture, and thought even of putting wings to the shoe, so it +could sail through the sky? After such a talk as that with a little +child, do you not think, dear parent, that he would come nearer to you, +and while you read the poem softly and smoothly to him he would learn to +like its music, and through its refining influence learn to love you a +little better? When he has grown to manhood, do you not think there will +come times when his heart will be touched, when he will long for the +loving arms around him and the sweet mother voice to sing once more of +the wonderful sights that be? There are holier things to be done for +children than to feed and clothe them. + +In Volume Two, on page 121 may be found the picture _Shuffle-Shoon and +Amber Locks_. How many persons are shown in the picture? How is the old +man dressed? In what is he sitting? How is the boy dressed? Where is he +sitting? Can you sit comfortably that way? What does he hold in his left +hand? What is the little boy doing? How many blocks are there in his +building? How many blocks are on the floor? What is the old man placing +on top of the blocks? What is on the wall back of the chair? Of what is +the curtain made? Which is Shuffle-Shoon? Why is he called +Shuffle-Shoon? Why is the boy called Amber-Locks? What is the color of +amber? Do you think the old man has a kind face? How old do you suppose +he is? How old is Amber-Locks? Do you like his face? + +From Volume Two, page 264, _Tom and The Dragon Fly_: What is the first +thing you notice when you look at this picture? What is the second +thing? Where is Tom standing? Where is the dragon-fly? How many wings +has it? How many legs can you see on the dragon-fly? Does Tom's hair +look as though he had just come from the water? What is he looking at? +Does he seem to be afraid, or happy? Can you tell where the surface of +the water is? Is any part of Tom in the water? Can you see sky or clouds +in the picture? Does any land show? + +From Volume Two, page 69, _The Swallow and the Stork Came_: After a +picture has been examined, as has been explained, it is sometimes a good +thing to study the way in which the artist has produced his effects. The +effects in this picture are remarkably fine and Mr. Rudeen has +accomplished his purposes very skilfully. What effect is given by the +mass of white in the center of the picture? Does it help to give +emphasis to the principal figures? Does the artist use his colors in +proper tones and shadings? Does he succeed in making the birds seem +really to fly? Do you see the face in the fir tree? How are the eyes +indicated? Are the lines and patches that make the face any different +from those that indicate other leaves on the tree? Why then does it look +like a face? Does the face have an expression of surprise? If the +branches and leaves on the left side of the tree were curved downward +instead of upward, would the expression be changed? Is there any +indication of feathers on the swallows? How are feathers indicated on +the stork? The artist drew the original of this picture with pen and +black ink. The engraver made one plate for this drawing in black, then +another plate for those portions of the picture which have any shade or +tone of orange, and still another for the blue tones. The green is +produced by printing from the orange and the blue inks over the same +surface. Facing page 82, Volume Two is the portrait of Hans Christian +Andersen. This was taken from a photograph, and under a microscope it +can be seen that the ink is put on in fine dots. The border was drawn +with pen and ink. The original photograph of Andersen was photographed +through a screen and reduced to the size you see it. The pictures in the +book are printed from the metal plates which put the ink on the paper in +little dots. These prints are called _halftones_: the pen and ink +drawings in the texts are called _zinc etchings_. The original of the +colored frontispiece of the same volume was a water-color painting by +Mr. Henderson. This was reduced in size by photography and four plates +were made, one showing all the black, and another all the red, a third +all the blue and a fourth all the yellow in the original. Then the paper +was run through the press four times, each time with the color of ink +for which each plate was etched. By printing one color over another this +way, the different shades were made. No better way is known for +reproducing colored pictures. The border was drawn with pen and ink. The +title page was drawn with pen and ink and a zinc etching made by +photographic process, from which an electrotype plate was made. The end +sheets are decorated by a zinc etching reduced from a large drawing made +by Mr. Mitchell. The title and ornaments on the back of the books are +made from strong brass dies that were engraved from drawings made by +special artists. Gold leaf is laid over the section to be lettered and +the dies are pressed upon it with such force as to fasten the gold upon +the cover. Then the parts of the gold leaf that have not been pressed +into the cover are brushed away and the design is perfect. + +To learn what a picture really contains, to appreciate its purpose and +merit, we should study it systematically. The following topics suggest +themselves: + + 1. The general view. + 2. The details. + 3. The center of interest. + 4. The purpose. + 5. The artists' conception and its appropriateness. + 6. Elements of beauty. + +As in other cases, the best way to explain a method is to apply it. +Accordingly, let us study by this method the picture _Down Tumbled +Wheelbarrow_, on page 46 of Volume One. + +1. _The general view._ Here is a picture of a man wheeling his wife +through a London street, and the breaking down of his wheelbarrow. + +2. _The details._ The man, and his wife sitting in the wheelbarrow; the +cobbled street, the sidewalk, the houses on one side of the street, the +arch-way with the house above it, and the street showing through the +arch-way; the man in the distance. A shop in the middle ground, with +fruit and vegetables displayed outside the window. The man with the +wheelbarrow is dressed in the fashion of the past, with tall hat, blue +cut-a-way long-tailed coat, black breeches and blue stockings, white +vest and white gloves. His neckerchief and shoes are orange color. His +wife is also fashionably gowned. Her bonnet has blue and orange +feathers, she has an embroidered shawl of orange color, with a blue +overdress and a gray skirt; her blue parasol is in the air, dropped in +the shock of the breaking of the wheelbarrow. Her arms are extended in +effort to save herself. The wheel is bent under the barrow. + +3. _The center of interest._ The center of interest of most pictures is +found near the center of the picture. It is plainly so in this picture; +the man with the wheelbarrow, and his bride engage our attention, while +secondarily we note the rough cobbled pavement and the narrow street. + +4. _The purpose._ The artist's intention is to show the dramatic moment +when the wheelbarrow broke, and the bride got the fall. + +5. _The artist's conception and its appropriateness._ In choosing the +line "Down Tumbled Wheelbarrow," the artist selected the moment which +was the climax of the adventure, and in so doing he shows the shock of +surprise and alarm in the attitude and expression of both bride and +groom as contrasted with their very fine holiday costumes, which show +how much care they had given to their preparation for their wedding +journey. The artist has not overlooked the opportunity to show us a +typical London street of the olden time, narrow and paved with cobble +stones. The arch-way gives us the assurance that the street was very +narrow, so that the wheelbarrow had to go over the rough cobbles. The +conception seems appropriate and true to the story in the simple rhyme. + +6. _Elements of beauty._ There are two main elements in this picture, +which contribute to the pleasure it gives us, aside from the story it +tells. In the composition of the picture, the artist has placed the main +figures in the foreground and drawn them in full detail. Note the +contrast of the masses of black with the open spaces of white and light +shadings. The walls of the houses are indicated by few lines which are +sufficient but which do not draw the eye from the center. The rough +street is skillfully indicated by a few deftly drawn round cobbles, +leaving the larger white space to give air and light to the central +figures. The treatment of color is the second element of beauty to be +noticed. Not all the picture is colored; in this class of illustration, +the white spaces have the effect of giving background to the colors, and +bringing out their best values. + +Another profitable study can be made on the full-page illustration that +appears on page 159, in Volume Five. Questions best induce interest in a +picture, but the questions should be asked systematically. The following +is a model on the picture named above, _Geraint hears Enid singing_. + +1. _General view._ How many men are in the picture? What do they appear +to be doing? What is the building at the right? + +2. _Details._ Who is the man on horse-back? How is he dressed? What is +hanging from a chain on his breast? What is he looking at? What is the +expression on his face? What is the color of his horse? Have you ever +seen a bridle and a harness like these in the picture? Do you think the +man loved his horse and took good care of him? Who is the man standing +beside the horse? How would you describe his garments? What has he in +his right hand? What is its use, and what does it signify? What does the +gesture with his left hand indicate? What do you think of the building +on the right? Is it new or old? What seems to be growing on the walls? +What does this mean? What seems to be growing up between the stones of +the pavement? + +3. _The center of interest._ Are the men talking together? If so, why +are they not looking at each other? Does the attitude and expression of +the man on the horse suggest an interesting topic? (Tell the story in +part, and read the lines covering this episode, page 156. Is the center +of interest now made clear?) + +4. _Purpose._ What did the artist mean to do by means of this picture? +Did he select an important and interesting event in the story? + +5. _Conception and appropriateness._ Has the artist followed the text +truthfully in his conception? Do you think there is a dramatic interest +in this scene, which made it appropriate for illustration? Would it have +been as effective without the old man in the picture? Why? Does the man +on the horse show his character in his bearing? Has the artist succeeded +in portraying the old man in the character described in the text? Does +the picture please you? Do you think it is a success? + +6. _Elements of beauty._ Do you like the soft, even tones of the +picture, the heavy touches of the pen in the main figures and the light +touches in the background? Is the day bright or gloomy? Is the effect of +light on the wall, balcony and doorway pleasing? From what direction +does the light come? How does the artist indicate surfaces in shadow? +Does the outline of the castle through the arch add interest and beauty +to the picture? + +After the children have been taught to observe properly, you have in the +pictures numberless interesting subjects for language exercises. A good, +clear-cut description of a picture is worth reading, and to write one +means thought and study. The exercise may be varied by asking the child +to describe the picture before he has any knowledge of the subject and +then asking him to call his imagination into play and write a story to +fit the picture. Later you may read him the story the artist meant to +illustrate. + + * * * * * + +Besides the color plates and halftones which are found in their proper +places in the several volumes, the following pen and ink drawings are +good examples of the kind of pictures that best repay study: + + Volume I, page 22. + Volume I, page 30. + Volume I, page 35. + Volume I, page 67. + Volume I, page 159. + Volume I, page 203. + Volume I, page 375. + Volume I, page 391. + Volume II, page 111. + Volume II, page 228. + Volume II, page 384. + Volume III, page 141. + Volume III, page 324. + Volume IV, page 452. + Volume V, page 97. + Volume V, page 253. + Volume VI, page 145. + Volume VI, page 361. + Volume VII, page 281. + Volume VII, page 439. + Volume VIII, page 160. + Volume VIII, page 321. + Volume IX, page 118. + Volume IX, page 248. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +TELLING STORIES + + +Before a child can read he develops a passion for stories, and nothing +delights him more than an interesting tale from the loving lips of +father or mother. In good kindergartens and primary schools, there are +teachers who tell stories to the little ones and do it well, but parents +will not wish to delegate it entirely to teachers, for story-telling is +the best way of getting at the hearts of children and planting those +germs which later grow into refined taste in reading as well as ripen +into real character. On the other hand, the teachers may neglect to tell +stories to their pupils or are not skilled either in selection or in +manner of telling. Parents who are interested in the welfare of their +small boys and girls will wish to know what is being done and how it is +accomplished, but may have little idea of the material it is wise to use +or where to find good subjects for their tales. + +Proper selection is highly important, for taste and appetite for certain +kinds of literature may be created long before the child can read for +himself. Strong-minded, courageous little boys will love to hear of +giants and ogres, and will revel in adventures that may terrify their +more delicate sisters. George hates the fierce foes that Jack the +Giant-Killer meets, and dreams of the time when he can overpower and +slay his own ogres. Alice listens tremblingly, and when she goes to her +little bed at night lies in fear and trembling, while hideous faces leer +at her from out the shadowed recesses. George never wearies of our +oldest poem, _Beowulf_, while Alice wants only _Cinderella_, or at most +_Bluebeard_. It is nothing less than cruelty to fill the imaginations of +sensitive children with deeds of violence and tales of sadness and woe. +Yet it is no less true that some young folks are the better for their +giants, their knights and their battles. On the whole, it is wiser to +keep the giants, the ogres and the suffering people in the background, +or to dwell upon them only when there seems a demand for them; later, +lead the young imaginations into the realms of history and real life +where giants are very real and ogres yet remain to be subdued. Do not +tell sad or exciting stories in the evening. Keep the quiet, peaceful +things for bed-time stories. + +Here, then, is the great opportunity for the parent. The teacher has +thirty or more children of as many different temperaments from homes as +varied in culture as the children are different in appearance, and to +them she must tell her story as to one. The parent has but his own +little flock, whom he has known every day of their lives, and whose +souls are as transparent as glass to his watchful and sympathetic eye. +How certain may he feel in his selection of material, how powerful in +his recital! + +Perhaps, however, he may find the pleasant task an unaccustomed one, may +have forgotten what he knew as a boy, and may not know where to turn for +material. Here these books come to his assistance with material for +every taste and suited to every occasion. In the beginning of the first +volume are the nursery rhymes which children have enjoyed for ages, +which are read, or far better told, to infants who rejoice in the +pictures. Between the nursery rhymes and the literature that follows is +quite a gap, intentionally left by the editor. There are no pretty +little tales in words of one syllable for beginners to read, but there +are good fables and stories to be told while the children are learning +to read, and later, to be read by the young people themselves. No parent +can go astray in selection if he knows his own children. + +Do not be afraid to _tell_ the story--reading it aloud will not be half +so effective. Select a fable or a short story first. Read it carefully, +and then shut the book and think about it. Be sure you have the plot in +your mind, make the hero and the other characters seem very real to +yourself, picture the scenes vividly in your mind's eye, and you are +ready to begin. + +1. _Use Your Own Words._ Simple words, graphic, commonplace words, are +the best. The older children will be just as much entertained, and the +younger ones can understand better. On the other hand, do not talk +_down_ to their level; they will resent the idea and laugh at you. _Keep +on their level._ That means that you must be sure you know your audience +before you begin to talk. + +2. _Talk Naturally._ Forget that you are telling a story for the effect +it will produce. Forget yourself. Tell the story as you would tell them +an incident you have just seen. + +3. _Look Your Children in the Eyes._ Find the responsive eyes and get +your inspiration from them; seek out the dull and uninterested eyes and +talk to them till they brighten up and respond to your enthusiasm. Let +every child know that many times you have looked him square in the face +and make everyone feel you are talking straight at him. + +4. _Supply Many Details._ Children love them; their lives are made up of +little things. Don't think you are ignoring the real story by your +additions. The details you give are probably the very ones the author of +the original story intended you to supply from your own imagination as +you read. Under this head comes the giving of names to characters; +descriptions of clothes, of facts, of feelings; the addition of new +incidents. + +The recital of a bare plot is not an interesting story. For instance: "A +boy on his way to school found a yellowbird's nest with four little +birds in it," is the recitation of a bare plot. Is it interesting? Would +the story appeal to children? What do you think of the form following? + +"John told me an interesting story this morning. As he was coming to +school today he saw a little yellowbird fly from the bushes by the big +tree at the corner of Mr. Brown's yard. He parted the leaves and looked +into the bush, but for quite a while he could see nothing. At last, +however, he spied a pretty little nest in the fork of a limb and so low +that he could look right down into it. John must have made some noise, +because when he looked in he saw four little, wide-open red mouths, and +that was about all. Of course, there were little half-naked bodies under +the gaping mouths, but he couldn't see them, for each little bird was +shaking his head about, stretching it up higher and higher and opening +his mouth wider and wider. You see, to each little bird a rustling sound +meant that the mother bird had come back with a bit of tasty breakfast +in her mouth. When the wee babies found that they had made a mistake +they closed their mouths, drew down their heads and packed themselves +away so tightly that I'm sure they can't be cold while their mother is +away." + +5. _Be Intimate and Personal with Your Audience._ Express your opinion +now and then as your own; interrupt the story occasionally (not often +enough to spoil the interest) by asking for the ideas of the children. +Let them guess, sometimes, at the outcome of the story. Make them feel +that they are an important part of the exercise. Sometimes they will +help you wonderfully. + +6. _Use Direct Discourse Wherever Possible._ Make your characters speak +in their own words. Say, "John said, 'I saw the nest,'" rather than, +"John said that he saw the nest." + +7. _Keep the Climax Out of Sight as Long as Possible._ Curiosity is a +large factor in interest, and if the children know "how the story is +coming out" you are liable to lose their attention. However, you will +find that some stories will prove such favorites to young children that +they will call for the tales again and again. Occasionally small +children are very particular about the way in which a story is +repeated--there must be no deviations from the way in which it was first +told. You may congratulate yourself on having told the story well, if +the children ask for its repetition; and if they criticise your second +telling you may know you did very well in your first attempt. + +8. _Be Enthusiastic; Be Dramatic._ Throw yourself into the tale; _see_ +what you are describing; _feel_ what your characters feel, and _enjoy_ +the story itself. Speak distinctly; use clear, sympathetic tones; speak +slowly or rapidly as the action demands, and use pauses effectively. +Don't be in a hurry. See that your face expresses your feelings, that +your attitudes are easy and your gestures appropriate and graceful. Act +your part. + +9. _Do not Preach._ Tell the story so the moral, if there is any, may be +seen and felt without your striving to point it out. + +10. _Talk the Story Over Freely with Your Children._ Try to get their +ideas, rather than to give your own. You can tell whether you have +succeeded and what your faults in narration have been. + + +_The Fairies of the Caldon-Low_ + +The difference between poetry and prose may be shown in rather a +startling manner with such a selection as _The Fairies of the +Caldon-Low_ (Volume II, page 395). Children like Mary Howitt's little +narrative, but what does it really say? Let us put it in plain prose and +see! + +"Where have you been, Mary?" + +"I've been to the top of Caldon-Low to see the midsummer night." + +"What did you see?" + +"I saw the sunshine come down and the winds blow." + +"What did you hear?" + +"I heard the water-drops made and the ears of corn fill." + +"Tell me everything, Mary, for you must have seen the fairies." + +"Then take me on your knee, mother, and listen. Last night a hundred +fairies danced on lively feet to the merry music of nine harpers, but +the merriest thing was the sound of the fairy talk." + +"What did you hear them say?" + +"I'll tell you, but let me do it in my own way. Some rolled water down +the hill and said, 'this will turn the poor old miller's wheel, and a +busy man he will be by morning. There has been no rain since the first +of May, and how the jolly old miller will laugh till the tears fill his +eyes when he sees the water rise in the milldam.' And some seized the +winds and put horns to their mouths and blew sharply. 'And there!' said +they shrilly, 'the merry winds go from every horn to clear the damp +mildew from the blind old widow's corn. Though she has been blind for a +long time she'll be merry enough when the corn stands up stiff and +strong without any mildew!' Then some brought flax seed and flung it +down, saying, 'by sunrise this will be growing in the weaver's field, +and how the poor lame fellow will laugh when he sees his vacant field +filled with blue flax flowers in a single day.' Then a brownie with a +long beard spoke, 'I have spun all the tow and I want more. I have spun +a linen sheet for Mary's bed and an apron for her mother.' I couldn't +help but laugh out loud, and then I was alone. On the top of Caldon-Low, +the mists were cold and gray and I could see nothing but mossy stones +lying about me. But as I came down I heard the jolly miller laughing +and his wheel going merrily. I peeped into the widow's cornfield and, +sure enough, the golden corn was free from mildew, and at the gate of +the croft stood the weaver, whose eye told the good news about his flax +field. Now that's all I heard and all I saw, so please make my bed, +mother, for I'm as tired as I can be." + +Rather a pretty story, even in plain prose, is it not? It is re-written +just about as it would be told to a little child for the first time, a +child interested in the good fairies who do good things for the poor and +the suffering. Then a little later, when the child reads for himself he +can see how much better Mary Howitt tells the story in verse. +Nevertheless, some children will prefer it in prose and often may ask to +have other poems "told in prose." There is no reason for refusing. Story +first, poem afterward, is a good rule to follow if you want to create a +taste for poetry. Sometimes just a remark, "Let us see how this sounds +in poetry," will create enough interest to enable the parent to begin +reading aloud to an attentive audience. Most children will not learn to +like poetry if left to their own devices. It must be read aloud to them +and its beauties pointed out occasionally to create a love for so +artificial a thing as metrical composition. + +Parents will find in the General Index at the end of this volume not +only reference to the contents of _Journeys_ by title and author, but +also a classification of subject matter, so that it will be easy to find +different examples of poetry,--lyric, ballad, sonnet,--and of +prose,--fiction, adventure, history, etc., offering a wide range of +selection for story-telling purposes. + + +_Little Giffin of Tennessee_ + +This little narrative poem (Volume IV, page 461), is intensely dramatic. +Too abrupt in style for easy reading and filled with words the children +may not understand, it is not well adapted to the very young. But +there's a story in it of courage and deep patriotism that will be an +inspiration to every child who can hear it. What better subject can a +parent find for his son's encouragement than a tale told in his own +words or read in the following? + +Little Giffin of Tennessee was only a boy, only a boy of sixteen, not +bigger nor stronger than Charlie, Thomas or George Jones whom you see +going by to school every day. Yet he wasn't running along bareheaded +carrying a bat or swinging his books by a strap. Little Giffin was a +poor wounded soldier boy who had been already in eighteen battles; more +than one, you see, for every year of his short life. + +In the last terrible charge, a grape shot had struck him in the leg and +arm and torn the flesh from his broken bones. Over him his comrades +swept up to the face of the enemy's guns, and little Giffin was left to +fight his battle with cold, and rain and hunger. All night long he lay +moaning on the ground, and it was late in the forenoon of the next day +when he was found and taken to the hospital. + +There they laid his mangled body among the hundreds of others who had +met with a fate as hard as his own. It was hours before the surgeons +could come to him, and then so hurried were they by other calls upon +them that only a hasty dressing of his poisoned wound was possible. + +Some kindly visitors found him there, his fair young face flushed with +the deadly fever, and begged the surgeons to do something for him. + +"We can do nothing," they said. "Our hands are full. His case is +hopeless. We must help where it will do some good." + +"But may we take him with us? May we see what we can do for him? Perhaps +we can find a doctor who can cure him." + +"Take him and welcome," the surgeon replied. "But you can find no doctor +who can save the dead. Little Giffin can never get well." + +But the good people lifted the broken form and carried it out from the +hospital's deadly air, into the golden sunshine and away to a clean +little cot in a humble home where a good doctor treated him and a kind +motherly nurse hung over him and soothed his feverish brain for many a +weary hour. For days it seemed that every breath would be his last and +for months his sufferings wrung the hearts of his friends. + +But at last there came a day when he could sit up a little, and then for +weeks he hobbled about, an almost helpless cripple with a rude crutch +for his only support. + +But his new friends had known that he would get well, for even during +the days of burning fever and the weeks of weary recovery his heart had +been filled with courage and his steel blue eye had glinted with a +dauntless spirit that would not die. + +The crippled right arm and mangled fingers were slow in healing and +nearly useless when the wounds were closed and only ugly scars remained. +In spite of all, though, he learned again to write, and you can imagine +that the first letter, in its scraggly writing, began, "My Dearest +Mother," and the next, "Dear Captain." + +Mother's answer came first and brought warmth and love to the heart of +the brave little cripple who dreamed now only of home--home, which he +had not dared hope to see again. But then the Captain's letter came: + +"Dear Giffin: + +"Your letter reached me tonight. God bless you, my boy. I thought you +were gone with the others. Of the eighty-five who made that fatal charge +only you and I are now alive. They say that Johnston is hard pressed and +needs every man----" + +Little Giffin never finished reading the letter. He was up and ready to +start away to the front, to his Captain and to Johnston. + +"Johnston needs every man," he said, as the first tears he had shed came +to his brave blue eyes. "He needs every man and I'll be some help. I'll +write to you, if I'm spared. Good bye. God bless you, kindest of +friends." + +He was gone. Long his friends waited for word from Giffin, little Giffin +of Tennessee. But there came only the news of a terrible battle with +Johnston, where indeed every man was needed. + +And little Giffin? Little Giffin never wrote. + +But I'd rather have one loyal Giffin, in a nameless grave on a southern +battle field, than all the cowardly men who would fawn around me if I +were a king. + +Now I'll read you a little poem which tells better than I can the story +of brave little Giffin of Tennessee. + + +_The Ballad of Agincourt_ + +By telling the story and giving some explanation of difficult terms, we +are often able to create an interest in poems that would otherwise +remain unread. The best of old English ballads are so full of martial +spirit that they may well prove an inspiration to many a boy in these +days when war has so recently rent the whole world and proved the +courage of our own young men. Back of the action that brought bloodshed +and suffering is a spirit of loyalty, a genuine patriotism that is as +much needed now as when it animated the souls of the British soldiery in +those days of long ago. It is part of our inheritance, and may not be +forgotten. It is to be hoped that we may never need it again amid the +smoke and carnage of the battlefield, or in the silent horror of the +trenches, but we have each for himself conflicts to wage with foes more +insidious than the armed forces of rival nations, and we can win them +only by the same spirit of devotion that brought victory at Agincourt. +_The Ballad of Agincourt_ (Volume V, page 95), is followed by notes that +make clear its historical setting, but a few comments may help to a +better appreciation of the inspirational value of the selection. + +It is natural that in verses written about three hundred years ago there +should be found some crudities in style, some lapses in syntax, and not +a few words strange to us or having a meaning somewhat different from +their present significance. Among such lapses in syntax we find the +slight confusion of tenses in the first stanza, caused in the poet's +mind by the necessity of making a rhyme for France, though this might +have been obviated by writing "stands" for "stood" and using the present +tense throughout. The necessities of rhyme troubled Drayton not a +little: he must pronounce "Agincourt" as it is written to rhyme with +"sort," which, by the way, is not a perfect rhyme for "fort" in the +sixth stanza, and "great" does not rhyme with "seat" nor "feat"; in the +seventh, "rear," "there" and "were" do not rhyme; other instances are +easily found. Of words not now familiar, or used in an unfamiliar sense, +the following are examples: We do not frequently speak of the wind +"standing" in a certain direction; we do not often "advance" our sails +nor "prove" our chance; "vaward" and "bilboes" are old words; "ding" in +the sense used here has long been forgotten; of "archery" except as a +sport we know nothing; "Spanish yew" is no longer valuable for bows, and +few can tell how long a "clothyard" (the English ell, 45 inches long) +is, or whether it differs from any other "yard" as a measure of length. + +If the things just mentioned are defects they are of little moment and +add to the quaintness of the verses without detracting from their force. +Anyone who reads for inspiration and for his own betterment puts aside +the critical spirit, places himself in the position of the writer, +harmonizes thoughts and reads for the message without much concern for +the medium. But there are force, action, rhythm, clearness and beauty +in this old ballad. Let us see what we can find without carrying +analysis to the point where it destroys the spirit. All we need is an +understanding of the meaning of the sentences and an expressive reading +aloud. The former, we can supply here, the latter the reader must +contribute. Poetry must be read aloud to be appreciated by any but those +who can listen to their thoughts and hear the words their eyes garner +from the printed page. Such readers are few. + +Here is the paraphrase that makes the meaning clear. + +With a wind blowing straight for France the English soldiery spread +their sails to try one more campaign against their ancient enemies. +Crossing the open sea they landed at the mouth of the Seine river, +following King Henry and his noble courtiers. + +There was fighting all the way, and many a strongly garrisoned fort was +taken, to the joy of all the English. Every day had its skirmish with +the French, who stoutly defended the way to Agincourt where lay their +commander with all his great army of fifty thousand men. Here the +Frenchman sent to King Henry the sarcastic message: "You are going to +your doom. Better get your ransom ready before you advance further." To +this insult the English king made no answer, but an angry smile that +foreshadowed the fall of his vile opponents flashed from his eyes. + +Turning to his men, however, the brave king spoke: "Don't be alarmed if +they do outnumber us ten to one. We have begun nobly. Battles so bravely +won as these we have fought, have always been lauded to the skies. Your +fame shall never die. And as for myself, this is my task. I shall not +ask England to mourn for me nor to praise me. If I am not victor here, +or if I am slain, never shall she be asked for one penny to redeem me. +From the great battles of Poitiers and Cressy we learn that when the +French were the most swollen with pride they fell beneath our swords. +Our skill is none the less than that of those who fought under our great +grandsire when he defeated the French and cut their national emblems to +the ground." + +What a battle array it was! The vanguard was led by the dread Duke of +York; the king himself in the midst of his brave guards sped in the +center with the main body of the troops, while the valiant rearguard was +captained by Excester, courageous as any man in the great army. + +And now the fight begins! Armour on armour shines; drum now to drum does +groan,--to hear is wonder; that, with the cries they make, shakes the +very earth; trumpet to trumpet speaks, thunder to thunder. + +From the ambuscade of our hidden forces the noble Erpingham gives the +signal for the English archers to fire. Now like a storm the +cloth-yard-long arrows sped by the strong bows of Spanish yew strike the +French horses, stinging them like serpents through the withers. Every +bowman stands to his place, not one deserting; every true English heart +rejoices in the slaughter. + +Down go the bows when the arrows are shot, out spring the great swords, +as the English fly on the French, not one laggard in the company; +straight from their shoulders spring the blows that cleave the heads of +the French peasants and drop them in the dust of trampling feet. + +Meantime the noble king, brandishing his broad-sword, dashes along the +French line as though to overwhelm it with his mighty blows, while many +a wound sheds blood on his arms and many a cruel dint sinks into his +helmet. + +The good duke Glo'ster, next of the royal blood, fights side by side +with his brave brother, and the youthful Clarence in this almost the +first of his battles fights as furiously as any experienced knight; +Warwick wades in blood, and Oxford adds to the cruel slaughter of the +foe. Suffolk plies his axe manfully while Beaumont, Willoughby, Ferrers +and Fanhope, names for the English to conjure with, bear themselves as +bravely. + + +_Herve Riel_ + +Let us take, as a final example, Browning's poem _Herve Riel_ (Volume +VIII, page 168). We will set about the preparation of it together. First +we will read the note and then the poem. * * * It is a stirring thing, a +noble monument to a noble man. It is worth the telling. We will read +through it again and mark the passages that contain the incidents that +make the story, so that we may not have to hesitate for ideas after we +begin to talk. * * * Really, the plot is more simple than we thought. It +is merely this: "The French fleet, defeated by the English, arrives off +the harbor of Saint Halo. They call for pilots, but none will try to +conduct the big ships through the dangerous channel, and the captains +decide to wreck and burn their ships, so the English may not capture +them. Just at this time a simple Breton sailor offers to pilot the +vessels through, under penalty of death. The commander puts him in +charge of the fleet and he takes them safely into the harbor. The +English arrive just too late to do any damage, and the French commander, +grateful to his deliverer, offers him any reward he may wish. The Breton +laughs and asks for one day's leave to go and visit his wife who lives +near by." + +Let us consider the persons. Evidently Herve Riel is the only one we +need mention by name. We could give him a simpler name, but if the story +is true, everyone ought to remember him. We must try to make him seem +alive. We must make his deed seem great and must make a point of his +patriotic devotion and of his beautiful love for his wife. + +Now we are ready to talk, as soon as we have thought a little and +assured ourselves that we are in the right spirit. So, facing our +audience of small children, we begin: + +I've just been reading _Herve Riel_, a story that I like so much I must +tell it to you. A long time ago, before there was a (name your town), +really before there was a United States, there was a long war across the +ocean between the great nations, England and France. There had been a +bloody battle between their navies, and the French had been beaten. +Still twenty-two of their ships escaped, sailed to their own country and +arrived outside the harbor of Saint Malo. But they were not safe, by any +means. The English were close behind and could soon overtake and capture +or destroy all the French vessels, and put to death many of their +crews. Inside the harbor the French knew they would be safe, for no +English vessel could get through the long, crooked channels without a +pilot, and no Frenchman would lead the English. + +Without even waiting to anchor, the captains made signals for pilots and +many skilled ones came off to the ships. When the pilots heard that the +French were crippled and must get into the harbor they laughed at the +captains. + +"Go through there now?" they said. "Why, you can't do it. Don't you see +it's low tide and the rocks are showing everywhere? The channel is +crooked and very dangerous at high water and now you could not get your +smallest ship through safely, let alone such a large ship as the +_Formidable_ here, with her ninety-two big guns. It can't be done." + +Nothing could change the minds of the pilots. They knew their business +thoroughly. So the captains met to decide what they should do. The +commander addressed them, saying: + +"The English are at our heels. What shall we do? Do you want them to tow +us all, one behind the other, back to their country to become their +prizes? Not I. Better run all the ships aground, set fire to them, and +escape ourselves if we can." + +The brave captains all looked at their commander. Every man shut his +teeth together, set his brows, and with flashing eyes said, "Speak the +word; we will obey." + +But the commander never gave his order! Right into the excited group +stepped a man; not a captain, not even a second mate; just a plain, +simple sailor who lived near Saint Malo. He had not even joined the +fleet of his own will, but had been seized and carried on board long +before the battle, because the navy was short of sailors. You might +think he would want revenge for being taken away from his home and his +fishing. Did he? At first he was too much excited to speak, but in a +moment he stormed out: + +"What's the matter with you pilots? Are you mad, or fools, or cowards, +or have the English bought you body and soul? Don't talk to me of rock +and shallow places and crooked channels! Haven't I sailed these waters +for years, and don't I know every shallow place, every dangerous turn, +every inch of the way? You cowards! There's a way through, I tell you." + +Then Herve Riel turned to the commander and shouted, "Put me in charge +of this ship, the biggest, this _Formidable_, and I'll steer her +through. Make the others follow me closely. They'll all come safely in. +Try me; I'll do it. I haven't much to offer for the chance, but if this +ship so much as touches her keel on a hidden rock, you may cut off my +head. Let me try, sir." + +The commander replied, "We have not a second to spare. You're admiral +here! Take the helm and lead us through!" + +Herve Riel was as prompt as the commander, and seizing the tiller, he +soon had the great ship sailing along under perfect control. She went +into the narrow channel, with the great rocks high on both sides. The +waves beat up angrily and the breakers threw their spray high over the +decks. With eyes fixed on the channel and both hands on the helm, he +guided the staunch vessel on the winding course. Time and again it +seemed as though she must be wrecked, but just at the moment of greatest +danger Herve Riel shifted the helm, and the stately ship moved safely +on. With hearts beating high, the officers watched the wonderful deed, +and the frightened sailors clung speechless to the rail. Finally, +between two great rocks that seemed to block the channel completely, the +ship sailed majestically into the harbor, and Herve Riel had kept his +promise. Not once had the great _Formidable_ touched her keel to a rock; +not a scratch, except the battle scars, marred her fair sides. + +After her, one by one, came the other ships of the squadron, till all +were anchored safely in the harbor. Just as the last ship came to +anchor, the English fleet, coming up in helpless anger, began to throw +shells across the passage. The French, however, were out of range and +could laugh at the fruitless attempts of their enemy. With one voice the +captains and sailors of the rescued fleet shouted, "Herve Riel! Herve +Riel! Now, let the king of France reward the man who has saved his +fleet!" + +And what of the brave sailor? He stood calm and quiet without a gleam of +pride in his frank blue eyes. Just the same man as he was before his +gallant deed, he answered the commander's call and stood before him. + +"My friend," began the commander, "I can scarcely speak, but you know +praise comes from the heart and not from the lips. You have saved the +fleet from certain destruction and have preserved the lives of many of +your countrymen. No reward is too great for you. Ask what you will and +it shall be granted." + +Herve Riel's blue eyes danced with merriment as he said, "Now that my +work is over I would like, if I may have it, one whole day to visit my +wife, whom I call 'Beautiful Aurora,' and who lives just a little way +from Saint Malo. That is all I want. May I go?" + +You can imagine whether or not his request was granted. + +Now, do you know, that brave act was forgotten; Herve Riel was forgotten +for many centuries. No monument was erected to his memory; there seemed +nothing to keep the patriotic man alive in the hearts of his countrymen. +But one day, not so many years ago, Robert Browning, the great English +poet, heard the story, and he was so moved by the heroic deed and the +quiet humor of the man, that he wrote a fine, manly poem and called it +_Herve Riel_, so that it should remain as a monument to the patriotism +and character of the simple French sailor. + +If the children are older and studying history, we would give more of an +idea of the place, and of the occasion and show what the effect of +saving the ship really was. The poem is an excellent one, but most +children do not care for it till they have heard the story and have +studied the text. Then they are delighted with it and will read it again +and again. It has been many years since the writer of this first read +_Herve Riel_, but he has never wearied of it and cannot read it now +without a thrill of admiration for the hero and for Browning's monument. + +When you tell the story, do not try to tell it as this has been told. +Use _your_ words, select for emphasis the parts that appeal to _you_ and +give the children just the ideas that _you_ have conceived. + + +Other classics that will make just as good subjects for story telling +are in every volume of _Journeys_. The following list contains only a +few of them. By adapting them to the age of the young listeners, almost +any of them may be made suitable for almost any age: + + Volume I, page 79. _Little Red Riding Hood._ + Volume I, page 101. _Silver Locks and the Three Bears._ + Volume I, page 134. _The Dog in the Manger._ + Volume I, page 431. _Baucis and Philemon._ + Volume I, page 456. _The Story of Joseph._ + Volume II, page 111. _The Punishment of Loki._ + Volume II, page 448. _The Story of Esther._ + Volume II, page 387. _What the Old Man Does Is Always Right._ + Volume III, page 436. _Robin Hood._ + Volume IV, page 192. _The Pine-Tree Shillings._ + Volume IV, page 274. _David._ + Volume IV, page 383. _The Wooden Horse._ + Volume V, page 130. _Balin and Balan._ + Volume V, page 237. _The Passing of Arthur._ + Volume VI, page 143. _Ruth._ + + + + +CHAPTER V + +READING AND THE BUILDING OF CHARACTER + + +I + +The influences which unite to make character are so numerous, subtle and +complex that it is next to impossible to detect them or to classify them +in order of importance. Not only is this true of the aggregate, but it +is true of the individual. It is doubtful if any person in middle life +can tell just what he is or just how he became himself. He is aware of +some great influences that have exerted their power over him at certain +crises in his life, but the little things which, taken together, have +done more to form and fix his character are often unrecognized or +undervalued. Fortunately, at this time we need to give attention to only +one phase of the great question. + +Character is the one important thing. Great as is the value of book +education, of practical power and of good health, still greater is the +importance of sound, wholesome character; and, consciously or +unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally, the teacher and the +parent are incessantly at work building the characters of the young +people placed in their charge. Most of us, too, are working toward right +ends as conscientiously as possible. Yet often we grow faint-hearted, or +are puzzled to know what we can do to help the children and how we can +do it most effectively. + +That the influence of reading on character is one of the most powerful +is granted by every high-minded person who has written or spoken upon +the subject. Really, it is not an influence, but a series of influences, +wide, complex, far-reaching. The extended range of subjects, the +infinite variety in style, the unlimited shades in sentiment to be found +in literature make its presence influential everywhere and always. In +reading there is comfort for the sorrowing, companionship for the +lonely, encouragement for the downcast, entertainment for the leisurely, +inspiration for the sluggish. Gentle, pervasive, almost unnoticed, yet +stronger than iron bands, is the power of literature over us. We are +what we read. + +If such be the case, then there need be no argument concerning the +importance of suitable reading matter for the young. To leave a child +wholly to his own inclinations in reading is as absurd as to send him to +take honey from a swarm of angry bees and not expect him to be stung. +Inevitably, he will be injured, and that seriously. To supply him with +honey, all that he wants, at all times and without exertion to himself, +is to clog his taste and destroy his appetite. We must see that he is +led to look for the sweet, taught to recognize it when he finds it, and +to extract it from the comb. He will enjoy working to get it. On the +other hand, he must not be sent where his reward is too difficult to +find and secure, lest he become discouraged and cease to work. + +School readers furnish much excellent material for reading; in the +majority of schools there is furnished more or less of supplementary +reading which is quite as good as that in the text-books and which will +have the merit of novelty and exclusiveness. Yet, in spite of this, +parents and teachers are continually finding themselves at a loss for +fresh and inspiring things for special occasions. All these may be had +from _Journeys Through Bookland_ and to assist in finding them and in +using them after found the following has been written. + + +II + +Character is made up of a great variety of traits; some of the mind, +some of the heart, some of the soul. That is, what we are is composed of +what we know, what we feel and what we believe. In response to those +things we act; we govern ourselves in respect to ourselves and in +respect to others. + +The grave responsibility that rests upon parents and teachers is to +encourage those traits which make for noble manhood and womanhood and to +correct or eradicate as far as possible those which are bad in +themselves or which help to neutralize or destroy the good ones. + +Much may be accomplished by correct teaching of good principles, but +human nature is such that people learn even more through indirection +than through instruction. By means of the study of literature the best +direct instruction may be given, and wholesome lessons may be taught +abundantly in that charming way which accomplishes its purpose without a +recognition on the part of the readers that they are being _taught_. The +force and persistence of a good lesson of the latter kind cannot be +estimated. It may be years before it exhausts itself, and its effect may +be revolutionary. + +The wise instructor, though she does not make known all her plans, works +systematically. That is, having learned that a child is lacking in some +respect, such as a knowledge of what constitutes good character, or in +certain desirable traits of character, or possesses some characteristics +that should be changed, she proceeds slowly and persistently to bring +about the results she desires. + + +III + +In _Journeys Through Bookland_ the mother will find much to assist her. +The influence of nearly all the selections will be for the betterment of +character, will tend to make better men and women of the children. But +when she is looking for some direct help, for something to produce a +certain definite result, she will study the books carefully and select +the things which are most effective. To help her in her selection we +have prepared the following outline. It does not contain everything of +value, but it is sufficiently comprehensive for its purpose, and will +save much time for anyone. + +Now let us not be unwise in teaching these things. Let us be satisfied +if we secure the interest of the pupils in the selection and get from +them the smile of approval, the look of guilt, the slight indication of +a determination to profit by the lesson. Many times we will refrain from +comment lest we spoil the effect of something much finer, more inspiring +than anything we can say ourselves. + +The things we have chosen for their direct influence on the growing +character of children will be grouped by subject in three general +classes: + +A. The selections in this group are calculated to set children to +thinking properly about some serious subjects. While not as important as +some others may be in the formation of character, they are yet of no +small consequence. + +1. Wisdom, ignorance, keenness, wit, etc., in some of their many phases +are shown in the fables and the brief poem listed here: + + _The Ass in the Lion's Skin_, Volume I, page 65. + _The Fox and the Stork_, I, 73. + _The Fox and the Grapes_, I, 135. + _The Bat and the Two Weasels_, I, 154. + _The Horse and the Stag_, I, 338. + _The Fox, the Wolf and the Horse_, I, 377. + _The Bald Knight_, I, 385. + _The Wolf and the Lamb_, I, 455. + _Minerva and the Owl_, II, 7. + _The Country Squire_, VI, 474. (To ridicule ignorance but not the + ignorant person is sometimes a valuable means of inciting a love for + knowledge.) + + +2. The importance of attention to little things is inculcated in the +following: + + _The Lion and the Mouse_, Volume I, page 75. + _The Reaper and the Flowers_, I, 410. + _The Daffodils_, VII, 1. + _The Petrified Fern_, VII, 77. + +3. The following will help to create habits of promptness, industry and +perseverance: + + _Time to Rise_, Volume I, page 340. + _The Hare and the Tortoise_, I, 71. + _The Lark and Her Young Ones_, I, 131. + _Industry and Sloth_, I, 300. + _Whittington and His Cat_, I, 442. + _Tom, the Water Baby_, II, 215. + _The Village Blacksmith_, IV, 86. + _Bruce and the Spider_, V, 314. + +4. These show the sterling worth of independence and the real equality +of man: + + _The Village Blacksmith_, Volume IV, page 86. + _For A' That and A' That_, VII, 149. + +5. Courage and bravery are shown to be admirable and cowardice is made +shameful in these selections: + + _The Boy and the Nettle_, Volume I, page 65. + _The Mice and the Cat_, I, 197. + +6. The evil of conceit and overweening self-esteem may be shown +emphatically by the use of such selections as these: + + _The Gnat and the Bull_, Volume I, page 70. + _The Cock and the Horses_, I, 146. + _The Pea Blossom_, I, 205. + _The Sparrow and the Eagle_, II, 8. + _The Milkmaid_, II, 374. + +7. Flattery as a vice is made to seem unworthy, and its victim +ridiculous in the two selections following: + + _The Fox and the Crow_, Volume I, page 64. + _The Spider and the Fly_, III, 19. + +B. Our character is largely made up of our feelings and emotions. Reason +takes us in hand and tells us right from wrong, but we must feel before +we can act. To cultivate right feeling, laudable emotions; to make one +_wish_ to do and hence _will_ to do is perhaps the greatest function of +real literature, that is the literature of beauty and of inspiration. +Our collection is rich in this direction and to find material for +lessons is an easy task. Yet not everyone has the time to find, classify +and use everything; hence the following lists. + +Before giving them, however, a word of caution is necessary. Remember +that these selections are not all suitable for children of every age. +Some that will delight the little children and stimulate them to +enthusiastic efforts to do right, will not appeal to older ones. +Moreover, the natural bent of a child's mind, the associations he has +formed, his home surroundings, and his present character will all need +to be considered before making choice of the subject matter. As for the +manner of presentation, enough will be found in the studies in _Journeys +Through Bookland_ and in other parts of this volume safely to guide the +young and inexperienced. + +1. The influences of home and family are the greatest that come into the +lives of most children. Love of home, of parents, of brothers and +sisters, of children, are the perfectly natural things of existence. Yet +often the ties are weak; not infrequently are they broken. Children +drift away from the restraining and helpful influence of their parents, +and families disintegrate. The results are bad. By properly teaching +such selections as the following, much may be done to correct the evil +and to intensify the highest, holiest emotions of mankind: + + _The Rock-a-by Lady_, Volume I, page 94. + _Little Birdie_, I, 142. + _Sleep, Baby, Sleep_, I, 204. + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_, I, 203. + _Lady Button-Eyes_, I, 366. + _The First Snowfall_, II, 403. + _Rain on the Roof_, IV, 7. + _Pictures of Memory_, IV, 127. + _Bernardo del Carpio_, IV, 270. + _Rab and his Friends_, VI, 99. + _Childhood_, VI, 124. + _Home, Sweet Home_, VI, 221. + _Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead_, VI, 231. + _A Christmas Carol_, VI, 244. + _To My Infant Son_, VI, 478. + _The Old Oaken Bucket_, VII, 11. + _My Old Kentucky Home_, VII, 179. + _The Forsaken Merman_, VII, 180. + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_, VII, 186. + _The Family of Michael Arout_, VII, 314. + _On Receipt of My Mother's Picture_, VII, 331. + Extract from _Snowbound_, VII, 388. + _The Cotter's Saturday Night_, VIII, 319. + _Dream Children_, VIII, 335. + +2. Honesty and truthfulness are cardinal virtues; they are the +foundation of every strong character. Teach these selections and note +their effect: + + _The Shepherd Boy and the Wolves_, Volume I, page 92. + _The Falcon and the Partridge_, II, 6. + _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_, III, 384. + _The Cubes of Truth_, VII, 406. + +3. Friendliness, kindness, consideration of others, charity and love are +a group of strong characteristics which are admirably shown in the +following: + + _The Two Travelers_, Volume I, page 109. + _Cinderella_, I, 224. + _Baucis and Philemon_, I, 431. + _The Snow Queen_, II, 124. + _The King of the Golden River_, II, 405. + _Auld Lang Syne_, VI, 228. + _A Christmas Carol_, VI, 244. + _Florence Nightingale_, IX, 13. + +4. Generosity is admirable; selfishness is despicable. Prove the facts +by these: + + _The Two Travelers_, Volume I, page 109. + _The Two Travelers and the Oyster_, I, 111. + _The Cat and the Chestnuts_, I, 142. + _Baucis and Philemon_, I, 431. + +5. Kindness to animals is next to kindness and sympathy for human +beings. It is best inculcated by teaching the beauty and loveliness of +animals, their value to man and their dependence upon him. The following +will help: + + _The Boys and the Frogs_, Volume I, page 63. + _The Brown Thrush_, I, 147. + _Mercy to Animals_, I, 413. + _The Ugly Duckling_, I, 414. + _Tom, the Water Baby_, II, 215. + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ II, 399. + _A Dog of Flanders_, IV, 93. + _Rab and His Friends_, VI, 99. + _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_, VII, 29. + +6. Patience and gentleness seem charming in these selections: + + _The Wind and the Sun_, Volume I, page 95. + _Cinderella_, I, 224. + _Rab and His Friends_, VI, 99. + +7. Faithfulness is a virtue. We admire it in: + + _Something_, Volume I, page 395. + _Whittington and His Cat_, I, 442. + _The Mirror of Matsuyana_, II, 36. + _The Snow Queen_, II, 124. + _Casabianca_, VIII, 313. + +8. That envy and covetousness are unpleasing and unprofitable are shown +by these: + + _The Dog and His Shadow_, Volume I, page 63. + _The Frog Who Wished to Be as Big as an Ox_, I, 66. + _The Golden Touch_, II, 43. + +9. Contentment, peacefulness, hopefulness are made very attractive in +the following: + + _The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse_, Volume I, page 199. + _The Pea Blossom_, I, 205. + _The Flax_, I, 378. + _The Discontented Stone Cutter_, II, 12. + _The Fir Tree_, II, 68. + _The Blind Lassie_, VI, 120. + _Pippa Passes_, IX, 293. + +C. We have grouped together here two classes of selections which +inculcate patriotism or devotion to one's fatherland and devotion to +God. How admirable the selections are! You have only to read them to +see: + +1. Patriotism: + + _Holger Danske_, Volume II, 377. + _Incident of the French Camp_, IV, 174. + _The American Flag_, V, 396. + _Battle Hymn of the Republic_, V, 399. + _Stonewall Jackson's Way_, V, 400. + _Horatius_, VI, 1. + _Bannockburn_, VII, 15. + _Breathes There The Man_, VII, 151. + _How Sleep the Brave_, VII, 151. + _Make Way for Liberty_, VII, 172. + _The Old Continentals_, VII, 175. + _America_, VIII, 60. + _The Battle of Thermopylae_, VIII, 81. + _The Fall of the Alamo_, VIII, 141. + _Herve Riel_, VIII, 168. + _The Battle of Trafalgar_, VIII, 284. + _The Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321. + +2. Suitable selections under this topic are difficult for teachers to +find, owing to the objection there is against religious teaching in the +public schools. Parents have greater liberty of selection. The following +are beautiful and seem wholly unobjectionable: + + _A Thought_, Volume I, page 66. + _The First Snowfall_, II, 403. + _Nearer Home_, IV, 126. + _Stonewall Jackson's Way_, V, 400. + _The Rainbow_, VI, 91. + _A Child's Thought of God_, VII, 418. + + +_Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ + +The obvious purpose of these verses (Volume II, page 399), is to create +a love for birds by making things appear uncomfortable for the boy who +steals their nests. Perhaps the lesson is too obvious. The people who +never steal nests and who always treat birds lovingly will approve of +the verses, but the boy to be reached is the one who does destroy nests +and frightens or kills their owners or the boy who is liable to be led +to do such things. Such a child may have no interest in the verses, may +laugh at the sentiment, even if he can be induced to read or listen to +the rhymes. Sometimes interest can be created and good effects produced +by making prominent every feature except the moral. This can be made +into a little play or dialogue with the following characters: + + The Yellow-breast + The Cow + The Dog + The Bobolink + The Sheep + The Crow + The Hen + A Bird + Mary Green + Alice Neal + The Little Boy + +Unfortunately, there is only one boy character and he is any boy, in +fact almost every boy, at some time in his life. But he is so ashamed +that he doesn't speak, not even to give his name. Suppose, then, we +don't mention him at all. Just leave him off the list. If he isn't +mentioned and is in the audience, he'll remember what he has done and +feel ashamed and go home and perhaps hide behind the bed and resolve +never to steal another nest. Yes, we are inclined to agree with you that +the poem might be better if there were no last stanza. So the little +drama, in outline, is something like this. + +_The Yellow-breast._ Who stole my nest and the four eggs I laid? + +_The Cow._ I didn't take your nest. I wouldn't do such a thing. I gave +you a wisp of hay. + +_The Yellow-breast._ Who stole my nest? Bobolink, who do you think stole +my nest from the plum tree? + +_The Dog._ (Interrupting). I didn't; I wouldn't be so mean. I gave my +hairs to make the nest. + +_The Yellow-breast._ Now listen to me. Who stole my nest, Bobolink? + +_The Bobolink._ Yes, who stole the Yellow-breast's pretty nest? + +_The Sheep._ Not I. I wouldn't treat a bird so. I gave my wool to line +the nest. + +_The Yellow-breast._ Who stole my nest, I say? + +_The Bobolink._ Who stole her nest? + +_The Crow._ I should like to know the thief. Who was it? + +_The Hen._ Don't ask me. The chicks and I each gave a feather and she +used them. We would be ashamed to intrude on her. + +_A Bird._ Let's all make a stir and find out who it is. Then we'll cry +"For shame!" together. + +_Mary Green._ I wouldn't rob a bird. I never heard anything so mean. + +_Alice Neal._ It is very cruel. I wonder if the thief knew how sad the +Yellow-breast would feel. + + * * * * * + +Boys do not steal nests because they are mean and want to give pain. +They admire the pretty eggs, they like the skilfully built nests, and +they do not realize that anything suffers real pain. That is a lesson +they must be taught. Can you teach kindness by cruelty? Is it not rather +cruel to say right out before Mary Green and Alice Neal and the other +girls that the boy was so ashamed he hung his head, hid behind the bed +and wouldn't tell his name? + + +_Lead, Kindly Light_ + +NOTE.--John Henry Newman, the author of this beautiful poem (Volume V, +page 110), was born in London in 1801. He entered Oxford before he was +sixteen and achieved the highest distinction in his college course. He +entered the Church of England and became noted for his wonderful +sermons. After some years of prominence in his calling, he was convinced +that his belief was wrong, and in 1845 he entered the Roman Catholic +Church. In 1879 he was created cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. but he +continued to reside in England, where he died in 1890. Besides his great +influence as a spiritual thinker, Newman's writings and sermons were +characterized by a forcible and elevated style and by remarkably +melodious utterance. _Lead, Kindly Light_ shows these traits. + + +Some words and phrases in the hymn may be made clearer by explanation: +"Kindly Light."--"The light shall shine upon thy ways." (_Job_ xxii, +28.) "The Lord is my light and my salvation." (_Psalms_ xxvii, 1.) "The +Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning +shall be ended." (_Isaiah_ lx, 20.) + +In the Bible there are many other instances besides those just given in +which there is a figurative use of the word _light_. It is a natural and +beautiful figure. A person in doubt intellectually or spiritually looks +upon himself as in darkness, and light to him is an intellectual or +spiritual awakening. The light that came to the poet was a _kindly_ +light; it removed his doubts and comforted him. + +"_Garish day._" The dazzling or glaring day. + +"_Moor and fen._" While these words seem new and unusual to us, we must +remember that in England they are as common as the terms _marsh_ and +_swamp_ are with us. + +"_Those angel faces smile_," _etc._ The subject of this clause is +_faces_, and the verb is _smile_. + +Children will love this hymn though they cannot appreciate its full +significance till maturer years have brought with them the deeper +experiences of life. Still they should know and love the poem and may be +led to a partial understanding of its beauty in sentiment by means of +interpretation carried not too far. By comment and reading somewhat in +the following manner may the most be accomplished: + +1. The poet had reached mature years and had felt the oppressing +influence of questioning and doubt, but had reached a sublime faith in +the power and love of God. He still feels, however, the need of the +personal care and guidance of the Almighty, and asks that it may +continue through life. So we may imagine him in one of those thoughtful +moments which come to every one, musing thus: Darkness and night +surround me with their encircling gloom, and I feel that years must pass +before I reach my heavenly home, so-- + + Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, + Lead thou me on; + The night is dark, and I am far from home; + Lead thou me on; + +While he no longer doubts the care and protection of God, yet he feels +that his own strength is not sufficient; that he may err and stumble in +the path he has chosen. He does not ask that all should be clear, nor +that he should see the long course of his life, but is content to pray-- + + Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see + The distant scene; one step enough for me. + +2. After this invocation and prayer, his thoughts turn back into the +past, and he remembers that in youth he had not this divine faith, nor +did he wish to place his reliance in God. He preferred to lay out his +own course and to plan his life far into the future, without the feeling +of dependence that now rules him. So he sings: + + I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou + Shouldst lead me on; + I loved to choose and see my path, but now + Lead thou me on; + +He remembers that then he loved display and ostentation and was proud, +wilful and self-confident; nevertheless, there were times when for a +moment he feared, but in spite of that timidity, he went on in his +masterful way: + + I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, + Pride ruled my will: + +The thought of his self-complacency, his pride and arrogance brings out +the plea, the supplication, "remember not past years." + + [Illustration: SIR FRANCIS BACON + JONATHAN SWIFT + CARDINAL NEWMAN + DANIEL DEFOE + CARDINAL WISEMAN + CERVANTES + FATHER RYAN] + +3. He remembers that through all his rebellions he has been surrounded +by the power and goodness of God, who has led him through all his +devious paths, and the feeling comes that the same protecting influence +will surround him till doubt is swept aside. + + So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still + Will lead me on + O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till + The night is gone. + +He is confident, too, that the same power will lead him through the dark +night of doubt till the angels of love and faith, in whom he once +trusted but whom he has doubted for a time, will come about him and +smile their welcome to the light: + + And with the morn those angel faces smile + Which I have loved long since, and lost the while. + + +_Poor Richard's Almanac_ + +It is doubtful if _Journeys Through Bookland_ contains any other +selection so full of meat as this extract (Volume VI, page 407) from the +writings of Benjamin Franklin; in fact, it is so full of wisdom on so +many homely subjects and contains so much practical advice that no one +can master it in a single reading. + +It is condensed to the utmost limit and every sentence should be weighed +and considered. The wise maxims and old saws need to be expanded in +thought, illustrated by example and applied to the reader's personal +experience. + +As a whole it is not particularly attractive to young people, but every +child can be attracted to parts of it. A little of it to-day, more of +it next week, a third part some time in the future, and in time the +whole will be assimilated. + +If the truths in this one selection are thoroughly embedded in the mind +of a boy, if the traits of character here taught are made a part of him, +he will be a sound man of business, a sensible head of a family and a +valuable citizen in a community. + +_Poor Richard's Almanac_ contains the religion of work, of economy, of +prosperity. It is a manly doctrine, a clear-cut, respectable philosophy, +a reasonable rule of business activity. Never more than today were the +precepts needed. The whole tendency of our modern activities is against +its precepts. Disaster and ruin may be seen on every hand and traced +directly to the neglect or violation of those sound principles which the +wise old Franklin put in such homely words. + +These maxims of life and policy are not those which it is the special +province of the school to teach. They are the elementary law which a boy +or girl must learn in his home and see exemplified therein if they are +ever to become a practical part of life's equipment. + +The wisdom of the _Almanac_ is the wisdom of practical experience, the +wisdom of those who have lived and worked, who have lost and won. It +does not deal with the finer phases of character, but with those +practical things which lead to a bread-and-butter success. + +A boy who knows what _Poor Richard_ teaches and follows his precepts +will be a business success. If a parent can grind into the character of +his child these lessons of industry, simplicity, temperance and +frugality he will have left a legacy more valuable a thousand times than +the wealth he may have amassed, although that is reckoned by the +millions. + +Because of the extreme condensation of the address by Father Abraham, +the following outlines have been made to enable a parent to find easily +what is wanted and to present it attractively. The selection is one of +those which children will not master by themselves, but one which the +parent can easily make interesting if he will follow the plans given +below. + + +Analysis + + I. (Page 409.) Taxes are heavy, but we are taxed: + 1. Twice as much by our _Idleness_. + 2. Three times as much by our _Pride_. + 3. Four times as much by our _Folly_. + + II. _Idleness_ and _Industry_. (pages 409, 411.) + 1. Time wasted in doing nothing (page 409), _sloth_. + +(In this connection see fable, _Industry and Sloth_, Volume I, page 300. +Consult index in _this_ volume). + + 2. Time wasted in _sleep_ (page 410). + 3. Time wasted in _wishing_ and _hoping_ (page 411). + 4. Industry lost by putting off till tomorrow (page 412). + 5. Steadiness in industry wins (page 412). + + III. _Folly._ (pages 414-416). + 1. Of trusting to others (page 414). + 2. Of neglect of small matters (page 414). + 3. Of extravagance and the sensibleness of frugality (page 414). + 4. Of vice (page 415). + 5. Of high living (page 415). + 6. Of purchasing unnecessary things (page 415). + 7. Of luxury (page 416). + + IV. _Pride._ (page 417). + 1. Of dress (page 417). + 2. In table luxuries (page 417). + 3. Of appearance (page 417). + + V. _The Madness of Debt._ (pages 417-420). + 1. Brings shame (page 417). + 2. Causes lying (page 418). + 3. Destroys virtue (page 418). + 4. Brings slavery (page 419). + 5. Prevents success (page 420). + + VI. Ask for the _Blessing of Heaven_ (page 420). + + VII. Accept _Counsel_. Do not wait for _Experience_. + + +Following the arrangement of the analysis above we may group a series of +typical maxims, each of which can be made the basis of one of those +little fireside talks which bear so prominent a part in the recollection +of every man and woman who had the blessing to be brought up in a real +home where father and mother joined in a sincere effort to bring up +their children to honest, earnest, successful maturity. + + I. "We are taxed twice as much by our _Idleness_, three times as much + by our _Pride_ and four times as much by our _Folly_." + + II. _Idleness and Industry._ + 1. "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the + used key is always bright." + 2. "The sleeping fox catches no poultry." + 3. "He that lives on hope will die fasting." + 4. "Industry need not wish." + 5. "Have you somewhat to do tomorrow? Do it today." + 6. "Three removes are as bad as a fire." + + III. _Folly._ + 1. "If you would have a faithful servant and one that you like, + serve yourself." + 2. "For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the + horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost." + 3. "A fat kitchen makes a lean will." + 4. "What maintains one vice would bring up two children." + 5. "Who dainties love shall beggars prove." + 6. "At a great pennyworth pause awhile." + 7. "Silks and satins, scarlets and velvets put out the kitchen + fire." + + IV. _Pride._ + 1. "Fond pride of dress is, sure, a very curse. + Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse." + 2. "Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped + with infamy." + 3. "What is a butterfly? At best + He's but a caterpillar drest." + + V. _The Madness of Debt._ + 1. "You will be ashamed to see your creditor." + 2. "Lying rides upon debt's back." + 3. "It's hard for an empty bag to stand upright." + 4. "Creditors have better memories than debtors." + 5. "Those have short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter." + + VI. "Job suffered and was afterward prosperous." + + VII. "They that won't be counselled can't be helped." + "If you will not hear reason, she'll surely rap your knuckles." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +FATHER AND SON + + +Properly enough, the responsibility for health and development of young +children rests upon the mother, and in most families this care remains +with her till the children are able to look out for themselves. However, +upon the father devolves more responsibility than the mere providing for +the daily need of his children. Especially is it true that the boys of a +family need the personal influence of the father fully as much as that +of the mother. However patient, wise and devoted a mother may be, there +comes a time in every boy's life when he ought to be under the influence +and subject to the control of a man. _Every boy looks to men for his +models and for a time follows them blindly, in spite of the most careful +training a mother can give._ Curiously enough it is often to a man other +than his father that the boy looks for advice and direction. It is some +other man who influences his thought and through his thought his actions +and the development of his character. Even when the relations between +father and son are of the closest the boy begins to look around him and +often, for no other reason than the novelty of the influence, he falls +under the tutelage of another to whom he gives a confidence that his +father could never secure. As they enter the period of adolescence, boys +will often talk on many subjects with strangers with a freedom that +parents, especially fathers, can never hope to see equalled unless the +most perfect confidence has existed from the earliest childhood. Those +who have taught for many years and who have had growing boys in their +charge know how true this fact is and try to make it of service by +seeing that someone of strong character shall be at hand for the boys to +lean upon. They are impressionable, these men in embryo, and will go to +such lengths for persons they happen to admire and who have secured +their confidence, that those who know tremble when they find evil or +trifling influences gathering about their charges. + +Unfortunately in too many cases the parents fail to realize the +importance of this change of relationship and allow children to drift +without any effort to stem the tide that is bearing their progeny away. +Fathers are particularly blind. One would think that they would remember +how it was with themselves in their youth and be guided accordingly. But +as a matter of fact a large majority of the fathers of the land have +forgotten the perils of their own boyhoods; they look upon their own +sons as proof against the temptations they weathered, or as being exempt +because of their better position in life. If these same fathers would +only consider that the temptations come from within and are inseparable +from our race and from the age of the children they would regard with +the greatest concern every influence that is brought to bear upon their +rapidly developing boys. + +This is no light matter we are discussing and is one that ought to be +considered seriously by every father. Every teacher, every psychologist +knows that the time comes when a man must lead the changing youth. Who +shall do it? Obviously the father. No man can put aside his +responsibilities in this matter nor can he delegate it to the mother. +She may be the one big factor in the development of her boy's character +and yet there is one time when all her carefully laid plans may go awry, +when for a little while her restraining influence is powerless to save. +No father can, in fairness to the children he has brought into the +world, say that when he has made the home and furnished it, when he has +fed and clothed his wife and children he has done all that he ought to +do. It matters not how difficult a task it has been to find the money to +support his family, nor how hard he has been obliged to work to get the +daily bread; it matters not how tired or how much in need of recreation +he may be when he returns to his home at the close of the day; he finds +his responsibility always facing him. Do not misunderstand the question, +nor the purpose of these lines. This is in no sense a criticism nor is +it a bit of preaching at the hard-working fathers upon whom rest the +hopes of the race. Every true father is willing to give his life if +necessary for his offspring and there is no greater devotion in the +world than that of father to son. But the fact remains that many a busy +man has been so overburdened with the cares of his everyday life that he +has had no time to make himself familiar with even the smallest of his +duties to his family. + +Suddenly he becomes conscious that his son is growing away from him, +that the little things that have bound them together have no longer the +strength to hold, that they are drifting apart. Perhaps the father never +has been on intimate terms with his son and has never really known what +his child was thinking about or what his ideas and ideals really were. +When this consciousness comes to the father, when he learns that he is +no longer the one big figure on his son's horizon and that his words +have ceased to be accepted as final on every question, he is startled +and seeks strenuously to regain his position. Difficult will it be. To +regain what has been lost is always difficult; more difficult is it to +displace an influence that is already established. How many, many times +there comes to the earnest teachers the anxious parent with the +oft-repeated statements and questions. "My boy has grown away from me. I +don't know him any more. What I say no longer has any influence with +him. I don't know what to do. How can you help me? He thinks more of +what you say than of what I say and would follow you even if I objected. +What can I do? What advice can you give?" In many instances it is too +late and never again can the father recover the influence he has lost. + +On the other hand, it is possible in most cases for the father to +reinstate himself if he proceeds in the right way. That way is never +through command or restraint or discipline. _By only one process can he +succeed, and that is by placing himself in the position of the boy, +learning the boy's tastes and interests and in joining with the boy in +the things the latter likes._ If there has never been much community of +thought between the two, the parent may say in substance or show by his +acts that he has rather neglected the youth because he was too young to +be in sympathy with a man's work and because it was better for the +mother to have the care of her son during his boyhood; but that now he +is old enough to begin to think a man's thoughts and to take an interest +in a man's occupations. Sometimes if this is followed by a real hearty +confidence, if the father takes the boy with him on his business trips, +shows him how the money for the family is made and what are the joys and +compensations of a busy career, the boy's confidence is won, his +interest aroused and a frank comradeship established, new bonds are +created and the father finds a delightful companion, the boy an honored +friend and a worthy leader. Such fathers have said again and again, "I +have found a new and trustworthy friend, a helper whose enthusiasm and +good sense is worth more to me than anything I have had in years; and it +is _my_ boy who is doing it." Unfortunately, most men fail to realize +the power of a boy's mind, the helpfulness of his companionship. His +outlook on life is so fresh and true, his ambition so strong and his +willingness to be taught so refreshing that intimacy with him makes the +adult much stronger and better able to master the annoyances of the day, +and to win the commercial victories upon which subsistence depends. + +But at its best this latter-day acquaintanceship is never so strong nor +so helpful as that which begins when the child is an infant and +continues through boyhood to the larger youth and manhood. And it is +easy to win the confidence and respect of the very young, easy to retain +it when won. Yet many a sincere and anxious man fails utterly to earn +that sympathetic companionship which any father may have for the asking, +if the request is made in a way the child can understand and appreciate. +The foundation of it all is a sympathy in the things that children know +and love. _A child lives on a plane of his own. You cannot take him very +far from it nor substitute anything in its place except by the slowest +and most careful management._ There can be no sympathy, no understanding +that is not located on the childish plane. The father must come down +where the child lives, must find his interest in the things that the +child loves and must be sincere in every manifestation of that interest. +Right here is where so many fathers fail. They try to interest the child +in things which the older mind enjoys, and finding themselves unable to +create the artificial atmosphere give up in discouragement and disgust. +Such a course is foolish in the extreme. The older person who knows more +and has had the experiences that are now new to youngsters must go back +into his memories and join in the little things that make up the big +complex of a child's world. Unless you become as little children you can +never enter into the lives of children. + +To become young again in a genuine fashion is not permitted to many of +us and we must accordingly seek some common ground where we can meet the +children and be as they are in seeming if not in reality. We may not be +able to play their games with interest and sympathy, or the boys may be +so skilful that we lose standing rather than gain influence by +participation. We may not be able to sympathize with the rivalries of +school or talk intelligently on the sports that make up a large part of +their daily occupation. Where, then, can we meet them and how shall we +put ourselves on an equality with them and at the same time preserve our +leadership? + +Such a question is not easy to answer in detail, but many a man has +found a way and a simple one at that. In the first place, play is part +of the life of every child and he has as much right to his fun as any +adult has to the recreation he finds necessary to keep him at the top of +his working power. _Many a child may properly complain that he has had +no childhood_, that all the time he was being repressed and never +allowed to express himself in his own way. He may not realize at the +time that anything is wrong in the treatment that his father gives him, +but the time comes when he will know and understand. Right there is a +fact that every father ought to know and realize so thoroughly that he +will never lose sight of it. _Yes, some time every boy will know just +what kind of a father he has had and just how worthy of respect and +veneration that father has been._ A little boy is credulity itself and +everything tends to make him believe in his father. But as he grows +older he will surely know. Woe be it to the parent who when +disillusionment comes falls below the standard the child has set. Some +time the boy will know. If he has never had the pleasure that was his +due, if he has never had the fun in his home that he had a right to +expect, his estimate of his parent will be appallingly low. + +Through play in the home in the evening after the day's work is ended +has many a father laid the foundation for an influence that controlled +when other ties seemed strained to the breaking point. It is in this +playtime that the boy expresses himself most fully. Every animal has its +playtime, and the most savage of the beasts play with their little ones +to educate them to succeed in the struggle for existence. If play is a +natural expression of the child's mind and body, anything that represses +play is a hindrance to development. In the cheery home where to have fun +and lots of it is a daily habit every child grows and matures as +perfectly as a plant where there are just the right amounts of sun and +moisture and where the soil is perfectly adapted to growth. A little +less light, a little less moisture, and the plant will wither and fail. +A little less play and more repression and the child will become morose +and fail to keep pace with his mates. To repress is so easy, to +reconstruct so difficult! + +After the play comes the work, but the work may be made as interesting +as the play and may proceed in the same spirit of jollity and freedom +that marked the time given up wholly to amusement. The work is the +second factor in the father's influence--something on the plane of the +child's own mind, not too difficult, not too long continued. Closely +related, too, it must be with things that the child has done and +understands. Some phase of school work may need to be carried on by the +older ones in the family, but the younger boys are free to work with the +father in anything that will stimulate and inspire. What shall the work +be? To every one who has had to do with a large number of children the +answer comes quickly enough. _In reading and conversation will the boy +and his father come most closely together_, in a field that is +attractive to both and where it is as easy to find entertainment and +pleasure as it is to gain information and culture. + +Two quotations from men of good judgment come into mind at this point. +Arthur T. Hadley, recently President of Yale University, has said, "Men +in every department of practical life, men in commerce, in +transportation or in manufactures, have told me that what they really +wanted from our college was men who have this selective power of using +books efficiently. The beginnings of knowledge are best learned in any +home fairly well furnished with books." Professor William Mathews has +added, "It is not the number of books which a young man reads that makes +him intelligent and well-informed, but the number of well-chosen ones +that he has mastered so that every valuable thought in them is a +familiar friend." + +In those two quotations the ideas of prime importance to every father +are, first, that the beginnings of knowledge are best learned in the +home; and, second, that it is the mastery of what is read that really +counts. In school a child learns to read; at his home he reads to learn. +At school he learns how he ought to read; but it is at his home that he +learns to read in that manner. What a boy does in school is a small part +of the total amount of his reading, and its influence is small indeed. +In home reading, then, reading of the right material in the right way, +is to be found the great influence in education and the great factor in +the building of character. + +If such is the case, what more important work can there be for the +father than to read with his son, to watch these beginnings of education +which mean so much more than the mere instruction in school, and to be a +power in developing that right method of reading which means not only +the acquisition of knowledge but also the acquirement of power and the +making of character. The busy man is tired at night and inclined to +think that he has no time to give to reading with his boys. He may +think, too, that reading childish stories is beneath his dignity. Such +is not the case. There is a great abundance of literature that is manly, +and at the same time interesting to a boy. If the father feels that he +is past the time when he has any sympathy with the fairy stories and the +little poems that the infants like, if he thinks the nursery rhymes are +silly and the fables too old to be true, that is because he has not +recently read them. Busy men, men of power and influence, like to renew +their youth by going to the simple things they loved as children, and +not a few of them find that the years have given them new powers of +interpretation and that what was to them at one time only an amusing +tale is now replete with the philosophy of the universe. Yet there may +be fathers of so practical a mind that works of imagination have no hold +upon them. To them, however, the world of literature is by no means +barren. There are history, biography and essays upon a thousand +subjects, any one of which will interest a boy and at the same time his +father. Particularly is this true when the reading is aloud and +interspersed with free conversation upon the subjects that come to the +surface. If the father can only select the right material and read it +with his son there is no question whatever about the interest that will +develop for both. A busy man has little time to select reading; in all +probability he has not had the experience to enable him to do so wisely, +for he has been so absorbed in business that he has forgotten what he +knew best as a boy and is unable to tell just what appealed to him most. +It may be that he never in his youth had the opportunity to read the +best of literature and does not know where to turn to find it. He hears +his little family talking about what they read at school and how they +ought to read and feels himself behind the times and hesitates to make +an exhibition of himself before his children. To any father, a +collection such as that in _Journeys Through Bookland_ is of inestimable +value. When it is considered that in addition to the literary material +there are abundant suggestions as to how interest may be created and how +the reading may be made most profitable, then the set becomes +indispensable. In other words, _Journeys_ contains the material that +must be in every family to make it "fairly well furnished with books," +and it provides a way of "mastering the books so that every valuable +thought is a familiar friend." + +If fathers could be persuaded to spend one evening with their boys in +the reading and discussion of some selection in _Journeys_, they would +not willingly forego the pleasure thereafter. It has happened so many +times that we know this is not an overstatement. Fathers by the score +have written us on the subject. One says, "I have solved the problem of +keeping my boys off the streets, or, rather, _Journeys_ has done it for +me." "I have never spent a happier evening. The boys staid up with me +till after their usual bed time and when they had retired, I read on for +half the night," says another. "I feel young again, and John and I are +great chums. _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_ kept me telling stories long +after we had finished reading the sketch." Who are these fathers? +Clergymen, lawyers, doctors, teachers, we may expect, for they are +somewhat interested in reading, because of their life work. But they are +not the most numerous, by any means. Railroad men, manufacturers, +farmers, men in hundreds of vocations acknowledge the delight of reading +_Journeys_ with their children. Is there anything finer, more wholesome, +more inspiring than the thought of fathers and children reading +together, and together feeling the inspiration that radiates from the +great masterpieces. + +But this chapter is not an argument for the purchase of _Journeys_. That +you, father of a growing boy, are reading these lines is evidence that +you have thought well enough of the _Journeys_ idea to place a set of +books in your family. You have done this because you recognized that in +this age of specialists, you, a business man, could not be expected to +select reading matter for your son and assist him in his growth and +development with the same skill as can those who have devoted many years +to that special problem. No attempt is made to advise you on the conduct +of your business or to direct the management and control of your son. +But a sincere effort has been made to help you to join with your boy in +that hearty sympathy which will make him happier, better and more of a +man; which will make you young again and add to your pleasure without +increasing your burdens. What we want is to make the books most +effective, to help them be the power for good that we know they can be, +and more than anything else, to make them a living bond between father +and son. So let us examine the books together with these thoughts in +mind and see if we cannot find just the things that will arouse your +enthusiasm and make you young again, an equal and a friend who can lead +your boy where you want him to go and where he will gladly follow you. + +For instance, there is in the sixth volume that kindly humorous account +of a boyhood in Wisconsin in the early part of the last century, +_Reminiscences of a Pioneer_ (Volume V, 340). Every man will be +interested in it, and he cannot read it aloud to a boy of seven without +catching the attention of the child. Even a lad of sixteen will get into +the spirit of the thing, although it may not be the same incidents that +will attract him. Think of the contrast between that humble log cabin +with its visiting Indians and the luxurious steam-heated flat of your +son, or the farm house with all modern conveniences that a friend of +yours may have in the very region where our little friend was frightened +more by the strange Dutch immigrants than he was by the red men whom he +saw every day. Think of a six or seven year old boy that had never seen +an apple and who could enjoy chokecherries and crab apples, even though +he couldn't get his face back into line on the same day in which he ate +them fresh from the tree. Think of offering raw turnips to the guests +and of people coming twenty miles to get a small piece of salt pork, +because they were so tired of fresh meat and fish. Think that these +things happened less than a hundred years ago and within forty miles of +the now big and flourishing city of Milwaukee. What lessons there are in +courage, skill, self-reliance and contentment in the lives of these +early pioneers, especially the devoted mother who kept her yeast alive +so many years, and stood off the Indians with one hand while she tended +to her increasing family with the other. Can you imagine a boy who +wouldn't be interested in the sturdy youngster who earned and refused +his first quarter of a dollar for paddling a man across the river in a +heavy dugout? Don't you think your son will have a host of questions to +ask about it all and that you will be glad to talk to him about the +Indians he likes to imitate when he plays? Can't you see that reading +such as this is worth while and that every moment spent in this way is +an investment for yourself in the boy's confidence and good graces? + +Other selections of a somewhat similar nature, all of which will appeal +to boys at the time when Indians and adventure are of more interest than +anything else, are the following: + + _The Arickara Indians_, Volume IV, page 472. + _The Buccaneers_, Volume V, page 359. + _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_, Volume V, page 365. + _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_, Volume VIII, page 1. + _David Crockett in the Creek War_, Volume VIII, page 37. + _Braddock's Defeat_, Volume V, page 379. + _The Capture of Vincennes_, Volume VI, page 428. + _The Black Hawk Tragedy_, Volume VII, page 58. + _Pere Marquette_, Volume VIII, page 121. + _George Rogers Clark_, Volume VI, page 422. + +Have no fear that the boy's love for Indians and adventure is a thing to +suppress. It is an evidence of growth and of development. You know every +boy lives over in himself the history of his race, and as there was a +time when the life of mankind was a struggle with physical difficulties +and personal danger so there is a time when every boy feels within +himself the admiration for brave deeds and the desire to fight and +conquer. Your province it is to meet him on that ground, enjoy with him +the tales of lofty daring and physical prowess, the tales of stirring +adventure and narrow escapes, and to lead him gently with you into the +fields of history where achievements in science, commerce and +engineering take the place of battles with wild animals and wilder +Indians. + +Don't feel that you have not the time to do the things recommended. We +can always find the time to do the things we like to do, and this means +of joining in the thoughts of your boy will be one of the things you +will most enjoy when you have once accustomed yourself to it. + +We get out of reading just what we put into it. That is to say, the same +selection read by different people will have just as many meanings as +there are people reading it. By assistance, a person may be caused to +see more in what he reads and in time may approximate the full +understanding of his teacher. But it is unwise and useless to expect a +child to read with the same appreciation that an adult has. Accordingly +the father, if he is wise, will be satisfied when his boy is really +interested in a thoroughly good selection if he sees at the same time +that the boy is setting about his interpretation in the right way. To +illustrate: If you are reading about a storm at sea and you are a +survivor of a shipwreck in such a storm, your appreciation of the +description will be infinitely more vivid than that of your son, who has +not even seen the sea. All that you can do is to give him some idea of +the power of the waves, make him feel that the sight is a thrilling one +and that there is imminent danger to life and property in the storm. +Some time he will have the experience to interpret and then his mind +will recur to the description and he will understand it somewhat as you +do now. This brings us to think for a moment on the permanent value of +all that is read. _The mind holds things in abeyance, brings them out to +the light now and then, and each time finds them more and more +intelligible and influential._ Many a maxim learned in youth when an +understanding of it was impossible becomes a power for good for the +person in later years when its inner significance appears. + +Some poetry will appeal to boys, even though they may look askance at +most of it. Some lyrics are virile and powerful, well worthy the study +of the keenest minds. There is an unfounded prejudice against poetry in +many men because of the fancied puerility of it and its silly sentiment. +Such a prejudice always disappears if the person reads enough and +selects the things that are worthy of study. Narrative poems are more +likely to appeal to men and boys than the lyrics. When the narrative is +a stirring one and the action dramatic, the poetic form adds decidedly +to its interest and effectiveness. Take, for instance, that little poem +by Robert Browning that is known as _Incident of the French Camp_ +(Volume IV, page 174). No man can read it without being stirred by it, +and its appeal to boys is immediate and strong. But strong as it is, the +whole influence of it may be intensified if it is discussed in the +manner indicated on the pages immediately after the poem. What we would +have you do is to read the little epic with your boy and talk it over +with him along the lines of the comments given. It will not be necessary +for you to point the moral. He will see it for himself, but if you can +show a little enthusiasm and delight in the incident he will go away +feeling better toward you and will be a convert to poetry, at least to +some kinds of it. Later in life the lesson will come back to him and he +will seek for more of the same sort. + +There are a great number of poems of similar import in the books. Any +one of the following will be capital for reading aloud with your boy. +Try them and be convinced. + + _Beth Gelert_, Volume III, page 42. + _Sheridan's Ride_, Volume IV, page 223. + _Bernardo Del Carpio_, Volume IV, page 270. + _The Wooden Horse_, Volume IV, page 383. + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_, Volume IV, page 461. + _Bruce and the Spider_, Volume V, page 314. + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_, Volume V, page 335. + _Sohrab and Rustum_, Volume VI, page 173. + _How's My Boy?_ Volume VII, page 169. + _The Battle of Ivry_, Volume VIII, page 76. + _Herve Riel_, Volume VII, page 168. + +Any one of the national anthems or patriotic poems is fine reading and a +source for many a kindly talk that will tend to make a better citizen of +your son and perhaps give you a fresher and truer conception of your own +duties and responsibilities to the government. These you may readily +find from the index in the tenth volume, under the title, _Patriotic +Poems_. + +For older boys there are plenty of good selections, and the discussion +of some of them must help to bring nearer to the lad his increasing +responsibilities. A normal boy of sixteen has a lot of the man in him +and wants to be treated as a man, at least to have his ideas, hopes and +ambitions given some consideration. He does not want always to be called +"Bobby" or "Jimmy" or "Tommy." He likes better to be called "Smith," +"Jones," or "Robinson," or whatever his last name is. He is tired of +being told to do this and that and would like to join in some of the +family councils and feel that father is beginning to see the man and +forget the "kid." He will be interested in anything that relates to +commerce, or manufacture or government if it is presented to him in such +a way that he can "be somebody" in the discussion. + +It is easy to interest boys in speaking, in orations, in debates. In +_Journeys_ (Volume IX, page 321) is printed the _Gettysburg Address_ by +Abraham Lincoln. It is the one great, masterly American address, noted +not only for its perfect construction, but for its sentiment, its power +and its brevity. In no other great address are all these elements +combined. Tested by any standard it rings true in thought and is perfect +in form. It is worth while to commit it to memory, and father and son +should be equally interested in the task, if it can be called a task. +Preceding the address is a note giving its historical setting, and +following it is an analysis of the thought and a series of questions +tending to give the thought a more personal application. _The Fate of +the Indians_ and _A Call to Arms_, both in Volume IX, are good orations +accompanied by studies. + +An essay that is in effect almost an oration is the extract from the +_Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ by Macaulay (Volume IX, page 32), and +in this volume are studies on that essay (page 248). + +_The Boston Massacre_ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a pleasing bit of +history which in this volume (page 370) is used as the basis of a study +in argument. You may prefer to read the studies first and arrange the +arguments for your sons or for yourself and your boy. It is surprising +into what different directions the argument will lead you and how many +interesting questions will arise which will make good subjects for +discussion. To make conversation worth while there is needed only +something interesting to talk about. To be a good talker is worth a +great deal to any young man and there is no better way to give him this +power than by conversing freely with him while he is young. + +Moral instruction is difficult. A thousand little things tend to +neutralize it and there is an almost universal spirit of opposition to +moral teaching, on the part of youth. And yet it is easy to give moral +lessons in an indirect way that shall arouse no opposition and that +shall be effective for lifetime. _Journeys_ is full of what for lack of +a better name we call character-building literature. Some of it is +adapted to boys and girls of a very tender age and more of it to the +older children. _The Cubes of Truth_ (Volume VI, page 406), by Oliver +Wendell Holmes, is a beautiful little essay that expresses a great truth +in a way to impress it indelibly upon the memory of every person who +reads it. So clear is the language, so clever the idea that the +selection is read with absorbing interest, and so impressive is the +lesson that no real attention need be called to it. In reading it the +beauty of the language and the quaintness of the figure are the real +subjects of discussion, but all the time the great lesson is making its +subtle appeal. Cardinal Newman's _Definition of a Gentleman_ (Volume IV, +page 170) is more obviously a didactic selection, but here again the +definition is given so clearly and so forcibly that no possible offense +can be taken and the weight of the statements will produce their effect +without much comment. + +In this connection it should be necessary merely to call attention to +the chapter on character-building, to be found in this volume. In +preparing that chapter the writer had in mind children of all ages and +both sexes, but it will be an easy matter for you to select the things +which you know will appeal to your son. + +In fact, you will find in every chapter of this volume something to help +you in making your way into the thoughts and the hearts of your family, +and we know that as the years pass away and manhood comes to your boys +they will look back upon the hours spent in reading with you as the most +momentous of their lives. Do you want your son to say in his manhood, "I +look upon Mr. A or Mr. B as the person who most influenced my life"? Do +you want him to say, "I might have been a cultured man with a wide range +of interests if my father had given to me a little of the time he spent +at his club"? Do you want your boy to think that he was a wanderer from +home, because he could not find in that home the manly sympathy that his +soul craved? In many a family there is no trouble in keeping the boys +off the streets. There is no place half so attractive as the home and +for them no inclination to seek among others the fun and intellectual +stimulus they crave as they crave their food. + +Usually the reading habit must be formed early or not at all. A man in +middle life will not acquire the habit easily unless there is some +stimulus which keeps him reading for a time, in spite of himself. In the +active minds of his boys he may find just that stimulus, and in his +declining years when time weighs heavily upon his hands and great +activities are denied him he will find in his later acquirement an +unfailing source of enjoyment. In such hours will come to recollection +the days he spent with his boys and his heart will fill with joy that he +did not neglect his rich opportunities. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MEMORIZING + + +Whenever children are interested in any selection, it is well to +encourage them to commit it to memory, if it be brief, or if they find +in it phrases or sentences which seem to them beautiful or filled with +meaning. If, however, the young people are driven to memorizing +selections of any kind, the practice is of little value, and it is +likely to create a prejudice against the very things for which they +should feel admiration. By a show of interest, however, the parents may, +without difficulty, lead the children to learn a great deal of the best +literature, and thus not only strengthen their knowledge but improve +their style of writing as well, for unconsciously the young will follow +the style of those whom they admire. Moreover, it frequently happens +that some of the inspiring thoughts which children have learned become +rules of action to them in after life. If the practice is begun early +enough children will form the habit of learning those things which they +like, and such a habit is of greatest value. In many schools, during +certain years, the learning of "memory gems" is a daily practice; it +should be no less a practice at home. + +Some of the many things in these books which may well be learned in +their entirety are the following: + + Volume I, page 66. _A Thought._ + Volume I, page 67. _The Swing._ + Volume I, page 83. _Singing._ + Volume I, page 110. _Rain._ + Volume I, page 133. _Little Blue Pigeon._ + Volume I, page 144. _The Land of Counterpane._ + Volume I, page 204. _Sleep, Baby, Sleep._ + Volume I, page 246. _Norse Lullaby._ + Volume I, page 262. _Wynken, Blynken and Nod._ + Volume I, page 339. _The Owl and the Pussy Cat._ + Volume I, page 340. _Time to Rise._ + Volume I, page 410. _The Reaper and the Flowers._ + Volume II, page 11. _The Baby._ + Volume II, page 32. _Lullaby._ + Volume II, page 123. _Windy Nights._ + Volume II, page 121. _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks._ + Volume II, page 87. _Picture Books in Winter._ + Volume II, page 119. _Seven Times One._ + Volume II, page 403. _The First Snowfall._ + Volume II, page 481. _In Time's Swing._ + Volume III, page 347. _Barbara Frietchie._ + Volume IV, page 82. _Footsteps of Angels._ + Volume IV, page 126. _Nearer Home._ + Volume IV, page 127. _Pictures of Memory._ + Volume V, page 396. _The American Flag._ + Volume V, page 399. _Battle Hymn of the Republic._ + Volume VI, page 119. _Annie Laurie._ + Volume VI, page 122. _Sweet and Low._ + Volume VI, page 133. _The Bugle Song._ + Volume VII, page 1. _The Daffodils._ + Volume VII, page 4. _To the Fringed Gentian._ + Volume VII, page 340. _Those Evening Bells._ + Volume VII, page 395. _To a Waterfowl._ + +While usually it is better to allow each person to learn the lines that +most appeal to him, yet some help should be given children. No two +people will select all of the same things, though probably all would +agree on some few things as being of the highest excellence. Some lines +should be learned because of their beauty in description, others because +of beauty in phraseology, and still others because of beauty in +sentiment. Search should be made, too, for those things which are +inspirational, and which will be strong aids in the building of +character. + +We append a few pages of quotations taken at random from the volumes. +They will prove handy when the parent or teacher is pressed for time, +and the references to volume and page will enable the busy person +readily to find the context, if that seems desirable. + +The quotations below are arranged in the order of their appearance in +_Journeys Through Bookland_. This will enable anyone to locate them +easily. The lines cover a wide range of thought and will furnish an +endless variety of material for stories, comment, question and +conversation. Some of them cannot be appreciated without a knowledge of +their setting in the original poem or prose selection, while others are +complete and perfect as they stand. + +One of the best ways to teach a poem or selection is to begin by +creating an interest in a quotation from it. For instance, "Write me as +one who loves his fellow men," will lead the way to an acquaintance with +the old favorite _Abou Ben Adhem_. In fact, only after the poem has been +read and appreciated will a person get the full force of the idea, +"Write me as one who loves his fellow men." + + +_One Hundred Choice Quotations_ + +(Volume I) + + Early to bed, and early to rise, + Is the way to be healthy, wealthy and wise. --Page 48. + +Had it not been for your buzz I should not even have known you were +there. --Page 70. + + The Rock-a-by Lady from Hushaby street, + With poppies that hang from her head to her feet. --Page 94. + + I saw the dimpling river pass + And be the sky's blue looking-glass. --Page 130. + + In through the window a moonbeam comes, + Little gold moonbeam with misty wings. --Page 133. + + Oh, the world's running over with joy. --Page 147. + +The honorable gentleman has not told us who is to hang the bell around +the Cat's neck. --Page 197. + + Here is the mill with the humming of thunder, + Here is the weir with the wonder of foam, + Here is the sluice with the race running under-- + Marvelous places, though handy to home. --Page 349. + + Then she smooths the eyelids down + Over those two eyes of brown-- + In such soothing, tender wise + Cometh Lady Button-Eyes. --Page 367. + +One must be content with the good one has enjoyed. --Page 379. + + Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath, + The Reaper came that day; + 'Twas an angel visited the green earth, + And took the flowers away. --Page 411. + +It matters nothing if one is born in a duck yard, if one can only be +hatched from a swan's egg. --Page 427. + +(Volume II) + +Did you ever hear of a bird in a cage, that promised to stay in it? + --Page 2. + + The very violets in their bed + Fold up their eyelids blue. --Page 32. + +Rejoice in thy youth, rejoice in thy fresh growth, and in the young life +that is within thee. --Page 70. + + You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot-- + You can love and think, and the Earth cannot. --Page 67. + + Thank him for his lesson's sake, + Thank God's gentle minstrel there, + Who, when storms make others quake, + Sings of days that brighter were. --Page 214. + +You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if you +live such a life as a man ought to live. --Page 242. + +Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be. --Page 247. + +Reckon not on your chickens before they are hatched. --Page 376. + +He saw the rocks of the mountain tops all crimson and purple with the +sunset; and there were bright tongues of fiery cloud burning and +quivering about them; and the river, brighter than all, fell, in a +wavering column of pure gold, from precipice to precipice, with the +double arch of a broad purple rainbow stretched across it, flushing and +fading alternately in the wreaths of spray. --Page 420. + +(Volume III) + +In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss. --Page 96. + + Peace and order and beauty draw + Round thy symbol of light and law. --Page 349. + +Lips where smiles went out and in. --Page 386. + + All the little boys and girls, + With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, + And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls. --Page 391. + +(Volume IV) + + Prince thou art,--the grown up man + Only is republican. --Page 3. + + O'er me, like a regal tent, + Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent, + Purple-curtained, fringed with gold, + Looped in many a wind-swung fold. --Page 6. + + Now in memory comes my mother, + As she was long years agone, + To regard the darling dreamers + Ere she left them till the dawn. --Page 8. + + I chatter over stony ways, + In little sharps and trebles, + I bubble into eddying bays, + I babble on the pebbles. --Page 60. + + For men may come and men may go, + But I go on forever. --Page 61. + + And looks the whole world in the face, + For he owes not any man. --Page 86. + + Thus at the flaming forge of life + Our fortunes may be wrought; + Thus on its sounding anvil shaped + Each burning deed and thought. --Page 88. + + And when the arrows of sunset + Lodged in the tree-tops bright, + He fell, in his saint-like beauty, + Asleep by the gates of light. --Page 129. + + Save me alike from foolish pride, + Or impious discontent, + Or aught thy wisdom has denied, + Or aught thy goodness lent. --Page 173. + + And there through the flash of the morning light, + A steed as black as the steeds of night, + Was seen to pass as with eagle flight. --Page 224. + + Noiselessly as the springtime + Her crown of verdure weaves, + And all the trees on all the hills + Open their thousand leaves. --Page 267. + + Who dies in youth and vigor, dies the best, + Struck through with wounds, all honest, on the breast. --Page 369. + +(Volume V) + + I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou + Shouldst lead me on; + I loved to choose and see my path, but now + Lead thou me on; + I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, + Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years. --Page 111. + + Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; + Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. --Page 112. + + This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow, as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man. --Page 112. + + the knotted column of his throat, + The massive square of his heroic breast, + And arms on which the standing muscle sloped, + As slopes a wild brook o'er a little stone, + Running too vehemently to break it. --Page 150. + + Ye think the rustic cackle of your bourg + The murmur of the world! --Page 156. + + For man is man and master of his fate. --Page 158. + + Perseverance gains its meed + And Patience wins the race. --Page 316. + + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? --Page 398. + + He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; + He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; + O, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet! + Our God is marching on. --Page 399. + + Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off! + "Old Blue-Light's" going to pray. + Strangle the foe that dares to scoff! + Attention! It's his way. --Page 401. + +(Volume VI) + + To every man upon this earth + Death cometh soon or late. + And how can man die better + Than facing fearful odds, + For the ashes of his fathers, + And the temples of his gods. --Page 8. + + When by my bed I saw my mother kneel, + And with her blessing took her nightly kiss; + Whatever Time destroys, he cannot this;-- + E'en now that nameless kiss I feel. --Page 122. + + Sweet and low, sweet and low, + Wind of the western sea; + Low, low, breathe and blow, + Wind of the western sea! + Over the rolling waters go, + Come from the dying moon, and blow, + Blow him again to me; + While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps. --Page 122. + +Sublime words make not a man holy and righteous, but it is a virtuous +life that maketh him dear to God. --Page 134. + +Who hath a stronger battle than he that useth force to overcome himself? +This should be our occupation, to overcome ourselves and every day to be +stronger and somewhat holier. --Page 136. + + And the sheen on their spears was like stars on the sea, + Where the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. --Page 142. + +Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy +people shall be my people and thy God my God. --Page 144. + + For we are all, like swimmers in the sea, + Poised on the top of a huge wave of fate, + Which hangs uncertain to which side to fall. --Page 186. + + Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, + Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. --Page 224. + +"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim. --Page 309. + + All hail'd, with uncontroll'd delight + And general voice, the happy night, + That to the cottage, as the crown, + Brought tidings of Salvation down. --Page 357. + +The short and simple annals of the poor. --Page 363. + +The paths of glory lead but to the grave. --Page 363. + + Full many a gem of purest ray serene + The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; + Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, + And waste its sweetness on the desert air. --Page 365. + + Along the cool, sequestered vale of life + They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. --Page 366. + +He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend. --Page 368. + +Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the used key +is always bright. --Page 410. + +He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his +business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon +overtakes him. --Page 410. + +Have you somewhat to do tomorrow? Do it today. --Page 412. + +For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was +lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost. --Page 414. + +Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. + --Page 415. + +'Tis foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance. + --Page 416. + +Fools make feasts and wise men eat them. --Page 415. + +'Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright! --Page 418. + +Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. + --Page 420. + +(Volume VII) + + That inward eye + Which is the bliss of solitude. --Page 1. + + Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye + Look through its fringes to the sky. --Page 5. + + The bonny lark, companion meet, + Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet + Wi' spreckled breast, + When upward springing, blithe to greet + The purpling east. --Page 8. + + He prayeth well, who loveth well + Both man and bird and beast. + He prayeth best, who loveth best + All things both great and small. --Page 57. + + The rank is but the guinea's stamp, + The man's the gowd for a' that! --Page 149. + + By fairy hands their knell is rung, + By forms unseen their dirge is sung. --Page 151. + + Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice, + An humble and a contrite heart. + Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, + Lest we forget--lest we forget! --Page 164. + +The remarkably adult yet innocent expression of their open and serene +eyes is very memorable. All intelligence seems reflected in them. They +suggest not merely the purity of infancy, but a wisdom clarified by +experience. Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval +with the sky it reflects. The woods do not yield such another gem. + --Page 263. + + Sound of vernal showers + On the twinkling grass, + Rain-awakened flowers, + All that ever was + Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass. --Page 278. + +Imagine a stream seventy yards broad divided by a pebbly island, running +over seductive riffles and swirling into deep, quiet pools where the +good salmon goes to smoke his pipe after his meals. --Page 287. + +I once had a sparrow alight on my shoulder for a moment while I was +hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by +that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have +worn. --Page 299. + + And while in life's late afternoon + Where cool and long the shadows grow, + I walk to meet the night that soon + Shall shape and darkness overflow, + I cannot feel that thou art far, + Since near at hand the angels are; + And when the sunset gates unbar, + Shall I not see thee waiting stand, + And, white against the evening star, + The welcome of thy beckoning hand? --Page 389. + + He who, from zone to zone, + Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, + In the long way that I must tread alone, + Will lead my steps aright. --Page 397. + +(Volume VIII) + + Go tell the Spartans, thou that passeth by, + That here, obedient to their laws, we lie. --Page 90. + + Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat: + The Alamo had none. --Page 152. + +England expects every man to do his duty. --Page 297. + + An' Oh! be sure to fear the Lord alway! + An' mind your duty, duly, morn and night! --Page 322. + +They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright. --Page 322. + +The best acid is assiduity. --Page 332. + +(Volume IX) + +Write me as one who loves his fellow men. --Page 11. + + When beggars die, there are no comets seen; + The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. + --Page 145. + + Cowards die many times before their deaths; + The valiant never taste of death but once. --Page 145. + +_Et tu Brute!_ Then fall, Caesar. --Page 154. + +Surely man is but a shadow, and life a dream. --Page 286. + +All service ranks the same with God. --Page 301. + + The year's at the spring, + And day's at the morn; + Morning's at seven; + The hillside's dew-pearled: + The lark's on the wing; + The snail's on the thorn; + God's in his heaven-- + All's right with the world. --Page 303. + + For what are the voices of birds-- + Ay, and of beasts--but words, our words, + Only so much more sweet? --Page 314. + + I will pass each, and see their happiness, + And envy none--being just as great, no doubt, + Useful to men, dear to God as they! --Page 317. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOW TO READ FICTION + + +1. _Different Kinds of Literature_ + +If there were but one kind of literature, it would be an easy matter to +give the few directions that would be necessary to make good readers. In +reality there are, however, several types, so different in their +purpose, style and content that the reader must study them in many +different ways if he would get the varied and inspiring messages. To +appreciate what this means, let us look over the field. + +For our purposes, as has been said, true literature, as distinguished +from the practical literature of fact, may be grouped under the two +general heads of poetry and prose. At first thought the difference +between the two seems wide and unmistakable. Poetry differs from prose +not only in form, but also in rhythm, music, beauty and sentiment. The +former is usually more figurative, and aims to stimulate the imagination +more keenly and to enthral the feelings more completely. Upon a closer +consideration it is seen that poetry and good prose have much in common, +and that often it is really but a question of form, for lyric beauty +glows in the phrases of our finest prose, and both heart and soul are +moved by its powerful appeals. + +There are narratives and arguments in both poetry and prose, and essays +in the form of both. For this reason our general method of study may be +the same for both, except when form alone is considered. + +The simplest and most universal form of literature is found in the +catchy little nursery rhymes which the children of the nation learn at +their cradles from the lips of their elders. In these, if careful search +be made, may be found most of the elements which in broader and more +complex forms appear in the favorite selections of maturer years. +Following the nursery rhymes appear the fables, fairy tales, myths and +legends that have formed the literature of earlier races and have come +down to us to be amplified and placed in modern form for the children of +this age. + +It has been said that in every child is seen the history of the race, +and that from infancy to manhood he typifies every stage of progress the +race has seen. In early years he loves the fables where animals speak, +feel and act like human beings; for in former times mankind believed the +fables to be truth. A child peoples his world with fairies, good and +bad, and believes in the limitless power of magic. A little later he +loves the deeds of the legendary heroes and revels in the marvelous acts +of the more than human beings in whom the ancients believed. Later the +stirring adventures of the real heroes of discovery and exploration, the +heroic exploits of warriors on land and sea, and the courageous acts of +noble men and women in every walk in life appeal to him; while still +later, real history seizes the imagination of the youth, who now looks +for the causes of things and learns to trace out their effects. He +learns to reason and to separate truth from falsehood. Casting aside +the wild tales of boyhood, he gathers up instead the facts of life and +experience, and draws his inspiration from the noble works of the +world's greatest writers. + + +2. _Reading Stories_ + +In the development of literary taste, fiction plays as prominent a part +as fact, and to fiction, considered in its broadest sense, every child +is deeply indebted. Many err in thinking that a stern diet of facts is +the only nutriment the child mind needs, and still others err only in a +less degree when they look upon fiction as perhaps a necessary evil, but +one which must be avoided as much as possible and set aside at the +earliest possible moment. All fiction has in it some elements of truth, +and they are the sources of the inspiration which comes to children +when, in their world of make-believe, they live with their beautiful and +heroic friends of the story books. + +To read fiction properly is to get from it the truth, which, however, is +often liable to be lost by the reader in the excitement of the tale, or +to pass undetected in the easy-running sentences. As fictitious +narratives in prose and poetry in the great majority of cases form the +larger part of children's reading, it is to them we should turn our +attention. Before we begin their specific study a few principles claim +our attention: + +Good stories are the most helpful things a child can read. + +The more intelligently and sympathetically a story is read, the more +powerful for good it is. + +The imagination of a child is the most powerful agent in the development +of his mind. + +The imagination acts only to combine, enlarge, or diminish ideas that +enter the mind. It never creates. + +On the nature of the ideas presented will depend the character of the +imagination. + +A vivid imagination fed with bad ideas is most destructive to human +character. Good stories with high ideals can do no harm: but evil +stories, particularly if attractive and entertaining, will undo the +careful teaching of years. + +As evil must appear in life, it may appear in stories, but it must be +brought in in such a way that it is known as evil, and children must be +taught to recognize it as evil. + +The motives which govern the words and actions of the persons who appear +in a well-written story are more easily discerned than the motives which +actuate the human beings around us. Thus a child who reads intelligently +is helped to discover in the words and deeds of the people whom he meets +the elements of real character. A study of the heroes of fiction is a +study in human life. + +Improbable stories and those presenting impossible or unreal things are +not necessarily bad; in fact they are often good and distinctly +serviceable. No matter how true they appear to a child, the time comes +when he rejects them as impossible, although he may always be indebted +to them for keen pleasure and the awakening of his imagination. Belief +in the myth of Santa Claus never destroyed a child's love and respect +for his parents; faith in the unlimited power of good fairies never +made a child less able to recognize the laws of nature. It is the +halfway truths that are troublesome; it is the little misrepresentations +not liable to be detected that may permanently deceive. + +To understand the good and the true, to discriminate between the bad and +the false, to find pleasure that shall awaken, enliven and inspire, to +arouse curiosity and interest in wider, more thoughtful and helpful +study, are some of the important aims of story-reading. + +Purposeful reading on the part of children may be brought about by +direct instruction from parent or teacher or it may be acquired by the +child through his own efforts. Manifestly the former is the really +efficient way and its efficiency may be increased if it is carried on +systematically. The following outline will assist those who have +children in charge to do their part easily and in the best manner. + +In reading any story there are several things to be considered if one is +to get the most out of it. These things are mentioned in natural order +in the outline, each item of which will be treated at length in the +pages immediately following. + +In reading stories consider: + + Primarily, + A. The Plot. + B. The Persons. + C. The Scenes. + Secondarily, + D. The Lesson. + E. The Author's Purpose. + F. The Method and Style of the Author. + G. Emotional Power. + +In the volumes of _Journeys Through Bookland_, intended as they are for +reading by children, it was not thought wise to make the studies +extensive nor to attach much comment to the selections, lest the young +readers weary of the task or neglect it entirely. In this volume a +different case confronts us and we put the discussions on a higher +plane. If these suggestions are used in the instruction of children, +some care in adaptation will be necessary. The age and sex of the +children, their advancement in their studies, their surroundings at home +and in school, will all need to be taken into account in determining +what selections to use and how far to carry the method. A good general +principle to follow is to present to the children only so much as will +hold their interest; present it in the manner that will best retain +their interest, and change the subject or the method when interest +flags. + +Speaking in general terms, children are most interested in that of which +they already know something, and prefer to study intensively something +which is "easy to read." The familiar selections of old readers often +are found to be alive with interest, if studied by a new method. A +method is understood most easily when it is applied to a simple subject; +in this case, to a story in which the youngest children will be +interested. A word of caution may be worth while: Especially with young +children,--"Do not let the method be seen; it is the _story_ that is to +be brought out." + +It is evident that the Plot, the Persons and the Scenes of the story +will interest children of all ages; that all will be benefited by the +Lesson if it is judiciously presented; but that only the older +children can be interested to any great extent in the Author's +Purpose, Method or Style or in the study of the Emotional Power of the +selection, however much it may be felt. + + [Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN + HENRY DAVID THOREAU + JULIA WARD HOWE + PATRICK HENRY + WILLIAM PRESCOTT + FRANCIS PARKMAN + JAMES FENIMORE COOPER] + + +A. The Plot + +The main line of events leading up to the climax of interest in the +story may be called the plot. + +It is the plot that furnishes excitement, and for perhaps the majority +of readers constitutes the chief interest. In some stories the plot lies +upon the surface all the time, and everything is made subservient to the +purpose of holding interest, keeping up excitement and mystifying the +reader until the climax is reached. Thrilling detective stories of the +poorer class, exciting love stories and the cheap juvenile tales of +Indian fighting, with heroines in dire distress and heroes struggling to +rescue them, are illustrations of this type. No effort is made by the +author to make real human beings of his characters, and little or no +profit comes to the reader, while infinite harm may be done to minds +craving excitement and finding in it nothing to stimulate an interest in +better things. + +In the better stories of greater writers the plot still plays an +important part, but while it sustains interest unflaggingly, it carries +with it other things which are of vastly greater importance. In such +stories the persons are living, breathing realities, and the reader +feels that he has added permanently to his list of tried and true +friends. Tom Brown and Tiny Tim, who live only in stories, are as much +our friends as Henry Thompson and Rudolph De Peyster who live in the +next block. The great writer, moreover, takes us with him into new +places, among new scenes, so that Rugby becomes for a time our own +school, and from Tim's poor hearth there enters a warm Christmas glow +into our doubting hearts. Although the plot is important, yet all +stories that enthral the mind with exciting incidents must be regarded +with suspicion until they prove their right to be considered real +literature by furnishing higher interests or greater inspiration. + +To analyze the plot of a story, however, is always helpful; to arrange +the incidents in order, to determine which are necessary to the +development of the story, and which are merely contributory to the +general interest, is an interesting and stimulating thing. The plot of +short stories may quite often be told in few words, and unless very +complicated, the plot of a novel may be given in a few sentences. In +some stories, however, the plot is so loosely constructed and of so +little real importance that it is hardly more than a train of apparently +equally important incidents. Again, the plot is oftentimes so +complicated by secondary plots and incidents that even a careful reader +becomes confused and loses his interest. + +Let us consider the plot in such a story as _Cinderella_ (Volume I, page +224). The main incidents of the plot arrange themselves as follows: + +1. Cinderella's mother dies. + +2. Her father marries a widow, who has two daughters. + +3. The stepmother sends Cinderella to the kitchen to work and to the +garret to sleep. + +4. The king's son gives a great ball to which he invites Cinderella's +stepsisters. + +5. The stepsisters require Cinderella to assist them to dress, and abuse +her shamefully. + +6. The sisters go to the ball, and Cinderella sits by the kitchen fire +wishing she might accompany them. + +7. Her fairy godmother appears and sends her to the ball in fine style. + +8. Cinderella, beautiful as a picture, dances with the prince, who falls +in love with her. + +9. The clock strikes twelve, and Cinderella goes back to the kitchen. + +10. The stepsisters again mistreat Cinderella. + +11. She goes to the ball the second day. + +12. She forgets her godmother's warning, and after midnight rushes back +home, leaving a single slipper behind her. + +13. The prince finds the slipper and searches for its owner. + +14. The sisters fail in trying on the slipper, which is then fitted to +Cinderella's foot. + +15. The fairy godmother restores to Cinderella the appearance of a +princess. + +16. The prince marries Cinderella, and she forgives her stepsisters. + +A summary of these main incidents may be given in a few words, which +will contain the skeleton of the plot. To say that a certain little girl +who is shamefully treated by her stepsisters is aided by her fairy +godmother to attend a ball given by a prince, who finally marries the +little drudge, is to give the plot and really to tell all that the lax +and superficial reader gets from the story he peruses. + +There are in this little story, however, a large number of minor +incidents which contribute to the interest, and if sought and placed in +their relation to the main events will be found to have added materially +to the charm of the narrative. + +For instance, when the fairy godmother sends Cinderella to the ball for +the first time, children are led to a vivid interest in the event by a +series of fascinating incidents, as follows: + +1. The fairy sends her into the garden for a pumpkin. + +2. The godmother, scooping out the inside of the pumpkin, leaves the +rind, which she taps three times, and immediately it becomes a golden +coach. + +3. The fairy spies six mice alive in a trap. + +4. Cinderella lets the mice out gently, and as the fairy touches them +with her wand, each becomes a fine, dapple-gray horse. + +5. Cinderella brings the rats, the largest of which the fairy converts +into a handsome postilion with a fine pair of whiskers. + +6. Cinderella finds the six lizards behind the watering pot, which +become the six sedate and dignified footmen clothed in livery. + +7. Cinderella's rags are changed to wonderful clothing bedecked with +costly jewels. + +8. The beautiful glass slippers are provided. + +How real these incidents all seem! What art is shown in bringing in real +things to give food to the imagination and to stimulate the interest +that carries the little reader away from herself where she may riot in +the wonders her active mind can so readily conceive. Some time when she +has grown much older, and cares have wrinkled her smooth cheeks, she +may see that the only fairy godmother who can clothe a Cinderella is +hard work, and that mice become dapple-grays, and footmen are made from +lizards behind watering pots only when she has earned the right to them +herself. Just now it is enough for her to see that fairy godmothers come +to good children only, and that good princes do not care if their wives +have worked in the cinders, provided they are beautiful in gentleness +and service to others. + +Children like to understand what they read, and are never so happy as +when talking over their favorite stories with those of their elders who +have the power to enter sympathetically into the child world. By no +means do all boys and girls like to be taught; in fact there are not +many more certain ways of prejudicing a child against anything than by +making it the subject of a formal lesson. Still, every child loves to +learn, and is seeking at every moment to add to his information and to +exercise his mind. Yet he must do it in his own way and with the things +in which he is interested. If those facts are borne in mind, no parent +will have difficulty in interesting his child or in leading the juvenile +mind where it ought to go. + +To apply these ideas to teaching the plot of such a story as +_Cinderella_, let the parent who loves his children, and who wishes to +be no stranger to their interests, joys and sorrows, seat himself among +them some time and begin to read to them. Pausing now and then to +explain some word whose meaning may be obscure to them, or to comment on +some phase of the story that may be of special interest, let him read +on to the end without attempting to do much more than to make the story +a vivid tale where the interest centers in the incident. + +When the story has ended, the pleasure has but just begun. Children like +to ask questions, but they are no less ready to answer them if the +questions are on things of interest, are related to the things which +children know and are put in such a way that the genuine interest of the +questioner is always evident. The I-know-it-all-and-you-know-nothing +style of questioning; the I'm-the-master-and-you're-the-pupil style; the +because-I-ask-you-must-answer style are all fatal to interest, and will +soon prevent that hearty sympathy and living spirit of cooperation that +the parent wishes to secure. + +If we suppose it is _Cinderella_ that has been read, we may begin our +questioning in this manner: + +"That's a good story. I like it, don't you?--It is rather long, though; +I've almost forgotten how it began.--O, was that the first thing that +happened?--Was the father a rich man?--Did the story say he was rich or +did you just think he was?--If he had not married a widow could things +have happened as they did?--How did the widow and her daughters treat +Cinderella?--If Cinderella had not been mistreated would her fairy +godmother have come to her aid?--If the fairy had not appeared could the +story have been the same?--How did the fairy make the golden +coach?--Could she have made it out of anything else?--If she had made +one just as good out of something else, could Cinderella have gone to +the ball just as well?--If Cinderella went to the ball in good style did +it matter how she went?--If Cinderella had not gone to the ball, could +she have met the prince?--Was it as important then that she should have +a coach made from a pumpkin as that she should go to the ball and meet +the prince?--Can you think of something else just as necessary to make +the story come out right as that Cinderella should go to the ball?--Can +you think of other things that must have happened just as they did to +make the story come out right and just as it did?--Can you think of some +things that might have happened differently and still not have hurt the +story at all?--Let us put together all the things that must have +happened to make the story right and leave out the things that could be +changed. Now, what are they?--Now let us find a few things we could +leave out or change. What are some of them?--If we left them out the +story would come out the same, but would it be as good, as +interesting?--Would you like Cinderella as well if these little things +had been left out?--Would you think as much of the prince if he had +found Cinderella right away as you do when he has to do so many hard +things before he finds her?" + +Every one must realize the impossibility of providing a scheme of +questioning that would fit exactly any given case, but will not the +above suggest a method that may lead to many a happy and profitable +evening at the family round table? Even if there are older children in +the group they will renew their interest in the old stories and get more +good from them when it is seen that father and mother do not deem it +beneath their dignity, nor outside the range of their interests, to read +and study a fairy tale. + +In _Journeys Through Bookland_ are here and there outlines and questions +designed to lead the children to see for themselves what it is hoped +others will take pleasure in showing them. Examples of the selections +which contain outlines, questions and comments designed to help in the +study of the plot may be found as follows: + + Volume I, page 264. _The Twin Brothers._ + Volume I, page 395. _Something._ + Volume II, page 124. _The Snow Queen._ + Volume IV, page 174. _Incident of the French Camp._ + Volume VIII, page 364. _The Tempest._ + Volume IX, page 232. _The Gold-Bug._ + + +B. THE PERSONS + +In most stories, be they brief and simple or as long and complicated as +the two-volume novel, the interest centers in one or more persons whose +character the reader learns to understand, and whose success or failure, +joy or grief gives him pleasure or excites his sympathy. All events +center about the hero or heroes, and while other persons may be +mentioned, and even win the reader's attention for a time, they finally +subside into the background and are remembered only as they contribute +to greater interest in the principal characters. + +Every author tries to make his heroes and heroines speak and act like +real human beings and show their characters by their actions and their +words. Sometimes, however, he tells the reader just how his people look, +feel and think, and describes their characters to give an interest in +what happens to them. A more interesting method and a more artistic one +is to leave the persons to disclose themselves as the story progresses, +making them show by the way they act and by what they say under certain +circumstances the strong and weak qualities in their natures. Nothing is +more interesting than to watch the development of character in the hero +of a story, particularly when it is accomplished under conditions which +are themselves interesting. + +In studying the persons in a story, then, the chief things to keep in +mind are the following: + +1. The principal person, or hero--the one, or perhaps the ones, in whose +fortunes the reader is most vitally interested. + +2. The secondary persons who are introduced merely to add variety or to +throw light upon the character of the hero, or to assist to bring about +the events which center about him. + +3. The appearance, dress and manners of the persons. + +4. The ways in which the author makes his persons lifelike and shows the +reader what they really are. + +5. The characters of the persons as they appear or as they are developed +in the progress of the story. This is the really important part of the +study, the one which becomes increasingly interesting as readers grow +older and the stories they study become more and more complex and +difficult. The study of the characters of Shakespeare's heroes and +heroines is more than interesting pastime for men and women--it is good, +hard work. + +For a simple example of what is meant, let us undertake briefly the +study of _The Hardy Tin Soldier_ (Volume I, page 148). + +1. The hero is the Hardy Tin Soldier himself. + +2. Persons of secondary importance are: + + a. The twenty-four brothers. + b. The little boy. + c. The Dancing Lady. + d. The Goblin. + e. The servant-maid. + f. The two street boys. + g. The Water Rat. + h. The fish. + i. The cook. + +Of these the Dancing Lady is second only to the lame Soldier; the +Goblin, the two street boys, the little boy and the Water Rat are given +considerable prominence, while the twenty-four brothers, the +servant-maid, the fish and the cook are introduced merely to effect a +certain incident or to give an air of truthfulness to the events. This +is a fairy tale, and in it we must be faithful to our juvenile friends, +considering the Goblin, the Water Rat and the fish as real persons, and +the Tin Soldier as a very human being. + +3. In appearance the Tin Soldier was tall and erect, but alas! he had +only one leg! His uniform was red and blue and very splendid. He carried +his musket across his shoulder as a marching soldier should, kept his +eyes straight to the front, and stood very firmly upon his one foot. In +the fire he lost the tinsel and the color from his uniform, and when the +Dancer joined him he melted into a little tin heart. + +4. While Andersen tells outright some of the characteristics of the +little Soldier, he leaves others to be inferred from acts. The Soldier +thinks, and sometimes the reader is told just what he thinks, but never +once does he speak--to him silence is golden. Yet not once do we miss +his voice, and it is only when we have finished that we suddenly think +what a silent little body he is. That is part of the author's art. The +Soldier never once moves his eyes, or changes his attitude; the author +never forgets that he is a _tin_ soldier, but makes his every act +consistent with his stiffness and rigidity. That is more of the author's +skill. There were other soldiers, twenty-four of them, and all were +brothers. A less skilful author would have stopped in the telling of the +fact, but Andersen adds in his whimsical, charming manner, "for they +were all born of one tin spoon." All the other brothers were perfect; +our Soldier had but one leg, yet "it was just this soldier who became +remarkable." Even the missing leg creates an interest, and Andersen uses +it to center our attention upon his little hero. + +5. Andersen tells us the following things about the Tin Soldier's +character: + +a. He stood firmly even with but one leg to balance himself upon. + +b. He thought his box was not a place for a lady-wife who lived in a +castle. This showed his humility. + +c. Yet he was very human--"I must make her acquaintance." + +d. When he fell from the window, he put his leg straight up, stuck his +helmet downward and his bayonet between the paving stones. + +e. He would not call loudly to the servant-maid because he was in the +uniform of a soldier. + +f. While in the boat rushing down the gutter, he trembled, but he never +changed countenance, and still looked straight before him. + +g. He sighed for the little Lady's company, while passing through the +drain. + +h. He would not answer the Water Rat. + +i. He stiffened himself and would not move an eyelid when the paper boat +sank. + +j. He lay unmoved even in the darkness of the fish's body. + +k. He was not at all proud when he was rescued. + +l. When he saw the Dancer again he very nearly wept tin tears, but he +thought how improper that would be, and kept them back. + +m. He stood firm and shouldered his musket although the fire, or grief, +made all the colors leave him. + +n. When the Dancer joined him in the flames he melted into a +heart-shaped lump of tin. + +What a fine little Tin Soldier he proves to be! Could any one be more +loyal to his profession? Body erect, eyes to the front, musket +shouldered, every muscle at attention all the time, no matter if he had +but one leg to stand upon. He was brave as a lion, although once in the +presence of the direst danger he trembled a little, but he drove every +sign of fear from his face and stood his ground manfully. After he had +once seen the Dancer and realized how similar her trials must be to his, +how constant he was in his devotion! At his death what could be more +fitting than to see him melt into a little heart-shaped mass, the +symbol of his courage and constancy! Why should we call him the _hardy_ +Tin Soldier; would it not have been better if the translator had called +him the _constant_ Tin Soldier? + +Now, when we give the hero of this pretty little story so much +attention, does it not seem worth while? Will not we, grown men and +women, find so much in the hero that we may gather our young friends +about us and lead them to see how admirable a character he has and how +beautifully Andersen has shown it? If we talk not _to_ the boys and +girls, but _with_ them, if we invite their questions as to the Tin +Soldier's character, and by our informal questions lead them to +appreciate the strength, courage, and devotion of the little toy, will +they not get some taste for a good story well written, and perhaps, +learn some little lessons that will help them to be better men and +women? + +_Journeys_ furnishes you with many another fine story, equally +interesting. There are a number of the tales, too, which may call for +your own best efforts in the study of character, and from which even you +may derive some genuine help in the heavy problems life thrusts upon +you. + +In many places, too, the present writer has appended outlines and +questions which the young people themselves may like to pore over and +which may assist the inquiring parent even more than the brief study +above. The following are particularly suggestive: + + Volume I, page 224. _Cinderella._ + Volume IV, page 93. _A Dog of Flanders._ + Volume VIII, page 335. _Dream Children._ + Volume VIII, page 364. _The Tempest._ + + +C. THE SCENES + +One of the benefits of good reading is that it fills the mind with +beautiful pictures of places that we cannot visit or that live only in +the eyes of the imagination. A powerful descriptive writer takes his +reader with him, and by graphic words makes visible and almost real the +scenes among which they wander. One may sit in the light of his study +lamp during a black northern winter and read himself away from the chill +and dreariness into some warm, sunny clime where flowers of new and rare +forms flaunt their gorgeous colors and perfume the air with strange +delicious odors; great trees with tufts of far-reaching leaves cast +their welcome shade, and long vines trail gracefully from their living +supports. Wonderful birds with brilliant plumage flit about, as through +the openings in the trees glimpses are given of long waves rolling +gently upon the glistening beach. It is only necessary to give free rein +to the imagination and to visualize the scenes that the skilful writer +describes. + +There are people of such literal minds that descriptive writing fails to +appeal to them. It is their misfortune. To others every word brings a +picture that appears almost as vivid and as full of detail as those upon +which the material eye gazes. Like any other power of the mind, this may +be cultivated, even among the mature. Children are highly gifted with +this power, to begin with, and only a little training is necessary to +make them use the faculty freely for their own delight. Suggest to them +the outlines of a picture, and see how rapidly they will fill in the +details. + +No two can see precisely the same imaginary picture; in fact, no two +people looking at the same landscape will see precisely the same things, +and if they are asked to describe what they see, it will appear that +things which are most vivid to one may have made little impression upon +the other. It is not to be expected, then, that two children reading a +description of some scene will get the same picture of it. Each will +color his own from the previous impressions and experiences he has had. +Yet to each the picture may be very real and very pleasing. Good +teachers of reading spend much time and effort in teaching the young to +visualize the scenes of which they read, not only because of the +pleasure it will afford the young when they are mature, but because the +power to see vividly is of greatest assistance in every department of +study. + +In some stories little attention is given to the scene; in fact, the +persons might appear anywhere and not be in the least affected by their +surroundings, and the events might have happened in China as well as in +England. Even then, however, there will be found mention of many things +that seem to give locality to the story. At the other extreme are +writers who lose themselves in descriptive flights and pause to describe +a sunset while the heroine is perishing, and the hero must stand +helpless until the author has painted the last color in the sky. In the +best literature for children, description is so mingled with narrative +that while there are fine pictures to see, they do not fall in the way +of the events which the young reader follows with such breathless +interest. In fact, the pictures aid the narrative. + +There is of course in every story much descriptive writing that does not +apply to the scenes among which the plot is laid, yet it is well to make +a study of description from the scenes, for it is here that the author +has his greatest opportunity for pictorial writing. + +If the story is brief there may be but one scene. Everything may happen +in one place, and none of the surroundings may change. For instance, in +the fable of _The Dog and His Shadow_ (Volume I, page 63) there is but +one incident, which happens in one place. Such a simple story, however, +furnishes the material for a good picture, and in bringing it out to a +child who reads or hears the fable for the first time, the parent is +giving good service that will lead to keener appreciation and higher +power of interpretation in his child's later years. What can be made out +of this picture, and how should it be done? Let us see: + +The fable is told in simple words, and only plain facts are stated. What +are the elements of our picture? We can find only six, viz.: a big dog; +a big piece of meat; day; a river; a narrow bridge; the dog's image. Now +if we were to draw a picture to illustrate this fable we would begin +with a general sketch. Should we show a level country, or are there +hills about? Is it barren and desolate, or are there trees? Are there +houses near? Where did the dog get his meat? Is it a large river, or +only a small one? The bridge is narrow; has it a railing along the side? +Would the dog be liable to see his image if it was a wagon bridge? Was +it then a mere foot bridge? Would a single plank across a small stream +answer the purpose? The dog is big; is it a dog that knows and likes the +water? Would you think it could be a Newfoundland dog? What kind of a +dog is it? It is day time; is the sun shining? Do you imagine it is +morning or noon, or that it is toward evening? In making your pictures +would you draw the trees to show the leaves blown by the wind? If the +dog sees his image, is the water smooth or rough? Is the stream rapid +and rough, or smooth and placid? + +While such questioning is going on both speaker and listener are seeing +more clearly every minute. Besides, in order to see accurately they are +drawing on their own previous knowledge and experience, and are +reasoning just as truly as though they were solving a problem in +arithmetic. + +In every picture we form in our reading there are certain elements that +we must accept and include because the writer gives them to us. Other +elements suggest themselves, and we accept them and put them in place or +reject them entirely. In the fable just discussed we are told that the +dog is big, the piece of meat is big, and the bridge is narrow. We may +not see a small dog with a little piece of meat on a big, wide bridge. +Houses, trees, sedges on the river bank, children playing by the side of +the path, spring, summer or autumn foliage, or even snowclad shores with +black water between--any of these we may put into our picture, for the +fable is silent on these points. We must be accurate, and the parent can +do no better service in reading than to make his child see accurately +whatever he sees at all. + +The artist studies the selection he means to illustrate in just this +way, and then draws his picture. When we see his picture we may accept +it as good and true to the conditions, or call it poor and inapplicable. +We should not be hasty, but should try to get his point of view before +we criticise. If he violates any of the fixed conditions of the story +his work is bad; if he gives us his interpretation and violates no fixed +conditions, his work may be good or bad according to the standards we +set up: are we always certain that our standards are correct? + +In the fable _The Fox and the Stork_ (Volume I, page 73) the artist has +given us two beautiful pictures which in themselves tell almost the +entire story, and his pictures are almost wholly from his own +imagination, for there was given him to work with very little more than +a fox, a stork, a wide dish and a vase. Such a pictorial imagination as +he possessed is what should be cultivated in children. If they can be +encouraged to draw what they see, they not only fix their own +impressions, but they learn to see more vividly and more accurately. + +In long stories there are many scenes; it may be that no two incidents +happen in the same place. In the drama, which contains all the elements +of the story, the scenes are limited in number, are fixed and unchanging +and after the reader has arranged his scenery he may give his attention +exclusively to the dialogue because he knows there will be no change in +the scene. In the story the reader may need to be constantly alert, as +when his hero takes a long and perilous journey the scenes may change +with the quickness of a kaleidoscope, and yet all be important to the +narrative. The more complex the story, the greater the variety in +scene, and consequently the greater the opportunities for study. It is +interesting work for children to pick out the scenes, to count them and +then to compare them. Some of them are more vividly portrayed than +others. Why? Some are more important as descriptions, and some because +of the incidents occurring in them. + +Sometimes, especially in speaking of the drama, the word _scene_ is +applied not only in its literal sense, but also to include not merely +the place but the incidents that happen in the place, as well. + +For instance, we may say, "The quarrel between Brutus and Cassius is a +wonderful scene in _Julius Caesar_." Again, the word is used sometimes to +mark the division of a play, as when we speak of the second scene in the +first act of _Macbeth_. For our purposes, however, in our early reading +with children, let us use it to signify only the place where events +happen. + +An author may tell us at the beginning of a story that the scene is laid +in London, or in Calcutta, or in the Black Forest; but unless he employs +some method of giving a vivid impression of the setting of the story, we +soon lose sight of locality. Sometimes, of course, it is not necessary +that we should remember the place--the story moves on independent of +scene; but other stories depend in part for their interest and even for +their plot upon their setting. In such cases, the author, by reference +to the natural features characteristic of a region, or to the peculiar +traits or mannerisms or turns of speech of his characters, keeps before +us the place in which the scene is laid. Such peculiarities of a place +or its inhabitants, when introduced into a story, are given the name of +local coloring. + +In _A Christmas Carol_ (Volume VI, page 244), Dickens meant that we +should be conscious throughout not only of a Christmas atmosphere, but +of an _English_ Christmas atmosphere. The references to the Christmas +feeling are too obvious to require pointing out, but the methods by +which the author makes us conscious that we are in London do not show so +clearly at first sight. By a study of the paragraph which begins in the +middle of page 253, and of the one immediately following it, we may get +some idea of these methods. + +"Meanwhile the _fog_ and darkness thickened so, that the people ran +about with flaring _links_." A London boy would not need a footnote to +tell him that the fogs of London are famous; that they are at times so +thick that all traffic is obliged to cease. Nor would he need to be told +that links are torches of tow and pitch, which enterprising London boys +provided themselves with at foggy times, that they might earn money by +piloting people about. The word _brazier_, too, is in commoner use in +England than it is in the United States. The _poulterers'_ trade is +another English touch. + +Every one knows that the _Lord Mayor_ is the chief official of the city +of London, but perhaps we do not all know that _Mansion House_, with its +great banqueting-hall where the state dinners are held, is the residence +of the Lord Mayor. + +Now-a-days we all know what English _plum pudding_ is--it is served at +many American tables on Christmas day. But nothing is more +characteristically English, unless, indeed, it is the _roast beef_, not +turkey, which the tailor was planning to have for his Christmas dinner. + +Probably no one but an English writer, writing of an English subject, +would refer in Dickens's off-hand manner to Dunstan, the English +statesman and archbishop who accomplished so much for religion that he +came to be known as Saint Dunstan. + +One of the most characteristically English touches in the two paragraphs +is the reference to the _carol_ sung by the boy at Scrooge's keyhole. +Other countries have Christmas carols, but the custom of singing them +before people's houses is peculiarly common in England. The carol of +which the first two lines are quoted is perhaps the one most frequently +sung. + +These instances will give some idea of what is meant by local color, and +of the methods used in securing it. It will be an interesting study to +find other words and phrases in the remainder of the story which +strengthen our feeling of the "Englishness" of _A Christmas Carol_. + +_Journeys Through Bookland_ furnishes an abundance of good stories of +fine descriptive power. A few of the best are the following: + + Volume II, page 405. _The King of the Golden River._ + Volume IV, page 174. _Incident of the French Camp._ + Volume IV, page 322. _The Attack on the Castle._ + Volume VI, page 173. _Sohrab and Rustum._ + + +D AND E. THE LESSON AND THE AUTHOR'S PURPOSE + +The stories of the present day are many of them written with the avowed +purpose of mere entertainment. The author is satisfied if his work +sells, and cares nothing for the lesson he may teach, although by means +of false views of life he may do ineffaceable harm to the minds of his +readers. Many of the popular magazines and other periodicals, not even +excepting some of those published especially for children, are full of +light reading which vitiates the taste and may even undermine character +by its seductive influence. In the effort to be entertaining the recent +writers for children have only too frequently sacrificed strength and +virility to a fascinating brilliancy that seizes the imagination of +youthful readers and gives no material for subsequent growth. The +earlier writers, those who produced the great classics which still are +the most inspiring things in our language, were actuated by nobler +motives. To them literature was not a trade, but a high calling, to +which the writer came as a priest approaches his altar. Such a writer +held a high purpose and kept it in view, often giving hours of thought +and the best of his genius to work that the modern story writer neglects +entirely or passes over with hasty evasion. + +The purpose of the author is always a subject of interesting inquiry, +and whenever it appears a serious one it is worthy our careful study. +The novel is often the medium of conveying the results of deep study +into human character, and a few of the greatest stories have been +epoch-making in their effect upon the human race. + +As the fiction which children read has a profound influence in the +formation of character, it should always be examined with greatest care +to see that the author's purpose is a laudable one and that he carries +it out in such a way that the lesson is wholesome and salutary. Some +stories may be entertaining merely--they are for the play-spells of the +imagination; others should be instructive--they are for hours of study +and reflection; a third class should be invigorating and inspiring, full +of good lessons of high moral import--they are for times of stress, or +the still hours when character is made. + +If, however, the purpose of the author is too evident, if his lesson is +too obvious, none are so quick to catch the fact as wide-awake childish +readers. The author who lugs instruction and information into his +stories will find the boys and girls skipping all that he values, or +laying down his books with laughter and derision. The writer who +moralizes may find his work to be immoral in its effect on his juvenile +readers, or may see his stories relegated to the overloaded bargain +counters. + +In the same sense, it is often unwise to dwell long upon the moral of a +story or even to point it out if it be at all evident. There is no phase +of teaching reading that requires such careful thought or such fine +discrimination from the parent as that which relates to the lesson of +the story. It is often better to let the selection do its own work than +to try to elaborate its purpose. Yet a skilful and sympathetic leader, +one quick to read the feelings of his young listeners, may often render +his greatest service in free conversations about what the story teaches. +It would seem that no one could do this quite as well as the parent who +has known his boys and girls from infancy and can see in his offspring +those very traits of character which have been to his own advantage or +detriment. + +More will be accomplished by questioning with occasional comments than +by preaching, more by showing the help the story gives to the questioner +than by trying to foist its assistance upon the hearer. "Now there is a +fine lesson for you, my boy. I want you to remember it," is not half so +effective as "That idea seems good to me. I've often thought about it +but never seemed to realize it so much. I shall try to remember it." +Wouldn't you, dear parent, rather learn _with_ your friend than to have +him always instructing you? "What do you think of that, John?" is much +more apt to help the boy than "You must see it this way, John." Are you +not, dear parent, rather proud of your own judgment, and do you not +suppose your son has inherited your feeling to some extent at least? + +We heard the old fables in our babyhood and read them in Latin as we +grew older, and we still are fond of them, though the "morals" have long +since been forgotten. Those wise lessons so graphically presented have +helped to form our characters, but not through the formal "moral" at the +end. Beware of "_Haec fabula docet_."[189-1] + +As a further suggestion of method we may consider for a few moments that +beautiful but sad little story of Andersen's, _The Fir Tree_ (Volume II, +page 68). Every good story is worth reading more than once, and every +good method of teaching involves more than one reading. In this instance +as children read or listen, they are first interested in the story as a +story; that is, in the plot. They enjoy the adventures of the Fir Tree +and may feel for it in its misfortunes, but their interest is in the +tale. When they have read to the end, however, they will be interested +in the appearance of the tree, their hero, and in the other characters +which give vitality to the story. Then the scenes may be talked over, +and varied enough they are to excite real interest as the story is read +now with the definite purpose of seeing the pictures Andersen has +sketched. With all this in mind the children are ready to think over it +again and learn the lesson the great prose-poet meant to give. If the +character of the Fir Tree is well understood, the lesson almost tells +itself, for ambition, arrogance and discontent are seen as the traits +that make for unhappiness. The Fir Tree might have been happy many times +if it had only been content. At the worst it gave happiness to others, +and therein, perhaps, filled its place in the world. Human beings must +often find their pleasure in giving happiness to others and must be +content to know that they are of service to others. Some of the lessons +of _The Fir Tree_ are rather hard for little folks to understand, and +there is something in the charming story for those older readers that +have hearts young enough to see the meaning. + +Study the purpose in the following: + + Volume I, page 414. _The Ugly Duckling._ + Volume II, page 124. _The Snow Queen._ + + +F. THE METHOD AND STYLE OF THE AUTHOR + +Small children are not interested in considering the way in which an +author tells his story, nor the methods he employs to secure attention +and excite interest. Yet there comes a time when such a study is highly +pleasing to inquiring youth. It is desirable always that children should +early begin to appreciate the difference in the way plots are handled, +to discriminate between a tale that is well told and one that is poorly +told. At an early age boys delight in stories that are full of the +excitement of adventure, conflict and mystery. Their craving is natural +enough and must be satisfied. At such time they will read little or +nothing else unless they are driven to it, and to compel them to read +what they do not want is to make them hate reading for the time being +and perhaps permanently. In time they will outgrow the taste--it is +nothing to be feared if properly guided. The danger lies in the fact +that they may find the excitement they wish in stories that are really +immoral, or that are so poorly written that they destroy all taste for +fine literature. The right course is to supply plenty of reading in +which excitement abounds, where Indians stalk the woods, pirates rove +the seas, and knights fight for their lady-loves, but always in stories +that are so well told that the taste for good reading is cultivated +unconsciously as the boy reads. _Treasure Island_ is bloody enough for +the most exacting boy, and it bears many a reading, for it is so +charmingly told that long after the cry, "Pieces of eight, pieces of +eight," has ceased to make the welcome chills run up and down the boy's +back, he returns to the story for the pleasure he finds in the style of +Stevenson. In later years the boy will write better and speak better for +having read the story. + +However, the parent may do much to help his child along by calling +attention to vivid figures of speech, to happy expressions of all kinds, +and to those graceful touches of humor and pathos that are so +characteristic of Andersen, Stevenson, Ruskin, Kingsley, and other great +writers for boys and girls. No child who can read well for himself is +too young to appreciate a good figure of speech if the comparison is +based upon something falling within his own experience. Who is so young, +or so old, for that matter, that he will not thrill a little at +Longfellow's lines: + + "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, + Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." + +What does the poet say? "The stars appeared in the sky." In saying it +what does he make us feel? As we repeat the lines we see the immense +expanse of the heavens, and as we gaze, the sparkling dots of light +appear silently, slowly, one after another, just as beautiful flowers +appear as the early morning light gilds the green meadows. We think, +too, in the poet's fanciful way, that these are no common flowers, but +exquisite tokens of the loving care the angels have over us, and a +gentle reminder that always should we trust in them. + +Often the highest sentiment is clothed in lines whose figures, most +beautiful in themselves, exalt the spirit as ordinary expressions could +never do. At the close of _The Chambered Nautilus_, Oliver Wendell +Holmes sings: + + "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, + As the swift seasons roll! + Leave thy low-vaulted past! + Let each new temple, nobler than the last, + Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast, + Till thou at length art free, + Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!" + +Is it not well for the parent to lead his child to see such things in +literature, to search for them, and when they are found to treasure them +and bring them for mutual enjoyment into the family circle? + + +G. EMOTIONAL POWER + +Fiction appeals strongly to feeling and stimulates the growth of that +series of great emotions that make so large a part of character. It may +excite ambition and a thirst for power or wealth or give an impulse to +labor and self-denial; it may teach us sympathy and love for our +fellow-men, or arouse anger, hatred and defiance; it may give us a +keener discrimination of right from wrong and lead us far on our search +for truth, even into the calm of religious beliefs. + +We see the play of emotions in the imaginary persons that pass before +us, and as we learn to love our new friends, their influence passes out +to us through the words of the gifted author. Bob Cratchit's tender love +(Volume VI, page 304) makes us more considerate of the sick and +helpless; Tom Brown's manly defense of his praying schoolboy friend +(Volume V, page 472) leads us to new respect and admiration for the boy +who lives up to his principles, and drives us, perhaps, to begin again +upon the duties we have neglected. + +By studying with the children the feelings the characters in a story +exhibit, the parent may give the best of moral lessons without the +appearance of so doing and more effectively than by countless reprimands +and formal orders. + +As a suggestion of method we offer an outline based upon _Rab and His +Friends_ (Volume VI, page 99), one of the most touching stories ever +written, a series of incidents that appeal to every holy emotion. + +Rab, the great mastiff, claims first place in our minds, dog though he +is; but James and Ailie are such lovable beings that we never can forget +them. + +The story has been read through; we have followed the simple incidents +to their pathetic climax; we have learned to know Rab by sight and to +recognize his sterling character; James the honest, tender-hearted +carrier, and gentle, suffering Ailie, his wife, have taken their places +among the dear friends our imagination has created; we have noted the +power of the author, his humor, his scholarly English and his +sympathetic touch. We may have read the story more than once--at any +rate we have read portions of it several times, so we can trace the +emotions that are felt by the noble dog. + +Page 100: When the little white bull terrier fastens himself upon Rab's +throat and the strong muzzle prevents the big fellow from defending +himself, "his whole frame stiffens with _indignation_ and _surprise_." +"He looked a statue of _anger_ and _astonishment_." + +After Rab had been released from his muzzle and had killed the little +terrier, "he looked down at his victim _appeased_, _ashamed_ and +_amazed_." + +Page 103: When his master aimed a kick at him, he "drew _cringing_ up" +and "slunk _dismayed_ under the cart." + +When his master spoke kindly, "'Rab, ma man, puir Rabbie,'" "the stump +of a tail rose up, the ears were cocked, the eyes filled, and were +comforted"; Rab showed _pride_ and _happiness again_. + +Page 104: He was _pleased_ when the medical student scratched his huge +head, and _anxious_, when no notice was taken of him. + +When he first came to the hospital he felt _pride_ and _condescension_, +"like the Duke of Wellington entering a subdued city." + +Page 106: When James handed Ailie from the cart, "Rab looked on +_concerned_ and _puzzled_." + +Page 106: In the consulting room Rab was filled with _suspicion_ and +_uneasiness_; he was "grim and comic," and eyed all three. + +When Ailie was put to bed and Rab was permitted to enter the room he +"slunk in," _half-ashamed_, but fully _determined_. + +Page 107: Rab valued himself highly, but felt no conceit: he "had the +_dignity_ and _simplicity_ of great size," and the "_gravity_ of all +great fighters." + +Page 109: Rab felt _perplexity_ and _anger_, "forever cocking his ear +and dropping it as fast," when Ailie entered the operating room. + +During the operation he felt _sympathy_ for the suffering of his +mistress, _anger_ and _revengefulness_ at her tormentors; "his ragged +ear was up, and importunate; he growled and gave now and then a sharp, +impatient yelp; he would have liked to have done something to that man." + +Afterward in Ailie's room he felt _fear_, _anxiety_ and a _desire to +help_, and showed "how meek and gentle he could be, occasionally, in his +sleep, letting us know he was demolishing some adversary." + +Page 110: Rab continued to feel a sense of _depression_, _sadness_ and +_anxiety_; during his walks with the medical student he was "sombre and +mild; declined doing battle--submitted to sundry indignities." + +While Ailie seemed to be recovering Rab felt _kindliness_ and _subdued +joy_, though _resentment_ lay close beneath the surface; he was +"reconciled, and even cordial," had "made up his mind that as yet nobody +required worrying," but was always prepared for it. + +Page 111: As Ailie grew worse, _grief_ and _fear_ began to take +possession of Rab; he "subsided under the table into a dark place, and +was motionless." + +Page 112: When Ailie called in delirium, her strained voice filled Rab +with _surprise_, _astonishment_ and a sense of _guilt_; he started up +"surprised, and slinking off as if he were to blame somehow, or had +been dreaming he heard." + +Page 114: At Ailie's death Rab was overwhelmed with _grief_; he licked +her hand which was hanging down "all over carefully, looked at her, and +returned to his place under the table." + +The dog's feeling of _duty_, _obligation_ and _devotion_ was shown when +he leaped upon the bottom of the bed "and settled himself, his head and +eye to the dead face." + +Page 115: Rab remained _in statu quo_ till the carrier returned; _love_ +and _devotion_ filled his heart. + +Page 115: His _grief_ wholly absorbed him; he did not notice his medical +friend when the cart left the hospital. + +Page 117: After the carrier's death, _grief_ wore down the dog's brave +spirit; he became _discouraged_, _impatient_, _resentful_; "he was aye +gur gurrin', and grup gruppin'." Yet he was _faithful_ to his trust, for +he was only impatient and resentful when a stranger came and interfered +in the business of the dead carrier. + +It is evident that the study of emotions is to a great extent a study of +character, and that in this instance, we have given a tabulation of +Rab's traits of character. It is through the showing of his feelings +that Rab influences us. A little introspection shows that we are feeling +just what the dog feels, or that some emotion is aroused in us that +responds to the feeling of the dog. We are not exactly _surprised_ when +the bulldog grips Rab, but we are _indignant_ that he should have no +chance to defend himself--we would be among the first to slit the +muzzle. We may not be pleased that Rab killed the bulldog, but we are +glad that Rab defended himself. We realize the strength of the mastiff's +powerful jaws, and are not _amazed_ at what he did--we are now rather +inclined to feel sympathy for the helpless little terrier. + +So we might go on incident by incident and compare our feelings with +those of Rab, but that would require much space and perhaps it would not +be of great benefit to the reader, for our feelings may not be his +feelings, and the things which arouse him may have little effect upon +another. It is sufficient to call attention to the value of analysis, +and show that self-study is a valuable adjunct to reading. + +It is well that most children are not likely to indulge to any great +extent in introspection, for too much is injurious. However, it can do +the young no harm for them to study the feelings of others, and now and +then examine their own emotions. By so doing, they may learn that some +reading, which is destructive to peace and productive of unpleasant or +evil feelings, should be avoided. + + +GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND REFLECTIONS + +The studies so far given are comprehensive, and are suited to all forms +of fictitious narrative. Most of the illustrations have been drawn from +the simpler tales in the earlier volumes, but the studies are equally +applicable to the more difficult selections of the later volumes, and +may be easily adapted by the parent to children of any age. The +restrictions of space have compelled us to offer but one set of studies +here, but there are many simpler and many more difficult ones scattered +through the books where the juvenile readers will find them, and it is +hoped become interested in them. In another place we have shown parents +how these may be found easily and used consecutively if they wish so to +use them. + +The studies here given serve to systematize the work and enable parents +to see the logic of the plans. Children are not interested in the +studies as such, nor in the plan, and, in fact, are liable to be +repelled if the machinery of instruction is evident. + +Fortunately, children like to read many times the things they enjoy, and +should always be encouraged to do so. But they are likely to read +stories over and over again, for the plot only, and to become so +fascinated by it as never to notice the more valuable and intrinsically +more interesting things the narrative contains. + +Yet every person who reads or tells stories to young children has +without doubt often noticed how insistent they are upon verbal accuracy. +The story must be told the third time just as it was the first and +second times. This means that they are sensitive to the thing as a +perfect whole, and feel that any change mars the beauty of the story as +a scratch mars the face of a favorite doll, or a broken seat spoils the +toy buggy. + +There comes a time when, if you give a boy a mechanical toy, he is more +interested in how it is made than in the running of it. He wants to +"take to pieces" everything he has. Then he will enjoy analytical work +on a story if he is led to it intelligently. Then the old stories come +in for new readings, "to see how they are made," to find something in +them that he never found before. + +The style of reading which a child does when he is "looking for +something" is very different from his reading when he is absorbed in the +story. Suppose he is trying to find out what kind of a man is James, in +_Rab and His Friends_. He forgets for a time the story, and reads +rapidly along, merely running his eye over the pages, watching intently +for the word _James_, or the word _carrier_. When either of the words +appears he stops to read carefully. He may have to go back a few words, +perhaps to the beginning of a paragraph, all the time with his attention +fixed exclusively upon what is said about James. When he has read it on +the first page, he skims along to the next one and stops again. This is +reading intelligently for a purpose, and is really one of the most +valuable kinds of reading, the kind he will use most frequently when he +is a man, the one that will save time for him when in later years he +most needs it. It is the style of reading, too, that is much neglected +in the schools. + +To analyze the character of the hero of a story is as practical a lesson +in life as any child can gain. In trying to discern the springs of +action, in seeing how words and acts show character, and how dress and +appearance indicate what a person really is, he is learning to +understand his acquaintances and to judge whether they merit his trust +and confidence, or are to be regarded with suspicion and disdain. This +is the practical wisdom without which many a man has found himself the +victim of misplaced confidence, or allowed himself to be led into +temptations he could not resist by those who professed friendship for +him. + +Again, when studying the scenes, a child is learning to picture vividly +and exactly, and is training his mind to close discrimination. He is +training himself to avoid the mistakes that the careless reader makes. +Many a man has found himself paying for careless reading, because he did +not see a thing exactly as it was described to him. + +At the risk of repetition we have argued again for the reading of +stories in the different ways and for the different purposes suggested, +for we know that the parent who will follow these plans will interest +his children, will see them improve, and will find them growing nearer +to him, while he will be more of a companion, less of a ruler. In so +doing he may forget some of the cares of the day and find himself +growing younger, more contented and happier as his family reaches the +age when it can take care of itself. Then, later, when the long years of +old age have come, it may be that the parents will discover that while +they read and worked with their children they taught themselves to find +in reading a solace for their loneliness. + +It is scarcely necessary to say that many of these latter comments and +suggestions are as applicable to reading other kinds of literature as +they are to the reading of stories, but stories form so large a part of +a child's reading that it has seemed best to place them in this +connection. Many essays contain something of narration, and not +infrequently an incident forms the basis of a beautiful lyric. In print +these studies may appear formal and forbidding, but where they are +presented in a conversational manner, they become attractive and +inspiring. + + +Completed Studies + +_The Hare and the Tortoise_ + +(Volume I, page 71) + +A. _The Plot._ The slow Tortoise and the speedy Hare ran a race. The +Hare, full of conceit, loitered and slept by the way, while the Tortoise +won in his plodding fashion. + +Incidents: + + 1. The Hare derides the Tortoise. + 2. The Tortoise challenges the Hare. + 3. The Fox becomes judge and holds the stakes. + 4. The race begins in heat and dust. + 5. The Hare takes a rest and a nap. + 6. The Tortoise in comfort passes the Hare. + 7. The Hare awakes, thinks the Tortoise behind, and stops to eat. + 8. The Hare discovers that the Tortoise has passed and begins his + pursuit. + 9. The Hare finds the Tortoise at the brook. + 10. The Fox awards the money to the Tortoise. + +B. _The Persons._ There are three characters in the story: the Hare, the +Tortoise and the Fox. + +1. The Hare. He is a small, long-legged animal, who can leap long +distances and run like the wind. In character he is unkind, impudent, +proud and lazy. + +2. The Tortoise. He is a clumsy, short-legged turtle, who carries a +heavy box-shell around his body. He cannot jump at all, and he moves +very slowly, flat on the ground, even his tail dragging in the dust. +But he is wise, steady, not easily discouraged, and sticks to his task +till it is done. + +3. The Fox. He is a wise old judge, who cannot let the loser go without +a word of advice. + +C. _The Scene._ The race takes place along a dusty road on a hot day. +There is a big clover patch, where the Hare rests, and at the end of the +course is a cool and delightful brook or river. + +D. _The Author's Purpose and the Lesson._ The author of this old fable +intended to teach the lesson that he puts into the last sentence, +"Steady-going wins the race." + +E. _The Method and Style of the Author._ His method is to teach a truth +by means of an interesting story. His style is graphic and dramatic. He +gives three animals the power to talk, and he makes them talk so that +they seem almost like real human beings. At any rate, he makes us see +the character of each very clearly. + +F. _Emotions._ We see in the Hare the feelings of conceit, contempt, and +laziness; of surprise, fear, and excitement; of chagrin and +disappointment. In the Tortoise we see a little of resentment and some +self-confidence; then courage, determination, and persistence; at last, +calm enjoyment and joy at winning. The Fox looks on as we do, and has +confidence in the Tortoise and a little spice of contempt for the Hare. +Then he is pleased that the Tortoise should win, and enjoys giving the +Hare a stinging bit of advice. + +G. _Conclusion._ It is because the little fable has so much in it that +it has lived for centuries, and you have only to speak to any cultivated +person about the Hare and the Tortoise to remind him that "Steady-going +wins the race." + +The preceding analysis shows what a parent should expect to bring out +from a little child, reading the fable for the first time, or from an +older boy or girl making a careful study of fables. In both cases, +however, the facts should be brought out by questions, with the +expectation that the juveniles would not express themselves in anything +like the words given above. + + +_The Fox and the Crow_ + +(Volume I, page 64) + +The following analysis of _The Fox and the Crow_ shows the method as it +might appear in actual use with small children. It should be remembered, +however, that no two persons will ask the same questions and that no two +children will answer them in the same manner. Bring out the thoughts and +keep the children interested while it is being done. Rapid, clearcut +questions which do not suggest the answer are the kind to use. Whenever +there is hesitation or doubt, refer to the story. The story, plus the +child's imagination and reason, must give the answers. If other facts +are needed, the questioner should supply them or show where they may be +learned. + +A. _The Plot._ + +Question. What was the first thing that happened in this little story? + +Answer. The Fox saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its mouth. + +Q. What next? + +A. The Crow lit on a branch of a tree. + +Q. Next? + +A. The Fox made up his mind to get the cheese. + +Q. What did he do then? + +A. He walked to the foot of the tree. + +Q. What next did he do? + +A. He flattered the Crow and asked her to sing. + +Q. What did the Crow do? + +A. She cawed and dropped the cheese. + +Q. What did the Fox do? + +A. He snapped up the cheese and ran off. + +Q. Did he do anything more? + +A. Yes. He gave the Crow some advice. + +Q. Now tell me the story in as few words as possible. + +A. A Fox saw a Crow with some cheese in her mouth. He flattered her and +asked her to sing. When she cawed she dropped the cheese and the Fox ran +away with it. + +B. _The Persons._ + +Question. Can a Fox talk, or a Crow sing? + +Answer. No. + +Q. Do they seem like persons in this story? + +A. Yes. + +Q. Let us think of them as persons, and see what kind of people they +are. We will talk about the Fox, first. What do you think he looked +like? + +A. Like a saucy little dog with bright eyes, a long sharp nose, and a +bushy tail. + +Q. When he said, "That's for me," what did you learn about him? + +A. That he was hungry; that he was greedy; that he meant to get the +cheese. + +Q. When he began to flatter the Crow, what did you think of him? + +A. That he was sharp; that he was trying to fool the Crow. + +Q. What did you think of him when he said that her voice was finer than +the voices of the other birds, just as her coat was? + +A. He was really flattering. Before, he was telling some truth, for her +feathers were glossy and her eyes were bright. + +Q. Did he really think she could sing? + +A. No. He knew she could only caw. He was lying, then. + +Q. What did he say after she had dropped the cheese? + +A. "That was all I wanted." + +Q. And then? + +A. "Do not trust flatterers." + +Q. Did the Fox mean it? + +A. Yes. But he was plaguing her, sneering at her. He wasn't really +sincere. + +Q. Now tell me what you've learned about the Fox. + +A. He was a lively animal that looked like a dog, with a long nose and +bushy tail. He was smart, wise, knew how to flatter and get what he +wanted. But he was a liar and a mean fellow all around. + +Q. Now, let us study the Crow. What did she look like? + +A. She was a big black bird with glossy feathers and a bright eye. She +had a big black bill and black wings. + +Q. Did she have a good voice for singing? + +A. No. She could only say "caw, caw, caw," in a hoarse, croaking voice. + +Q. Where was she? + +A. On the limb of a tree. + +Q. Could the Fox reach her? + +A. No. She was safe. + +Q. What did she think of herself? + +A. She thought she was pretty and smart and could sing. + +Q. What would you say of her manners? + +A. She was proud and conceited and foolish, silly. + +Q. Now, tell me what you have learned of the Crow. + +A. She was a big black bird with glossy feathers and a bright eye. She +thought she could sing, but she was silly and proud and conceited. She +was too easily fooled by the lies and flattery of the fox. + +C. _The Scene._ + +Question. Where were the Fox and the Crow? + +Answer. Outdoors, somewhere. + +Q. Were they near a house? + +A. I think so, because the Crow had cheese in her mouth. + +Q. Was it a prairie country? + +A. Perhaps, but there was one tree near. + +Q. Was it day, or night? + +A. Daytime, I think. Crows do not hunt at night, but foxes do. + +Q. Tell me all you know or can guess about the place where the bird and +fox were. + +A. I think they were on the edge of the woods, not very far away from a +farmhouse. One tree stood out by itself, and the Crow flew from the +farmhouse to the lone tree. + +D. and E. _The Lesson and the Author's Purpose._ + +Question. This is an old, old story, and it has been told in many +languages. We cannot be sure who first wrote it. But what do you suppose +the writer meant the story to do? + +Answer. He meant it to teach a good lesson, I think. + +Q. What is the lesson? + +A. That foxes are tricky animals; that crows are silly birds; that +flattery and lying are bad; that it is foolish to trust anyone who +flatters you. + +Q. Does that mean you do not trust people who praise you? + +A. Oh, no. Praise is all right. Everybody likes to be praised. + +Q. What is the difference between praise and flattery? + +A. When a person praises you he tells the truth, and tells it because he +likes you, and wants to help you; but when he flatters you, he lies and +deceives you, and does it to fool you, because he wants you to do +something for him, or to get something you have. + +Q. How can we tell whether we are being praised or flattered? + +A. We must be sharp and know ourselves and what we really can do. Then +we will know whether others are speaking the truth about us. + +F. _The Method and Style of the Author._ + +Question. What do you call a story like this? + +Answer. A fable. + +Q. Why is it a fable? + +A. Because it's short; because animals talk and act like human beings; +because it teaches a good lesson. + +Q. Do you call this story "slow"? + +A. No. It's a quick, lively one. + +Q. What do you think makes it so? + +A. There are not too many words; the Fox and the Crow are interesting; +there is a lot of talking; we can see the Fox and the Crow; they act +like human beings. + +Q. Are there any good sentences you would like to remember? + +A. Yes: "Do not trust flatterers." + +G. _Emotional Power._ + +Question. How did the Fox feel when he saw the Crow with the cheese in +her mouth? + +Answer. He was hungry; he wanted the cheese; he made up his mind to get +it. + +Q. How did he feel when he was flattering the Crow? + +A. He felt jolly; he thought it was fun to fool the Crow. + +Q. How did he feel when he got the cheese? + +A. He was pleased; he was happy; he did not pity the Crow; he laughed at +the Crow when he gave her advice. + +Q. How did the Crow feel when she flew off with the cheese? + +A. She was happy. + +Q. How did she feel while the Fox was flattering her? + +A. She was proud and vain and felt sure she could sing. + +Q. When she dropped the cheese? + +A. She was disappointed; she was sorry she had tried to sing; she knew +she had been fooled, and was ashamed. + +Q. Did she like the advice the Fox gave her? + +A. No, but she thought it was good advice. + +Q. Do you think the Fox could fool her again? + +H. _Conclusion._ + +Now, read the fable all through just as well as you can. (It is read.) +Now, Harry, you be the Fox, and read just what he says. Clara, be the +Crow, and read just what she says. Tom may be the story teller, and read +just the descriptions. Now, watch your parts so there will be no delay, +and try to speak just as though you are really what you are +representing. Tom may read the first paragraph, and the fourth, but may +omit entirely those words that are not spoken in the other paragraphs. +Begin, Tom. + + +_The Drummer_ + +(Volume I, page 303) + +The fairy stories of the brothers Grimm are inferior to those of +Andersen in plot, lesson and style. The plots are more monotonous and +sometimes unnecessarily coarse and rough; the lessons are more obscure +and sometimes are of doubtful value; and the style is much less +forcible, in fact is often labored and inelegant. Yet many of the +stories are attractive and harmless. They may be used to make the +transition from fairy tales to more elevated literature. Their very +imperfections can be utilized to discourage the reading of fairy tales +and by criticism and gentle ridicule a child can be led away from that +type of stories which though harmless when read in moderation have been +made so attractive by modern writers that children fancy them too much +and cling to them long after they should be reading things of much +greater value. If children are led to study fairy stories, absurdities +in them soon become tiresome. Ordinarily they read merely for the +excitement in the tale, for the effect it has upon their naturally vivid +imaginations. If they are led to think, to analyze, their intelligence +will quickly call for something more substantial, more nearly true to +life. + +_The Drummer_ is one of the best of the Grimm stories and yet some of +their weaknesses are evident. It is inadvisable to talk to small +children of studying a story. They are always delighted to see their +parents interested and will be very glad to "talk over" the story. In +this particular tale there are many points of interest that may be +brought up by skilful questioning and many places where comments may be +made, comments that will show the attitude of the adult mind without +raising opposition on the part of the juvenile reader. Some of the +subjects suggested by a reading of _The Drummer_ are the following: + +I. _Characters._ Taken in the order of their appearance in the story the +characters are: + + 1. The Drummer + 2. The King's Daughter + 3. The First Giant + 4. The Second Giant + 5. The Third Giant + 6. The Two Men Quarreling + 7. The Witch + 8. The Drummer's Parents + 9. The Maiden + +II. _What the Characters Do._ + +1. The Drummer finds the piece of cloth, goes to the mountain of glass, +deceives the two quarreling men, flies to the top of the mountain, +visits the witch, performs the three tasks, throws the witch in the +fire, goes to his home, kisses his parents on their right cheeks, +forgets the princess, gives her jewels away, gets ready to marry the +maiden, remembers the princess, rewards the maiden and marries the +princess. + +2. The King's Daughter asks for her dress, tells the Drummer where she +is confined, helps the Drummer in his three tasks, advises the Drummer +how to destroy the witch, takes the Drummer to his parents, waits in the +field for the Drummer, sings her song three times, forgives and marries +the Drummer. + +3. The First Giant talks with the Drummer and carries him through the +woods on his back. + +4. The Second Giant carries the Drummer in his button hole. + +5. The Third Giant carries the Drummer on his hat. + +6. The Two Men quarrel, talk with the Drummer, race to the white staff +and lose the saddle. + +7. The Witch gives the Drummer food and shelter, assigns three tasks, +requires the log to be brought from the fire, tries to carry off the +King's Daughter, and dies in the flames. + +8. The Drummer's Parents welcome their son, accept the jewels of the +King's Daughter, build a palace, choose a maiden for their son's wife, +but receive the princess in her place. + +9. The Maiden is willing to marry the Drummer but is satisfied with his +presents instead. + +III. _The Good and the Bad Characters._ + +1. The Drummer was brave, kind to his parents and loved the princess, +but he tricked the two quarreling men, and disobeyed and forgot the +princess. + +2. The King's Daughter was always helpful, faithful and lovable. + +3, 4 and 5. The Three Giants were usually cruel but were afraid of the +Drummer and so behaved very well. + +6. The Two Men were very unwise to quarrel and perhaps deserved to lose +their saddle. + +7. The Witch was cruel, deceitful and always bad, deserving her awful +fate. + +8. The Drummer's Parents were good people, for they knew nothing of the +princess when they tried to marry their son to another. + +9. The Maiden was a commonplace person who did not really love the +Drummer. + +IV. _The Unreal and Magical Things._ + +1. There are no glass mountains, but an iceberg resembles one. + +2. There never were giants as big as fir trees. + +3. There never was a saddle that could itself carry anyone anywhere. + +4. There never was an old woman who could enchant a maiden. + +5. There never was a magic ring that could grant wishes. Fish never +jumped from water and sorted themselves, wood never cut itself nor piled +itself. + +6. Never was a princess enchanted into a log and no log ever became a +king's beautiful daughter. + +7. It never made any difference in a young man's fortunes if he did kiss +his parents on the right instead of the left cheek. + +8. No castle such as this was ever built in a day. + +V. _Things that Happen in Threes._ + +How absurd it is that in fairy stories things so often happen in sets of +three! In this one short story we find: + +1. The Drummer saw _three_ pieces of white linen. + +2. The Drummer met _three_ giants. + +3. The mountain looked as high as if _three_ mountains had been placed +one upon another. + +4. On the plain are _three_ things, an old stone house, a large fish +pond and a dark, dreary forest. + +5. The Witch did not appear till the Drummer had knocked _three_ times. + +6. The Drummer wanted _three_ things, admission, food and a night's +lodging. + +7. The Witch assigned _three_ tasks. + +8. There were _three_ conditions to the first task, to scoop out the +water, sort the fish, and finish by night. + +9. There were _three_ parts to the second task, to cut the trees, to +split them into logs and to stack them. + +10. The Witch gave the Drummer _three_ tools with which to accomplish +the second task, an ax, a chopper and a wedge. + +11. In the third task there were _three_ steps, to place the wood in a +heap, to set fire to it and to burn it. + +12. The Drummer supposed he had been gone _three_ days but it was +_three_ years. + +13. The wedding was to take place in _three_ days. + +14. The princess sang her song _three_ times. + + +_Tom, the Water Baby_ + +(Volume II, page 215) + +"This is all a fairy tale, and only fun and pretense; and therefore, you +are not to believe a word of it, even if it is true." + +But what a wonderful tale it is; so interesting a story, such a mixture +of fact and fancy, so brimming full of fun and laughter, so touching in +pathos, and so rife with good lessons. Though "you are not to believe a +word of it, even if it is true," there is so much truth in it that you +really cannot keep from believing a great deal of it. + +A better comprehension of _Tom, the Water Baby_ among parents will mean +a greater popularity for it among children. The tale is too long for a +full interpretation, but we can offer an analysis which will help to +keep the story in mind, and some illustrations of different meritorious +features. + + [Illustration: DONALD G. MITCHELL + JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY + EDGAR ALLAN POE + THOMAS BUCHANAN READ + EUGENE FIELD + JOHN HOWARD PAYNE + JOHN G. SAXE] + +I. _Analysis._ At first Tom is a real boy, a little grimy, ignorant +chimney sweep, next a water baby or eft, in which character, under the +tutelage of the fairies, he gains his education. Briefly at the end he +is a man, an engineer, but all that is delightfully vague, for he has +ceased to be the little Tom we like so thoroughly. + +_Chapters I and II._ + + Tom, the Chimney Sweep, + Works for Mr. Grimes; + Summoned to sweep the chimney at Hartover Place; + Overtakes the poor Irishwoman, who + Walks with Tom; + Asks about his prayers and makes him sad; + Tells about the sea and makes him wish to be clean; + Helps him pick flowers; + Frightens Grimes for beating Tom, + Warns them both to be clean; + Promises to see them again; + Disappears. + Meets the keeper who warns Grimes against poaching; + Walks up the avenue; + Sees the deer, trees, bees, and makes friends with the keeper; + Enters the house and sweeps chimneys; + Comes out in a beautiful room and sees the little white lady; + Sees himself for the first time and cries; + Escapes from the nurse by window and tree; + Is chased by everybody; + Is lost in the woods; + Scales a wall; + Is followed by the Irishwoman, who throws the pursuers off the scent; + Crosses the river, climbs a mountain; + Descends Lewthwaite Crag; + Drags himself to the cottage; + Begs for water of the dame; + Is given milk, and put in an outhouse; + Is feverish and out of his mind; + Thinks he must be clean; + Drags himself to the stream, looks into the clear water, and undresses; + Does not see the Irishwoman transform herself to the queen of the + fairies; + Tumbles himself into the stream; + Falls asleep in the water; + Is turned into a water-baby by the fairies; + Is mourned as dead by the people who find his poor dirty body. + +_Chapters III and IV._ + + Tom, the Water Baby, + Watches the caddis-flies build their homes (page 262) and go into the + chrysalis state (page 262); + Sees the metamorphosis of the dragon-fly (pages 263-264); + Meets and makes friends with the otters (pages 270-274); + Travels towards the sea after the storm; + Finds the salmon and witnesses the death of Grimes (pages 278-286); + Passes the sleeping villages and reaches the sea; + Greets the seal and looks for water babies; + Plays with the lobsters (pages 292-294); + Is caught by Professor Ptthmllnsprts and shown to Ellie, the little + white lady, who flies away (pages 296-299). (Can you make out what + Kingsley had in mind, by filling in the vowels of the Professor's + name?) + +_Chapter V._ + + Tom, the Water Baby, + Has an adventure in the lobster pots (pages 300-303); + Joins the water babies; + Is met by Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, who + Examines Tom; + Rewards the good children; + Punishes those who know no better, viz.: + Tom, + The doctors, + The foolish ladies, + The careless nurserymaids, + The cruel school teachers, + Tells Tom about those who knew better. + Sees Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby, who + Mothers Tom; + Tells him the story. + +_Chapter VI._ + + Tom, the Water Baby, + Steals the candy from the cabinet; + Becomes prickly and ugly from sin; + Confesses to Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid; + Goes to school to rid himself of his ugliness; + Is taught by the beautiful little girl; + Gains his own smooth, clean skin; + Recognizes the little white lady, Ellie; + Learns how to join Ellie in the beautiful place; + Loses her by being unkind; + Hears the history of the Doasyoulikes; + +_Chapter VII._ + + Tom, the Water Baby, + Starts to go where he does not like, to find Mr. Grimes; + Inquires of the King of the Herrings; + Visits the last of the Gairfowl on the Allalonestone; + Follows Mother Carey's chickens; + Struggles with the water dog; + Is carried by the mollymocks from Jan Mayen's land to Shiny Wall; + Dives under the great white gate that never was opened yet; + Reaches Peace-pool with the dog; + Finds Mother Carey at work making new creatures from sea water; + Is given passport to the Other-End-of-No-where; + Goes backward in safety. + +_Chapter VIII._ + + Tom, the Water Baby, + Comes to the place called Stop; + Is blown through the Sea; + Finds himself in the claws of the bogy; + Sees the metals made; + Slides down the whirlpool; + Swims to the shore of the Other-End-of-No-where; + Finds Gotham; + Comes to the isle of Tomtoddies; + Hears of their great idol, Examination; + Gives information to the nimblecomequick turnip; + Stumbles over the respectable old stick; + Faces Examiner-of-all-Examiners; + Arrives at Oldwivesfabledom; + Comes to the quiet place called Leaveheavenalone; + Sees the prison; + Offers the passport to the truncheon; + Searches for chimney No. 345; + Finds Grimes stuck in the chimney; + Tries to light Grimes' pipe and to release him; + Learns that the old dame teacher was the mother of Grimes; + Sees Grimes' tears effect his release; + Recognizes Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid as the Irishwoman; + Hears Grimes sentenced to sweep out Aetna; + Is blindfolded and taken up the back stairs; + Recognizes St. Brandon's Isle and hears the song; + Rejoices with Ellie and goes with her Sundays; + Becomes a man of science and knows everything; + And, it may be, marries Ellie. + +II. _Fact and Fancy._ The story begins with a vivid description of the +little sweep and his master, and it is not till we have read several +pages that we have reason to suspect that we are reading a fairy story. +In fact the "poor Irishwoman" might be a veritable Irishwoman till we +have read page 247. From this point on, the work of the fairies is seen +occasionally to the end. + +The facts of the natural history are mingled with the fancies of the +author's brain in the most natural manner. The description of the +house-building of the caddis larvae (page 262) is accurate enough for a +scientist, who might, however, be shocked by the whimsical notion of the +rivalry told in the last sentence of the paragraph. The otters behave +like otters, the salmon like salmon, the lobster like the lobster he is. +The dragon "splits" at the call of nature, the ephemerae dance in the +sunlight, and game-keepers kill poachers in real life as in the story. +The great auk is extinct and the right whale is still hunted, but +Peace-pool is as fancifully portrayed as is the creation of world-pap. +It appears that as Kingsley proceeded with his story he let his +imagination play more freely and drew farther away from facts as his +fancies came plentifully. So the story furnishes food for thought by old +and young, and parts of it can be understood only by those who have had +considerable study and experience. + +III. _Fun and Humor._ A more entertaining story is hard to find. There +are many amusing situations and funny doings, besides which, Kingsley's +style of writing abounds in a rich humor that is not always evident to +the hasty and careless reader. Not a little of the humor is ironical and +sometimes we are inclined to think that the writer may be having a +little quiet fun at the expense of his readers. + +Children are inclined to read _Tom, the Water Baby_ as they do many +another tale, for the story only. They want to know what happens to Tom, +whether or no Grimes is punished, what becomes of Ellie, and how it "all +comes out." But when attention is called to the fun in the tale children +will read it more than once, for they like to laugh even better than +their elders, and curiosity prompts them to watch to "see the joke." + +The humorous twist to things begins in the second sentence of the story +and it does not disappear permanently till the very last sentence of the +_Moral_. See how it shows in these few extracts: "His master was so +delighted at his new customer that he knocked Tom down out of hand" +(page 219). + +After Tom's pathetic discovery of his own dirtiness (page 232), comes +this: "With a noise as of ten thousand tin kettles tied to ten thousand +mad dogs' tails." Humor and pathos are both strengthened by the violent +contrast. + +On page 232 begins the long humorous paragraph descriptive of the chase +after Tom. + +"The birches birched him as soundly as if he had been a nobleman at +Eton, and over the face too (which is not fair swishing, as all brave +boys will agree)" (page 235). + +What could you imagine more amusing in its way than the extremely absurd +"argument" the author makes for the existence of water babies (page +254): "You never heard of a water baby? Perhaps not. That is the very +reason why this story was written. There are a great many things in the +world which you never heard of; and a great many more which nobody ever +heard of; and a great many things, too, which nobody ever will hear of. +No water babies, indeed! Why, wise men of old said that everything on +earth had its double in the water; and you may see that that is, if not +quite true, still quite as true as most other theories which you are +likely to hear for many a day. There are land babies, then why not water +babies? _Are there not water rats, water flies, water crickets, water +crabs, water tortoises, water scorpions, water tigers and so on without +end?_ To be sure, there must be water babies. Am I in earnest? Oh dear +no!" + +Read the account of the policemen, beginning on page 306, for an example +of a broader humor. + +Page 347: "And the sun acted policeman, and worked round outside every +day, peeping just over the top of the icewall, to see that all went +right; and now and then he played conjuring tricks, or had an exhibition +of fireworks, to amuse the sea fairies. For he would make himself into +four or five suns at once, or paint the sky with rings and crosses and +crescents of white fire and stick himself in the middle of them, and +wink at the fairies; and I dare say they were very much amused, for +anything's fun in the country." + +Do not think of "skipping" the _Moral_. No more attractive "moral" was +ever written for fable or fairy tale! + +IV. _Pathos._ Tom, the Chimney Sweep is always pathetic. He enlists our +sympathies wholly from the time we meet him where there was "plenty of +money for Tom to earn and his master to spend," until he "pulled off all +his clothes in such haste that he tore some of them, which was easy +enough with such ragged old things," "put his poor, hot, sore feet into +the water," "tumbled himself as quick as he could into the clear, cool +stream" and in two minutes "fell fast asleep, into the quietest, +sunniest, coziest sleep that he had ever had in his life and--dreamt of +nothing at all." It is only as Tom the Water Baby that he does not make +us sad. + +Poor little, dirty, ignorant Tom! Little enough to climb up the sooty +chimney flues; so dirty that he knew not what cleanliness meant; so +ignorant that he "never had heard of God, or of Christ, except in words +which you never have heard," and his idea of happiness was to "sit in a +public house with a quart of beer and a long pipe," to play cards for +silver money, to "keep a white bull dog with one gray ear, and carry +her puppies in his pocket just like a man," to have apprentices and to +bully them, to knock them about and make them carry soot sacks while he +"rode before them on his donkey, with a pipe in his mouth and a flower +in his button hole, like a king at the head of his army!" "Yes, when his +master let him have a pull at the leavings of his beer, Tom was the +jolliest boy in the whole town." + +To him who reads understandingly, there is pathos on nearly every page +of the first two chapters. Sometimes it is seen in hints and shown by +indirection but in other instances it is direct, positive, powerful. + +Just read (page 231), how Tom learns that he is naught but a "little +black ape," an "ugly, black, ragged figure with bleared eyes and +grinning white teeth." + +In his terrible race for life he "thought he heard church bells ringing +a long way off" and thought "where there is a church there will be +houses and people," and perhaps someone will give him a "bit and a sup." +So he follows the ringing in his ears till he comes to the top of the +great crag and sees "a mile off and a thousand feet down" the old dame +in her garden. We lose our own breath in following him down that awful +descent, find ourselves panting, and at last, suddenly, "b-e-a-t, beat!" +After the old dame has given him the old rug and bidden him sleep off +his weariness, comes the fever with the ringing of the church bells and +the persistent, agonizing thought, "I must be clean, I must be clean." +It is this that drives him out to the "clear, clear limestone water, +with every pebble at the bottom bright and clean" the cool, cool, cool +water for his weary feet. + +Then when it is too late, just to add to the pathos of the sad little +tale, comes the Squire, conscious of the terrible mistake and ready to +put Tom in the way of cleanliness, knowledge and happiness; Tom, of whom +there remained only the husk and shell which made the Squire think the +poor sweep was drowned. + +To close the chapter and the sad part of the story, the dame sings the +old, old song which the children could not understand but which they +liked nevertheless, "for it was very sweet and very sad and that was +enough for them." We know what it means. + + "When all the world is old, lad, + And all the trees are brown; + And all the sport is stale, lad, + And all the wheels run down; + Creep home, and take your place there, + The spent and maimed among; + God grant you find one face there, + You loved when all was young." + +V. _Beauty. Tom, the Water Baby_ has in it much more of real beauty both +in sentiment and expression than most prose and more than many a +charming poem. There is little of ugliness in the story, and what there +is, is so softened in the way in which it is presented that the +impression is neither repulsive nor lasting. Kingsley's work is highly +artistic and this story is real literature. + +Some of his descriptions are like beautiful pictures in color. Here is +one from page 220: + +"But soon the road grew white, and the walls likewise; and at the wall's +foot grew long grass and gay flowers, all drenched with dew; and instead +of the groaning of the pit engines, they heard the skylark saying his +matins high up in the air, and the pit bird warbling in the sedges as he +had warbled all night long." + +Beginning at the bottom of the same page (220): "For old Mrs. Earth was +still fast asleep; and, like many pretty people she looked still +prettier asleep than awake. The great elm trees in the gold-green +meadows were fast asleep above, and the cows fast asleep beneath them; +nay, the few clouds which were about were fast asleep likewise, and so +tired that they had lain down on the earth to rest, in long white flakes +and bars, among the stems of the elm trees, and along the tops of the +alders by the stream, waiting for the sun to bid them rise and go about +their day's business in the clear blue overhead." Was there ever more +attractive description of the mist patches that lie across the earth +waiting for the morning sun to dissipate them? + +The poor Irishwoman followed Tom in this manner: "She went along quite +smoothly and gracefully, while her feet twinkled past each other so fast +that you could not see which was foremost." + +The dragon-fly is described in this way: "It grew strong and firm; the +most lovely colors began to show on its body--blue and yellow and black, +spots and bars and rings; out of its back rose four great wings of +bright brown gauze; and its eyes grew so large that they filled all its +head and shone like ten thousand diamonds." + +This is Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby: "She was a very tall woman, as tall +as her sister; but instead of being gnarly, and horny, and scaly, and +prickly, like her, she was the most nice, soft, fat, smooth, pussy, +cuddly, delicious creature who ever nursed a baby--and all her delight +was to play with babies--and therefore when the children saw her, they +naturally caught hold of her, and pulled her till she sat down on a +stone, and climbed into her lap, and clung round her neck, and caught +hold of her hands, and then they all put their thumbs into their mouths +and began cuddling and purring like so many kittens." + +And this is a scene in Peace-pool: "There were moths with pink heads and +wings and opal bodies, that flapped about slowly; moths with brown wings +that flapped about quickly; yellow shrimps that hopped and skipped most +quickly of all; and jellies of all the colors in the world that neither +hopped nor skipped, but only dawdled and yawned." + +Here are a few descriptive phrases taken at random: "Two great, grand +blue eyes, as blue as the sea itself"; "his little whirl-about of a +head"; "long curls floating behind her like a golden cloud, and long +robes floating all round her like a silver one"; "came paddling and +wriggling back to her like so many tadpoles"; "the shadows of the clouds +ran races over the bright blue sky"; "the river widened to the shining +sea"; "such enormous trees that the blue sky rested on their heads." + +VI. _Good Lessons._ Through all the fun, the burlesque, the amusing +exaggerations and the bombastic humor runs a scheme of advice and +instruction. Sometimes it takes the form of a direct caution to the +reader, again it may be shown by inference, and lastly the events speak +for themselves and give their own lesson. The author meant to teach +adults as well as children. The graphic history of the Doasyoulikes is +rather a clear-cut study in degeneracy for older people, as well as a +lively warning for youngsters. But what is the author's main theme? Is +his real text in the advice the poor Irishwoman gives to Grimes and Tom? +"_Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish +to be foul, foul they will be. Remember._" (page 225). Perhaps a second +text or at least a corollary to this is expressed in the name of the +cuddly lady, Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. This may mean the same as the +advice she gives on page 328: "_Those who go there must go first where +they do not like, and do what they do not like, and help somebody they +do not like._" Besides these leading ideas there are several others that +run through the story. Meanness and wickedness are made unattractive and +bring punishment. The punishment grows logically out of the offense and +has a direct relation to the misdeed. Persons are not rewarded for their +good deeds but they are happy in being good. It is not a credit to do +right, but wrongdoing is discreditable. Little meannesses stand in the +way of happiness though they may not bring any definite punishments. +Evil is ugliness, goodness is beauty. Friendship is made attractive and +filial love is strongly inculcated. The strong appeal made to the +sympathy of the reader by the very real and very human Tom, the chimney +sweep, is a strong influence for good, and progress toward character in +the clever little water baby is a continuous refining influence on the +reader. + +The bits of advice, the little asides, are slipped into the text so +naturally that they are never repulsive or calculated to raise +antagonism in the minds of those who naturally dislike advice. Taken +from the text they seem more formal and less helpful, but here are a few +of them as illustrations: + +"Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times." + +"You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if you +live such a life as a man ought to live." + +"Ah, first thoughts are best, and a body's heart'll guide them right, if +they will but hearken to it." + +"It was not quite well bred, no doubt; but you know, Tom had not +finished his education yet." + +"For salmon, like other true gentlemen, always choose their lady and +love her, and are true to her, and take care of her, and work for her, +and fight for her, as every true gentleman ought." + +"What has been once can never come over again." + +"No more to be bought for money than a good conscience or the Victoria +cross." + +"You see, experience is of very little good unless a man, or a lobster, +has wit enough to make use of it." + +"It is not good for little boys to be told everything, and never to be +forced to use their own wits." + +"And so if you do not know that things are wrong, that is no reason why +you should not be punished for them; though not as much, my little man +(and the lady looked very kindly, after all), as if you did know." + +"I am quite sure that she knows best. Perhaps she wishes people to learn +to keep their fingers out of the fire by having them burned." + +"I always forgive people the minute they tell me the truth of their own +accord." + +"But even they were no foolisher than some hundred scores of papas and +mamas; who fetch the rod when they ought to fetch a new toy, and send to +the dark cupboard instead of to a doctor." + +VII. _Life-like Characters._ The great storyteller makes his characters +seem like human beings. The reader can almost see them; at any rate, he +feels that he knows them and that they are real, not merely life-like. +It is hard to understand how the author accomplishes the wonderful feat +(for it is the most wonderful thing about story writing), and it is much +more difficult to tell how it is done. One word here, a clear +descriptive phrase there, and Tom, or the Squire, or the old +schoolmistress, or Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid with her awkward name, has +become so much of a personality that you cannot forget if you would. +Certainly one of the fine things about _Tom, the Water Baby_ is the +living reality of its characters, which appeals universally to young and +old, even in the first reading of the story. + +VIII. _The Writer's Art._ It will add something to a child's interest in +the story if his attention is called to the skilful way in which +Kingsley handles his plot. It is high _art_ to throw into the early part +of the story the conversation between the keeper and Grimes. It shows +that Grimes is a poacher and known to be one. The keeper is inclined to +wink at the offense, but still he feels that a warning is necessary. +Nothing more is said about poaching till much later, where Tom, the +Water Baby, sees Grimes meet a poacher's death. + +Again, it is early evident that Grimes has done other wicked things and +that the poor Irishwoman knows of one at least. She even mentions +Vendale, but the reader attaches no importance to it. Tom flees to +Vendale and is pitied and kindly treated by the old Schoolmistress, but +it is not until Tom finds Grimes suffering his punishment in the chimney +flues that the reader learns what the poor Irishwoman knew about Grimes, +and that the schoolmistress was Grimes's poor ill-treated mother. + +Once more, Kingsley's art is seen in the selection of incidents and the +arrangement of influences which bring to Tom the conviction of his +dirtiness and create in him the overpowering desire to be clean. + +But this interpretation of _Tom, the Water Baby_ has already reached the +limits of space and we must forego the pleasure of pointing out other +examples of artistic treatment. Probably it is better to leave the story +to plead its own cause. + + +_The Passing of Arthur_ + +(Volume V, page 237) + +While the outline differs in form from those we have been using, it is a +helpful variation, and shows that while a narrative poem must be studied +first in the same manner as a story, there are still other points that +need careful examination. + +Tennyson's _The Passing of Arthur_ is one of the noble things in +literature, solemn, impressive, inspiring. In order to appreciate a +careful study of it, one should have read at least those selections +which appear in the fifth volume, beginning with page 113 and extending +to page 236. With this preliminary setting there should be no difficulty +in feeling a sufficient interest in King Arthur to be appreciative of +Tennyson's work from the very beginning. + +a. _Characters._ Three characters appear in this poem, viz: King Arthur; +Sir Bedivere, the knight first made and last surviving of all those who +sat about King Arthur's table; Modred, Arthur's traitorous nephew. +Besides these three human characters, the ghost of Gawain, the three +queens who came in the barge, and even Excalibur itself are of so much +interest that they may be considered as almost human. + +King Arthur is shown in his old age, when wife and friend are traitor to +his peace, and all his realm has sunk back into disorder and is rapidly +approaching extinction. + +Bedivere, oldest of the knights, now in the white winter of his age, +when he himself was really no more than a voice, is supposed to tell the +story to those with whom he dwelt, new faces, other minds. + +Modred is seen retreating league by league before King Arthur. At +Lyonnesse, after a fierce battle in which confusion reigned and friends +and foes were shadows in the mist, he meets his king. The false knight +strikes Arthur hard upon the helmet, and gives the wound that finally +proves fatal; while the king, with the last stroke of Excalibur, slays +his traitorous nephew. + +The dead Gawain appears, a ghost blown along a wandering wind, and on +the eve of the battle warns King Arthur of approaching death, but +intimates that somewhere is an isle of rest for him. + +b. _The Incidents._ + 1. Arthur mourns for his departed kingdom. + + 2. Gawain warns Arthur of his approaching death; Arthur is depressed + by the warning. + + 3. Bedivere warns Arthur that he must rise and conquer Modred; + Arthur hesitates to make war against his people. + + 4. He moves his host to Lyonnesse: the last weird battle is fought. + + 5. Arthur thinks himself king only among the dead. + + 6. Bedivere professes affection, and calls Arthur's attention to the + traitor, Modred. + + 7. The king promises one last act of kinghood. + + 8. Modred wounds the king; the king kills Modred. + + 9. Bedivere carries the wounded Arthur to the ruined chapel. + + 10. The dying Arthur directs Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the + mere; Bedivere twice deceives Arthur and is twice reproved. + + 11. Bedivere throws Excalibur into the mere, and tells King Arthur + what happened. + + 12. Bedivere bears Arthur to the margin of the mere. + + 13. The three black-hooded queens with crowns of gold come in the + dusky barge. + + 14. Arthur is placed in the barge and speaks his last words to + Bedivere; the barge moves swan-like from the brink. + + 15. Bedivere watches the speck that bears the king move down the long + water opening on the deep. + +c. _Scenes._ + 1. Arthur in his tent among the slumbering host. + + 2. The march to the sunset bound of Lyonnesse, and the moving + pageant to the battlefield. + + 3. The dark strait of barren land with the ocean on one side and on + the other the great water; the ruined chapel with its broken + chancel and broken cross, and, near at hand, the place of tombs + with its bones of ancient mighty men; athwart all shines the + moon, and over all the chill wind with flakes of foam sings + shrilly. Zigzag paths lead around jutting points of rock down to + the shining levels of the lake, where the ripple washes softly in + the reeds, the wild water laps the crags, and many-knotted + water-flags whistle stiff and dry. Frozen hills, barren chasms + with icy caves, the bare black cliff and slippery crag wall, and + the level lake gleaming in the glories of the winter moon. + +d. _Descriptive Passages._ Besides those passages which relate +especially to the scenes, there are other beautiful and powerful bits of +description that will well repay examination. For instance: + + 1. Of King Arthur's dream the poet says, + + "And fainter onward, like wild birds that change + Their season in the night and wail their way + From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream + Shrill'd." + + Note the figure of speech (simile), beginning with the word + _like_. + + 2. The description of the last, dim, weird battle in the west, + beginning at the bottom of page 240 with the line "A death-white + mist slept over land and sea," is one of the most stirring things + in the poem, and deserves particularly close reading. The + pictures are crowded, the figures vivid, the phrases full of + force. + + 3. Tennyson has used his highest art in the composition, and makes + the sound of his lines imitate in no feeble way the noise of + battle. For instance: + + "Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn, + Shield-breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash + Of battle-axes on shatter'd helms, and shrieks + After the Christ, of those who falling down + Look'd up for heaven, and only saw the mist." + + 4. The brilliancy of description corresponds well with the + glittering marvel of Excalibur: + + "For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks, + Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work + Of subtlest jewelry." + + ".....the wonder of the hilt, + How curiously and strangely chased," + + "The great brand + Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon, + And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch, + Shot like a streamer of the northern morn, + Seen where the moving isles of winter shock + By night, with noises of the Northern Sea." + + 5. King Arthur, as he lay in the barge with his weary head upon the + lap of the fairest and tallest of the three queens, is described + as follows: + + "a brow + Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white + And colorless, and like the wither'd moon + Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east; + And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops + Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls-- + That made his forehead like a rising sun + High from the dais-throne--were parch'd with dust, + Or, clotted into points and hanging loose, + Mix'd with the knightly growth that fringed his lips. + So like a shatter'd column lay the king; + Not like that Arthur, who, with lance in rest, + From spur to plume a star of tournament, + Shot thro' the lists at Camelot, and charged + Before the eyes of ladies and of kings." + +_e. Character Study_--King Arthur. The best estimate of King Arthur's +character is made from his own words and those of Bedivere, not from +Tennyson's description. + + 1. He has been a devout man. He has fought for Christ and searched + for Christ and + + "found Him in the shining of the stars, + Mark'd Him in the flowering of His fields." + + 2. He is now discouraged. He has not found Him in His ways with men, + and now it seems to him, + + "As if some lesser god had made the world, + But had not force to shape it as he would." + + "My God, thou hast forgotten me in my death." + + 3. Yet he is hopeful, and he feels that perchance the world is + wholly fair, and that his doubts come because he has not the + power to see it as it is, and may not see it to the close. + + 4. He desires to be just, and feels that in the coming battle in the + west he may not have the right on his side: + + "Ill doom is mine + To war against my people and my knights. + The king who fights his people fights himself." + + 5. Yet courage and confidence are not all gone: + + "Yet let us hence, and find or feel a way + Thro' this blind haze." + + 6. After the battle, he grows more confused: + + "I know not what I am, + Nor whence I am, nor whether I be King. + Behold, I seem but King among the dead." + + 7. He must be noble, kingly, to have inspired such devotion as + Bedivere shows. Hear what the latter says: + + "My King, + King everywhere! and so the dead have kings, + There also will I worship thee as King." + + 8. He is a warrior to the last. Listen to his reply to Bedivere: + + "King am I, whatsoever be their cry; + And one last act of kinghood shalt thou see + Yet, ere I pass." + + 9. He is resigned: "Let what will be, be." + + 10. He is faithful to the trust imposed upon him when he acquired + Excalibur. Three times he sends Bedivere to cast the sword into + the mere. The last time he says: + + "But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur, + I will arise and slay thee with my hands." + + 11. He loves truth and reveres it: + + "This is a shameful thing for men to lie." + + 12. Though he appears to fear death, rather is his fear that he shall + die before he reaches the water where he expects something. + + 13. At the last his philosophy bears him up, though still he calls + for devotion from his faithful knight. The whole speech is + matchless. Note these fine passages: + + "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, + And God fulfils himself in many ways." + + "And that which I have done + May He within himself make pure!" + + "More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice + Rise like a fountain for me night and day." + + "The whole round earth is everyway + Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." + + 14. His faith rises triumphant: + + "I am going a long way ... + Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, + Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies + Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns + And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea, + Where I will heal me of my grievous wound." + +_f. Beauty._ All the elements of poetic beauty join to make _The Passing +of Arthur_ a masterpiece. Sublime sentiment thrills through the stanzas. +A stately meter gives a solemn, rhythmic swing to the noble lines. +Sonorous words add to the grandeur. Apt phrases and beautiful figures of +speech seize the imagination and enchain the fancy. Rare and choice +diction gives artistic finish to every sentence. + +Most beautiful are such phrases as the following: + + "The phantom circle of a moaning sea." + + "Some whisper of the seething sea." + + "Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful." + + "Let thy voice + Rise like a fountain for me night and day." + + "And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes + As in a picture." + + "Clothed with his breath." + + "A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars." + +Note how the following phrases give color to the poem: + + "that day when the great light of heaven + Burn'd at his lowest in the rolling year." + + "Among the mountains by the winter sea." + + "The winter moon, + Brightening the skirts of a long cloud." + +Observe the pictorial power of these quotations: + + "Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight." + + "Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand." + + "One black dot against the verge of dawn." + +Most forceful are the following phrases: + + "And the days darken round me, and the years, + Among new men, strange faces, other minds." + + "From the great deep to the great deep he goes." + + "Authority forgets a dying king." + + "An agony + Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills + All night in a waste land, where no one comes, + Or hath come, since the making of the world." + +There never was a more beautiful comparison than the following: + + "Like some full-breasted swan + That, fluting a wild carol ere her death, + Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood + With swarthy webs." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[189-1] _Haec fabula docet_ means _This fable teaches_. It is with these +words that the "Morals" of the old Latin fables begin. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CLOSE READING OR STUDY + + +It is largely because story reading may so easily become careless +reading, that prejudice against fiction is found in many minds. In the +preceding pages there have been suggested many ways by which story +reading may be made profitable, and yet all these methods may be used +without calling for that close, intensive reading which we usually call +study. You may lead a child to read _Rab and His Friends_ for all the +purposes we have suggested, and yet he may have passed over without +understanding them many a word, phrase or even sentence. It is possible +that there are whole paragraphs that convey little meaning to him. This +is certainly not an unmixed evil, for it is well that a child should not +exhaust the possibilities of such a masterpiece when he first reads it. +In fact, it is a good thing for children frequently to read great +literature even when much of it is quite beyond their comprehension. It +will pique their curiosity, and some time they will return with wiser +minds and broader experience to interpret for themselves the things that +once were obscure. It is no sin for a child sometimes to pass over a +word he cannot pronounce or does not understand. There could be few more +certain ways of destroying his taste for reading than to require him to +stop and find the meaning of every new word he meets. Sometimes the +meaning will become evident a little later from the context, and in +other instances he will understand well enough without the troublesome +word. + +What has been said does not signify that the habit of skipping new words +or of avoiding difficult paragraphs is a good one. It does mean, +however, that sometimes the practice should be tolerated, and that close +reading should be required at the proper time and in the proper way. In +the arithmetic or geography lesson the young must always read very +closely, and in their perusal of the classics there are many fine +opportunities for exercises of the same character, that should not be +neglected. Descriptive passages, arguments, and essays of all kinds +require to be read with exceeding care, and often there are passages +even in light fiction that repay this kind of study. + +Words and phrases are the subjects of consideration in close reading, +and the mastery of thought is the object to be attained. The study of +words may be made very interesting, and gathering the meaning of phrases +may become a fascinating pastime. + +An illustration may prove the case. Take the paragraph from _Rab and His +Friends_ (Volume VI, page 99) in which death approaches Ailie: "The end +was drawing on: the golden bowl was breaking; the silver cord was fast +being loosed--that _animula blandula, vagula, hospes comesque_ was about +to flee. The body and the soul--companions for sixty years--were being +sundered and taking leave. She was walking, alone, through the valley of +the shadow, into which one day we must all enter--and yet she was not +alone, for we knew whose rod and staff were comforting her." + +A cursory reading will suggest to any young person that the paragraph +says Ailie is going to die, and that she does not fear death; but how +much more it means to him who can understand it all. _The end was +drawing on_--Ailie was going to her death. _The golden bowl was +breaking; the silver cord was fast being loosed._ Turn to your Bible +(_Ecclesiastes_ xii, 3-7), and read what is said. _That "animula +blandula, vagula, hospes comesque" was about to flee._ That sweet but +fleeting life, friend, companion and sojourner with her, was about to +leave. _She was walking alone through the valley of the shadow._ "Yea, +though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no +evil." _Into which one day we must all enter._ May we be equally +fearless of evil! _She was not alone._ Her God was with her every +moment, and in her hours of consciousness she knew Him to be present. +_We knew whose rod and staff were comforting her._ "Thy rod and Thy +staff they comfort me." + +Like the Psalmist of old she leaned upon the arm of her God and as she +thus approached the dark valley, the light of her faith shone into our +souls. + +The Latin quotation and the allusions to the Bible are skilfully used to +give solemnity to the idea of death, to show how inevitable it is, and +how for long ages it has been met with the same serene faith and deep +religious feeling that made Ailie beautiful in the face of death. Yes, +there is more in the paragraph than the statement that Ailie was going +to die and that she was not afraid. + +To illustrate a different style of close reading and a method of +securing it by questioning, we will quote part of a paragraph from +_Braddock's Defeat_ (Volume V, page 379) by Benjamin Franklin: "Our +Assembly apprehending, from some information, that he [Braddock] had +conceived violent prejudices against them, as averse to the service, +wished me to wait upon him, not as from them, but as postmaster-general, +under the guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of conducting +with most celerity and certainty the despatches between him and the +governors of the several provinces with whom he must necessarily have +continual correspondence, and of which they proposed to bear the +expense." + +The questions designed to bring out the meaning of the above paragraph, +to which the answers are usually quite obvious, might be as follows: + +Is "our Assembly" the Albany convention mentioned in the note at the +head of the selection, or is it the Assembly of Franklin's own colony? +What is the meaning of _apprehending_? Do you like it better than +_thinking_? What do you suppose was the nature of the "information" the +Assembly had received? Do you think that someone had told them that +Braddock was prejudiced, or did they infer it from actions of Braddock +which had been described to them? Who was averse to it? What is the +meaning of "wait upon him"? Do we use that phrase frequently now? What +might we say now? What do you understand by "not as from them"? Can you +put into that phrase one word that will make its meaning clear? Was +Franklin then postmaster-general of his colony? Was he ever +postmaster-general of the United States? What is the meaning of _guise_? +What is meant by "under the guise"? Does _celerity_ mean more than +_quickness_? Is there any shade of difference in the meanings of the two +words? Do you think Franklin used the best word he could find when he +wrote _celerity_? What are "despatches"? What kind of despatches would +pass between Braddock and the governors of the different provinces? How +many different provinces were there for Braddock to help defend? What +were they? Who proposed to pay the expense? Does _propose_ in this case +have a different or larger meaning than that in which you are in the +habit of seeing it used? Of what did they propose to pay the expense? + +If a young person can answer all the questions in the preceding +paragraph, he undoubtedly understands the passage upon which they are +based. The questioner must watch the answers and be ready to detect +mistakes. Often the answer shows why the person fails to understand, and +a different question will then bring out the correct reply. The +questions always should be so worded that they do not anticipate the +answer, yet so the person questioned will thoroughly understand what is +expected. A little help now and then is appreciated by anyone, certainly +by those who are being led to think. + +Carried to excess, close reading is wearisome; and parents, remembering +this, should be discriminating in their selections for study and not too +exacting in their requirements. Everything may be lost by dwelling too +long upon even the most delightful selections. Left to himself, almost +every child will be fond of _The Village Blacksmith_, but it may be +read and "studied" till the very thought of it is obnoxious to the young +reader. + + +_Industry and Sloth_ + +(Volume I, page 300) + +To bring out the thought in this selection, study it as follows: + +What is the meaning of _jocosely_? (Flippantly.) What is a court? (A +place where disputes between persons are settled by a judge, or by a +judge and jury.) What is a jury? (A company of men, usually six or +twelve, who hear the evidence and decide on the facts.) What are cases? +(The dispute or disagreement is called a _case_, when it is brought to +court to be decided or settled.) What are damsels? (Young girls.) What +were the names of the young damsels the young man said he saw? Why do +the words "Industry" and "Sloth" begin with capital letters? (Because +they are the names of girls.) Were they real girls? What does _industry_ +mean? (Work.) What does _sloth_ mean? (Laziness.) Were these real girls? +Then what does this mean? (The young man thinks of fondness for work and +fondness for idleness as though they were girls.) When we write of +qualities, or feelings, as though they were human beings, the words +become proper nouns and we begin them with capital letters. Do you know +what we call this process of lifting something that is lower to the +level of human beings? No? We call it _personification_. Here industry +and sloth are personified and made the equals of human beings. What does +_entreats_ mean? What does _persuades_ mean? (That means _teases_ or +_begs_.) Which is the stronger word, entreats or persuades? (_Entreats_ +means _begs strongly_; _persuades_ means _begs and makes me believe what +is said_. I think the latter is really the stronger word.) What does +_alternately_ mean? (First one and then the other.) What does +_impartial_ mean? (Fair; without any favoritism.) What does _detained_ +mean? (Kept.) What does _pleadings_ mean? (Where a case is tried in +court the lawyers on each side try to persuade the court or jury to +decide in favor of the man [client] who has hired them. The written +papers and the speeches the lawyers make are called _pleadings_.) + +Do you think the young man was really serious? Do you think he really +tried to decide anything as he lay in bed, or was he just trying to make +up an excuse for his laziness? Was there any reason why the young man +should lie in bed? Did he think there was? Could you find any better +reason than he gave? Do you think he was a bright young man? If you had +listened to him would you have taken his excuse? Why? Was it really +truthful? Did you ever lie in bed and think, "Well, I must get up; no, +I'll lie a little longer. But I must get up. What's the use? But I ought +to get up. Yes, I really ought to get up," etc., etc., and finally +discover that you had wasted a great deal of time without really +intending it? Were Industry and Sloth pleading with you then? Do you +think that some people waste much time trying to decide useless +questions? Does it sometimes happen that men and women waste so much +time in this way that they never accomplish a great deal of anything? + + +_Why the Sea Is Salt_ + +(Volume II, page 484) + +In this pleasing fairy story Mary Howitt has told the tale of the +curious explanation offered by the peasants of Denmark and Norway for +the saltness of the sea. It naturally raises in a child's mind the +question, why is the sea salt? The question can be answered in this +manner: + +The rain falls down in little drops, some of which soak into the ground, +while others make rivulets that run into brooks that in time join the +rivers that flow into the sea. Much of the water that soaks into the +ground finds its way again to the surface in springs that feed the +brooks and keep them alive when no rain is falling. Of course the sun +when it shines turns some of the water into vapor that rises again to +the sky. Sometimes on a cool morning you can see the mist or vapor too +heavy to rise out of sight and too light to fall as rain. Wherever there +is water, some of it is rising into the air, especially when the sun +shines and it is warm and the wind blows. The sea is so big that great +quantities of vapor are rising from it all the time and being blown over +the land to be cooled, to gather into rain and to fall again where it +will refresh the earth and make the plants grow. + +So you see water is traveling through the air all the time, up from the +earth, the streams and the seas, through the air, back to the earth and +through it into the sea again in a great series of everlasting circuits. +We are hardly ever conscious of the moisture except when it falls as +rain or snow and spoils our plans. + +When the water is passing through the land it dissolves and gathers up +various substances, especially salt, which "melts" in water very easily. +This salt and the other bitter and brackish substances are carried +little by little, sometimes pausing, but always on and on till they +reach the sea, beyond which they cannot go, for the sea is in the lowest +parts of the earth. Now come the sun, the heat and the winds and +evaporate the water; that is, draw up the vapor to start on its new +circuit. But, notice this, the vapor that rises is pure water. The salt +and other substances are left in the sea. At first it was only a little +that was left, then more, always a little more till the water couldn't +hold it all and it sank to the bottom and made deposits of salt and +other things. But the streams always bring more sediment and the heat +and the winds carry off pure water and leave the rest salty and bitter. +And that is the real reason why the sea is salt. + + +_Faithless Sally Brown_ + +(Volume III, page 92) + +It is a thankless task to try to explain a joke, but some of the fun in +these jolly old rhymes depends upon facts that are not generally known +or that may have been forgotten. A few words here may help to answer +questions. + +Stanza II. "Fetched a walk." This is an application of a nautical term, +as in "to fetch headway." + +"Press Gang." To secure recruits for her navy, England at one time +permitted her men to be seized and forcibly carried on board ship, where +they were compelled to perform sailors' duties on long cruises. The +bands of cruel men who captured the recruits were known as "press +gangs." + +Stanza III. A boatswain is one of the minor officers of a ship. He +usually has charge of one of the small boats, such as would carry off a +recruit to the big ship. + +Stanza VIII. John Benbow was a famous English Admiral who died in 1702 +from wounds received in a four days' fight with the French fleet in the +West Indies. His captains refused to obey orders and Benbow was unable +to win the battle. When his right leg was shot off he refused to go +below but continued to direct the conflict from the deck. "I had rather +have lost both legs," he said, "than have seen this dishonor brought on +the English nation. But, hark ye--if another shot should take me off, +behave like men and fight it out." Two of his captains were tried, +convicted and shot. The Admiral himself died after three or four months +of suffering. + +Stanza IX. A tender is a ship that carries supplies or conveys messages +from one to another of the ships in a squadron. + +Stanza XI. "The Virgin and the Scales." The Virgin (Virgo) and the +Scales (Libra) are two constellations known to the ancients. A person +born while these constellations were to be seen in the sky (from near +the end of August to near the end of October) was said to be born under +them and was believed to have certain characteristics. In the case of +Sally Brown the stars were cruel. She could not follow her beau, Ben, +but must walk about raising her voice in wailing. + +Stanza XV. "To pipe his eye" is a slang phrase meaning to look sharply. + +Stanza XVI. "_All's Well_," the usual cry of a watchman, not the name of +a song. + +"Pigtail" was a kind of chewing tobacco much used by sailors. It was +twisted in hard rolls. + + +_The Definition of a Gentleman_ + +(Volume IV, page 170) + +There is nothing in _Journeys Through Bookland_ that will better repay +thought, especially for the boys, than this extract from the writings of +the great Cardinal Newman. It affords, however, a host of little tests +of character that everyone can apply to himself; for "gentleman," here, +is used in its generic sense and applies with equal force to both sexes. + +It is not to be read hastily and then laid aside, for no one can get its +full meaning from a single perusal. Every word is a chapter, every +sentence a volume. Read properly, each sentence must carry with it a +personal application, which can be seen as the reader asks, "Is this +what I am?" + +Am I then, one who never gives pain? + +Am I mainly occupied in removing the obstacles that hinder the action of +my friends and acquaintances? Am I the easy chair that gives them bodily +comfort, the good fire that dispels the cold and makes them comfortable +and free to act? + +Do I try always to make everyone at ease and at home? + +Am I + +--tender toward the bashful? + +--gentle toward those who are cold and reserved? + +--merciful to those whose actions draw ridicule upon themselves? + +In conversation, do I recollect those to whom I am speaking, avoid +irritating them, keep myself in the background, talk little myself and +listen attentively to them? + +If I can put to myself each of the tests Cardinal Newman offers in these +few pages and can feel myself ring true under each, then may I hope to +call myself a gentleman. + + +_Adventures in Lilliput_ + +(Volume V, page 8) + +In _Gulliver's Travels_ Swift has given us a wonderful work in +constructive imagination. As has been said elsewhere, the imagination +works with the ideas which are present in the mind. It creates nothing, +but it may enlarge, diminish or recombine ideas with an infinity of +form. In _Adventures in Lilliput_ Swift has used largely the reducing +power of his imagination. If he has been accurate, he has reduced +everything in the same proportion. An interesting study of this phase of +the story may be made by means of questions, which may be answered by +reading the text, or by reasoning from the facts given. + +In the following exercise, questions and comments are combined in such a +way as to assist a boy or girl to verify or disprove the accuracy of +Swift's work. A similar exercise, to illustrate the opposite extreme, +may be based upon _Adventures in Brobdingnag_ (page 54). It is hoped, +too, that the questions may suggest a method for interpreting other +selections. + +When Gulliver awoke and found himself bound (page 10), he felt something +alive moving on his body. Bending his eyes downward as much as he could +he saw it was a human creature not six inches high. We are at liberty to +suppose that Gulliver was a man of ordinary height, that is to say, not +six feet high. If the Lilliputian was "not six inches high," what was +the ratio of height between Gulliver and his miniature captors? If, +then, Gulliver is twelve times the size of one of his captors, we have a +standard of comparison. + +How long a bow would a man use? How long would be the arrow that fitted +that bow? How long would the bows and arrows of the Lilliputians be? +Would an arrow that size, fired with the force a Lilliputian could give, +"prick like a needle," and if there were many of them would they set a +man "a-groaning with grief and pain"? + +If a man were lying flat on his back could he turn his eyes down so as +to see a pencil, not six inches high, placed upright on his breast? When +a man's face was turned two inches to the left, how much of the ground +would be concealed from his sight by his shoulder? + +How far can a man shoot an arrow? How far could a Lilliputian shoot an +arrow? Would an arrow the size of a Lilliputian's falling from the +height to which he could shoot it pierce the skin of a man? + +How long were the spears of the Lilliputians? Is it reasonable to +suppose that a leather jerkin would be proof against their spears? How +tall was the page that held up the train of the "principal person." +(page 12)? + +How many times the height of a Lilliputian was the body of Gulliver as +he lay on the ground? How many rounds would there be in one of the +ladders on which they climbed? "Above one hundred inhabitants" mounted +the ladders and walked toward Gulliver's mouth. They carried baskets +filled with meat. Would the quantity of meat be too large for Gulliver +to eat? Would the shoulders, legs and loins of a sheep one-twelfth the +height of an ordinary one be "smaller than the wings of a lark"? Would +loaves of bread the "bigness of musket balls" be one-twelfth the size of +ordinary loaves? + +In the case of two vessels of the same proportions, but of different +heights, do the capacities vary according to the heights, or according +to the cubes of the heights? If one of our hogsheads contain from one +hundred to one hundred and forty gallons, how much should a Lilliputian +hogshead contain to be in proportion? + +Is it a fact that being one-twelfth the height of a man a Lilliputian +should have one-twelfth of a man's strength? If a man is reduced to +one-twelfth of his height what should his weight be? + +When they wished to move Gulliver, five hundred carpenters and engineers +were set to work to prepare a frame of wood, which was raised three +inches from the ground, was about seven feet long, four feet wide, and +moved upon twenty-two wheels. What was the diameter of the wheels that +would raise the body three inches from the ground? Would it be an easy +matter to move wheels of that size when they bear a weight such as +Gulliver's must have been? + +Knowing what we know of the Lilliputians could nine hundred of them +using pulleys with cords "the bigness of pack-thread" lift Gulliver upon +the engine in less than three hours? + +Does Swift keep the correct proportions when he says that Gulliver's +bullets are about the size of the heads of the Lilliputians? Would "an +hundred and fifty of their beds sewn together make up the breadth and +length" of a bed large enough for Gulliver? + +How large would a Lilliputian horse be? Does it seem wonderful that +Gulliver's hat could be brought from the seashore with "only five +horses"? + +It is unnecessary to carry the questioning any further. Anyone who reads +the stories will find an infinity of questions suggesting themselves to +him, and he will doubtless get no little pleasure and profit from +attempting to answer them. As will be seen, some of the questions are +not simple. If Swift has been wise he has not reduced everything +arbitrarily on a horizontal scale to one-twelfth of its apparent size, +capacity, weight, or strength, but has properly apportioned all. The +reader may find that he will be called upon for some nice +discrimination, before he can judge correctly as to the accuracy with +which Swift has used his scale of reduction. + + +_The Heart of Bruce_ + +(Volume V, page 316) + +1. What is meant by "frost lay hoar"? "Hoar" means "white" or "gray." +(It was early in the morning before the sun had melted the frost.) + +2. What kind of armour did they wear? What kind of "ships" rode in the +bay? (Remember this happened about six hundred years ago.) + +3. What caused the foam that was swept away? Why did they gaze back in +silence? + +4. Why does the poet call them _purple_ hues, and why does he say they +decayed? (Recall the lines: "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the +view, and clothes the mountain in its azure hue." Did you ever notice +the purple on distant hills? What causes it?) + +5. What is the "battle-van"? (The front rank.) + +6. What is a "freit"? (A superstitious notion or an omen as to right or +wrong. Lord Douglas felt a superstitious dread, a chill of foreboding.) + +7. What did Robert say on his dying day? + +8. What did Robert want his followers to do with his heart? + +9. Who dreamed this dream? What was a Pilgrim? (A pilgrim is a wanderer. +We think first of the Puritan fathers when we speak of Pilgrims, but the +Pilgrim who appeared to Lord Douglas was a palmer who showed by his garb +and his olive branch that he had been to the Holy Land.) See picture, +page 319. + +10. What kind of a Cross did Saint Andrew bear? Who was Saint Andrew? +(Saint Andrew was one of the twelve apostles, and is believed to have +suffered martyrdom on a cross shaped something like the letter X, that +is, one made of two beams of equal length crossing in the middle at an +angle.) + +11. What is a "belted brand"? (A sword fastened to a belt.) + +12. What was "Galilee"? What was the "Holy Mount" and why was it so +called? + +13. What is "Scotland's heart"? (The heart of Robert Bruce, so called +because of the reverence in which he is held by the Scotch.) Where can +you read about the great angel that calls the dead to rise? + +14. What is meant by "mark my rede"? (Listen to my advice or counsel.) + +15. What was the prediction the Pilgrim seemed to make to Lord Douglas? +What did Lord Douglas ask of Sir Simon of the Lee? + +16. Why should Scotland's earth be called "kindly"? + +17. What does "betide" mean? Tell in your own words what Sir Simon +replied. ("Whatever happens to me, I'll do as you command.") + +18. What does Sir Simon promise? + +19. What does "aye" mean? (In this place it means "for a long time.") +What is meant by on our "lee"? (The wind blew toward Spain, and across +the course of the ship; hence the coast appeared on the lee side of the +vessel.) Why should the poet say the coast rose "grimly"? + +20. What are "atabals"? (Tabors or kettledrums used by the Moors.) + +21. Who asks the question about the Eastern music and the crowd of armed +men? + +22. What was Castile? (A province of Spain.) Who answers the question +asked in the twenty-first stanza? + +23. What is meant by the "Cross in jeopardie"? (The Spaniards were a +Christian nation fighting under the symbol of the Cross. The Moors were +the infidels or Moslems whose success would destroy the Christian +religion in Spain. Their symbol was the crescent.) + +24. What does "Have down" mean? (It means "Let us land.") + +25. Who speaks in the twenty-fifth stanza? + +26. Explain what is said in the twenty-sixth stanza. (Do you come +because you have promised to fight the pagans or do you come to fight +for money? Are you French or Burgundians?) + +27. What is a "belted peer"? + +28. What is the meaning of "died upon the tree"? + +29. What is a "weltering wave"? (To "welter" is to tumble over. The +"weltering wave" is the sea.) + +30. Does the word "pilgrim" mean the same here as in the ninth stanza? + +31. What King is this who speaks in the thirty-first stanza? + +32. What do the words "full well" express? + +33. Is the word "amain" in use nowadays? What does it mean? + +34. What is a high glance? + +35. What does this speech by Douglas show us of his character? + +36. What were "cross-bolts"? (Short, blunt arrows fired from the +cross-bows.) + +37. What is a Saracen? (Here the word means merely a Mohammedan hostile +to the Christians.) What does "rode like corn" mean? (We rode through +their ranks as we would ride through corn.) + +38. What is the meaning of "fain"? (Willing.) + +39. What does "fell" mean? (Deadly.) + +40. What is meant by "Make in"? (Here it means, "Gather together.") + +41. What was the "rain"? What was the "swarm"? + +42. What had happened to Saint Claire? + +43. What was James's purpose in holding aloft the heart of Bruce? + +44. Why did he throw the sacred relic before him? What does "wert wont +of yore" mean? ("As you used to do.") + +45. What is the meaning of "stour"? (Battle or combat.) Why are the +spears said to come in "shivering"? + +46. Who speaks in the forty-sixth stanza? + +47. Who replies in the forty-seventh stanza? What does "dree" mean? +(Suffer, endure.) + +48. What does "stark" mean? + +49. What is the meaning of "lyart"? (Gray. The word was usually applied +to a horse.) + +50. What is this "heaviest cloud" that is bound for the banks of +Bothwell? + +51. What is this "sorest stroke" that has fallen upon Scotland? + +52. What was to be carried back to the ship and laid in hallowed ground +in Scotland? + +53. Who is the "Lord King" referred to in the fifty-third stanza? + +54. Does the line "so stately as he lay" seem a natural way of +expressing the fact? + +55. What does the speech of the Spanish King show of his character? + +56. Why does the poet say that we steered the ship "heavily"? + +57. Does "no welcome greeted our return" mean that none of the Scotch +met the returning soldiers? + +58. What were "Douglas Kirk" and "fair Melrose"? (The church of the +Douglas clan and the stately abbey of Melrose. The latter may still be +seen in beautiful ruins in southern Scotland.) + + +_Annie Laurie_ + +(Volume VI, page 119) + +The Scotch dialect in this old favorite is one of its charms, but some +readers may require explanation of a few of the terms. + +"Braes" are hillsides or slopes. "Bonnie" is the Scotch way of spelling +"bonny," which, here, means "beautiful." + +"Fa's" is the Scotch spelling of "falls." + +"Gie'd" is Scotch for "gave." + +The last line of the first stanza rendered into English would read, "I'd +lay me down and die." + +"Snaw" is "snow." + +"Ee" is "eye." + +The "gowan" is the mountain daisy of Scotland. + +"Fa'" is "fall." + +Like many another simple lyric of love and devotion this owes much of +its popularity to the sweet melody of the music to which it is usually +sung. + + +_The Lost Child_ + +(Volume VII, page 409) + +1. Where did the poet wander? Is the picture on page 409 a beautiful +one? Is it your idea of a sunny glade? On what or on whom was the poet +musing? Where his thoughts pleasant? To what does he liken his +thoughts? What are guideless thoughts? Do you think his "love" is a +person, or is it his work, his calling? + +2. What chanced to go astray? Did Lowell sometimes fear for the future? +How does he express the fear? Who brought back the wandering thoughts? +Where did the thoughts rest? Who had the "snowy arms"? If Lowell feared +the future at any time, what was it that brought calm to him again? + +3. What is the "soft nest"? Who is the "happy one"? Whose hair "shone +golden in the sun"? How could a thought of fear seem like a "heavenly +child"? Was it Hope that thus transformed all his thoughts? + +4. Upon what did Hope's eyes smile mildly down? What was blessed with so +deep a love? What clasped the neck of Hope? What was it that fell +asleep? What was the lost child? + + +_David Crockett in the Creek War_ + +(Volume VIII, Page 37) + +Almost any child who is able to read for himself will know as soon as he +has read a few sentences from David Crockett's Autobiography that the +man was uneducated, and wrote in what could not be called "good +English." However, when the reader has gone a little farther he will +realize that Crockett shows his own character in his writings, and that +his language is picturesque and entertaining. Moreover, it is language +that was characteristic of the early settlers in the region where the +frontiersman lived, and hence is of some historical interest to us. + +No apology is needed for including the selection in these volumes, +although it has no fine literary merit; for it is the plain, direct +story of a strong man with a clear brain, who accomplished whatever he +undertook, whether it was building a home, fighting the Indians, or +writing a book. + +The story will speak for itself, and as it is a truthful account of +things that actually happened, it will appeal strongly to the +imagination of all young readers. However, it is worth while to call +specific attention to some of the faults in style and actual errors in +grammar, in order that the reader may not be affected unfortunately by +the language, or be led to approve it as a style to be followed in these +modern days. This can be done by means of questions, and as an +illustration of the method we will consider the first four paragraphs of +the selection, beginning on page 37. + +"There had been no war among us for so long that but few who were not +too old to bear arms knew anything about the business." Does the phrase +_among us_ mean that the settlers had not fought among themselves, or +that they had not been in conflict with the Indians? What was Crockett's +exact meaning? Does he convey it clearly? Does the word _business_ seem +dignified enough to be applied to war? + +"I couldn't fight at all." Does the abbreviation of the words _could +not_ make Crockett's style dignified or familiar? Do you often see +similar abbreviations in what is known as "good literature," except as +they are found in conversation, where the tendency is always to use +abbreviated forms and familiar terms? Does not the use of such +abbreviations in this selection make it seem as though Crockett were +talking to his readers in a free and easy manner, rather than as though +he were writing a formal book? + +"When I heard of the mischief." In the first sentence of this paragraph, +Crockett speaks of a "most bloody butchery" at Fort Mimms. Now he refers +to it as _the mischief_. Is the word _mischief_ strong enough? + +"In a few days a general meeting of the militia was called." Who were +the militia? Why could not the militia be sent out as a body instead of +calling for volunteers? Does he mean the organized militia, or simply +the able-bodied men in that vicinity? + +"Began to beg me not to turn out." Is _turn out_ a slang phrase here, or +is it a term commonly used in speaking of the assemblage of the militia? + +"It was mighty hard to go against her arguments." Does the word _mighty_ +show refinement? What word would be better? Does the phrase _go against_ +look well in a book? + +"Told her that if every man would wait till his wife got willing to let +him go to war, there would be no fighting done until we would all be +killed in our houses." Is the word _would_ as it appears the first time +used properly? Is _should_ the right word to use? Is _got willing_ +correct English? Does the word _until_ express the meaning Crockett +intends to convey? If "there would be no fighting done _until_ they were +all killed in their houses," could there be any fighting done +_afterward_? What words should be used in place of _until_? Is the word +_would_ used properly the second time it appears in the sentence? + + [Illustration: PHOEBE CARY + ALICE CARY + ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING + LUCY LARCOM + FELICIA HEMANS + GEORGE ELIOT + JEAN INGELOW] + +"Seeing I was bent on it." Can you find authority for using the phrase +_bent on it_ to mean _determined to do it_? + +"The truth is my dander was up and nothing but war should bring it right +again." What does the dictionary say about the use of the word _dander_? +Do you suppose it was a common word among Crockett's friends? Is the +word _should_ properly used in this sentence? Is the proper word +_would_? Is it a common mistake even now to use _would_ for _should_ and +_should_ for _would_? How may we know which word to use? + +"When the men were paraded, a lawyer by the name of Jones addressed us, +informing us he wished to raise a company, and that then the men should +meet and elect their officers." Who were the men that were paraded? Was +Crockett among them? Whom did Jones address? When Crockett uses the word +_men_ and the word _us_, twice in the same sentence is his meaning +perfectly clear? + +"I believe I was about the second or third man that stepped out, but on +marching up and down the regiment a few times we found we had a large +company." Who were marching up and down? Does this mean that they +marched up and down in front of the regiment? What was this regiment +before which they marched up and down? Does _regiment_ here mean the +same as _militia_ in the paragraph before? + +"We received orders to start on the next Monday week." What is the +meaning of _next Monday week_? If they assembled on Wednesday, how many +days would elapse before they were to start, and on what day would they +start? + +"Mounted my horse and set sail to join my company." How can a man _set +sail_ when he is mounted on a _horse_? Is such a mixing of figures +evidence of good writing? + +"All mounted volunteers and all determined to fight, judging from +myself, for I felt wolfish all over. I verily believe that the whole +army was of the real grit." Is _felt wolfish all over_ a fine phrase? Is +it an expressive phrase? What was to be judged from himself--that all +were determined to fight, or that the whole army was of the real grit? +Does the fact that Crockett felt wolfish all over show that he was +determined to fight, or that he had real grit? What is the literal +meaning of _grit_? What does it mean as Crockett uses it here? Is it +proper to use the word as Crockett uses it? + +Probably it is not worth while to push this critical study any farther. +It will be seen by this time that Crockett wrote as he talked, and +accordingly, his story lacks the polish and literary beauties that men +trained to write could have given it. + + +_The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ + +(Volume IX, page 32) + +Words are interesting things, and people who have never tried the +experiment will be surprised to learn how much pleasure there is to be +found in the use of the dictionary. We consult the dictionary only when +we wish to know the meaning of a word, or its pronunciation, but there +are numberless other facts in the volume that are more interesting, if +not more valuable, than the definitions and marks of pronunciation. In +the history and derivation of words may be found many interesting and +surprising facts which, if they are known, give increased force and +meaning to the words. + +There is a great difference among writers in the kinds of words they +use. Some naturally use simple words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while others +use longer and more sonorous words which come from the Latin and the +Greek. It is interesting to take paragraphs from different writers, say, +for instance, from Hawthorne, Lamb, Longfellow, Tennyson, Macaulay and +Irving, make a list of the leading words in the paragraphs, and then +look up their derivations and see how many Anglo-Saxon, how many Latin +and how many Greek words are found in each paragraph. + +It will be seen that it is a characteristic of Macaulay to use numerous +many-syllabled words, most of which come directly from the Latin. His +essay on the _Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ shows this trait. + +Probably that furnishes as good an illustration as anything in the books +of the kind of literature from which studies in words may best be made. +Taking two paragraphs at random, let us look them over and see what +interesting facts may be gleaned from the dictionary concerning the +words we find: + +"The Opposition was loud and vehement against him. But the Opposition, +though formidable from the wealth and influence of some of its members, +and from the admirable talents and eloquence of others, was outnumbered +in Parliament, and odious throughout the country. Nor, as far as we can +judge, was the Opposition generally desirous to engage in so serious an +undertaking as the impeachment of an Indian Governor. Such an +impeachment must last for years. It must impose on the chiefs of the +party an immense load of labor. Yet it could scarcely, in any manner, +affect the event of the great political game. The followers of the +coalition were therefore more inclined to revile Hastings than to +prosecute him. But there were two men whose indignation was not to be so +appeased, Philip Francis and Edmund Burke. + +"Francis had recently entered the House of Commons, and had already +established a character there for industry and ability. He labored +indeed under one most unfortunate defect, want of fluency. But he +occasionally expressed himself with a dignity and energy worthy of the +greatest orators. Before he had been many days in Parliament, he +incurred the bitter dislike of Pitt, who constantly treated him with as +much asperity as the laws of debate would allow. Neither lapse of years +nor change of scene had mitigated the enmities which Francis had brought +back from the East. After his usual fashion, he mistook his malevolence +for virtue, nursed it, as preachers tell us we ought to nurse our good +dispositions, and paraded it, on all occasions, with Pharisaical +ostentation." + +In the two brief paragraphs given, there are, among others, the +following words of more than passing interest: + +1. _Vehement._ This word is derived from two Latin words, meaning _to +carry_ and _the mind_; hence a vehement speech is one that is supposed +to carry the mind away by force. We use the word _furious_ when we wish +to speak of anger or other passions, but the word _vehement_ when we +speak of zeal, love, expression. In this paragraph the Opposition was +loud and tried _to carry the minds of others by force_. + +2. _Formidable._ Synonyms of _formidable_ are _dreadful_, _terrible_ and +_shocking_, yet it is rarely the case that two words are exact synonyms. +In this case, _formidable_ means something that excites fear, but it is +neither sudden nor violent in its action. A _dreadful_ thing would +excite fear or dread, and might act violently, but not suddenly. _A +shocking_ thing would startle us because it was both violent and sudden. +Does _formidable_ appear to be the right word by which to characterize +the Opposition? + +3. _Influence._ This word is derived from two Latin words which mean +_flowing over_, and consequently an _influence_ brings about change by +gradual process. There is no idea of right in the word _influence_ as +there is in the word _authority_. Does it seem that _influence_ is the +right word here? + +4. _Talents._ The history of this word is an interesting one. In origin +it is Greek, and there it was the name of a weight, which in silver had +a certain money value. The same word appearing in Hebrew had a similar +meaning. A Hebrew talent in silver would be worth something over +seventeen or nineteen hundred dollars of our money. In the New Testament +(see _Matthew_ XXV, 14 to 30), Christ utters the parable of the talents. +We now use the word to mean intellectual ability or capacity, or skill +in accomplishing things, or some special gift in some art or science. It +is probable that this figurative meaning of the word has originated from +the parable, and although many writers have criticised the use of +_talent_ in our sense, it has become well established in the language. + +5. _Odious._ The Latin word from which _odious_ is derived means +_hatred_. An _odious_ thing is a thing to be _hated_. Our word _odium_ +differs slightly in use from our word _hatred_. We exercise _hatred_, +but we endure _odium_. + +6. _Desire._ The origin of this word is not certain, but it was probably +derived from the French words which mean literally _from the stars_ or +_constellations_. + +7. _Immense._ This word is derived from two Latin words which mean +_cannot be measured_. + +8. _Coalition._ The two Latin words from which _coalition_ is derived +mean _to grow with_; consequently, a _coalition_ is a thing composed of +several elements which have grown together. We should not expect a +_coalition_ to be suddenly formed; it must come about by process of +growth. + +9. _Appease._ Literally, _appease_ means _to make peace_. It also means +_to satisfy_, and is derived directly from the Latin. We try to +_appease_ those who are in passion and try to _calm_ those who are in +trouble or apprehension. Does Macaulay use the word properly when he +speaks of _appeasing_ indignation? + +10. _Fluency._ The Latin word from which _fluency_ is derived means _to +flow_. Accordingly, a _fluent_ person is one from whom speech flows +smoothly and readily. To lack _fluency_ Macaulay considers an +unfortunate defect in Francis. + +11. _Asperity._ The Latin word _asper_ means _rough_ or _harsh_, and was +applied to things which had a rough surface. Macaulay uses the word as +we now know it, in the same figurative sense in which we now sometimes +use the word _roughness_. + +12. _Lapse._ This word from the Latin means _sliding_ or _following_. In +speaking of the _lapse_ of years Macaulay intimates that they gradually +slid away. + +13. _Pharisaical._ The _Pharisees_ were a sect of the Jews who were +noted for the strict way in which they followed the rites and ceremonies +that had been handed down to them by tradition, and who believed +themselves superior in sanctity to the other Jews. They held themselves +apart and were charged with being hypocrites. The word _Pharisaical_ has +now come into common English use, and means _hypocritical_. + +14. _Ostentation._ This is a Latin word meaning _show_ or _parade_. +_Ostentation_ and _parade_ both imply effort, but the former refers to +the intent rather than to the manner. _Ostentation_ may be shown by +_parade_. + + +From _The Death of Caesar_ + +(Volume IX, page 143) + +As preliminary to the intensive study of the speech alluded to below, +read to the class or have them read all of the three selections, namely: +_The Death of Caesar_, from Plutarch (page 126); The _Death of Caesar_, +from Shakespeare (page 143), and _Julius Caesar_, from Froude (page +155). As an example of selections worthy of close reading, take the +speech of Caesar as given on page 153, beginning, "I could be well mov'd, +if I were as you." + +Bring out by questions these facts: + +A. _Words._ "Moved"; induced to change my mind. + +"Constant"; fixed, unchangeable, immovable. + +"Northern star"; the pole star; the north star. To us this star always +appears fixed in the northern heavens. The other stars and the +constellations revolve around it; Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, is most +conspicuous, and by a line through its two front stars we may always +locate the North Star and, hence, the direction, _north_. Mariners have +steered by this star for centuries. Many a lost and wandering man has +found his way to safety by its fixed light. + +"Resting"; always stationary. + +"Fellow"; equal. + +"Firmament"; sky, heavens. + +"Painted"; decorated. + +"Sparks"; stars. + +"Doth"; does. + +"Furnished"; filled. + +"Apprehensive"; doubtful, filled with forebodings and easily moved. + +"Unassailable"; not subject to attack; here the meaning is rather that +of _unconquerable_. + +"Constant"; _insistent_, the first time the word appears; but +_unchangeable_, the second time. + +B. _Phrases._ "Well moved"; easily moved. + +"If I were as you"; if I were as you are, or if I were like you. + +"Could pray to move"; could try to change the opinion or the +determination of someone else. + +"True-fixed and resting quality"; quality of always remaining true or +fixed to the one spot in the heavens. + +"So in the world"; as all the unnumbered stars shine in the heavens and +all move but one, thus in the world. + +"Holds on his rank unshak'd of motion"; is fixed in his ideas and +unmoved by prayers and petitions. + +"And that I am he"; and I am that one immovable man. + +"Let me a little show it"; let me give a little proof. + +C. _Sentences._ The first sentence means: If I could beg others to +change their purposes, I could be induced to change mine; but I am as +fixed in my conclusions as the north star is fixed in the heavens. The +second sentence says: As there are unnumbered movable stars in the +heavens and only one that is fixed, so in the world there are unnumbered +changeable men and only one who is fixed in his determination; that I am +the one determined man let me prove a little by saying that, as I was +persistent in banishing Cimber so will I continue to keep him in +banishment. + +D. _The paragraph._ The whole speech is a refusal on Caesar's part to +grant the petition of the conspirators who plead that Cimber may be +brought back from banishment. The words are well calculated to stir up +resentment and to fix the plotters in their plan to murder Caesar. Even +Brutus would be convinced by such sentiments that Caesar was a dangerous +man; if the great Roman thought himself the only man with such +determination, might he not think himself the one man of the world in +all respects? The conspirators were looking for an excuse for killing +Caesar, and they might find it in this speech; Brutus was being led to +believe that Caesar was too ambitious and here was the final argument to +convince him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CLOSE READING--(Concluded) + + +_The Author--Figures of Speech_ + +Real appreciation of literature is dependent on effort, and each +acquired impression aids all others in proportion to its intensity. We +can interpret only by what our minds already contain, so that the +earlier years of one's reading are largely devoted to the acquirement of +material for future use. In this way the myths and folk stories with +which children fill their minds become the touchstones that enable them +in later years to read with interest and judge accurately the literature +that falls within their reach. The later one begins his reading, the +more difficult it is for him to master the art. He has not the simplest +standards of literary judgment nor even the ideas from which such +standards are to be formed. Elegance of style and skill in the choice of +words are entirely lost upon him, as is the delicate meaning involved in +the play of appropriate figures and in the brilliance of the pictures +limned in colors to which his eye is blind. Such a person can come to +enjoy the pleasures of literature, but it is by way of a long and +careful course of study, and it is probable that his appreciation will +never be as keen as it would have been if he had gathered his literary +stock in trade at the same time that his senses were first opening to +the world. Then the skies and the flowers, the song of birds and the +hum of insects, the quiet reaches of still lakes and the roaring surge, +gave to him the sensations to which literature appeals. + +There is no need for one to feel discouragement when at first he does +not admire all that the critics say is beautiful, but prefers some of +the simple things that he knew in his childhood. The critic is right +from his point of view, but there is merit, too, in the judgment of the +humble reader. A person would hesitate to say the critic's judgment is +the higher were it not for the fact that anyone reading carefully will +find his tastes changing and constantly approximating higher standards. +Each year brings him nearer to the critic's position and he sees +excellence and is touched by beauty in selections that before have been +devoid of any interest. It is to aid this growth in power of +comprehension, this refinement of taste, that one reads. + +_The Author._ When the study relates to a specific selection it is wise +to create an interest by looking for all the contributory aids that can +be found. Sometimes a knowledge of the life of the author or of the +circumstances under which the selection was written will stimulate a +desire to know what has been said and will moreover assist to make the +meaning clear and to create the same sentiment that inspired the writer. +To know that _Snow-Bound_ is a description of Whittier's own home, that +the people about the fireside are his own parents, brothers, sisters, +and that he paints them with a loving touch after all but the one +brother have passed to the other side, is to make the poem appeal to our +emotions with an intensity which the beautiful lines alone could not +effect. _Ichabod_ we read once, but when we know the meaning of its +spiritual name and remember that it is Whittier's indignant rebuke of +Webster for his vacillating policy in the slavery agitation, we read it +again with a renewed and more vivid interest. Many things, however, are +so universal that one cares not whether they were written by a Hindoo or +an American, whether they are full of personal experience or drawn with +the fervor of the most ardent imagination. Wordsworth's _Daffodils_ +(Volume VII, page 1) would charm us and our hearts would dance as +joyfully if we knew nothing of the pensive poet of the English lakes. + +_Sentences._ Words alone are not a sufficient possession. They must be +known in all their relations. A comprehension of the structure of the +sentence is always necessary. A sentence is a unit of thought, an idea +reduced to its lowest terms. It may not be necessary that each sentence +be analyzed strictly by grammatical rules, but it is essential that the +reader should recognize by study if necessary the subject and the +predicate and the character and rank of all the modifiers of each. Even +the practiced reader by unconsciously laying undue prominence upon some +minor phrase frequently modifies the meaning an author intends to +convey. This is particularly true in verse, where the poet, hemmed in by +the rules that govern his meter and his rhyme, varies the natural order +of the elements of a sentence to bring the accents where they belong or +to throw the rhyming word to the end of a verse. The grouping of related +sentences into paragraphs is an aid to the reader and should be noticed +by him till the habit of expecting a slight change in thought with the +indentation of a line becomes fixed and automatic. + +_Allusions._ But one may have the most perfect knowledge of all the +words, his comprehension of the meaning of the sentence may be exact and +full, and yet the special thought which the expression carries may never +reach his mind. Ruskin writes: "Gather a single blade of grass and +examine for a minute, quietly, its narrow swordshaped strip of fluted +green. Nothing, as it seems, there, of notable goodness or beauty. A +very little strength, and a very little tallness, and a few delicate +long lines meeting in a point--not a perfect point either, but blunt and +unfinished, by no means a creditable or apparently much cared for +example of Nature's workmanship; made, as it seems, only to be trodden +on today, and tomorrow to be cast into the oven; and a little pale and +hollow stalk, feeble and flaccid, leading down to the dull brown fibres +of roots. And yet, think of it well, and judge whether of all the +gorgeous flowers that beam in summer air, and of all strong and goodly +trees, pleasant to the eyes and good for food--stately palm and pine, +strong ash and oak, scented citron burdened vine--there be any by man so +deeply loved, by God so highly graced as that narrow point of feeble +green." Words and sentences are all plain and simple and clear. Perhaps +we pause a moment at "scented citron," for the citron as we know it is a +vine bearing a melonlike fruit and we are not aware that it is +especially fragrant. But this is another plant--a tree that bears a +sweet-scented fruit not unlike the lemon. "Burdened vine" seems a trifle +obscure--why _burdened vine_? A vine carrying a weight? What weight? +The ripened clusters of purple fruit bending the swaying vines to the +warm earth while autumn tints the leaves to harmonious colors. "Burdened +vine" is a suggestive expression indeed to the person of a little +imagination who has walked through the long aisles of a thriving +vineyard. Is the passage now clear to us and perfectly understood? Does +it convey to us what Ruskin really thought?--"Tomorrow to be cast into +the oven." What a strange expression! Do we put grass into an oven? How +came Ruskin to mention such a thing? "To be cast into the oven." We have +seen "burdened vines" and we understand the "scented citron," but what +of this grass "cast into the oven"? Back in the mind of the +artist-critic lie the lessons of his childhood when an ambitious father +and a strict mother intended him for the church and trained him +carefully to a close and accurate knowledge of the scriptures. So when +he writes of the grass of the field he almost unconsciously uses the +language of the bible: "Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the +field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not +much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" We his readers interpret +his feelings and his meaning in this only as we have learned the same +lessons. + +Examples of such allusions abound throughout literature. In _The Vision +of Sir Launfal_, Lowell says: + + "Daily, with souls that cringe and plot, + We Sinais climb and know it not." + +With a knowledge of geography we might locate the mountain and +understand the sentence, but the tremendous power of the lines can +never be felt unless we know the story of Moses and so realize that we +stand every day like the patriarch of old in the very presence of God +himself. + +The mythology of Greece and Rome furnishes to English literature +allusions so pointed, so vivid, and so full of beautiful suggestion that +a knowledge of the myths is necessary to any real culture. Modern +writers do not make such ready use of them as did the older schools, but +Lowell and Tennyson, Browning and Arnold, and a host of minor writers +assume that their readers know as their alphabet the stories of +mythology. In his hymn _On the Morning of Christ's Nativity_, Milton has +this stanza following one which tells that the shepherds heard the sweet +music: + + "Nature that heard such sound + Beneath the hollow round + Of Cynthia's seat the airy region thrilling, + Now was almost won + To think her part was done, + And that her reign had here its last fulfilling; + She knew such harmony alone + Could hold all Heaven and Earth in happier Union." + +How little of intelligent interest attaches to the first three lines if +one has no knowledge beyond the literal meaning of the phrases! "The +hollow round of Cynthia's seat" has beauty for that person only who +knows something of the Ptolemaic system of astronomy and of the +huntress-queen of Greek mythology. + +Allusions lead one to every department of knowledge and are the result +of the early training and experience of the author. No one needs to be +told that Milton studied the classics, that Ruskin and Tennyson read the +bible devotedly, that Shakespeare passed his early life in the country. +The unconscious trend of their thought as shown by their allusions gives +that information most distinctly. If a man loves history in his youth +his writings will be filled with historical allusions; if he is a +devotee of science one will find the phenomena of nature the source of +his illustrations. The reader must be ready to understand and interpret +feelingly these allusions no matter what the particular bent of the +author. To the student the allusion is often very difficult of +comprehension, for if it comes in the way of an ingenious paraphrase he +may pass over it without the slightest recognition. When it is direct, a +dictionary or other reference book will frequently make it sufficiently +clear. + +_Basis of Figures._ The allusion is but one of many ways in which an +author varies the literal meaning of his sentences and gives more force +and beauty to his statements. There are a large number of different +figures of speech, but such fine distinctions as the rhetoricians make +are unnecessary for the ordinary student of literature. It is the +meaning the figures convey that concerns us, for an adept in reading +always notices the skilful use of figures, and his pleasure is +heightened by their delicacy and beauty. + +In the study of figures one must first carefully determine the basis in +reality or the literal meaning and then the figurative or applied +meaning. Browning speaks of + + "--selfish worthless human slugs whose slime + Has failed to lubricate their path in life." + +Here the reader must see disgusting slugs or snails crawling lazily +across the ripening apples in the orchard and leaving behind them the +filthy streak of slime with which they made the way easy for their ugly +bodies, but in so doing defiled the fruit for human use. So much is the +basis in fact. Knowing this one can feel the poet's stinging +denunciation of the one who cast the beautiful girl in the way of the +heartless Guido instead of "putting a prompt foot on him the worthless +human slug." + + "To unhusk truth a-hiding in its hulls." + +Here Browning has gone to the fields for his figure and we shall see the +ripened grain, the corn or the wheat, the merry huskers at work upon it, +turning out the glowing ear from its covering of dim paper wraps; or +perchance a group of disciples walking with their Master and rubbing the +hulls from the wheat gathered on the Sabbath day. Whatever the scene +that comes in mind, one fact there is--underneath the dried and +worthless hulls lies the living and life-giving grain. So we find truth +bright and genuine when we have torn from it the coverings with which it +has been concealed. + +Such practice as this in working out elaborately the figure often given +in barest hint strengthens the imagination and gives to thought the +versatility that makes reading a delight and an inspiration. Till the +imagination is furnished material and given freedom, literature is as +worthless as the husks. + +_Simile._ As we learn to know one thing from its likeness to another, it +is natural that the writer should seek to make impressions vivid by +comparison with better known things. Sometimes these comparisons are +expressed in words, and one thing is said to be _like_ another, while at +other times the comparison is left to be inferred and one thing is said +_to be_ another. The _simile_ states the likeness. Browning seeks to +make us see vividly the hideous character of one of his villains and +says that on his very face you could read his crimes-- + + "Large-lettered like Hell's masterpiece of print." + +The comparison "like Hell's masterpiece" is a simile. + +Study each simile you find, and state the exact meaning of each +literally. Compare your statement with the figurative one and see if the +latter is clearer, more forcible, or more beautiful. If any one of the +similes seems less vivid than your own literal statement, ask yourself +if the fault is your own in that you are not thoroughly familiar with +the basis of the figure. It is not necessary that your judgment should +be unassailable. The value of the proceeding lies in the exercise of +your attention and reason. Your judgments will improve, your +appreciation grow keener and more delicate. + +_Metaphor:_ + + "Everywhere + I see in the world the intellect of man, + That sword, the energy, his subtle spear, + The knowledge, which defends him like a shield." + +This is another quotation from Browning in which he says intellect is a +sword and energy a spear, thereby assuming a comparison and using the +figure _metaphor_, while in the last line he uses the simile "like a +shield." Ingersoll calls the grave "the windowless palace of rest," and +Whittier refers to it in a beautiful metaphor as "the low green tent +whose curtain never outward swings." + +_Synecdoche and Metonymy._ Another group of figures consists in naming +one thing for something else closely associated with it in thought. When +this relation is that of a part to the whole or of the whole to a part, +the figure is synecdoche. Thus, when Browning says "pert tongue and idle +ear consort 'neath the archway" he conveys the idea that idle gossips +gather beneath the archway and with sharp tongues talk over the failings +of their neighbors, and he uses synecdoche in making the ear and the +tongue, parts of the body, signify the person. Our everyday language is +full of these figures in which a part of an object is named to represent +the whole. We speak of owning "twenty head of cattle," of hiring "ten +hands," of seeing "fifteen sails," when we mean that we own twenty +cattle, that we hire ten men, that we see fifteen boats. + +When the relation expressed is that of a sign or symbol and that which +is signified or symbolized, a cause and its effect, a material and that +which is made from it, or is some other similar association of ideas, +the figure is metonymy. + +We speak of "the pulpit" when we mean the ministry, the "stage" when we +mean the theatrical world, and thus use concrete symbols to represent +abstract ideas. Again, we frequently make use of such an expression as +"Have you read Pope or Dryden?" when we refer to the works rather than +to the writer, and thus substitute cause for effect. "Columns of +glittering steel advanced" contains another form of metonymy, that in +which a material (steel) is named for that made from it (spears). + +Search for examples of these two figures in the selections in _Journeys +Through Bookland_. Both are elusive, and at first you are apt to pass +over many without noticing them. As you continue your search and grow +keen in it you will be surprised to see how common they are, both in +what you read and in your own speech. + +_Apostrophe and Personification._ An address to a person or thing, +absent or dead, is an _apostrophe_, and when an inanimate object is +assumed to be alive or an animate object is assumed to be raised to a +higher plane of existence it is said to be by _personification_. +Examples of the latter figure are "death's menace," "laugh of morn." In +the line "Lucidity of soul unlocks the lips" are both metonymy and +personification. The following is the beginning of a beautiful +apostrophe: + + "O lyric Love, half angel and half bird, + And all a wonder and a wild desire,-- + Boldest of hearts that ever braved the sun, + Took sanctuary within the holier blue, + And sang a kindred soul out to his face, + Yet human at the red-ripe of the heart + When the first summons from the darking earth + Reached thee amid thy chambers, blanched their blue + And bared them of the glory--to drop down, + To toil for man, to suffer or to die,-- + This is the same voice; can thy soul know change?" + +Another fine example is found in Whittier's _Snow-Bound_: + + "O Time and Change!--with hair as gray + As was my sire's that winter day, + How strange it seems, with so much gone + Of life and love, to still live on! + Ah, brother! only I and thou + Are left all that circle now,-- + The dear home faces whereupon + That fitful firelight paled and shone. + Henceforward, listen as we will, + The voices of that hearth are still; + Look where we may, the wide earth o'er, + Those lighted faces smile no more. + We tread the path their feet have worn, + We sit beneath their orchard trees, + We hear, like them, the hum of bees + And rustle of the bladed corn; + We turn the pages that they read, + Their written words we linger o'er, + But in the sun they cast no shade, + No voice is heard, no sign is made, + No step is on the conscious floor." + +The following lines are from Lord Byron's _Apostrophe to the Ocean_: + + "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean--roll! + Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; + Man marks the earth with ruin--his control + Stops with the shore;--upon the watery plain + The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain + A shadow of man's ravage, save his own, + When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, + He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, + Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown." + + * * * * * + +Children enjoy searching for the different varieties of figures in the +selections which they read. Not much instruction is needed, and it is +not necessary that they should know the names of the different figures +or acquire a great deal of technical knowledge. Yet in helping them to +recognize figures it is best to proceed in a logical manner, showing, +one at a time, what the principal figures are, upon what they are based, +and what they add in vividness and beauty to the language. When one +figure is understood, help the children to find many good examples in +other selections, before taking up the second figure. + +As a help to parents and children, we give an outline here for a study +of the figures of speech in Shelley's beautiful _Ode to a Skylark_ +(Volume VII, page 275). + +1. SIMILE: + + "From the earth thou springest + _Like a cloud of fire_." + + "_Like an unbodied joy_ whose race is just begun." + + "With music _sweet as love_." + + "_Like a star of heaven_ + In the broad daylight." + +2. METAPHOR: + + "From rainbow clouds there flow not + Drops so bright to see, + As from thy presence _showers a rain of melody_." + + "Or how could thy notes _flow in such a crystal stream_!" + + "In _the golden lightning_ + Of the sunken sun." + +3 and 4. METONYMY AND SYNECDOCHE are nearly related and in this poem the +examples are numerous. Here are a few: + + "Better than all _treasures_ + That in books are found." + + "Teach me half the gladness + That thy _brain_ must know." + + "Thou art unseen, but yet I hear _thy shrill delight_." + + "The moon _rains out her beams_, and heaven is overflowed." + + "The blue deep thou _wingest_." + +5. PERSONIFICATION. In this poem the poet personifies the lark, +beginning with "Blithe spirit, bird thou never wert," in the first +stanza and closing with "Teach me half the gladness that thy brain must +know," in the last stanza. + +6. APOSTROPHE. Most odes have in them something of the nature of an +apostrophe. The _Ode to a Skylark_ begins + + "Hail to thee, blithe spirit!" + +Further along in the lyric we find the line, + + "Teach us, bird or sprite." + + * * * * * + +Young children will not appreciate the ode as it deserves; accordingly +it will be better to use simpler poems for the first lessons. The +obvious figures may well be shown first, leaving the more finished and +brilliant ones till the minds of the children become more mature. For +instance, as the simile is the most obvious of figures and may be found +in nearly every poem of any length, it is the best with which to begin. +Notice what a number can be found in _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_ +(Volume II, page 202). Explain those that are used in the description of +Saint Nicholas: + + "And he looked _like a peddler just opening his pack_." + + "His cheeks were _like roses_, his nose _like a cherry_; + His droll little mouth was drawn up _like a bow_, + And the beard on his chin was _as white as the snow_." + + "The smoke, it encircled his head _like a wreath_." + + "That shook, when he laughed, _like a bowl full of jelly_." + +Encourage the children to find other similes themselves--the +characteristic _like_ and _as_ will make the task easy. + +In _The First Snowfall_ (Volume II, page 403) are a number of metaphors +which may be easily explained to children. For instance, the following +will be readily understood: + + "Every pine and fir and hemlock + Wore _ermine_ too dear for an earl, + And the poorest twig on the elm tree + Was ridged inch deep with _pearl_." + + "The stiff rails were softened to _swan's-down_." + + +SUMMARY + +We have considered the most common and expressive figures, and if one +accustoms himself to the recognition of these and an explanation of +their meaning as has been indicated here, he will soon recognize others +of more complex type. Mere classification is valueless; our purpose is +to learn to see and to feel more clearly and more deeply by means of our +intelligent grasp upon these figurative expressions. + +Thought, then, is mastered by attention to the details we have +discussed, and until we habitually notice these things our reading is +apt to be slipshod and profitless. It will help us to retain these facts +in mind if we put them into a systematic outline. + +Mastery of thought, which is at the foundation of an appreciation of +literature, depends upon mastery of-- + + I. Words in their special meaning. + + II. Allusions, or references to + 1. Historical events and personages. + 2. Literary masterpieces. + 3. Scientific truths. + 4. Biblical events and truths. + 5. Mythological creations. + + III. Figures, of which the more important and common are those-- + 1. Based on comparisons: + a. simile. + b. metaphor. + 2. Based on natural associations: + a. synecdoche. + b. metonymy. + 3. Of apostrophe. + 4. Of personification. + + IV. Sentences, the units of thought. + + V. Paragraphs, the collections of related thought units. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +READING POETRY + + +Nothing so brings out the music and the structural beauty of poetry as +reading it aloud, and many who have cared nothing for verse in any of +its forms learn to love it when they hear it read frequently by a +sympathetic voice. Children love the nursery rhymes largely because they +have heard them and have caught the sound and rhythm more than the +meaning. It is the lively music more than the whimsical meaning that has +made the rhymes popular. When the time comes that children begin to lose +their interest and consider poetry beneath them, their flagging +attention often may be aroused and new interest created by simply +reading new selections aloud to them and talking with them about the +meaning and beauties of the poems. + +On page 410 of Volume One is Longfellow's exquisite poem, _The Reaper +and the Flowers_. We can imagine a little family group reading this some +quiet evening when the lamp throws shadows into the corners and the +bed-time hour draws near. No one could call the children in on a fine +summer day, and, when fresh from their play, the blood is bounding +through their veins, expect them to be touched by delicate sentiment, or +to appreciate musical numbers. Literature has something for every hour, +every mood, every circumstance. It may be that there is one little +vacant chair in this family circle, or that from some neighbor's family +a child has gone. Fear clutches at the youthful hearts and Grief +shudders behind each chair. Even the warm bed in the dark room is a +dread, for we have so surrounded death with mystery and terror that even +the young are aghast when it is mentioned. But our best-loved poet has a +cheering message for every one, and into this little group the parent +brings it. In soft and sympathetic voice he reads aloud, giving the slow +and gentle music of the lines time to steal into the youthful hearts. + +As he reads, he pauses now and then to speak to his little audience, +watching ever not to be sharp in his questionings or anything but kindly +in his comments. Something like the following might be the way he brings +out the meaning: + + "'There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, + And, with his sickle keen, + He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, + And the flowers that grow between.' + +"A _Reaper_--a man walking in the grain, cutting it as he goes. Not with +a machine such as we see on the farm nowadays, but with a short curved +blade which the poet calls a sickle. It is a _keen_ blade the sickle +has, and with every stroke ripened grain and all the little flowers that +have grown up among it fall to the ground. But the poet means more. He +thinks that the Reaper is Death, that the _bearded grain_ is the men and +women who have lived to a ripe old age and who are ready to die, ready +for the rewards of a long and well-spent life. But alas, the _flowers_ +fall with the ripened grain: sometimes little children must die, +although dearly would we like to keep them with us. + +"Then the Reaper speaks: 'Shall I have nothing fair and beautiful, must +I have nothing but dry and bearded grain? I love these beautiful +flowers; their fragrance is dear to me. Yet I will give them back again; +some time you may see them again.' + +"So Death looked at the little children with tears filling his kindly +eyes. As they faded and drooped he kissed them gently and took them +softly and sorrowfully into his arms. He was gathering these lovely +innocents to take them to his Lord, where in Paradise they might be +happy evermore, without any of the privations and sufferings that come +to every one who grows up. + +"As he wept, not for the little children, but for all who stay behind, +he continued to speak smilingly through his tears to the sorrowing ones +on earth: + +"'Christ needs these dear ones, these flowerets gay: to him they are +tokens dear of the earth where once he played and sang on the hills of +Judea. Can you not trust them to him who said, "Suffer little children +to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of +God?" Have no fear; I am but moving them into the bright heavenly +mansions, where they shall rest safely in the bosoms of the saints and +angels.' + +"And the mother, who loved them so, gave up her darling ones, for she +saw, even through her tears, how happy they must be in their new home. + + "'O not in cruelty, not in wrath, + The Reaper came that day;' + +it was a young and beautiful Angel, not the hideous Death in black robes +and hood scarce hiding his bony head, that + + "'visited the green earth, + And took the flowers away.' + +"Does Death seem so terrible now? Although we must always see the vacant +chair and know that a loved one has gone forever, can we not realize +that it is we who suffer, and not the one who has been taken from among +us? Is it not selfish to grieve?" + +Shall we fear Death any more? When the parent has read the poem once +more from beginning to end in silence, except as the soft words fall +from his lips, will not the hearers feel inspired to be better and +nobler boys and girls, men and women? Will darkness have more fear for +them? Will they not then go to their rooms and lie down peacefully to +sleep? + +There are other poems for other hours. Some day when you wish a bit of +fun with your children you will find humorous poems in many of the +books. One is in Volume IV, on page 57. Nearly every stanza contains a +"joke": a pun, if you please, usually. Perhaps you and your children +will find them all easily, and perhaps you will not. In the last stanza +is the "joke" proper, the thing for which the rhymes were written. It is +an old joke, surely enough, and you have seen others like it; but it is +funny still and perhaps a little caustic. Not all men whom the world +calls good are good beneath the surface. Perhaps you know of cases in +which "the Dog it was that died." + +Another humorous poem to use in this connection is _Echo_ (Volume III, +page 286). + +Between the two extremes mentioned above are selections for all moods +and all kinds of people. The things to be remembered in reading with +children are, that poetry must be understood to be appreciated; that it +must be heard until the mind is trained to receive it through the eye +instead of the ear; that it appeals to the feelings more than to the +will; that it must be interpreted by the light of experience, and hence +must be adapted to the age of the reader. A person would not read _The +Reaper and the Flowers_ at a dancing party, nor _The Elegy on the Death +of a Mad Dog_ before a funeral. + +Below are a few studies more complete and of different types. + + +_The Brown Thrush_ + +(Volume I, page 147) + +We find great charm in this short lyric, for its form is unusual, its +music joyous and its sentiment fine. Three lines of four feet each, a +line of three feet, two lines of two feet each, and one line of three +feet make up each stanza. The accent in each foot is on the last +syllable, but some of the feet are only two syllables long. It's a merry +meter. It scarcely can be read without stirring a rollicking melody in +the ears of the listener. That's the art in the poem. The sentiment is +as fine as the music. "The world's running over with joy! I'm as happy +as happy can be." If the little brown thrush keeps singing that song the +heart of everyone who hears it will overflow with joy. But it would be +easy, very easy indeed, to stop the joyous song of the thrush by +meddling with the five pretty eggs, and when the thrush changed his +happy song to harsh notes of fear and reproach, the light of joy would +fade from our day as quickly as from his. + + +_The Child's World_ + +(Volume II, page 66) + +The unique measures of this brief poem make a melodious whole that every +child will appreciate. Unless some care is taken in reading it aloud, +however, much of its beauty will be lost. This is particularly true of +the first stanza, from the first and last lines of which a syllable has +been omitted. The absence of these syllables must be indicated by pauses +or by giving more time to the word "great" in the first line, and to the +word "world" in the last line. The idea may be indicated by supposing +that the word "O" has been omitted from the beginning of the first and +last line. The first line of the last couplet is peculiar in that every +one of the four feet contains three syllables with the accent on the +last. All the other lines consist each of four feet of either two or +three syllables. Technically the poem is anapestic tetrameter much +varied by the introduction of iambic feet. (See the studies in meter, +Volume VII, pages 2 and 13.) + +The rhymes are all in couplets and are perfect. The stanzas, like +paragraphs, indicate changes in thought. Its pleasing unity rests in the +fact that it is all a child's thoughts about the world. It is logical, a +real leading up of thought to natural climax. The child begins with +wonder and a sense of beauty around her. The world is great and wide +and wonderful and beautiful. She thinks of the sea she has read about +or seen and thinks of the wonderful water curling up in waves above the +shore. To her the world is the land with the wonderful growing grass +upon its broad breast, and this marks the end of her first thought--the +great world is beautifully dressed. + +Next as she sits on the brow of the hill and gazes over the lowland the +breezes blow her hair about her face and her mind passes to the +wonderful air that as wind shakes the trees, ripples the water, whirls +the mills and sings through the trees on the tops of the hills. + +Thought wanders on to the nodding wheat, the rivers, cliffs, and +islands, to the cities and the people everywhere for thousands of miles. +What is the effect of this vastness on the thought of a child? Can you +not realize for yourself any clear night that you may gaze at the +numberless stars in the arching skies? How small, how infinitely little +are we in all the great universe! Have we the imagination to grasp the +saving thought that comes so naturally into the clear mind of the child? +Though I am so small, so insignificant, I can think and love, but the +wonderful earth can not. A philosophy well worth keeping, is it not? + + +_Seven Times One_ + +(Volume II, page 119) + +Jean Ingelow's poem has in it many things to interest a child, but there +may be some things that will be clearer for explanation. + +Stanza 1. In England the daisy grows wild almost everywhere, a little, +low plant which produces its heads of white, pink-tipped flowers from a +rosette of leaves. In the United States we often see daisies in +cultivation but they are nowhere native. The child is at her seventh +birthday and has learned her multiplication table, the "sevens". +Nowadays in our schools the children do not have the drudgery of +committing the long tables to memory as their grand-parents did. Our +little friend thinks that as she has lived seven years that makes her +"seven times one are seven." + +Stanza 2. One is so old at seven, so very old--why one can even write a +letter. But now with the birthday lessons learned she can think of other +things; for instance there are the lambs who play always, for they have +no lessons to learn. They are not old and they are "only one times one," +not "seven times one," which are seven. + +Stanza 3. She has seen the moon when it was full and bright and gave a +wondrous light, but now it is only a pale crescent in the sky and its +light is failing. Certainly the moon is failing and not like the child +improving each day. + +Stanza 4. Occasionally the child has done wrong and been punished, and +perhaps the moon has done something wrong way up there in heaven so that +God has hidden its face. If that is true she hopes soon God will forgive +the poor moon and allow it to shine once more with its silver light. + +Stanza 5. Isn't "velvet bee" a happy expression? Then the bee gathers +the yellow pollen from the flowers, mixes and shapes it into little +pellets and fastens them in golden balls on its thighs to carry into the +hive where it will serve as "bee bread" to feed the young bees. In the +wet places grow the marsh marigolds, or cowslips as they are sometimes +called, bright golden flowers like the buttercups. To the bee and the +cowslips the little child joyfully cries: "Give me your golden honey to +hold, for I am seven years old and know what to do with it." + +Stanza 6. The columbine is the graceful little flower we so often hear +called honeysuckle. Five deep curved nectar-bearing tubes project +backward from the flower itself. By opening the blossom in the right way +the child of fanciful ideas may see shapes that remind her of turtle +doves. + +The cuckoo-pint (by the way, the _i_ is short as in _pit_) does not grow +in the United States. It has spotted leaves, large and triangular, and +the "bell" is an upright green cup in which stands a tall column, the +"clapper." It is called cuckoo-pint because it blossoms about the time +the cuckoo returns to England. Our nearest approach to the flower is the +"Jack-in-the-Pulpit" or Indian Turnip. + +It is perfectly safe for the columbine to unfold its wrapper and the +cuckoo-pint to toll its bell in the presence of a maiden so old. She +will not destroy them. + +Stanza 7. In the United States we have no wild linnet, though we +sometimes hear song-birds called by that name. The English linnet is a +little sparrow with striped back and a purple crown and breast. He +resembles our purple finch and our redpoll. He is one of the famous +songsters of the English lanes and fields. + +No young lady of seven would be so thoughtless as to steal away the +young linnets, so the old bird may freely point out the nest. + +At what time of the year does the little girl's birthday come? + + +_The First Snowfall_ + +(Volume II, page 403) + +A. _The Author._ For a sketch of the life of James Russell Lowell, see +Volume VII, page 411. + +B. _The Meaning._ Words and Phrases: + +"Gloaming"; early evening. + +"Silence." The snow is called a silence, because it hushes noise, or +prevents it. + +"Pine and fir and hemlock"; three evergreen trees. + +"Ermine"; the fur from a northern animal of the same name. It is very +soft and white. Earls, nobles of rank, wore ermine on their robes to +show their high birth. + +"Pearl"; a white, lustrous jewel, or the beautiful lining of some sea +shells. + +"Carrara"; a town in Italy, whence comes the finest white marble. Here +Carrara means _costly marble_. + +"Swan's down." Swans have fine soft down between their feathers. It +protects them from cold in winter, and in summer they line their nests +with it. + +"Noiseless work"; covering everything with snow. + +"Mound"; grave. + +"Auburn"; a beautiful cemetery near Boston. + +"Babes in the Wood"; an allusion to the old story of the children who +were lost in the woods, and whom the robins covered with leaves to +protect them. + +"All-father"; God, the Father of all. + +"Leaden"; gray and heavy, lead-colored. + +"Arched"; curved. + +"Deep-plunged woe"; a sorrow that plunged us deep in misery. + +"Eyes that saw not." His eyes were so filled with tears that he could +not see "Mabel," who is really his daughter Rose. + +"_My_ kiss was given to her sister." He was thinking so deeply of his +lost daughter, that it seemed almost as though he kissed the dead lips. + +"Folded close." The soft, downy snow made him think of a soft, warm +covering for the form of his little one. + +C. _Form and Structure._ + +There are ten stanzas of four verses (lines) each, with the rhymes at +the ends of the second and fourth verses only. The word _snow_ is used +four times in rhymes; the words rhyming with it are _crow_, _below_, +_woe_ and _know_. All the rhymes in the poem are perfect. + +The meter is varied iambic trimeter. The first and third lines of each +stanza have an added unaccented syllable, while the second and fourth +have just three full feet. Anapestic feet are used freely to improve the +music; in fact, they are nearly as numerous as the iambic feet. + +The scansion of the first stanza may be indicated thus: + + The-snow'|had-be-gun'|in-the-gloam'|ing + And-bus'|i-ly-all'|the-night' + Had-been-heap'|ing-field'|and-high'|way + With-a-si'|lence-deep'|and-white' + +The scansion of the sixth stanza may be shown as follows: + + Up-spoke'|our-own'|lit-tle-Ma'|bel + Say-ing-Fa'|ther-who-makes'|it-snow' + And-I-told'of-the-good'|All-Fa'|ther + Who cares'|for-us-here'|be-low' + +They are musical stanzas, and the finely chosen words add much to the +melody. + +D. _Sentiment._ Lowell had a little daughter, Blanche, who died shortly +before this poem was composed, so we may be sure that it was written +from a full heart. He begins by giving us one of the most beautiful +pictures of a snow-storm and of a snow-covered world that was ever +written. + +(Compare Lowell's other description of winter to be found in the second +part of _The Vision of Sir Launfal_ and Whittier's description in +_Snow-Bound_.) + +When he has made us feel the softness, gentleness and beauty of the snow +and caused us to forget that it is cold and damp, he speaks of himself. +We can see him sitting by the window looking out upon the beautiful +pearl-clad world. He brings us right into his own presence and we can +almost see the flocks of startled brown snowbirds whirling by. Not till +now, when we are fully in sympathy with him, does he let us know that he +has met with a deep, heart-breaking loss. Now we know what the soft +flakes are hiding from sight, and our hearts go out with his. + +Then his innocent little daughter comes in with the simple, commonplace +question which he answers so touchingly. Can you not see him with his +arm around the child, telling her of the care of the Father who loves +little children so dearly? Yet his mind cannot free itself wholly from +his first great sorrow, though he remembers that calmness, resignation, +and gentle patience fell over his heart as the soft snow falls flake by +flake from the leaden sky. + +To the child, however, he speaks words that she will not fully +understand until she, too, is grown and has met with sorrow: "It is only +the merciful Father, darling, who can make fall that gentle comfort that +heals and hides all suffering." + +Once more our hearts are wrung with sympathy when with tear-filled eyes +he gives the little maiden by his side the kiss that was for the silent +lips in sweet Auburn. The little one, kissing back, could not know the +grief of her father's heart or realize that another form than hers was +clasped in his embrace. + +How much better we know the great poet when he tells us his personal +griefs in so touching a manner! How sweet is the lesson of patience and +resignation when communicated in such a beautiful poem! + +E. _Beauty and Effectiveness in Phrasing._ Where in literature will you +find more beautiful phrases, more effective figures, than abound in this +poem? Notice particularly the following, and try to determine why each +is remarkable: + + "With a silence deep and white." + + "Ermine too dear for an earl." + + "Stiff rails softened to swan's down." + + "The noiseless work of the sky." + + "the leaden sky + That arched o'er our first great sorrow." + + "The scar of our deep-plunged woe." + + "Folded close in deepening snow." + +F. _Conclusion._ _The First Snowfall_ is one of the most perfect poems +in our language. In beauty of composition, of music, of sentiment, and +in deep religious feeling it can scarcely be excelled. Be guarded how +you teach it; treat it reverently. Try to cause the children to love it, +to wish to memorize it. If you see that you are not securing these +results, leave the poem and take up something else. It is almost a sin +to spoil it for any person. + + +_The Potato_ + +(Volume II, page 467) + +Thomas Moore's amusing stanza may seem silly to some people, but those +who have a sense of humor will be delighted with the whimsical +conception of a potato with so independent a spirit. It usually spoils +humor to comment upon it. To explain a joke is to kill it. The sense of +humor is contagious. Children will laugh when older people smile just +from sympathy. When they ask "what's the joke?" it is time to explain. +Even then it is best to give merely facts and let the joke make its own +way. Laughter lightens many a heavy burden, and a sense of humor is a +saving grace. Cultivate it by indirection. + + +_Origin of the Opal_ + +(Volume II, page 480) + +The opal is a beautiful stone which seen at different angles and in +different lights seems to glow with various colors. The polished +surface may seem, as you first look at it, to be only a milky white. +Turn it a little and it glows a bright flame color with green lights +round the margin. Turned a little more it shows violet and silver. Other +shades mingle with these, all coming and going as light and position +vary. A fine opal is a wonderfully brilliant precious stone. + +The idea of the poem, too, is beautiful. Here is a transparent dewdrop; +in it is the flame of the last ray of sun. As the drop lies in the +violet it takes that color, and steals from the rose her delicate +shades. From the sky it draws the blue, from a leaf its green and +silver. When all these colors have been taken in, the drop is congealed, +and imprisoned in its heart are the fiery flame, the rich violet, the +rose tints, the skyey blue, the delicate green and the gleaming silver. +This is the opal. + + +_The Barefoot Boy_ + +(Volume IV, page 3) + +On page 5 occur the lines, + + "Mine, on bended orchard trees, + Apples of Hesperides!" + +According to the old Greeks, there lay far to the west, in the ocean, a +wonderful island where were kept, under the guard of a gruesome dragon, +the beautiful golden apples which Gaea gave as a wedding present to +Zeus. The Hesperides were the three daughters of Night, who ruled the +guardian dragon. These golden apples, then, came to be known as the +apples of Hesperides. When Hercules in his madness had slain his three +children he was condemned to do whatever his cousin Eurystheus demanded +for his purification. His tasks came to be known as the Twelve Labors of +Hercules, and the eleventh was to obtain the golden apples from the +Hesperides. He accomplished this task among the others, but the apples +were subsequently restored. To the barefoot boy the apples of his New +England tree were as choice as the golden ones of the Greek myth. + +Do not fail to see the exquisite picture painted by these beautiful +descriptive lines on pages 5 and 6. + + "O'er me, like a regal tent, + Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent, + Purple-curtained, fringed with gold, + Looped in many a wind-swing fold." + + +_The Bugle Song_ + +(Volume VI, page 133) + +Among the many charming lyrics which Tennyson has written, there are few +more musical or more delicately beautiful than _The Bugle Song_. It may +be appreciated better perhaps if we have knowledge of its setting. It +occurs in _The Princess_, and has no immediate connection with anything +that precedes or follows. + +Three pairs of youthful lovers have been climbing above a lovely glade +wherein is pitched the tent of the Princess. As they climbed, "Many a +little hand glanced like a touch of sunshine on the rocks, and many a +light foot shone like a jewel set in the dark crag." They wound about +the cliffs, and out and in among the copses, striking off pieces of +various rocks and chattering over their stony names, until they reached +the summit and the sun grew broader as he set and threw his rosy light +upon the heights above the glade. When in this poetic vein Tennyson has +described the scene, he throws in _The Bugle Song_ without any comment. + +We will understand it better if we paraphrase it briefly. Let us imagine +ourselves standing on some peak and looking over a scene lighted by the +setting sun. + + "The splendor falls on castle walls + And snowy summits old in story." + +The light in long quivering beams is thrown across the lakes, and a wild +cataract, made glorious by the golden light, leaps down a neighboring +precipice. At this moment, somewhere in the distance we hear a bugle +which sets wild echoes flying in every direction about us. As these +echoes die away, + + "O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, + And thinner, clearer, farther going," + +there comes reflected to us from cliff and abrupt promontory the faint +sound of the little horns of Fairyland. To them the purple glens reply +in echoes gently dying into silence. O love, those echoes die away in +the rich sky, and faint into nothingness on hill and field and river; +but echoes of our thoughts, our feelings, of ourselves, roll on from one +soul to another and grow in power forever and forever. + +The music in the lyric is dependent upon the choice of words and the +arrangement of words. The words are chosen because of their meaning and +because of the sounds which compose them. They are so arranged that the +sequence is melodious and that the accents fall where needed to perfect +the meter. The first three lines are perfectly smooth and regular, but +the fourth is an abrupt change; "And the wild cataract leaps in glory" +suggests power and strong interrupted motion. The last two lines of the +stanza are somewhat irregular in meter, and the double repetition of the +last word suggests the time elapsing while the echoes are flying back +and forth between the surrounding cliffs, growing fainter and fainter +with each repetition. In reading we show this: "Blow, bugle," is the +original sound; we pause for the echoes to answer, "dying, dying, +dying." + +In the second stanza the poet has selected words in which the vowels +have thin and delicate sounds: + + "how thin and clear, + And thinner, clearer, farther going!" + +So soft are the echoes that they suggest to the poet the delicate +refrain from the musical instruments of fairies, and he describes it in +the poetic phrase, + + "The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!" + +The meter of the last stanza, which is more irregular than the others, +we can indicate as follows: + + O love'|they die'|in yon'|rich sky' + They faint'|on hill'|or field'|or riv'|er: + Our ech'|oes roll'|from soul'|to soul', + And grow'|for ev'|er and'|for ev'|er + Blow, bu'|gle, blow'|--set'|the wild ech'|oes fly'|ing, + And an'|swer, ech'|oes, an'|swer, dy'|ing, dy'|ing, dy'|ing. + +In the next to the last line there are five feet and one added syllable, +if we consider that the pause which we naturally make before the word +_set_ is equivalent to a syllable. In the last line there are six feet +with an added syllable. This additional foot which appears in the last +line of every stanza is introduced to imitate the lingering death of the +echoes. + +After this study of the poem it should be read several times aloud in an +effort to bring out the music; the first stanza in the pitch of ordinary +conversation, with force in the fourth line and lingering intonations in +the last line. The pitch of the second stanza should be higher, and it +will be easily attained because of the predominance of the thin vowels. +The third stanza calls for a pitch lower than the first and a slowness +and solemnity of movement quite in contrast to the moderate rate of the +first and the liveliness and gaiety of the second. It will be seen in +these readings that there is an overlying melody in the stanzas, quite +distinct from the rhythm that depends upon the meter, and that in the +reading the meter naturally falls subservient to the melody of the +phrases. In fact, in a poem of this kind the meter should be forgotten +in the reading, which should give itself wholly to bringing out the +meaning expressively, and to making the voice harmonize with the rich +music of the lines. + +An analysis of _The Bugle Song_ will seem superfluous to the cultivated +reader, but if these suggestions help the learner to see something new, +to feel more acutely, to realize beauty more abundantly, their purpose +is accomplished. + + +_The Petrified Fern_ + +(Volume VII, page 77) + +Some day when you want an interesting and delightful nature lesson that +is a little out of the ordinary, get, if you can, a fossil fern. If you +are in the city, doubtless you can get one from the museum, or, better +yet, you may find that among your pupils there is someone who has such a +specimen carefully treasured away. In some localities where the +limestone rock comes to the surface, especially in the coal measures, +these petrified ferns are very numerous. Show this to the class and get +them all interested in it. + +If you cannot get a specimen to use, you can find a picture in the +encyclopedia or geology, or you can tell the pupils how in some places +it is possible to pick up from among the rocks on the surface of the +ground oblong pieces perhaps a half inch thick, in which, when they are +split open, you can see the impression of a fern, every vein showing +plainly and looking as clear in the dull gray as it showed when alive in +its green dress. + +Tell the story of the fern something after this fashion: + +"Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, so many years, in fact, that none +of us can tell how many, somewhere in a valley, there grew a beautiful +little fern, green and slender. It was as tender and delicate as the +ones you can find in the woods now, and grew in just such a shady place. +When the breezes crept down under the trees they waved the fern +gracefully about so that it gently touched the tall rushes that grew +above it and cast little shadows on the moss at its feet. Now and then +a playful sunbeam darted through the crevices in the leaves and found +the fern, and at night drops of dew stole silently in and made a +glistening crown upon its head. But there were no children then to find +it. It was long, long ago, when the earth was young, and nowhere on its +broad surface was a single human child. + +"Out in the silent sea fishes larger than any that can be found now were +swimming about. Across the plains of the earth animals of wonderful +shapes and enormous size stalked clumsily and found their way into +stately forests. No man ever saw growing such trees as waved their giant +branches over the earth, for then Nature made things on a grander scale +than she does now. The little fern, however, was wild and simple, and +lived in its home unnoticed and uncared for by any of the great +creatures or the mighty trees. Still it grew on modestly in its own +sweet way, spreading its fronds and becoming more beautiful every day. + +"Then suddenly one day the earth heaved up its mighty rocks and threw +them about in every direction. The strong currents of the ocean broke +loose and flooded over the land. They drowned the animals, moved the +plain, tore down the haughty woods and cast the great trunks about like +straw. They broke the little fern from its slender stalk, and burying it +deep in soft moist clay, hid it safely away. + +"Many, many long centuries have passed since the day the useless little +fern was lost. Millions of human beings have come upon the earth, have +lived and been happy, have suffered, passed away, and have been +forgotten. The soft, moist clay that clasped the fern hardened into rock +and kept safely in its strong prison the delicate little frond. + +"Then one day, not long ago, a thoughtful man studying Nature's secrets +far and wide found up in a valley where a stream had worn a deep +fissure, a queer little rock. When he looked at it, he saw running over +it a strange design, as though some fairy with its magic pencil had +drawn the outline of a fern with every vein distinct, showing in every +line the life of the long-lost plant. It was the fern I told you about. + +"Isn't it strange that so delicate a thing as a fern could be kept clear +and fine through all those thousands of years when the earth was +changing and growing, and then finally be thrown up where a man could +find it and read its whole history? The poet, Mary Bolles Branch, saw +the little fern and wrote the beautiful lines which I now want to read +to you." + +(Here read the poem, _The Petrified Fern_, found in _Journeys_, Volume +VII, page 77.) + +There are very few words or expressions in the poem that will require +any explanation. At the end of the first stanza the phrase "keeping +holiday" means that as there were no human beings on the earth, there +was no real work being done. + +At the end of the first line in the second stanza the word _main_ is an +old term that means _ocean_. + +The last two lines of the third stanza are meant to show how different +life has been on the planet since man came. Until he appeared there was +no real agony; there was pain, for animals can suffer, but it takes a +mind and soul to know agony. Man cannot live except with suffering and +at a bitter cost. + +Until the last two lines of the fourth stanza are reached the poem is +merely a beautiful and musical narrative. The last two lines are the +thought that comes to the poet when she considers the history of the +little fern. It is thinking such thoughts as this that make the poet +different from ordinary men. You and I might see the impression of the +fern and think it beautiful, but its beauty would not suggest to us the +comforting idea that + + * * * "God hides some souls away + Sweetly to surprise us, the last day." + +Our own poet Longfellow, in _The Builders_, voices a similar thought +when he says: + + "Nothing useless is, or low; + Each thing in its place is best; + And what seems but idle show + Strengthens and supports the rest." + +After you have presented these thoughts, read the poem again to the +children. Call attention to its musical structure, its simplicity, the +beauty of its expressions, and then read it a third time. It is one of +those beautiful things which may well be committed to memory. + +It will be found very helpful, too, for the children to write the story +in prose and try to bring out the meaning. Let them use freely the words +of the poem, but a different arrangement of words, so that there shall +be left no trace of rhyme or meter in their prose. + + [Illustration: ROBERT SOUTHEY + WILLIAM COWPER + ROBERT BURNS + LORD BYRON + JOHN KEATS + PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY + SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE] + + +_The Forsaken Merman_ + +(Volume VII, page 180) + +One of the satisfactory poems for study in the middle years of school +life is the one whose name heads this paragraph. It is a great favorite +with most children who know it, but it has not found its way largely +into school use. For both of these reasons it is worthy of study. + +I. _Preparation and General Plan._ Let the children read in turn, each +taking one stanza, and if a second reading seems desirable let them +exchange stanzas so that each will have a part new to himself. Be sure +to have a final reading, by yourself or by the best reader among the +children, which shall be continuous and without interruption; otherwise +the beautiful unity of idea and the relation of the different parts will +be overlooked. + +II. _Words and Phrases and Sentences._ It is well to begin with the +study sentence by sentence. See that the meaning is clear. The following +suggestions may be of assistance: + +_Page 180, line 6._ "Wild white horses"; the breakers, where the waves +are beaten into foam and flying spray. + +_Line 7._ "Champ"; gnash their bits. + +_Page 182, line 4._ "Stream." The ocean currents resemble streams of +water on land. + +_Line 8._ "Mail"; scales. How could the snakes _dry_ their mail? + +_Line 10._ "Unshut." Do fish have eyelids? Is a whale a fish? Does a +whale have eyelids? Do most people think of a whale as a fish? + +_Line 18._ "Sate" is an old form for "sat." Can you find other old or +unusual words or expressions? Why does the poet use them? + +_Line 25._ "Merman." The literature of the ancients contained frequent +allusions to mermaids, who were strange creatures with heads of +beautiful, long-haired maidens, but with scaly bodies and the tails of +fish. In pictures they are usually represented as sitting upon reefs +holding a mirror in one hand and combing their long locks with the +other. Holmes, in _The Chambered Nautilus_, speaks of the "cold +sea-maids" who "rise to sun their streaming hair." Mermen were not so +often spoken of, but there are some allusions to them. In later times +the mermaids were considered more as fairies, and there were many +stories of human children being taken to live with the mermaids, and of +the latter coming upon land to live like men and women. There was, too, +a belief that sea-folk had no souls, and that a person who went to live +with them would lose his soul. The beautiful picture on page 181 shows +the forsaken family. + +_Line 10_, from the bottom. "Leaded panes." The small panes of stained +glass in the church windows are set in narrow leaden frames. + +_Page 185, line 4._ "Heaths" and "broom". The English and Scotch +heathers are little bushy shrubs that cover the hills and fields. They +bear beautiful little bell-like pink or white flowers. The trailing +arbutus, the blueberry and the wintergreen are some of our native plants +belonging to the same family. The broom plant is another low shrub that +bears rather large yellow blossoms, shaped like the flowers of peas and +beans. The old-time country-folk used bundles of these shrubs for +brooms. + +_Line 10._ There have been several allusions to tides. If the children +do not understand the subject, be sure to explain how different a shore +looks at high and at low tide. The change is most noticeable where the +water is shallow, for then long stretches of sea-bottom may be uncovered +at low tide. + +III. _The Story._ Bring out by questions these facts which constitute +the "plot," or incidents: + +1. A merman, who has a family of children (five, the artist says, page +181), has been deserted by his human wife. + +2. The father and children are on shore trying to persuade the mother to +return. The father feels that all must go back. + +3. He begs the children to call their mother once more, for he thinks +that childish voices, wild with pain, may induce her to come. + +4. He feels discouraged. + +5. He tells how she became alarmed and left them at Easter time to +return to her church and pray, that she might save the soul she feared +she was losing. + +6. The father and children had come on shore to find their mother. She +was seen praying in the church, working at her spinning wheel at home, +happy but apparently not wholly forgetful of her family in the sea, for +she sighed and dropped a tear as she looked over the sand to the sea. + +7. The father feels that his wife is cruel and faithless and that she +has deserted, forever, himself and his family, the kings of the sea. + +IV. _The Characters._ Question the children till they see clearly the +persons. + +1. The principal character is the deserted merman, a king of the sea. +Ought he to expect his wife to stay with him? + +2. The wife, a human being who has loved a merman, and who has a family +of sea children, but who has suddenly become awakened to the danger to +her soul. Is she selfish? Ought she to have forsaken her family? Can she +really be happy away from her husband and family? + +3. The children. How many were there? How old were they? Were there both +boys and girls? Do you think Mr. Reese had a clear idea of the family +when he drew the picture (page 181)? There must have been at least +three, for it is said that the mother tended the youngest well; at least +one girl, for the mother sighed for the strange eyes of a little +mermaiden. + +4. The priest. + +V. _Pictures._ Two series of pictures are kept side by side all the +time; one of the land, and the other of the sea. Try to create a vivid +scene from each. + +_First_, on land: We can see a little town, nestling on the side of a +bleak, wind-swept hill, an old English town with a white stone wall all +around it. On the hill, which is too rough to be cultivated, grow great +fields of heather, studded with the golden blossoms of broom-plant. A +little gray stone church stands surrounded by its yard, where the +village dead are buried, for such was the old custom in England. The +stones are at the head of the graves, and the walls of the church are +rain- and storm-worn, but bright stained-glass windows in the building +and flowers and trees among the graves make the place very beautiful. +Some of the windows are clear, so that you can look through and gaze +along the aisle bordered by high wooden pews and see the priest reading +service, and, by one of the stone pillars, the merman's wife, her eyes +steadily gazing at the bible in her lap. You are privileged, too, to +peep into one of the thatched cottages, and see the mother turning the +old-fashioned spinning wheel. From her house there is a wide view down +the hill, across the bay and out to sea. At high tide the breakers dash +madly against the shore, but at low tide there is a broad strip of +silver sand, rocks covered with sea-weed, and in the low places, creeks +and pools of salt water. Does the artist's picture represent high or low +tide? + +_Second_, at sea: Deep beneath the surface of the water where the waves +toss and roar, where the surf and spray dash madly about, are great +caverns strewn with white sand. It is cool down there in the depths, and +the light filtering through the clear green sea is weak and pale. The +water streams through caverns, swaying the exquisite sea-weeds that line +the walls; and outside, round about, whales, sea-snakes and all manner +of water beasts swim in play or struggle for mastery. In one of the +caverns stands a great throne of red gold, ornamented with graceful sea +fringe, pearls and amber. From without one may gaze up to the +amber-colored ceiling, or down to the pavement of lustrous pearl. It was +this wondrous palace that the mermaid abandoned for the sake of her +soul. + +VI. _Sentiment._ It is, on the whole, a sad poem, though a few cheering +thoughts are suggested by it. Without an attempt at classification and +analysis, here are a few choice ideas taken in order as they occur: + +_Page 180._ "Children's voices should be dear to a mother's ear." + +_Page 183._ "Long prayers in the world they say." + +_Page 183._ "Oh joy, for the blessed light of the sun!" + +_Page 185._ The last stanza shows very pleasingly the faithfulness of +father and children, in contrast to the inconstancy of the mother. + +VII. _Beauty._ Besides its sentiment, the poem gives us other beauties +in great number. Here are some of them: + +_a. Unity._ The poem has one idea running through it from beginning to +end, an idea that is nowhere lacking, though at first it is not seen. +What is the one idea? Grief, but not bitterness nor anger. Each +succeeding stanza is seen to add something to this idea, till all our +sympathies are enlisted for the forsaken children, more than for the +father who does all the talking. + +_b. Meter and Rhyme._ Both meter and rhyme are irregular, but that fact +gives a pleasing variety to the poem and corresponds to the somewhat +abrupt changes in the line of thought that at first make the poem rather +hard to read. The children will be interested in comparing the lengths +of lines in different stanzas and sometimes in different parts of the +same stanza. It is easy to pick out the rhymes, to see how often rhymes +are repeated in a stanza, and whether the lines are in couples or +alternate. + +_c. Phrases._ The following lines are quoted as those perhaps best +worth study and remembrance. Let the children determine why they were +selected as beautiful lines; that is, determine in what respect the +lines are beautiful: + + "Now the wild white horses play, + Champ and chafe and toss in the spray." + + "The far-off sound of a silver bell." + + "Where the sea snakes toil and twine, + Dry their mail and bask in the brine." + + "A long, long sigh + For the cold, strange eyes of a little Mermaiden." + + "A ceiling of amber, + A pavement of pearl." + + "Heaths starr'd with broom." + + +_The Cloud_ + +(Volume VII, page 257) + +This lyric has wonderful beauty. It is one of the most musical of poems, +the ideas are fine and the pictures of surpassing charm. If it lacks the +high message it is still an inspiration, for beauty is always ennobling +to the appreciative. + +The charm of _The Cloud_ will appeal to children but it may be +intensified by judicious questioning and comment. As always in trying to +give appreciation of real literature, the teacher in the home or at the +school must be certain of his purpose and must never carry the +instruction too far. He must understand the nature of the reader and +shape his questions accordingly. It is impossible to print anything that +will be helpful equally to all or that can be used in its entirety in +any instance. Do not talk too much about what is evident, and stop at +the first signs of a dawning distaste. + +_First Stanza._ It is the cloud that is speaking, and as every cloud is +ever changing, the song of the cloud varies with its condition. It is +now the cloud of the warm summer shower that piles up in snowy billows +on the horizon and rolls over the laughing face of flowering nature. + +How do the flowers show that they are thirsting? Will they look +different when their thirst is satisfied? Do leaves dream? Leaves, you +know, are the lungs of plants. May they do more work in the morning, the +evening and the night, than at midday? May they be said to be sleeping +at times? Is the shade of the cloud a help to the leaves? Did you ever +see the leaves of trees turn their glazed upper surfaces toward the +ground and twist up their under sides toward the sky, begging for +moisture? Did you ever notice that the buds of most flowers open in the +night or toward morning? Do the "dews awaken" these? Do clouds cause +dews? + +Strictly speaking, no "dews" fall from clouds; but light mist may do so. +Who is the mother of the buds? In what way are they "rocked to rest"? +How does the mother "dance about the sun"? Do you like the sound of the +line, "I wield the flail of the lashing hail"? There are five "l's" in +the line and they give it that liquid sound which you like. Did you ever +see a farmer standing in the midst of a floor covered with stalks of +grain, beating out the kernels with a flail? What does the word "under" +mean here? (An adverb, and means _down_ or _into subjection_.) What does +"it" refer to, in the next to the last line? + +_Second stanza._ Who is the pilot of the cloud? Where does he sit? What +lures the pilot? Who are the "genii"? (A _genius_--plural, _genii_--is a +good or evil spirit which was supposed by the ancients to guard a man +and control his destinies. In a sense the spirit of the waters may be +said to control the lightning.) Who move "in the depths of the purple +sea"? (The word "dream" would be written "dreams" in prose. The two +lines mean: "Wherever the lightning thinks the spirit he loves is to be +found.") Who is dissolving in rains? Is there much lightning while the +rain is falling or does it usually precede or follow the heaviest part +of the shower? + +_Third Stanza._ "Sanguine" means "blood red"; "rack" or "wrack" is +broken or floating cloud. What is the "morning star"? What is meant by +its "shining dead"? What are the "burning plumes" and what the "meteor +eyes" of the sunrise? What becomes of broken clouds when the sun strikes +them? What is likened to an eagle that is "alit" on a crag? What is the +"airy nest" of the cloud? What is a "brooding" dove? Is a dove more +quiet than other birds? Did you ever see a cloud high in the sky at +early dawn, at sunset, in the night? Does this stanza make you think of +what you have seen, make you see it again more vividly? + +_Fourth Stanza._ "Orbed" means "round" like the moon. The woof is the +thread that in weaving is carried by the shuttle through the threads of +the "warp"--here it means the "filling." The ancients considered Diana, +goddess of the moon and of hunting, to be a beautiful girl, haughty and +modest. In pictures she was clothed as a huntress, carried a bow and +arrows and wore a crescent in her hair. Is the moon's light white? Is +that phrase a beautiful one which speaks of the moon as "with white +fire laden"? What is the position of the cloud in this stanza? Is it +between the moon and the earth? Is the cloud the "fleece-like floor" of +the sky? If so, when the cloud speaks of its "tent's thin roof," what is +meant? (Perhaps when the moon looks down the cloud looks like a floor +and when the earth looks up it sees the cloud like a tent.) Whose are +the "unseen feet"? At what do the stars "peer"? What do they see first? +Why do they "turn and flee like a swarm of golden bees"? What do the +stars see when the rent is widened? With what are the rivers, lakes and +seas paved? How can they be paved with moon and stars? Did you ever see +the moon and stars reflected in a lake, the former perhaps making a +broad glittering pavement across the waters? To what does "these" in the +last line refer? Why did not Shelley write "stars" instead of "these"? +Can you see the exquisite night pictures described in these lines? + +_Fifth Stanza._ This stanza is characterized by force and intensity of +action; the words and phrases are as apt and beautiful as can be +written. + +Have you not seen the west when the clouds appeared a fiery red around +the setting sun? Have you not seen the moon surrounded by bright pearly +clouds? When the winds blow strong and whirl the fleecy clouds through +the sky do not the latter make the mountain tops dim and do not the +stars seem to dash across the heavens in a maddening race? Ever +changing, the clouds constantly rearrange themselves, sometimes bridging +the entire heavens, resting at the horizon upon the mountains as upon +columns. + +What is the "triumphal arch"? What are the powers of the air? What is +meant by saying they are "chained to the chair" of the cloud? Is the +"triumphal arch" the "million-colored bow"? What is the "bow" that is +said to be "million-colored"? What wove the soft colors of the +million-colored bow? What is the "sphere fire"? What did it do? Whose +soft colors did it weave? What was the earth doing while the colors were +being woven? Why should the earth be laughing? Why is it spoken of as +the moist earth? + +_Sixth Stanza._ A cenotaph in an empty ornamental tomb. The body of the +person to whom the monument has been erected is buried elsewhere. + +In what way is a cloud the daughter of the earth and water? In what way +is it the nurseling of the sky? How can a cloud pass through the pores +of the ocean and shores? What are the pores of the ocean and shores? Is +it true that a cloud cannot die? Is the poet true to nature and science +when he says: + + "For after the rain, when, with never a stain, + The pavilion of heaven is bare, + And the winds and sunbeams, with their convex gleams, + Build up the dome of the air"? + +What is the "cenotaph" of the cloud? Out of what does the cloud rise +again? What is there appropriate in saying that the cloud rises like a +ghost? What is it the cloud builds up again? + +Note the following particularly beautiful phrases: + + "Leaves when laid + In their noonday dreams." + + "Great pines groan aghast." + + "The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes." + + "The crimson pall of eve." + + "The woof of my tent's thin roof." + + "My wind-built tent." + + "The million-colored bow." + + "Nurseling of the sky." + + "With never a stain + The pavilion of heaven is bare." + +Read aloud the entire lyric till its sweet music is yours. Note the +smooth rhythm, the peculiar adaptation of sound to sense, the flowing +cadences in the lines. + + +_Ode to a Skylark_ + +(Volume VII, page 275) + +There are three classes of lyrics that are to a greater or less degree +in the nature of an address to some person, place or thing. The elegy is +a lyric address praising the dead, the ode and the sonnet may praise +living or dead. The elegy in its measures partakes of the solemnity of +the grave, the ode is hampered by no such restrictions. Neither is the +sonnet, although by its strict requirements of form it is set off in a +class by itself. In the ode the poet enjoys his greatest freedom, for he +may use any meter, may write at any length and in any manner, grave, gay +or grotesque. Accordingly the odes of our language are most spontaneous, +musical, inspiring and beautiful. + +_The Skylark_ is a perfect example of an ode at its best. It is full of +life and joy. It sparkles in every line and vies in music with the song +of the lark himself. + + "Hail to thee, _blithe spirit_!-- + Bird thou never wert."-- + +Those two lines are to be taken as the key note of the whole lyric. It +is the spirit of free and perfect melody that Shelley is addressing, +melody that comes from heaven or near it, that bubbles from the full +heart, that is free from rules and conventions, unpremeditated, yet all +art. It is "Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun." "What thou +art we know not," yet thou art like a poet hidden singing hymns +unbidden; like a high-born maiden soothing her love-laden soul in +secret; like a hidden glowworm scattering its hues unbeholden; like a +rose embowered in its leaves making faint the thieving winds with its +heavy scent. Its music surpasses the delicate sounds of vernal showers +on the twinkling grass, the beauty of the rain-awakened flowers, and all +that ever was clear and fresh and joyous. Such is the song. + +"What are the thoughts that inspire such heavenly melody?" the poet +cries. "Teach us, teach us thy sweet thoughts. I have never heard such a +flood of rapture so divine. Matched with thy music the noblest marriage +hymn, the grandest Te Deum would be but an empty boast. From what +fountains springs thy happy strain? Is it from fields, or waves or +mountains, from strange shapes of the sky and plain? Is it from +ignorance of pain, from love of thine own kind that the joyous music +comes? Certainly thou lovest, but there can be no weariness in thy keen +joy, no shadow of annoyance. How different we! + + "We look before and after, + And pine for what is not: + Our sincerest laughter + With some pain is fraught; + Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. + + "Yet if we could scorn + Hate, and pride, and fear; + If we were things born + Not to shed a tear, + I know not how thy joy we ever should come near." + +"To me, the poet, thy skill would be better than all the measures of +delightful sound, than all the treasures found in books and if I could +sing one half as well as thou, the world would listen to me entranced as +I am listening to thee." + +If the song of the lark is beautiful, the song of the poet is not +surpassed. The riotous spirit of music sings in every line, beauty is +seen in every stanza, is lavished upon every phrase, upon every +melodious verse. The prodigality of beautiful phrases is marvelous. The +phrases descriptive of the bird alone are strikingly apt and numerous: + +"Blithe spirit"; "bird thou never wert"; "like a cloud of fire"; "like +an unbodied joy"; "like a star of heaven"; "like a poet hidden in the +light of thought"; "like a highborn maiden in a palace tower"; "like a +glowworm golden"; "like a rose embowered"; "sprite and bird"; "thou +scorner of the ground." + +To characterize the song properly, the poet finds it necessary to use +these phrases: "Profuse strains of unpremeditated art"; "shrill +delight"; "keen as are the arrows of that silver sphere"; "all the earth +and air with thy voice is loud"; "a rain of melody"; surpassing the +"sound of vernal showers" and of "rain-awakened flowers" and "all that +ever was joyous, clear and fresh"; "a flood of rapture so divine"; +beside it a "hymenaeal chorus" or a "triumphal chaunt" is "but an empty +vaunt"; "clear, keen joyance," "notes flow in such a crystal stream." + +Besides the ardent appreciation for the beautiful song, the lyric +contains one sad truth exquisitely expressed: + + "We look before and after, + And pine for what is not: + Our sincerest laughter + With some pain is fraught; + Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." + +And finally, there is the consummate personal appeal of the poet, which, +if we may judge by the matchless lyric, was answered by the same spirit +that inspired the graceful scorner of the ground: + + "Teach me half the gladness + That thy brain must know, + Such harmonious madness + From my lips would flow, + The world should listen then, as I am listening now!" + +Compare the following lyric on the same subject by James Hogg: + + Bird of the wilderness, + Blithesome and cumberless, + Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea! + Emblem of happiness, + Blest is thy dwelling-place-- + O, to abide in the desert with thee! + Wild is thy lay and loud, + Far in the downy cloud + Love gives it energy, love gave it birth. + Where, on thy dewy wing, + Where art thou journeying? + Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth. + O'er fell and mountain sheen, + O'er moor and mountain green, + O'er the red streamer that heralds the day, + Over the cloudlet dim + Over the rainbow's rim, + Musical cherub, soar, singing away! + Then when the gloaming comes, + Low in the heather blooms + Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be! + Emblem of happiness, + Blest is thy dwelling-place + O, to abide in the desert with thee. + +Various interpretations and helpful comments of other kinds may be found +on the following pages: + + Volume I, page 95. _The Rock-a-By Lady._ + Volume I, page 204. _Old Gaelic Lullaby._ + Volume I, page 350. _Keepsake Mill._ + Volume I, page 406. _The Fairies._ + Volume II, page 482. _In Time's Swing._ + Volume IV, page 86. _The Village Blacksmith._ + Volume V, page 335. _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to + Aix._ + Volume V, page 396. _The American Flag._ + Volume VII, page 345. _The Reaper's Dream._ + Volume VIII, page 60. _America._ + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +READING ALOUD + + +Silent reading is selfish, while oral reading is for the benefit and +pleasure of others. The ordinary individual in daily life reads but +little aloud, and probably makes no attempt whatever to improve his +style after he leaves the schoolroom. But parents and teacher are +incessantly called upon to read--to read intelligently and effectively. +To some this power appears to come naturally, but most people acquire it +only by serious study and continuous practice, and will find their +greatest assistance in a thorough knowledge of those things which are +essential to pleasing oral expression. + +1. ARTICULATION AND ENUNCIATION. Articulation is one thing; enunciation +is another. A person articulates the sounds of a language; he enunciates +the syllables and words. A clear and distinct enunciation is as +necessary as the perfect articulation on which it is based. Indistinct +enunciation comes from a natural slovenliness of mind, from nervousness, +haste or over-excitement. + +Any one who can articulate correctly can acquire a perfect enunciation. +Knowing this fact, and knowing the causes which lead to poor +enunciation, it is comparatively easy to correct the faults and give +drill which will overcome the carelessness or remove the difficulty. + +2. EMPHASIS AND INFLECTION. The primary facts upon which rests +intelligibility in reading are emphasis and inflection. Let it be said +at the start that no one can read well who has not thoroughly mastered +the thought in the selection he is rendering. If he is compelled to +search his mind for the meanings of words or to grasp the complete idea +of a sentence, he unwittingly pauses and hesitates and confuses the +ideas of his hearers. But if the thought of a selection is thoroughly +mastered, he places the emphasis almost unerringly and by so doing +raises no conflicting ideas in the mind of the listener. Moreover, if +the meaning of a sentence is clear to a reader his inflections are +ordinarily correct. + +3. EMOTIONAL STATES. A person may read with perfect inflection and the +most correct emphasis, yet fail altogether to convey the real feeling of +the author. Not only must a reader master the thought, but it is +essential that he be able to feel the emotions that possessed the author +or manifested themselves in the characters he describes. If anyone is +thoroughly possessed by the sentiment of any given poem, the quality of +his voice will modify itself and respond to the behests laid upon it. He +will unconsciously pitch his voice at the proper key, will use the right +amount of force, and speak at the rate which most suitably expresses his +feelings. When this is done, we have perfectly natural reading, the +highest art. + +Pitch, rate, quality and force are the particular characteristics of +good reading which depend almost entirely upon the mental state of the +reader. + +a. Pitch. Much depends upon the proper pitch of the voice. The key upon +which one reads may be medium, or low, or high, and what it is depends +upon certain physiological conditions. If the vocal chords are tense, +the pitch is high. Accordingly, any state of mind that produces tense +vocal chords produces high pitch in the voice. A person can forcibly +tighten his vocal chords and utter sounds at high pitch, but they are +strained, artificial and unnatural. If a certain amount of feeling goes +with the effort, the tones become more agreeable. + +If a person's voice is pitched too high, is harsh and unmelodious, the +remedy is by way of a process of forgetting. He must forget that he is +reading and feel that he is talking. If his conversation is marked by +the same faults as his reading, he may gain something by imitation in +the way of raising his standards of expression. In general, he reads +harshly because he thinks he _must_ read. The nervous tension which this +feeling produces has affected his vocal chords without any intention on +his part. He cannot read more expressively while he feels as he does. +Harshness and unnatural pitch will disappear from his voice when he can +forget that he is reading from compulsion. + +For practice the following selections are excellent: + + _Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321. + _Boat Song_, VII, 17. + _Battle of Waterloo_, VIII, 176. + +b. Rate or Time. The rate at which a person reads, or the time consumed +in any one selection, is regulated by the extent or breadth of thought +and by the rapidity of action. There is a certain medium or ordinary +time in which those selections that are in no way emotional are read. +Commonplace selections, not calculated to stir the feelings, are of this +character, as are simple narratives where the incidents are unexciting. +This medium or standard time may be varied in two ways: first, by the +quantity of time taken in the utterance of certain words or syllables, +and second, by pauses between sentences or groups of words. Rate, +however, usually depends more upon the grouping of words and the length +of the pauses between groups than upon the utterance of syllables. The +rate of syllabic utterance is usually a personal characteristic. Some of +us articulate rapidly, while others of more phlegmatic temperament speak +slowly. + +In conversation or in perfectly natural reading, we usually utter with +one impulse of the voice those words which are closely related in +meaning. These words so uttered form groups that are usually quite +independent of punctuation. Punctuation marks are for the eye and are +intended to make clear the meaning. They do not separate the sentence +into units of expression. Only the terminal marks are of any great +importance either in suggesting the inflection or indicating the length +of the pause. A good reader notices the marks insomuch as they make +clear the thought, but largely disregards them in his reading. + +The person who reads too rapidly has a mind that is very quick in its +action or one that is not fully occupied with the thought of his +selection; he may have a vague understanding, but does not realize the +full extent and import of the idea. If he reads too slowly, he is +naturally slow in thought, or the words come to him slowly through his +eyes, his organs of speech are not sufficiently under control, or he +does not appreciate the difference between the principal ideas and those +of minor importance. Find the central idea, group others about it in +proper degrees of subordination, feel the sentiment in what is being +read, and the time usually will be correct. There are worse faults in +reading than undue rapidity or slowness, for we can make our minds keep +pace with the reader, if in other respects his expression is good. + +The following selections afford considerable variety in rate: + + _Exciting Canoe Race_, VII, 79. + _Those Evening Bells_, VII, 340. + _Charge of the Light Brigade_, VII, 147. + _Marco Bozzaris_, VIII, 90. + +c. Quality. The quality of the voice is almost entirely dependent upon +the emotions. Tenderness, love, joy, awe, fear, all produce their effect +upon the voice. In an unemotional state the person speaks in normal +quality and in the tone that is natural to himself. If the same person +is frightened or if his animosity is aroused, he speaks in an aspirated +tone; if he feels harshly toward anyone or is angry, his voice possesses +that guttural quality which indicates the severer and harsher emotion; +when he is moved by grandeur and sublimity, his voice naturally takes a +full, round quality. + +d. Force. The quantity of mental energy the person possesses usually +regulates the force of his utterance, and that mental energy is +stimulated by his emotions. If he feels thoroughly in earnest in what he +is trying to accomplish, his voice becomes loud and full of force. It is +then a natural force and is usually agreeable, unless the emotion which +causes it is of an unpleasant type. + +But it is often true, particularly of teachers who have been long in +service and those persons who have talked under unfavorable conditions +to large numbers of people, that their voices have become too loud and +too much strained to be pleasant to the ear. A soft, pleasing voice, +loud enough to be distinctly audible, is always better than a strident, +forcible utterance that compels attention whether one will or not. + +Extremes of force may be found in the following selections: + + _Sweet and Low_, VI, 122. + _To a Waterfowl_, VII, 395. + _The Destruction of Sennacherib_, VI, 141. + _Little Red Riding Hood_, I, 79. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LITERATURE AND ITS FORMS + + +It is not everyone who can tell readily what is meant by literature, nor +can anyone in a few words define it. What the study of "literature" +(only the adult's manner of saying "reading") is expected to accomplish +was aptly described by Cardinal Newman when he wrote: "The object of +literature in education is to open the mind, to correct it, to refine +it, to enable it to comprehend and adjust its knowledge, to give it +power over its faculties--application, flexibility, method, critical +exactness, sagacity, address and expression." Reading at home and in the +public schools as well as in the high school and colleges helps to +accomplish these ends to a great extent. + +Many persons fail to understand what literature is, and if they do +realize its importance they do not comprehend the great variety of its +forms nor the significance of each. To help such persons to a more +comprehensive knowledge and a deeper insight into the functions of +literature this chapter is written. + +In its widest sense the word literature covers nearly every kind of +printed matter, but it is in its more restricted meaning that the term +is used here. Only that which is beautiful in form and expression, +inspiring and helpful in spirit, noble and righteous in sentiment can +be called literature as we are considering it. There may be weak and +frivolous books, well-meaning but inept books, and really bad books, but +none of them can be classed as literature. + +Literary masterpieces are either prose or poetry, and in print the two +are easily recognizable by their difference in form. Coleridge once said +that prose consisted of words in their best order, while poetry was the +best words in their best order, a poetic definition that does not convey +a very accurate knowledge of the distinction. Poetry differs from prose +not only in the choice and arrangement of words, but also to a lesser +degree in sentiment and feeling. However, much verse, though faultless +in form, can never be considered real poetry, while much prose has real +poetic beauty. + + +_Prose_ + +The great bulk of the writings of the world is in prose. It is the +medium of hard sense, of practical knowledge, of argument and of +dialogue. Yet often it appeals to the imagination, charms with its +beauty and inspires to heroic deeds. + +It seems to be generally accepted that four methods of expression are to +be found in prose: _narration_, _description_, _exposition_ and +_argumentation_. Narration deals with things in action, description with +the appearance of things, exposition explains the relations ideas bear +to one another, and argumentation not only does this, but tries at the +same time to convince. Theoretically, this distinction is very easy to +make, for action is the life of narration, appearance the theme of +description, explanation and exposition are synonymous, and no one +argues but with the hope of convincing. What can man do more than to +tell what has been done, tell how a thing looks, show how one thing +follows from another or is related to it, and endeavor to bring another +person to the same state of mind? + +The accuracy and completeness of the classification is most evident +until one attempts to apply it practically to existing literature, and +then he finds that no literary masterpiece belongs entirely to any one +of the classes, but that these mingle and unite, one or the other +usually predominating. This ruling element, the one which is +proportionately greater, will govern the classification of a selection. +In any story, narration and description meet at every turn, and not +infrequently exposition is found freely intermingled; while novels have +been written with the avowed sole purpose of changing the beliefs of a +people. _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ is a story of intense dramatic activity, and +abounds in vivid descriptions of places and persons. It is generally +dealing with incidents relating to the characters of the story, yet it +really makes an exposition of the evils of slavery, and certainly was no +small factor in stirring the American people into vigorous action +against the slave dealers. Yet no one would classify the book otherwise +than among the narratives. Although into Burke's _Conciliation_ other +elements enter, yet everyone will admit it to be argumentative in the +highest degree. So while it is well to classify the selections read, yet +fine theoretical distinctions should be abandoned. It is not so +necessary to classify and name as it is to compare and distinguish. + +Narratives have been classified variously, but not more satisfactorily +than have other forms of literature. A narrative is true or fictitious, +and there appears the first principle of classification. Truthful +narratives are personal when they are the simple account of the deeds of +some person or thing, biographical when they show a clear and evident +purpose to detail the events in the life of the person, historical when +they deal with larger and more complicated questions and when the actors +are as numerous as the actions are various. Fictitious narratives +comprise short stories and novels. One prominent writer notes the +following types: (1) The realistic novel that is true to actual life and +often enters into the discussion of important questions of record. (2) +The novel of life and manners which is largely descriptive and in which +the exigencies of the plot give way to the study of customs. (3) The +novel of incident in which the plot is everything and description and +character study are avoided or subordinated to action. (4) The romance +which usually deals with things as they were in days long past and with +actions that little concern the present. Marvelous and even supernatural +incidents crowd its pages. (5) The idealistic novel which paints the +world as it should be and makes its actors more nearly perfect than the +world accepts as typical. (6) The novel with a purpose which seeks to +convert its readers by the vividness of its portraits rather than by +argument, though by means of many detailed conversations its theories +are often freely discussed and fully substantiated. Many great reforms +have been brought about by novels of this character. + +Description deals with the individual and not with the class. A fine +description is a work of art in its highest sense and is closely allied +to painting, than which it is even more delicate and refined; for while +the painter lays his color on the canvas and our eyes see the entire +picture in all its minutest detail, the writer can only suggest the idea +and stimulate the imagination to create for itself the picture in the +mind of the artist. Yet such is the marvelous power of words when +handled by a master that one can see by them almost as vividly as by the +sense of sight. The reader is transported to far-away lands, strange men +and animals surround him, the skies glare above him, silver lakes +sparkle in the sun, brooks murmur against their fern-covered sides, and +birds move the soul with their sweet music. Evening draws on, and the +landscape glimmering fades away; the stars come out one by one and by +and by the moon steals slowly up the sky. Peace and quiet reign over the +darkened world. Neither sculpture nor painting can depict these changes; +it rests with the magic of words. But the reader must do his share. He +must give time to his reading, must yield himself gently to its +influence, must not force himself into the writer's mood but must +receive and accept. Then descriptive literature will yield its keenest +pleasures. + +Exposition deals with the class, and is abstract. So the demands made +upon the reader are infinitely greater. It assumes that the concrete +examples and specific instances necessary to interpret the abstract are +already in mind and that the barest allusion to them will be sufficient. +So exposition naturally follows narrative and description. + +Successful argumentation depends upon proof and persuasion. It is +addressed to the reason or to the emotions. Burke and Webster endeavor +to establish their respective positions by irrefutable arguments. When +Beecher addressed the people on the slavery question he appealed +strongly to their emotions and sought to make them act because of their +intense feeling. One characteristic of all literary masterpieces is +unity, but in none is this of more importance than in the expository and +argumentative types. + +As we study it, literary material may be grouped as fiction, essays, +speeches (orations), and dialogue (drama). No classification can be +rigid or exact, for one may blend into the other. At the same time in +any one may be found the four forms, description, narration, exposition +and argument. For our purposes, however, the following definitions will +answer: _Fiction_ is a term covering those narratives which are either +wholly or in part events that never happened and acts of individuals +that never lived. Fiction is the work of the imagination, based upon the +facts of life and observation. It appears as stories, in narrative poems +or epics, and in novels. + +_Essays_ deal with all subjects and in such a variety of ways that any +attempt to classify them meets with difficulty. Originally an essay was +an attempt, a mere outline or plan intended to be filled out at greater +length or to be used in different form. It is in this sense that Bacon +uses the word and his essays are condensed to the highest degree. In +later years essays have come to be of the most highly finished type of +literature and some of the most beautiful passages, the noblest +thoughts, the most inspiring utterances, are to be found in them. +Almost every conceivable topic is treated: there are biographical essays +which do little more than narrate the facts of a man's life; there are +descriptive essays whose only function is to make their readers see +something as the author saw it; there are argumentative and didactic +essays and essays on science, art, religion, and literary criticism. +Some writers have given their whole time and attention to this form of +composition, and the modern magazine has become their distributing +agency. Much of the deepest, of the brightest, of the best of recent +work has come to its readers through this medium. + +The essay shows more of the author's self than any other form of +literature. It is apt to be sincere, to be the deliberate expression of +the writer's own views formulated with the desire to convince another. +In the purely literary type this last characteristic is not so +strikingly prominent, though it appears rather under the surface. In no +form of literature is the artistic element more manifest. The prose +writer makes of his essay what the poet does of his lyric--the most +finished and beautiful expression of his thought. The thought is the +writer's chief concern, but upon his manner of expressing it depend the +force and value of his work. Accordingly he gives to his style his most +careful attention and fits and polishes it with all his skill. The +result is that in the essay are to be found the best examples of prose +style. While the essay frequently appeals to our humorous sense and +sometimes arouses our sympathy by its pathetic touches, yet no such +opportunity is offered for emotional effect as that given by the novel +or the drama. + +The essay is written to be read, the _oration_ to be heard; the essay is +to please, to entertain, perhaps to instruct, sometimes to convince; the +oration is to arouse the feelings, to carry conviction, to stir the +public to action. It is a formal production, addressed directly to its +hearers; it is in form or meaning in the second person. Even when +descriptive or eulogistic, it is a direct address. The orator says, +"These are my opinions and my reasons for so thinking. Will you not +accept my view and act accordingly?" + +The oration naturally divides itself into three sections. There is an +_introduction_, in which the speaker clears the way, opens the question +and lays down the principles he proposes to advocate, or indicates the +course of his argument. The _body_ follows. Here the principles are +elucidated, the arguments advanced and properly established or the +descriptions elaborated and finished. The last section is the +_conclusion_, which may consist of a brief review or summary of the +inferences drawn, or of a plea for belief and for action in accordance +with the principles of the speaker. + +Before the art of printing was invented, public opinion was molded +almost entirely by public speaking, and for a great many years afterward +the orator was the greatest of leaders. By the magic of his eloquence he +changed the views of men and inspired them to deeds of valor. The fiery +orations of a Demosthenes, of a Cicero; the thrilling words of a Peter +the Hermit or a Savonarola; the unanswerable arguments of a Burke or a +Webster, have more than once turned the course of history. + +But when the newspaper first found its way into the hands of thinking +men the power of the orator felt the influence of its silent opponent +and began to wane. Today, it is not often that multitudes are swayed by +a single voice. The debates and stump-speeches of a political campaign +change but few votes. The preacher no longer depends wholly upon the +convincing power of his rhetoric to make his converts. The +representatives of a people in a parliament or a congress speak that +their words may be heard through the newspapers by their constituents +more than with the expectation that their speech will carry a measure +through the House they are addressing. + +Yet we will listen with pleasure to a fervid speaker whose earnestness +of manner carries the conviction of his sincerity, and even against our +will we are moved by elegant sentences and pleasing tones. The orator +will continue to be a power, though in a different way. Conditions have +changed, and the ponderous periods and elaborate figures that +characterized the orators of classic epochs are giving place to the +plain, lucid diction and the simple, true-hearted tones of the modern +speaker. + +The drama is objective, the author keeping himself out of sight as much +as possible. His characters appear, speak their parts and vanish with no +explanatory words from him except the occasional stage direction limited +to the fewest possible words. There is no description, except when the +actors give an account of something that does not occur upon the stage. +There is little of narration, except to explain what does not appear +upon the scene or to give clearness to the action. Argument is not +infrequent, though it is usually in the form of a moving appeal to the +emotions rather than to the reason. The play often leads to exposition, +and many dramas are written with the evident intent of teaching a deep +and forceful lesson. + +The drama shows man in action and develops his character before the +reader, but it is by acts and speech and not by direct description from +the author. It deals with all human interests and frequently +supernatural manifestations are introduced and become important factors +in the plot, particularly when they are believed in by the people who +appear in the drama. But in general it is a study of life and character. + +Primarily the drama is to be heard, not read, and consequently its style +is usually clear and its meaning easily apprehended, but the complexity +of its incidents and the intricacies of its plot make it difficult to +follow. The rapidity of its action, the necessity of gathering the +meaning from a single hearing, and the intensity of feeling aroused +would all unite to confuse the hearer were it not for the skill of the +actor and the appropriateness of the stage settings. By the aid of +these, understanding is in most cases not difficult. The changing +scenery, the dress of the actors, their movements, the tones of their +voices, and the expression of their faces all aid the hearer. But the +interpretation then becomes that of the actor, so that the listener is +once removed from the author. Moreover, to the actor everything is +subservient to dramatic effect, and the study of an Othello descends +into an effort to excite an audience rather than to portray correctly +the shifting passions of the jealous Moor. The poet's creation is +adapted to the actor's use by the omission of scenes, changes of scenes, +and additions of scenes, by such verbal alterations and phrasal +transpositions that one does not see Shakespeare's Shylock demanding his +pound of flesh but watches Irving's Shylock whetting his savage knife; +Hamlet is lost in Booth, and Juliet weeps in the tears of Mary Anderson. + +But the pleasure a person derives from listening to their thrilling +utterances is as distinct from that which comes to the appreciative +reader as the pleasures of the palate differ from those of the eye. To +the reader everything is his own. He carries his own theater with him. +The scenery he must himself construct and he may alter it at will; the +costumes and personal appearance of the characters are the creations of +his own mind; his thunder has no metallic sound and his lightning always +flashes. He may bring his favorites back with many an encore and may +show his disapproval with hisses that would drown the gallery. He may +linger over the passages he loves and find new encouragement in his +defeats and ever fresh joys for his hours of gloom. He is never hurried: +the lights never go out, the curtain is never rung down. + + +_Poetry_ + +The reality of poetry is its beauty, its power of inspiration, its +truth. Its beauty lies in its choice of words, in its figures of speech, +in its music and in its sentiment. Any definition that is not purely +formal is hard to give. Professor Shairp defined the soul of poetry when +he wrote: "Whenever the soul comes vividly in contact with any fact, +truth, or existence, which it realizes and takes home to itself with +more than common intensity, out of that meeting of the soul and its +object there arises a thrill of joy, a glow of emotion; and the +expression of that _glow_, that _thrill_, is poetry." + + +_The Structure of Poetry_ + +The form and structure of poetry should be studied, but not to so great +an extent as to blind the eye or deaden the appreciation of its beauty +and sentiment. Brown, who wrote the beautiful story _Rab and His +Friends_, has said, "It is with poetry as with flowers and fruits. We +would all rather have them and taste them than talk about them. It is a +good thing to know about a lily, its scientific ins and outs, its +botany, its archaeology, even its anatomy and organic radicals; but it is +a better thing to look at the flowers themselves and to consider how +they grow." + +If one reads poetry aloud he soon becomes sensible of a certain rhythm +or regular recurrence of accented syllables that gives a measured +movement to the lines. It is a recognition of this rhythm that makes a +child read in a "sing-song" tone, as natural a thing as it is to sing. +If we hear constantly repeated at frequent and regular intervals any +noise, there is a tendency to group these separate sounds and measure +them off regularly. The clock ticks with always the same force and with +the same space of time between the ticks, yet we hear _tick_-tack, +_tick_-tack; we can prove the difference to be in our ear, for it +requires but little effort to hear tick-_tack_ or _tack_-tick, +_tack_-tick. The ticking has not varied in the least. + +The poet takes advantage of this rhythmical tendency of nature and by +using accented syllables at regular intervals compels us to recognize +the swing of his lines. When he reduces this to a system he has +established the _meter_ of his production. The poetical accents +sometimes fall on unaccented syllables and sometimes on monosyllabic +words that are not emphatic, but usually the metrical accent of any +given word corresponds to its logical accent. The accentuation of a +syllable tends to lengthen the time used in the pronunciation of that +syllable, and so we call it long, although the sound of its vowel may be +short. Short syllables are those which are unaccented, even though the +vowel has the long sound. + +Verse appeals to the ear by its melodious combinations of sounds and +also by the regular recurrence of similar sounds in _rhymes_. These +usually occur at the ends of verses. In order that a rhyme may be +perfect the two rhyming syllables must both be accented, the vowel sound +and the consonants following must be identical, and the sounds preceding +the vowel must be different. For example, _fate_ and _late_ rhyme; _fat_ +and _late_ do not; _fate_ and _lame_ do not; _debate_ rhymes with +_relate_, but not with _prelate_. Double rhymes occur frequently, as in +the words _bowlders, shoulders_. + +Take this stanza from Hood's _Song of the Shirt_: + + With fingers weary and worn, + With eyelids heavy and red, + A woman sat in unwomanly rags + Plying her needle and thread-- + Stitch! Stitch! Stitch! + In poverty, hunger and dirt; + And still with a voice of dolorous pitch + She sang the "song of the shirt." + +Here the first and third lines are unrhymed, the second and fourth, the +fifth and seventh, and the sixth and eighth lines rhyme alternately in +couplets. If the beginnings of the verses are noticed it will be seen +that the indentations of the lines correspond with the rhymes. + +Rhymes are not always used in poetry. Most of Shakespeare's plays are +written in _blank verse_, which is unrhymed iambic pentameter, called +_heroic verse_. _Hiawatha_ and _Evangeline_ are not rhymed, the former +being trochaic tetrameter and the latter largely dactylic hexameter. + +Frequently appeal is made to the ear by a similarity of sound at the +beginning of words. This is known as _alliteration_. In early English +poems this was of prime importance and subject to rigid rules, but more +recently it has been used without rule, subject merely to the author's +will. This is seen to a marked degree in many writers. Here are several +lines taken from Poe's _The Bells_: + + What a world of _m_erriment their _m_elody foretells, + What a _t_ale of _t_error now their _t_urbulency _t_ells. + In a mad expostulation with the dea_f_ and _f_rantic _f_ire. + +In many cases alliteration is very skilfully handled, as where Whittier +uses the liquid consonants to make more smooth and harmonious to the ear +the line that tells the friendliness of the brooklet whose murmurings +could not be heard in winter, but-- + + "The music of whose _li_quid _li_p + Had been to us companionship" + +during the long summer days. + +The number of verses in a stanza varies from two to an indefinite +number. When there are two verses the stanza is called a couplet; a +three line stanza is called a tercet; a four line stanza, a quatrain. +The five line stanza is not common, but six is a frequent number. + + +_Kinds of Poetry_ + +Poems may be classified as epic, lyric and dramatic. + +The word _epic_ is by some writers restricted in its application, but it +is preferred here to use it in a broad sense to include various forms of +narrative poetry, and to use the term greater, or heroic, epic to +designate the smaller class of narratives which the older writers knew +as epics. Thomas Arnold's definition of the greater epic is: "The +subject of the Epic Poem must be some one, great, complex action. The +principal personages must belong to the high places of the world, and +must be grand and elevated in their ideas and in their bearing. The +measure must be of sonorous dignity, befitting the subject. The action +is carried on by a mixture of narrative, dialogue, and soliloquy. +Briefly to express its main characteristics, the epic treats of one +great complex action, in grand style, and with fullness of detail." + +Under such a definition there can be but few really great epics in any +language. Comparatively few poets have cared to undertake so great a +task and many of those who have been willing to make the attempt have +failed conspicuously in the execution. But most of the great languages +of the world have each one surpassing epic which has held the interest +of its readers and established an immortality for itself. Homer gave the +Greeks the grandeur of his _Iliad_; Virgil charms the Latin race and +every cultivated people since with the elegance of his _Aeneid_; Dante +with Virgil for his model and Beatrice as an inspiration wrote in +Italian the _Divina Commedia_, in which he described with all-powerful +pen the condition of the dead in the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise; +and our Milton after years of preparation, from the dark realm of his +own blindness, produced the sublime measures of _Paradise Lost_. These +are the Greater Epics, greater by far than anything else written by man. +With them this course does not concern itself to any great extent. + +The term lesser epic includes the numerous forms of narrative poems from +the old-time ballad to the modern story-telling poem. The epic is +essentially different from the lyric. While in the latter the +personality of the author is always apparent, and properly so, in the +epic the intrusion of the poet's self is usually a defect. The lyric is +subjective, the epic objective. To tell a story effectively and well is +the prime motive, to tell it beautifully and in a way to excite the +imagination and move the feelings of the reader is the contributory +poetic impulse. Of the lesser epics groups might be set apart. The +ballad is the oldest form. It was originally the production of wandering +minstrels or glee-men and was not reduced to writing and kept in +permanent form. Being passed from mouth to mouth there naturally came +to be great variations in its form, and even the incidents were modified +to suit the taste of the singer. After poetry came to be a study of the +cultured and refined, the minstrel's power declined, though he was a +welcome guest at the feasts of the wealthy, where his song added to the +gayety of the occasion or gave dignity to the host as his deeds were +sung by the hireling bard. In the sixteenth century these singers +disappeared from view in the blaze of the Elizabethan Age. + +The highest type of literary expression is poetry, and the most perfect +creation of poetic imagination is the lyric. Technically a lyric is a +song, a short poem that can be set to music. But this must be +interpreted in a wide sense, for though all the songs that are sung are +lyrics, the greater number of lyrics were never intended to be fitted to +the closer requirements of vocal harmony. They deal with all subjects +and have few requirements of form, though form is an essential element +and a matter of great importance, for to the perfection of form much of +the intense effect of the lyric is due. Like the essay the lyric is a +subjective composition; it is confessedly the expression of the poet's +personal emotion and his own experiences. His mind, his soul, speak to +us; he does not interpret the thoughts and feelings of another. The +lyric is usually contemplative and full of the choicest results of the +poet's meditations. It influences action indirectly through direct +appeals to the emotions. + +Songs form a class of lyrics as varied in content as the possible +subjects in life. One might consider them as sacred and secular and +under the former recognize the psalms, which our poets have many times +rendered into metrical form, not infrequently detracting from the +sublimity of the originals. "The Lord is my Shepherd" needs no change, +no remodeling from the biblical version to make it a true lyric, but +that it may be sung to the tunes of our churches it has more than once +been paraphrased. + +Hymns are religious songs expressing devout reverence for the deity, +displaying confidence and faith in the goodness of God, breathing a +prayer for help in hours of difficulty and distress, or for consolation +in the hour of affliction. Our literature is full of these noble poems, +and their lofty sentiments, clothed in beautiful words sung to the +thrilling music of other inspired composers, have been potent factors in +culture and refinement. + +Secular songs are written upon nearly every conceivable topic of human +interest and are more numerous than any other form of literature, but so +many of them are inferior in composition and so dependent upon the +jingle of the tunes to which they are sung that their life is little +longer than the time consumed in their production. But a large number +are conceived in the true spirit of art and are as worthy of immortality +as anything we read. + +There are comic songs that sparkle with wit and whose music laughs with +the hearer; sentimental and love songs whose sensuous cadences intensify +the passion of their words; convivial songs where toasts are drunk to +the accompaniment of the clinking glasses; and patriotic songs that roll +with the ringing cheers of thousands and the tramp of armed men. + +There are still three large classes of lyrics each distinct in itself, +though, as we see if we try to draw the lines closely, shading off into +one another. Usually these are in the nature of a direct address to some +person, place, or thing, and are distinguished one from another by the +nature of the subject or the rules of form. All are in a greater or less +degree complimentary to the thing addressed and show interest, respect, +admiration or love. The ode and elegy have most in common, although the +latter is a tribute to the dead. The sonnet partakes deeply of the +nature of the others, but is set off by very arbitrary limitations of +form. + +There are no rules governing the form of the ode; the poet is at liberty +to select whatever form seems best adapted to his purpose. The length of +the stanza, the meter, the rhyme, may be as varied as his fancy +dictates, but the ode is an address direct and personal, an address with +praise for its object. The subject may be a flower, a piece of pottery, +a person, a bird or a nation, but some definite inciting object is +necessary. The ode is subjective in that the poet expresses his own +feeling of admiration or reverence. Often there is an acknowledgment of +a benefit conferred, a lesson learned, or affection returned. From these +conditions, namely, the liberty of form, the direct and powerful +inspiration, the sincere desire to return a favor, a poet might +naturally be expected to produce his choicest work, and so he has done. + +A mournful song, in stately measure, praising the dead for his virtues, +full of the grief that remains with the living, believing in the +happiness of the departed and hoping for a blessed reunion in the +hereafter: this is the typical _elegy_. On the one side it shades off +into the ode, some poems being susceptible of classification in both +groups; on the other it may take the form of sonnets, many of which +answer every requirement of the dirge. Many poems are therefore +elegiacal that are not strictly elegies. A rigid classification is never +necessary, but an association of these beautiful pieces, all thoroughly +impregnated with the personal grief of the author, gives to each a +greater power, a more thrilling significance. They arise from the +deepest emotion and so are the offspring of divinest inspiration; love +is in the heart of the writer and so the flight of song is best +sustained; they are intended to show to the world respect and admiration +for the one whose virtues they celebrate and so they are refined and +polished to the last degree. Where grief, love and a hope to give +earthly immortality to the object of his affection move the poet, we +expect the finest efforts of his genius. These elegies include some of +the grandest, the most perfect productions of poetic skill. + +When man sees his loved one laid away forever, he naturally longs to +preserve the memory of the departed to succeeding generations, to erect +some permanent memorial. Funereal monuments are characteristic of every +race and have proved the most enduring records of the past. The +inscriptions upon these tombs are early records of the elegiac spirit. + +The epitaph is elegy in miniature. "To define an epitaph is useless; +everyone knows it is an inscription on a tomb. An _epitaph_ is indeed +commonly panegyrical, because we are seldom distinguished by a stone but +by our friends," says Dr. Johnson. + +This epitaph was written by Robert Wilde in the seventeenth century: + + Here lies a piece of Christ; a star in dust; + A vein of gold; a china dish that must + Be used in heaven, when God shall feast the just. + +The _sonnet_ may be addressed to any person or thing and is the direct +personal expression of the author's feeling. It is like the ode, and +also partakes of the general nature of the elegy, but it differs from +both in the rigidity of the rules of form that govern it. Sonnets +originated in Italy, and the genuine Italian sonnet is very exacting in +form. It must consist of exactly fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. +These lines are divided into two groups, one of which consists of eight +lines or two _quatrains_, the whole known as the _octave_. The remaining +six lines constitute the _sestet_. The first and last line of each +quatrain rhyme together, while the middle lines of each form the second +rhyme. In the sestet usually the first line rhymes with the fourth, the +second with the fifth and the third with the sixth. As a whole the +sonnet contains one idea, which in the octave is general, in the sestet +specific, for the sestet expresses the conclusion of the octave. + +The difficulties of composition under such arbitrary limitations are +evident, and it is not to be wondered at that even famous poets have +utterly failed when they have essayed to write in this form. The sonnet +has met with severest criticism, some writers failing to see any beauty +in it. Coleridge says: "And when at last the poor thing is toiled and +hammered into fit shape, it is in general racked and tortured prose +rather than anything resembling poetry." Though Lord Byron wrote a few +himself he defined the sonnet as "The most puling, petrifying, stupidly +Platonic composition." + +But this is hardly fair to the many exquisitely beautiful lyrics that in +this form grace the English language. Those "little pictures painted +well," those "monuments of a moment" are among our most graceful poems, +and the reader who has not learned to delight in a beautiful sonnet has +missed the most refined pleasure English literature has to give. + +The following exquisite sonnet, _Victor and Vanquished_, by Longfellow, +is formed on the Italian model: + + As one who long hath fled with panting breath + Before his foe, bleeding and near to fall, + I turn and set my back against the wall, + And look thee in the face, triumphant Death. + I call for aid, and no one answereth; + I am alone with thee, who conquerest all; + Yet me thy threatening form doth not appall, + For thou art but a phantom and a wraith; + Wounded and weak, sword broken at the hilt, + With armor shattered, and without a shield, + I stand unmoved; do with me what thou wilt; + I can resist no more, but will not yield. + This is no tournament where cowards tilt; + The vanquished here is victor of the field. + +How many verses in this sonnet? What is the meter? What is the rhyme +scheme? Through how many lines is the rhyme scheme the same as that +followed in the Italian sonnet? + +Is there a unity of thought in this sonnet? Does the poet consistently +allude to some one thing? Was Longfellow old or young when he wrote +this? What does Longfellow represent himself to be? Why does he "set his +back against the wall"? In these days of Mauser rifles would it do any +good to set one's back against the wall for protection against an +approaching enemy? Was it ever an advantage? Who is the foe that follows +him? How can Death be "but a phantom and a wraith" and at the same time +follow the poet triumphantly? What do his weapons and his armor indicate +as to what he represents himself? What is the "broken sword"? Who fight +in tournaments? What is there appropriate in the word "tilt"? How can +the one who is vanquished be victor still? Is the figure of medieval +knighthood well sustained? + +The earliest European _dramas_ of which we have any record were the +plays performed in ancient Greece five hundred years before Christ. +There were very few characters introduced, sometimes only one or two, +and a chorus was the most important part of the representation. This +chorus served to fill the gaps in the action, to state what had preceded +and at times even to comment upon the actors, to exhort or to praise or +condemn their behavior. The Greek dramatists carefully followed the +so-called rule of _three unities_: unity of time, whereby the action +must be compressed into one day; unity of place, by which only one place +must be represented; and unity of action, whereby the movement of the +piece must be continuous, all the incidents be connected so as to form +one main line of thought. The rule of three unities was followed very +closely by the French dramatists up to comparatively recent times; but +in England, beginning with the Elizabethan era, no restraint was placed +upon dramatic technique except unity of action, which still remains +essential. + +During the Middle Ages the drama was represented by _miracle_ and +_mystery plays_ dealing with sacred history. They differed in subject +only. The miracle plays represented the lives of saints and their +miraculous deeds; the mysteries, the mysterious doctrines of +Christianity and various biblical events. During an age when preaching +was unusual, the clergy reached the souls of their people by means of +these rude plays which were at first given in churches; but later, when +the town guilds and trade organizations began to present them, the stage +was a traveling cart, roughly fitted up with rude scenery. Still later, +before theaters were built, the wandering players acted in inn yards or +courtyards. Female parts were always taken by boys, and it was not until +after Shakespeare's time that women appeared on the stage. + +In the reign of Henry VI the mysteries were in part superseded by the +_morality plays_, although the former did not wholly go out of style +until the time of Elizabeth. The passion play given every ten years at +Oberammergau, Bavaria, is a survival of the old mystery play. The +moralities personified the virtues and vices common to man, and +attempted to teach moral lessons by allegorical representations. When +popular interest in these dramas began to lag, current topics were +introduced into the dialogue, and characters from real life appeared on +the stage for the first time. Early in the sixteenth century John +Heywood invented a farcical composition called _The Interlude_ to +relieve the tiresome monotony of existing plays. But it was in 1540 that +the first comedy appeared, and it is not too much to say that this play +marks the beginning of modern English drama. Nicholas Udall, head master +of Eton College, being accustomed to write Latin plays for his boys, +concluded to try his hand at an English drama. The result was _Ralph +Royster Doyster_, the first comedy. In 1562 Queen Elizabeth was +entertained by the presentation of the first English tragedy, a play +entitled _Gorboduc_, by Thomas Sackville. + +During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries amateur dramatic +productions called _masques_ were presented. Sometimes even nobles and +members of the royal family took part. These plays were accompanied by +music, dancing, and spectacular effects. The literary character of the +masque developed into the compositions of Ben Jonson, and culminated in +Milton's _Comus_. During the reign of Elizabeth the productions of Kyd, +Peele, Greene, Marlowe, and Beaumont and Fletcher raised the drama to +such a lofty plane that only the genius of a Shakespeare could surmount +it. + +There are two distinct classes of modern dramas--tragedies and comedies. +In the former, events crowd irresistibly on to some terrible conclusion, +usually resulting in the death of the principal characters. An +atmosphere of gloom surrounds it, and the flashes of light serve but to +intensify the general darkness. Even when the soul of the reader +recognizes the justice of the end it rebels against the horrors of the +situation. The deeper and darker passions predominate; love is swallowed +up in hate and happiness drowned in grief. The comedy is in a lighter +and happier vein; its situations may be trying but they end happily; the +sun shines and the air is clear; if storms appear they are the showers +of a summer day, not awful tempests. The comedy descends through various +forms to the travesty and farce whose purpose is solely to excite +laughter by ludicrous scenes and absurd incidents. The melodrama abounds +in thrilling situations and extravagant efforts to excite emotions, but +its final outcome is a happy one, and the villain is punished and virtue +is comfortably rewarded. + +Dramas may be written in prose or in poetic form. The tendency is toward +prose in comedy and poetry in tragedy, though in the same play both +prose and poetry are sometimes used. The most common form for the poetic +composition is the unrhymed iambic pentameter or blank verse (heroic +measure). Rhymes are in use but usually their purpose is definite and +specific and they may occur occasionally in plays which are otherwise in +blank verse. Lyrics are often introduced, and in them both rhyme and +meter are varied at the pleasure of the author. + +_Journeys Through Bookland_ contains numerous illustrations of the facts +of this chapter and plentiful examples of every form of literature +except the sonnet, of which a type has just been given. The outline +which follows will summarize this chapter and show a few of the examples +that may be formed. + + [Illustration: ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON + PAUL DU CHAILLU + RUDYARD KIPLING + THOMAS HUGHES + HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN + JAKOB GRIMM + WILHELM GRIMM] + + +LITERATURE + + I. PROSE. + 1. Forms of Prose Composition. + A. Narration. + _The Pine Tree Shillings_: IV, 192. + _A Christmas Carol_: VI, 244. + + B. Description. + _Brute Neighbors_: VII, 260. + _The Alhambra_: VIII, 153. + _Children's Books of the Past_: V, 101. + + C. Exposition. + _Imitation of Christ_: VI, 134. + _The Cubes of Truth_: VII, 406. + _Reading History_: V, 394. + + D. Argument. + _Poor Richard's Almanac_: VI, 407. + + 2. Kinds of Prose. + A. Fiction. + _Aladdin_: III, 288. + _Tom Brown at Rugby_: V, 469. + _The Adventure of the Windmills_: VII, 438. + + B. Essays. + _Childhood_: VI, 124. + _Dream Children_: VIII, 335. + _The Vision of Mirza_: IX, 285. + + C. Orations. + _The Gettysburg Address_: IX, 321. + _Abraham Lincoln_: IX, 324. + + II. POETRY. + 1. Structure of Poetry. + A. Rhyme. + _The Country Squire_: VI, 474. + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + + B. Meter. + _The Daffodils_: VII, 1. + _The Old Oaken Bucket_: VII, 11. + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + _Boat Song_: VII, 17. + + 2. Kinds of Poetry. + A. Epics. + a. Heroic Epics. + _Death of Hector_: IV, 364. + _Wooden Horse_: IV, 383. + b. Lesser Epics. + _Saint Nicholas_: II, 202. + _Pied Piper of Hamelin_: III, 384. + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + _Sohrab and Rustum_: VI, 173. + + B. Lyrics. + a. Songs. + (1) Sacred. + _Nearer Home_: IV, 126. + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + (2) Secular. + _Annie Laurie_: VI, 119. + _Auld Lang Syne_: VI, 228. + _Those Evening Bells_: VII, 340. + (3) Patriotic. + _Battle Hymn of the Republic_: V, 399. + _America_: VIII, 60. + b. Odes. + _To the Fringed Gentian_: VII, 4. + _Ode to a Skylark_: VII, 275. + _To H. W. L._: IV, 84. + c. Elegies. + _Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard_: VI, 360. + d. Sonnet. + e. Drama. + _The Tempest_: VIII, 364. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL + + +_Reading and Language_ + +These books were prepared expressly for home readings, but as has been +said elsewhere, they were prepared with a definite purpose to make them +a living adjunct to school work and a strong helper in bringing the home +and the school together. To accomplish this result it was necessary that +all the studies offered in _Journeys_ should be after the most approved +methods and that there should be no selections that could not with +propriety be used in any school in the land. This principle of selection +made it necessary to exclude some selections that might have been +pleasing but at the same time were not universal in their acceptance. +Again, it was necessary to include literature that was in a sense +technical, that would apply to every class that young readers have in +school. This does not mean that there are a great many things that are +purely geographical or purely historical or that deal directly with the +study of language and literature. It means that the reader of _Journeys_ +will find selections that he can use in nearly every class in school and +that those selections are in the highest degree literary. In no way does +a child learn more thoroughly that geography and history are worth +study in themselves than by meeting them clothed in the beauty of fine +writing. In no way will he be led more quickly into a love for nature in +all her manifestations and into a keen desire to study nature than by +the hand of literature. Language takes on a new interest when it becomes +evident that it is a real and necessary help to writing as the great +writers do. + +Accordingly when the selections were chosen for _Journeys_, a tabulation +of school subjects was made and under each head were placed the things +that would be most helpful in school work. It was not decided finally to +keep that arrangement in the books, for a different and a better system +of grading and classification was selected. Nevertheless the selections +are there, and the object of this and the few following chapters is to +show what those selections are, how they may be used in school and how +their use at home helps in the school work of every reader. + +In the grades below the high school the following subjects are +considered most important, viz.: reading, language, arithmetic, +geography, history and nature study. At the first thought one would say +that a set of books such as _Journeys_ can be of no use in the +arithmetic class, and of course their usefulness in that direction would +not justify their existence. However, there are selections in _Journeys_ +that have a decided arithmetical flavor, such as, for instance, _Three +Sundays in a Week_ (Volume VI, page 453) and _The Gold Bug_ (Volume IX, +page 232). Even among the nursery rhymes is one that is purely +arithmetical (Volume I, page 41). We may, however, disregard the +arithmetic in _Journeys_, but we must not lose sight of the fact that +the method of reading discussed under the title _Close Reading_ is +exactly the method of study that every person must pursue if he is to +make any success in mathematics. In no other branch is there a call for +such close reading, and only he who can get all the meaning out of the +statement of a problem can be certain of his solution. One of the +reasons that so many children have trouble with the problems in their +arithmetic classes is that they do not read intelligently. Many a good +teacher of mathematics will tell you that a large part of her success is +due to the fact that she has spent much of the time in the class in +teaching her pupils to read understandingly. Many another could make a +vast improvement in her methods of teaching if she would spend a part of +the time of each recitation in teaching her pupils to read problems till +they thoroughly understand them before beginning to work out the +formulas. It follows then that every child who masters the art of close +reading will be helped in a great measure in all his work in +mathematics. The value of _Journeys_ in this connection is that it makes +that method of study clear and leads a child to its mastery almost +without the recognition of what he is doing. It will teach him to think +before he acts and to acquire the habit of looking for the full meaning +of everything he reads. + +In this and the two following chapters will be given studies of the most +important subjects studied in the grades, showing the correlation of the +_Journeys_ material. These subjects will be treated in the following +order: Reading, Language, Nature Study, Geography and History. + + +A. Reading + +As for the other studies with which _Journeys_ is correlated, we shall +take them up one by one and at greater length. First in importance is +reading. This is always first in importance in school, for every other +study depends upon it. In fact the prime motive of _Journeys_ is to +teach reading, and it will teach reading in the school and in the home. +The child who has read what these books have to offer in the way that +these books teach will have a power that cannot be taken from him, and +his position in class and elsewhere will be raised immediately. Besides +the fund of information he will have acquired he will have made for +himself a habit that will always benefit him. Every study in the books +from the first page to the last is a help in reading, and all the +lessons of this volume are directed to reading. But there are three or +more long chapters in this volume which take up the different methods of +reading and apply them to selections on all conceivable subjects dealt +with in _Journeys_. To these chapters on reading the teacher and the +parent who wants to be informed are directed. The treatment is simple +and not above the effort of anyone, and the method will appeal to all +high school students of literature, for it is the method of the best +teachers of that subject. + + +B. LANGUAGE + +There are two distinct phases of the teaching of language: pupils must +be taught to speak and to write with ease, fluency and correctness. +There are very few children who do not like to talk. It is as natural to +them as to breathe. But as soon as they begin to speak we begin to +correct their speech. Much of our criticism is given publicly, at least +before other children, some of whom are known to speak more fluently and +correctly than those whose errors are being criticized. In consequence, +the children begin to doubt themselves, to hesitate, and gradually to +lose their desire to talk. In fact, so timid and reluctant do they +become that by the time they have been in school a few years many +teachers find their greatest difficulty in getting pupils to recite well +or to talk naturally. Perhaps before and after school and at recess they +will converse freely and delightfully, but as soon as their classes are +called they become reticent and ill at ease. Not all of this lack of +spirit is due to the teacher, but some of it is. In any event it is an +unfortunate condition, and the teacher is anxious to remove it. + +At home a similar condition prevails. If the parents are themselves +accurate in speech and alive to the importance of making their children +good talkers and users of correct English they will be ready with +criticism, and unless they are careful will do their share to repress +the natural frankness of child nature. Parents who have been teachers +are quite as liable to err as others are to remain in ignorance in +attempting to understand the psychology of the child mind. Freedom of +conversation on topics of interest where correct models of speech are +always before the child will accomplish more in making cultivated speech +than will twice as much direct instruction. If only parents will read +the things that the children are reading and affect an interest in those +things they can be certain of giving the best training, while they +themselves will grow in happiness and nearness to their offspring. In +the fields of literature they can stray together with the consciousness +that with all the beauty there is nothing to corrupt. + +In a lesser degree, perhaps, the same facts are true in written +language, in composition. But in lessons of this type the instructor +will not find conditions so favorable: Talking is natural, writing is +artificial; to speak is instinctive, to write is an art of difficult +attainment. In the first place, a child must be taught to form strange +characters with his hand. After he acquires facility in that, he must +think, put this thoughts into words in his mind, and then laboriously +transfer his words, letter by letter, to the paper before him. Many a +child who talks well cannot write a respectable letter. His thoughts +outrun his hand, and by the time the first labored sentence is written +his ideas have fled and he must begin again. Is it any wonder that his +sentences are disconnected, his thought meager? + +Just think what it means to a child to write you a letter, or even a +brief paragraph! Suppose he wants to tell you about a dog he has at +home. He begins by thinking: "My dog, Ben, is a pretty little woolly +fellow with bright eyes and long silky ears," and then his thoughts run +off vaguely into the general idea that he is going to tell you about +some very cute tricks Ben can perform. The child is all enthusiasm and +he begins writing and thinking something like this: "My (that word must +begin with a capital letter) dog ('Ben' must begin with a capital, too) +Ben is a (is that 'pritty' or 'pretty'? It's pronounced 'pritty' anyhow) +pritty (that don't look right. Scratch it out!) pretty (well, that +don't, I mean _doesn't_ look right either, but I'll leave it) (For +goodness sake, how do you spell it? 'Wooly'? 'wolly'? 'woolly'? I guess +I had it right at first) wooly fellow (where shall I put the commas? +I'll leave 'em out. Teacher can put them in if she wants them.) with +bright eyes and long slicky (no, no, that isn't right! How funny! +Scratch it out.) silky ears. (I nearly forgot the period. Now what was I +going to say next?)." When he is through, his first sentence is like +this: "My dog Ben is a pretty little wooly fellow with bright eyes and +long silky ears." He looks at his work with doubt and disgust as he +scratches his head for the next idea. He has wholly forgotten what he +intended to tell about! Later, his work, wholly unsatisfactory to +himself comes to you for criticism and you take your blue pencil or your +pen with red ink and put in the marks if any are needed, indicate the +misspelled words and sigh as you say, "Will Charlie ever learn to write +a decent composition?" Certainly he will, when his writing becomes +mechanical, when his hand makes the letters, puts in the marks, and his +lower brain spells the words for him, without disturbing the higher +cells which are occupied with his ideas. + +These are the diverse problems that confront anyone who tries to teach +language to a child. We cannot solve them all, but most certainly we can +lend some assistance. + + +1. Oral Lessons + +Success in oral language lessons rests primarily upon interest. If you +can secure interest, the children will talk freely; if you retain +interest, you can criticize freely and with good effect. + +Criticisms should not be too severe and should always be impersonal. It +is not John and Mary who are being corrected, but the mistakes that John +and Mary make. You have heard both parents and teachers say, "John, why +will you persist in saying, 'I done it'? Don't you know that is wrong? +You must correct yourself." Such criticism is wholly bad. If John says +"I done it," it is because he has heard the expression and become +habituated to its use. He cannot be taught differently by berating him. +When he says, "I done it," repeat after him in a kindly inquiring voice, +"I _done_ it?" or say in a kindly way, "I did it." In either case John +will give you the correct form willingly, and when he has done so times +enough he will forget the wrong form and cease to use it. + +Everyone must remember that children have heard slang and incorrect +speech almost from infancy; that the playground, the street and the home +have been steadily teaching, and that the minds of even primary children +may be filled with not only loose forms of speech, but even with profane +and indecent expressions. One of the natural correctives for such things +is the reading and telling of attractive stories, full of dramatic +power, calculated to stimulate right feeling, couched in clear and +forcible English. Elsewhere in this volume under the title _Telling +Stories_ are suggestions and good models. + +From the standpoint of the language lesson, children must reproduce the +story, must "tell it back" to make it valuable to them. The instructor's +part in this reproduction may be summed up as follows: + +1. Be an interested audience for the child. + +2. Secure clearness. Do it by a gentle question or a remark now and +then: "I am not sure that I understand you." "Do you think I would know +what you mean if I had never read the story?" "If you were telling the +story to your playmate would she understand that?" + +3. Encourage the child to use his own words, when he follows too closely +the phraseology that was given him, yet remember that one of the objects +of the exercise is to give the children the use of a wider vocabulary +and to make them appreciate and use beautiful and forcible expressions. + +4. Be reasonably content with freedom of expression at first, and do not +expect too rapid improvement. You are moving against fixed habits. + +5. Vary the character of the exercise. Sometimes permit one child to +tell the whole story; at other times, call upon other children, or +continue the story yourself. + +6. If the story is a difficult one, do not ask for its reproduction +until it is thoroughly understood. Make its meaning clear by skilful +questioning, which with the answers makes an extremely valuable +conversation lesson. + +7. Encourage the use of beautiful expressions, of fine figures of +speech. Do it by using such expressions yourself and by pointing them +out in the story or poem you are using. + +8. Beware of spoiling a beautiful poem or an elegant prose selection by +poor reproduction. After the story has been related and the meaning made +clear have the original read several times exactly as it is written and +encourage the children to commit it to memory. + +There are in _Journeys Through Bookland_ many selections suitable for +these oral lessons. For the little folks there are some of the _Nursery +Rhymes_, of Volume I, like the following: + + _Little Boy Blue_, Page 33. + _Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary_, Page 30. + _Ladybird, Ladybird_, Page 12. + _Little Bo-Peep_, Page 9. + _Jack and Jill_, Page 27. + _Poor Robin_, Page 16. + _There Was a Jolly Miller_, Page 47. + _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_, Page 44. + +In the same class may be included those beautiful poems by Stevenson and +Field, poems that every child loves and will be delighted to talk about. +For instance, the following from the same volume: + + _The Swing_, Page 67. + _Singing_, Page 83. + _The Rock-a-by Lady_, Page 94. + _My Bed is a Boat_, Page 126. + _Foreign Lands_, Page 130. + _Little Blue Pigeon_, Page 133. + _The Land of Counterpane_, Page 144. + _Norse Lullaby_, Page 246. + _Where Go the Boats?_ Page 256. + _Wynken, Blynken and Nod_, Page 262. + _Keepsake Mill_, Page 349. + _The Duel_, Page 384. + +The last list, however, includes many of those poems which must not be +spoiled by childish re-telling. Use them for conversation subjects and +then for reading or recitation. + +The fables will be found to provide excellent material, and there need +be no fear of ruining their effect as literature: + + _The Lion and the Mouse_, Volume I, page 75. + _The Wolf and the Crane_, I, 96. + _The Lark and Her Young Ones_, I, 131. + _The Cat and the Chestnuts_, I, 142. + _The Sparrow and the Eagle_, Volume II, 8. + +Certain of the fairy stories are excellent; so are anecdotes concerning +men of whom the children should know; historical tales, and stories +about plants, birds and other animals. Among the great number of +selections that might be included under this head, some of the best are +the following: + + 1. Fairy Tales and Folk Stories: + _Silverlocks and the Three Bears_, Volume I, 101. + _The Hardy Tin Soldier_, I, 148. + _Cinderella_, I, 224. + _The Ugly Duckling_, I, 414. + _Why the Sea is Salt_, II, 484. + _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_, III, 384. + + 2. Biographical Stories: + _Robert Louis Stevenson_, Volume I, 128. + _Eugene Field_, I, 242. + _George Rogers Clark_, VI, 422. + _Pere Marquette_, VIII, 121. + + 3. Myths: + _The Wonderful Gifts_, Volume I, 368. + _The Chimera_, II, 173. + _The Story of Phaethon_, II, 206. + + 4. Historical Tales: + _Robert Bruce and the Spider_, Volume V, 314. + _The Fall of the Alamo_, VIII, 141. + _Herve Riel_, VIII, 168. + + 5. About Flowers and Plants: + _The Daffodils_, Volume VII, 1. + _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_, VII, 306. + _A Bed of Nettles_, VIII, 209. + + 6. About Birds: + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ Volume II, 399. + _Owls_, IX, 229. + + 7. About Other Animals: + _Elephant Hunting_, Volume VI, 385. + _The Buffalo_, VII, 96. + _The Pond in Winter_, VII, 280. + +The longer stories you will abbreviate in telling, and the children will +still further shorten them. Try, however, to retain the spirit of each. +Do not try to tell all that is contained in the longer articles +mentioned above. Select interesting portions, a single anecdote, a few +facts that will hold attention. + +At times vary the exercise by giving a very simple theme and ask the +children to make up a story to fit it. If they have difficulty, help +them to think and talk. When they see what you want some will surprise +you with their vivid imaginations and picturesque modes of expression. +Suppose you have in mind the fable _The Wind and the Sun_ (Volume I, +Page 95). You might present the idea to them in this form: "The Wind and +the Sun each tried to make a man take off his coat. The Wind tried and +failed, then the Sun tried and succeeded. Can you tell me a story about +that?" If you meet with no satisfactory response, begin questioning +somewhat in this style, and perhaps the child will answer nearly as +indicated: + +Question. You don't know what I mean? Then let us tell it together. How +do you think the Wind would try to make a man take off his coat? + +Answer. He would try to blow it off. + +Q. How would he blow? + +A. He would blow hard. + +Q. Can you think of another word besides _hard_ to show how he would +blow? + +A. Fierce. + +Q. Fiercely. Yes, "_fiercely_" is a good word. How fiercely would he +blow? + +A. Very fierce. + +Q. Yes, very _fiercely_. Did you notice I said "fiercely," John? Now +can't you think of a comparison with something else that is fierce, so +that our story will sound well and people will like it? + +A. A lion is fierce. We could say, "He blew as fiercely as a lion." + +Q. But a lion does not blow. What does he do? + +A. He tears his prey when he captures it. + +Q. That's good. Now tell me how the Wind tried to make the man take off +his coat. + +A. The Wind blew fiercely as a lion tears his prey. + +Q. Good. Did the man take off his coat? + +A. I don't think he did. I think he would try to keep it on. + +Q. How hard do you think he would try? + +A. As hard as he could. + +Q. Did he lose it? + +A. No. No matter what the Wind did I think the man would keep on his +coat. + +Q. Will you please tell the story as far as we have gone? + +A. The Wind and the Sun tried to make a man take off his coat. First the +Wind blew as fiercely as a lion tears his prey, but the man clung more +closely to his coat and would not let it go. + +Q. That is good, but it does not satisfy me yet. I want a longer, +prettier story. Let us make believe the Wind and the Sun are two men. +Make them talk so they will seem real to us. Can't you start us? + +A. One day Mr. Wind and Mr. Sun got to talking. Each one thought he was +stronger than the other. They saw a man walking along the road. He had a +big overcoat on and Mr. Wind said that he-- + +Q. Tell us exactly what Mr. Wind said. + +A. Mr. Wind said, "I am stronger than you are. I can make that man take +off his coat. You can't!" + +Q. That is a fine start. Tell us what the Sun said. + +A. The Sun said that he-- + +Q. "That he?" + +A. The Sun said, "I can make him take off his coat, and I can do it +quicker than you can." + +Q. Good. Go on. + +A. So they tried. Mr. Wind began. He blew as hard as he could and +whistled around the man. He blew as fiercely as a lion tears his prey, +but the man wouldn't take off his coat. + +Q. What would the man do to his coat? + +A. I think he'd hold on to it, button it up, draw it close around him. + +Q. Good. Very good. Now tell the story as well as you can. + +A. Begin at the beginning? + +Q. Yes. + +A. One day Mr. Wind and Mr. Sun got into a quarrel about who was the +strongest. While they were at it, a man in a heavy overcoat came walking +along the road. When Mr. Wind saw the man he said, "Now see that man +down there. I can make him take off his coat, but you can't." Mr. Sun +replied, "I don't believe you can do it, but I can, though," then Mr. +Wind said, "Well, I'll show you, you conceited thing!" So the Wind blew +and blew, fierce and loud like a lion attacking his prey, but the man +wouldn't take off his coat. He drew it around him and buttoned it up and +hung on to it. + +Q. I like your story. But how many people were talking? + +A. Two. + +Q. Did you mean to say "_strongest_"? + +A. Stronger. + +It is not necessary to continue this farther, for enough has been +written to show how a story may be developed and improved with each +retelling. + +The same style of work, perhaps to even better advantage, may be done +from the pictures so numerous in _Journeys Through Bookland_. In this +volume, under the title _Pictures and Their Use_, will be found +plentiful suggestions that will be helpful in conversation lessons. + + +2. Written Lessons + +A. Introduction. + +The demands of written composition are so much more severe than those of +oral composition that we must be careful not to ask more than the child +can execute with comparative ease. Before he begins to write, he should +have clear ideas of what he intends to write and should have those ideas +so arranged that they will not be confused in the process of writing. +Moreover, a child must become quite familiar with writing as an art +before he can be expected to originate ideas or forms of expression for +the purpose of writing them. It follows, then, that some of the early +written work in language may profitably consist of copying selections of +various kinds. + +The titles given under the preceding section (_Oral Lessons_) will lead +to many excellent exercises for this purpose. Insist on perfect accuracy +of copy. Spelling, capitalization and punctuation must be correct. If +the original is prose, insist upon proper paragraphing; if poetry, upon +exactness in the arrangement of the lines, especially in the matter of +indentation. Children will quickly see the relation that indentation +bears to rhymes. By following with exactness, the child learns +unconsciously to observe the general rules. By occasionally calling +attention to the reasons for forms, children are taught to act +intelligently and to decide for themselves when they come to original +composition. + +Rhythm is as natural as breathing, and rhyming is easy for children with +quick ears and quick thought. You will be surprised the first time you +try the exercise to see how quickly they will imitate a rhythm with +which they are familiar, and the skill they show in making rhymes. Try +it first as an oral exercise, and later ask for written lines. Much of +such work may not be profitable, but it serves well to give variety. +Making simple parodies is amusing and stimulating to thought. Sometimes +you will help by suggesting rhymes or by giving hints as to the subject +to be parodied. + +Take the nursery rhyme _There Was an Old Woman_ (Volume I, page 36) for +a model. Suggest _bird_ and _nest_ as ideas for new rhymes and keep +helping until you get something like this: + + There was a sweet birdie + Who built a fine nest, + A beautiful birdie + With a very red breast. + +Use the same meter many times over till all become familiar with it. +Similar exercises prove highly interesting to children of all ages. + +Although this is not a treatise on written language lessons, a few +general suggestions may not be out of place: + +1. Be sure that the children have something interesting about which to +write. + +2. Be sure that they have a good stock of ideas on the subject, or that +they know how and where to get information and can get it without great +difficulty. + +3. Be sure that they write an outline of their composition or have one +thoroughly in mind before they begin on the essay itself. + +4. Give plenty of time for the writing. + +5. Show a decided interest in their preparation and in their +compositions. + +6. Do not be severe in your criticisms. Give encouragement. Concentrate +your efforts on one or two errors at a time. Let other mistakes pass +till a more convenient time. + +7. _a._ Watch for errors: + + (1) In the use of capital letters. + + (2) In the use of punctuation marks; first of terminal marks, then +of the marks within a sentence. + + _b._ See that every sentence is complete, with subject and predicate. + + _c._ See that verbs agree with subjects, and pronouns with antecedents. + + _d._ Insist that the work be paragraphed. + + _e._ Watch for errors in case among the pronouns. The objective case is +troublesome. + + _f._ Look for adjective forms where adverbial forms are correct. + +8. Require care in all work. Neatness and legibility are essential. + +9. Mark errors, do not correct them. Let the children do that. A simple +system of marks will enable you to indicate the nature of the error. + +10. When the mistakes have been corrected, have a neat copy made and +preserved. + +11. Try sincerely to work with your children and to secure a genuine +spirit of co-operation. + + +B. Literature in Written Lessons. + +Indirectly, all that is said on the teaching of reading in this and +other volumes bears upon language, and you are earnestly urged to +consider it all carefully in that light. More directly, what has been +written herein on the subject of conversation lessons and oral language +is a necessary preliminary to any discussion of written work and should +be used freely in the assignment and preparation of subjects for written +exercises. The outlines for study in reading and the outlines of the +oral lessons are easily modified to become very satisfactory outlines +for compositions. The selections recommended for oral lessons are all +adapted to written work. + +NARRATION. As in other instances, however, it here seems wise to give a +few suggestions specifically for the written exercises, and as a basis +for such suggestions we will take selections from _Journeys Through +Bookland_. + +Robin Hood has been an interesting character for many generations of +schoolboys, and among the ballads concerning him (Volume III, page 436) +are several good selections for reading aloud. Most children know +something about Robin Hood and many of them have read full accounts, yet +probably the old ballads are not familiar. The note on page 436 gives +information about the ballads and tells what it is necessary to know +about Robin Hood himself. Suppose we take as a subject the ballad on +page 444, _Robin Hood and the Stranger_. The notes explain peculiar +expressions and give the meanings of obsolete words. There is a manly, +rough-and-tumble spirit in the ballad that boys like, and it is clean +and wholesome, as well. + +Read the ballad to the children, explaining the more obscure words and +phrases as you go along. Encourage the children to ask questions +whenever they do not fully understand. Talk freely until you have made +everything clear and have secured interest. Then read the whole ballad +without interruption. Read with expression and enthusiasm. Show the +spirit and virility of the men. + +Then by questions bring out the facts of the narrative in logical order +as they appear, and have each child copy them for himself. They +constitute the outline each is to write. Adapt the outline to the age +and acquirements of the child; make it as full or as brief as you +please, but make it logical and complete. Let it be similar to the +following: + +1. Robin Hood goes hunting. + +2. He meets a well-dressed stranger. + +3. The stranger kills a deer by a remarkable shot with his bow. + +4. Robin Hood invites the stranger to join his company. + +5. The stranger threatens Robin Hood. + +6. They prepare to fight with bows. + +7. Robin Hood thinks it a pity that either should be slain, and proposes +to fight with broadswords. + +8. Robin Hood strikes a heavy blow which the stranger returns with +interest. + +9. Robin Hood feels great respect for the stranger's power, and asks who +he is. + +10. The stranger proves to be Robin Hood's only nephew. + +11. They meet Little John, who wants to fight young Gamwell. + +12. Robin Hood compels peace, makes Gamwell second to Little John and +names him Scarlet. + +Talk to the children freely after you have made the outline; advise them +to make the story interesting, dramatic, and not too long. Show them +that it is better to use direct discourse; that is, to make the +characters seem alive. The result will be a good _narration_, the +simplest and most common form of written discourse. + +DESCRIPTION. To so describe a scene to another person that he may see it +clearly and vividly is high art. It is necessary in narration and often +lends strength to description and exposition. Accordingly, it is one of +the most important forms of composition. In no direction, perhaps, can +_Journeys Through Bookland_ be of greater assistance. + +I. In the first place, the pictures are a mine of subjects for +description. The pictures themselves may be described, and many of them +will suggest other subjects for similar tasks. For instance, in Volume +V, on page 219, is a picture of Sir Galahad when the Holy Grail appears +to him. Some of the topics for description are the following: + +1. The picture, _Sir Galahad_. (For suggestions as to the description of +pictures, etc., see the topic _Pictures and Their Use_, in this volume.) + +2. The trees in the forest. + +3. The armor of Sir Galahad and the trappings of his horse. + +Again, in Volume V, on page 17, is the picture of Gulliver's _Journey to +the Metropolis_, which gives us these topics: + +1. The picture. + +2. The cart on which the Lilliputians transport Gulliver. (Read the +account in the story for further facts.) + +Facing page 116 in the same volume is the halftone of King Arthur in +armor. To write a minute description of the armor would be an excellent +exercise, requiring close observation and not a little reading, if the +children wish to name the pieces of armor the king wears. + +II. Many of the stories contain beautiful descriptive passages, which +may be studied with profit, and some of the selections are almost wholly +descriptive. An excellent example of the latter type and an exceedingly +interesting article for children is _Some Children's Books of the Past_ +(Volume V, Page 101). + +_The King of the Golden River_ (Volume II, page 405) and _A Christmas +Carol_ (Volume VI, page 244) are especially rich in material of this +kind. On page 408 of the former selection the King is described at his +first appearance. An analysis of the paragraph is to be found on page +445 of the same volume, under the title _First Appearance_. By comparing +the analysis and the descriptive paragraph it will be seen that the +former gives the facts only, while in the latter there are comparisons +and descriptive words that make the whole vivid and artistic. + +The outline is a good description of an imaginary person. After the +children have studied paragraph and outline, give them another outline +like this: + + 1. General statement, or introduction. + 2. Nose. + 3. Cheeks. + 4. Eyes. + 5. Beard. + 6. Hair. + 7. Height. + 8. Clothing. + _a._ Hat. + _b._ Coat. + _c._ Vest. + _d._ Trousers. + _e._ Shoes. + +Require each child to follow the outline and to write a smooth, readable +description of a man whom he knows. Vary the exercise by asking the +children to describe some man whose picture you show; some man whom all +have seen, or, if it can be done in the proper spirit, one of the other +children who is willing to pose. Then ask them to describe some fanciful +character about whom you make a general statement, as, for example, "He +was the most amusing man I ever saw in my life," or, "He was certainly +the most dignified man in appearance and the best-dressed man I ever +saw." A comparison of the descriptions given by the different members of +the class will be amusing and instructive. Try to secure descriptions +which in style are in harmony with the subject. + +III. In many of the selections the authors have not tried to describe +things very fully. In such cases you have fine opportunities to train +the imagination by asking the children to supplement the descriptions. +For instance, _On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture_ (Volume VII, page +331) raises among other subjects for descriptive writing the following: + + 1. Describe Cowper's mother. + 2. Describe the picture he received. + 3. Describe the home of his infancy. + 4. Describe the "well-havened isle." + +Children should be taught to look through the entire poem for facts that +bear on the topics. When writing, they must not misrepresent these facts +nor give others that contradict those in the poem. Where nothing is +said, the child may see what he likes. Such exercises tend to make +children appreciate good literature, and, when they are reading, to +visualize the things to which allusion is made. + +EXPOSITION. In Volume IV, beginning on page 14, is the story of Martin +Pelaez, the Asturian, which will offer good material for a composition +of another kind. The introduction to _Cid Campeador_, page 9, will give +you information you are likely to need to answer questions. + +As in the exercise just given, begin to read and make such explanatory +comments as are needed to show clearly the character of Martin. You +will, of course, need to make the story lucid to the children. Show +that-- + +_a._ Pelaez was a Spanish grandee of great strength and noble form. + +_b._ He was a coward at heart. + +_c._ Twice he ran from the enemy and avoided battle. + +_d._ Both times he was asked by the Cid to sit with him at the table, +and not with the noblest knights. + +_e._ The first time Martin thought it an honor to himself; the second +time, he saw it to be a grave reproof. + +_f._ Thereafter he fought nobly, was seated with the great knights, and +became one of the Cid's most favored friends. + +When these points have been fixed in mind, proceed to develop an outline +for the composition. It may be something like this: + +_a._ The character of Martin as we first meet him in the story, with +instances to prove the nature of it. + +_b._ His character after he was changed by the Cid, with evidences to +show it. Exemplified: + +1. He was a coward. We know it from-- + (_a_) His flight during the first battle. + (_b_) His retreat during the second battle. + (_c_) The fact that he was large, strong and well versed in arms + yet would not fight. + (_d_) The fact that he hoped to escape the notice of the Cid. + +2. He was teachable. We know it because he needed but two lessons. + +3. He was brave. We know it from his conduct in battle. + +4. He had many noble characteristics. We know it because be became the +trusted friend of the Cid. + +Put into the form of a composition, we might expect something like this: + +"Martin Pelaez, when we first knew him, was an arrant coward, for though +strong, well-formed and versed in the use of arms, he more than once +fled before the enemy. He had other traits of a coward, as we may know +from his actions in hiding in his tent and hoping to escape the eye of +his master and unfairly gain the reputation of a brave knight. + +"Later, however, under the wise treatment of the Cid he was made ashamed +of his cowardice, conquered it and became a courageous warrior. In fact, +he was one of the bravest and most powerful knights in the army of the +Cid. + +"More than that, Martin Pelaez developed all the traits of a gentleman. +He became a good keeper of secrets, was wise in counsel and brave in +action." + +The foregoing is a good example of exposition, the third of the four +forms of prose composition. + +ARGUMENT. _The Boston Massacre_ by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Volume IV, page +217) offers several good questions for debate. We may select the +decision of the judges (page 223) as the one furnishing the best +opportunity. Hawthorne says, "The judges told the jury that the insults +and violence which had been offered to the soldiers justified them in +firing at the mob." + +To bring the question into a form for debate we might write it, "Were +the judges right in their decision?" This leaves the question evenly +balanced, with no prejudice against either side. It might be put more +formally: "_Resolved._ That the judges were right in their decision." +The effect of stating the question in the latter form is to throw the +"burden of proof" on the negative. In other words, if the question is in +the latter form and the arguments are equally balanced, the decision +would have to be that the judges were right. + +Having determined the form of the question, the children may be +separated into two groups, as nearly as possible equal in ability, and +one group may be appointed to take the side of the judges and one the +side of the soldiers. + +Having arranged the preliminaries, converse with the children freely, +bringing out points equally in favor of both sides. Avoid any appearance +of favoritism. If one side is manifestly stronger than the other, +however, you may put them on a level by showing a few arguments to the +weaker side. Do this openly, so that all may understand your action. + +Encourage the children to study both sides of the question and to be +fair-minded. In fact, the ordinary debate where children are appointed +to argue upon a certain side of the question does not bring into play +the same good methods of thought and judgment as the free debate, in +which each child studies both sides of the question, determines which +side he thinks the right one, and then argues for that side. + +In this question urge the children to study the subject in their +histories or in any reference books that may be handy. Help them to get +at the truth of the matter. Hawthorne may show prejudice. Does he? We +may feel a bias in favor of one side or the other. Do we? Then to the +extent of that bias we are liable to be unfair and to fail in making a +sound argument. + +After the children have read what they can find on the subject, ask them +to arrange their arguments in parallel columns, for and against the +judges. Something like the following may appear: + + FOR AGAINST + + 1. The Americans 1. The English had + were the subjects of the oppressed the colonists + English, and subjects by unjust taxes and in + should be loyal. other ways (mention + them) until the time + for loyalty had ceased. + + 2. The colonists 2. If these colonists + were not an organized were a mob they were + body, acting legally. justified in their acts. + They were a wild mob, It was an insult and + and mobs must be worse to quarter troops + quelled or lives and upon them and they + property cannot be protected. naturally resented it. + They had had no time + to organize and make + laws. They had to act + at once. + + 3. The mob was 3. It is always the + composed of wild young men who lead. + young men, and most In most great movements + of the colonists did not it has been the + approve of their acts. young men who were + right. + + 4. The mob called 4. The soldiers forgot + the soldiers "lobster-backs," their discipline and + "red-coats," and called the colonists "rebel + other insulting names rascals" and threatened + before the soldiers to use bayonets. + spoke. + + 5. The mob crowded 5. The soldiers + the soldiers off the should have kept to their + sidewalk, threw snow barracks, but they paraded + and lumps of ice at the streets and + them. The young men pricked the townspeople + dared the soldiers to with their bayonets. + fire, threatened to drive + them to their barracks + and to beat them down. + + 6. Captain Preston 6. Captain Preston + was acting under orders, was unwise, irritating, + and he warned the colonists overbearing, and by his + that he would preserve attitude provoked the + order at any risk. colonists beyond human + endurance. + + 7. The firing was a 7. Captain Preston + mistake. It was not by ordered his men to fire + Captain Preston's orders. on the colonists. + + 8. The first shot was 8. A British sympathizer + fired by a masked man in a mask fired + who appeared on the into the crowd of unarmed + balcony of a house and colonists. + fired at the soldiers. + + 9. The British soldiers 9. By withdrawing + were soon withdrawn the troops the British + and everything confessed that they were + done to make the colonists in the wrong. + feel right about + the affair. This showed + that the British were + still very friendly to the + colonists, and desired + their good will. + + 10. Judges who were 10. The judges were + supposed to be honorable British appointees, not + men heard all the in sympathy with the + evidence and would not colonists and too much + be liable to make any prejudiced to be able to + mistake. decide fairly. + + 11. The judges 11. The judges knew + were so thoroughly they were wrong and + convinced that the soldiers were afraid to leave the + were not guilty question to the jury. + that they told the jury + what verdict to give. + +The "points" given above show some of the really minor debatable topics +that arise under the larger question. They show, too, how differently +the same incidents may appear to different eyes. Perhaps some of the +"points" are stated unfairly, to give strength to the argument. Bare +assertions are not proofs and some of the "points" are nothing but +assertions. Opinions are not arguments. Some of the statements would +need to bolstered up by facts and "authorities" before they could be +accepted as real arguments. + +Most debates are oral, but, for our purpose, they are to be considered +as written language lessons. Hence, when the arguments are marshalled as +above, the child should select the side he feels to be right and compose +his argument in proper form. Teach him to see the three parts to his +argument, namely, the introduction, the body of his argument, and the +conclusion. Tell him to make his style personal, clear, concise, +logical, strong, persuasive and convincing. Show him what each +characteristic in the above list means. + +For example, the _argument_ for the judges made from the assertions +given above might be stated as follows: + +_Introduction._ "That the judges were right when they pronounced Captain +Preston and the eight British soldiers not guilty of murder when they +fired on the colonial mob in what is incorrectly called the 'Boston +Massacre' will be proved in this argument." + +_Body of the Argument._ "The citizens of Boston were English subjects +who had been fostered by the mother country. Since the settlement at +Plymouth in 1620 no other nation had claimed or exercised any control +over them, and I maintain that loyalty to his country is one of the +highest duties of every citizen." (It is not advisable to write here the +"body" of the argument. It would naturally be continued step by step +till the eleven "points" given above had been exhausted. If those +"points" had been brought up in the general conversation lesson every +child would be expected to add others that he had found by his own +study. Liberty of omission, arrangement and addition should always be +allowed. Originality is always at a premium.) + +_Conclusion._ "I have now presented to you the reasons for my belief. I +have shown you conclusively that the colonists were British subjects and +owed unquestioning loyalty to their country; that----[Here recapitulate +briefly but forcibly the arguments, so as to present them convincingly +and at one time.] In view of all these facts I maintain that I have +shown that the judges did not err when they pronounced Captain Preston +and the eight soldiers not guilty of murder." + +Of course, the form of the introduction and conclusion may vary from +that given here. Each child should be allowed the greatest freedom of +expression consistent with the facts that there must be an introduction +that states the question fairly and clearly, and a conclusion that shows +how much the contentions have been proved. + +CONCLUSION. While narration, description, exposition and argument are +the four forms of prose composition, we do not find frequently that +selections are exclusively one or another. Nearly every story contains +description, and exposition is not infrequent; expositions often contain +description and narration, and arguments are often based upon narration +and exposition. Excellent language lessons may be given by examining +masterpieces to see what forms of composition they represent or which +form predominates. + +Thus, in _An Exciting Canoe Race_ (Volume VII, page 79), an extract from +Cooper's _The Last of the Mohicans_, may be found several forms of +composition: + +1. The story as a whole is narration. + +2. On page 81 is this passage in exposition: "That's a trail that +nothing but a nose can follow; grass is a treacherous carpet for a +flying party to tread on, but wood and stone take no print from a +moccasin. Had you worn your armed boots, there might indeed have been +something to fear; but with the deerskin suitably prepared, a man may +trust himself, generally, on rocks with safety. Shove in the canoe +higher to the land, Uncas; this sand will take a stamp as easily as the +butter of the Jarmans on the Mohawk. Softly, lad, softly; it must not +touch the beach, or the knaves will know by what road we have left the +place." + +3. On page 86 is this descriptive passage: "The well-known crack of a +rifle, whose ball came skipping along the placid surface of the strait, +and a shrill yell from the island interrupted his speech and announced +that their passage was discovered. In another instant several savages +were seen rushing into the canoes, which were soon dancing over the +water in pursuit. These fearful precursors of a coming struggle produced +no change in the countenances and movements of his three guides, so far +as Duncan could discover, except that the strokes of their paddles were +longer and more in unison, and caused the little bark to spring forward +like a creature possessing life and volition." + +It will be observed that the paragraph just quoted is not purely +descriptive, but that it contains something of narration as well. A +single sentence of pure description is the following, to be found on +page 88: "So rapid was the progress of the light vessels that the lake +curled in their front in miniature waves and their motion became +undulating by its own velocity." + +The following, from page 90, is a brief argument in conversational form, +the elementary form of debate: + +"Get you then into the bottom of the canoe, you and the colonel; it will +be so much taken from the size of the mark." + +"It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank to dodge, while +the warriors were under fire!" + +"Lord! Lord! that is now a white man's courage! And, like too many of +his notions, not to be maintained by reason. Do you think the Sagamore +or Uncas, or even I, who am a man without a cross, would deliberate +about finding a cover in a scrimmage when an open body would do no good? +For what have the Frenchers reared up their Quebec, if fighting is +always to be done in the clearings?" + +"All that you say is very true, my friend; still, our custom must +prevent us from doing as you wish." + +Good selections to use for the purposes described and good subjects for +compositions are the following from _Journeys Through Bookland_: + +For Narration: + + 1. Stories from _The Swiss Family Robinson_, Volume III, page 99. + 2. _The Story of Siegfried_, III, 410. + 3. _The Death of Hector_, IV, 364. + 4. _Tom Brown at Rugby_, V, 469. + 5. _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_, VII, 352. + 6. _The Adventure of the Windmills_, VII, 438. + 7. _The Adventure of the Wooden Horse_, VII, 467. + 8. _The Battle of Ivry_, VIII, 76. + +For Description: + + 1. _How the Old Woman Looked._ See _The Old Woman Who Lived in a + Shoe_, Volume I, page 35. + 2. _The House in the Tree._ See _Swiss Family Robinson_, III, 141. + 3. _A Forest Scene._ See _Pictures of Memory_, IV, 128. + 4. _Sheridan's Horse._ See _Sheridan's Ride_, IV, 223. + 5. _Christmas._ See _The Fir Tree_, II, 68, and _Christmas in Old + Time_, VI, 356. + 6. _A Scene of My Childhood._ See _The Old Oaken Bucket_, VII, 11. + 7. _My Old Kentucky Home._ See poem of the same name, VII, 179. + +For Exposition: + + 1. _The Character of the Boy, Tom._ See _Tom, the Water Baby_, Volume + II, page 215. + 2. _What Kind of a Man was Viking?_ See _The Skeleton in Armor_, V, + 327. + 3. _Exaggeration and Falsehood._ See _Baron Munchausen_, V, 403. + 4. _On the construction, meaning, and sentiment in "Home, Sweet + Home."_ See VI, 221. + 5. _The Strength of the Gorilla Compared with that of the Elephant._ + See _A Gorilla Hunt_, VII, 247, and _Elephant Hunting_, VI, 385. + 6. _The Wit of the Visitor._ See _Limestone Broth_, VI, 467. + 7. _A Character Sketch of Alice and John._ See _Dream Children_. VIII, + 335. + +For Argument: + + 1. _Was the Second Traveler in the Right?_ See _The Two Travelers_, + Volume I, page 109. + 2. _Were the Three Men Perfectly Healthy?_ See _We Plan a River Trip_, + V, 443. + 3. _Was the Punishment of the Ancient Mariner Just?_ See _The Rime of + the Ancient Mariner_, VII, 29. + 4. _Was it Sensible for Casabianca to Remain on the Burning Ship?_ See + _Casabianca_, VIII, 313. + 5. _Should Warren Hastings Have Been Convicted?_ See _The Impeachment + of Warren Hastings_, IX, 32. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--(Continued) + + +_Nature Study_ + +Nature study to be most valuable must be in reality the study of nature. +Its beginnings are in observation and experiment, but there comes a time +when the child must go to books for information and enlightenment. The +purposes of nature study are to awaken a spirit of inquiry concerning +things in the immediate vicinity and thence in wider fields; to develop +observation, comparison and reason; to give interests that will charm +the possessor through life; to introduce the elements of the natural +sciences. Enthusiasts have made the study of nature the basis of all +school work, the correlating force in all studies. Such an idea has +merit in it, for it is certain that lessons begun in the observation of +living things and the phenomena of nature speedily ramify into language, +reading, geography, history, and even mathematics. + +There is among some an unfortunate tendency to go too much to books for +material and to seize too quickly any suggestion that leads in that +direction. Yet books are valuable at the proper time and in the proper +place. When facts have been learned, they may be made vital by good +literary selections; when facts not accessible by observation are +needed, they may be obtained through books. On the other hand, +literature is full of allusions to natural facts and phenomena and may +only be understood by him who knows nature. Both phases of the subject +are of vital interest. + +Instead of attempting any systematic outline for nature study we will +here try to give help on two problems only: + +_First._ How may nature study be broadened by the use of literature? + +_Second._ How may the study of nature help in the appreciation of +literature? + + +I. + +In trying to answer the first question we will present first a +classified list of selections from _Journeys Through Bookland_ which are +closely related to the study of nature and indicate briefly how they may +be used. + +A. Seven Long Selections. + +In the first place, there are long selections in which there are many +anecdotes and incidents which are usable in nature study. We will give +partial lists of what is to be found therein, but it is well to read the +whole selection and choose what is best for the occasion. + +1. _Tom, the Water Baby_ (Volume II, page 215). This is one of the most +charming stories in the book, especially for young children, though +older ones and even people of mature years will enjoy it thoroughly. +Tom, a little chimney sweep, after perilous adventures, dies, or rather +turns into a newt or eft, a water baby. His exciting life thereafter is +in the waters, where he meets many of its strange denizens. The whole +story is highly imaginative, humorous, and full of fine lessons, +beautifully given. The more important of his adventures, from our point +of view, are concerned with the following: + + The Caddis Fly, pages 261-264. + The Dragon Fly, pages 264-265. + The Sand Fly, pages 267-269. + Otters, pages 270-271, 273-274. + Salmon, pages 272, 279-283. + Tides, page 287. + The Turbot, page 289. + Lobsters, pages 292-294, 300-303. + Sea Cucumbers, page 297. + Great Auk, page 339. + Mother Carey's Chickens (Stormy Petrels), page 344. + +2. _Robinson Crusoe_ (Volume III, page 45). Two chapters only are given +from this great story, but the first, dealing with the capture and +education of Crusoe's man Friday, may be worth while to read in +connection with studies of savage races. It is not altogether +scientific. + +3. _The Swiss Family Robinson_ (Volume III, page 99). This famous old +story will be charming to children for many generations to come. It is a +tale of the wonderful struggle of a family against nature. It may be a +fact that it is unreasonable and impossible; that not all the seeming +facts are true; that nature never plays so perfectly into the hand of +man; that not all the living things mentioned are to be found in one +locality. But it is clean, wholesome adventure, and the errors in it +will do no harm. Many a good language lesson and many an addition to +nature lessons may be drawn from it. The efforts of the family to +utilize what they find, though too successful, are worthy of imitation. +Some of the more interesting things met by the family are the following: + + Lobsters, page 113. + Oysters, pages 114, 117. + Agouti, page 116, with a picture on page 116. + Cocoanuts, pages 125-128. + Calabash Trees, page 123. + Monkeys and Cocoanuts, pages 125-128. + Shark, page 138. + Turtle, pages 145-149. + Penguins (picture), page 152, pages 151-153. + Cassava Bread, pages 154-157. + Caoutchouc, page 170. + Onager (Wild Ass), pages 171-174 (picture, page 172). + New Zealand Flax, pages 175-176. + Flamingo, page 177. + Salt Cavern, pages 180-185. + Herrings, pages 187-188. + Gypsum, page 188. + Boa Constrictor, pages 192-195. + Ostrich, pages 206-215. + Walrus, page 222. + Hyenas, pages 227-228. + Lions, pages 252-256. + +4. _Brute Neighbors_ (Volume VII, page 260) is an interesting essay by +Henry David Thoreau, the most delightful of American naturalist writers. +In this essay he chats familiarly about the animals that surround his +cottage in the woods, and shows the closeness of his observation as +well as the breadth of his general knowledge. It is a nature study in +itself as a whole. Besides mention of other animals, he tells +interesting anecdotes of the following: + + A Wild Mouse, page 261. + The Partridge, as the ruffed grouse is called in New England, pages + 262-263. + The Woodcock, page 264. + The Fighting Ants, pages 264-268. + The Loon, pages 270-274. + +5. _The Pond in Winter_ (Volume VII, page 280). This is another of +Thoreau's charming essays in natural history. It contains a pretty +description of the snow and ice covered pond (page 280), an account of +fishing through the ice (pages 282-283), and a vivid description of the +pickerel (pages 283-284). + +6. _Winter Animals_ (Volume VII, page 293) is a third one of Thoreau's +essays. An analysis shows that he tells something of all the following +interesting things: + + I. Winter routes over lakes, pages 293-294. + + II. Sounds by day and night. + a. The melodious note of a hooting owl, page 294. + b. The honking of a goose, page 294. + c. The harsh and tremulous call of a cat-owl, page 294. + d. The whooping of the ice, page 295. + e. The barking of foxes, page 295. + f. The feet of the red squirrel down the sides of the house, page + 295. + g. The discordant screams of the jays, page 298. + h. The wiry note of the chickadee, page 298. + i. The whirring wings of the partridges, page 299. + j. The yelping of hounds, and the hunting + horn (including fox hunting), pages 300-304. + + III. The destructiveness of squirrels and wild mice, pages 296-297. + + IV. The hares, pages 304-305. + +7. _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_ (Volume VII, page 306) is a +selection from the writings of Thomas Belt. It is an extremely +interesting account of some of the curious adaptations of plants and +animals to each other, as is indicated sufficiently by the title. An +outline of the essay follows: + + I. A species of acacia, pages 306-309. + 1. Houses and feeds ants. + a. Houses in thorns. + b. Feeds (1) by glands and (2) by a pear-shaped appendage. + 2. Ants protect trees. + 3. Each seems beneficial to the other. + + II. A cecropia, or trumpet tree, pages 309-311. + 1. Houses and feeds ants. + a. Houses in hollow stems. + b. Feeds ants through herds of plant-lice that suck juices of + plant and secrete honey. + 2. Ants protect trees. + 3. Apparently beneficial to all. + + III. An evergreen shrub. + 1. Houses and (probably) feeds ants. + a. Houses in pouches at base of leaves. + b. Probably feeds ants through the services + of scale insects and plant-lice. + 2. Ants protect shrubs. + 3. Probably beneficial to all. + + IV. Plants feeding ants, pages 311-312. + 1. Orchids. + 2. Passion flowers. + 3. Dog rose. + + +B. Classified Selections + +The following selections, ranging from nursery rhymes to some of the +finest things ever written, may be considered available for the purpose +of creating interest in nature study or of adding to a stock of +knowledge already acquired. For convenience, they are classified in a +general way, according to the subject-matter of which they treat: + + I. Flowers and plant life: + _a._ Nursery rhymes: + (1) _Daffy-Down-Dilly Has Come Up to Town_, Volume I, page 47. + (2) _Mary, Mary Quite Contrary_, I, 30. + + _b._ Fables: + (1) _The Boy and the Nettle_, Volume I, page 65. + (2) _The Fox and the Grapes_, I, 135. + + _c._ Fairy Tales: + (1) _The Tree_, Volume I, page 301. + (2) _The Flax_, I, 378. + (3) _The Fir Tree_, II, 68. + + _d._ Poems: + (1) _The Reaper and the Flowers_, Volume I, page 410. + (2) _John's Pumpkin_, III, 1. + (3) _The Potato_, II, 467. + (4) _The Moss Rose_, VI, 98. + (5) _The Daffodils_, VII, 1. + (6) _To the Fringed Gentian_, VII, 4. + (7) _To a Mountain Daisy_, VII, 8. + (8) _The Petrified Fern_, VII, 77. + + _e._ An interesting essay: + (1) _A Bed of Nettles_, Volume VIII, page 209. + + _f._ See references to _The Swiss Family Robinson_ and _Trees + and Ants That Help Each Other_, in the earlier part of this + section. + + II. Birds: + _a._ Nursery rhymes: + (1) _Lady Bird, Lady Bird_, Volume I, page 12. + (2) _Higgledy, Piggledy_, I, 20. + (3) _Poor Robin_, I, 16. + + _b._ Poems: + (1) _Little Birdie_, Volume I, page 142. + (2) _The Brown Thrush_, I, page 147. + (3) _The English Robin_, II, 214. + (4) _Who Stole the Bird's Nest_? II, 399. + (5) _Four Ducks on a Pond_, VI, 98. + (6) _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_, VII, 29. + (7) _Ode to a Skylark_, VII, 275 + (8) _To a Waterfowl_, VII, 395. + (9) _The Romance of the Swan's Nest_, VIII, 315. + + _c._ Fables: + (1) _The Fox and the Crow_, Volume I, page 64. + (2) _The Fox and the Stork_, I, 73. + (3) _The Wolf and the Crane_, I, 96. + (4) _The Lark and Her Young Ones_, I, 131. + (5) _The Owl and the Pussy Cat_, I, 339. + (6) _Minerva and the Owl_, II, 7. + + _d._ Fairy Story: + (1) _The Ugly Duckling_, Volume I, page 414. + + _e._ An Essay: + (1) _Owls_, IX, page 229. + + _f._ See also references to _Tom, the Water Baby_, _The Swiss + Family Robinson_, _Brute Neighbors_, and _Winter Animals_, + in earlier parts of this section. + + III. Four-footed animals: + _a._ Nursery rhymes: + (1) _Ding Dong Bell_, Volume I, page 15. + (2) _Little Bo Peep_, I, 9. + (3) _Old Mother Hubbard_, I, 24. + (4) _Three Little Kittens_, I, 13. + (5) _Baa, Baa, Black Sheep_ I, 8. + + _b._ Fables: + (1) _The Fox and the Crow_, Volume I, page 64. + (2) _The Ass in the Lion's Skin_, I, 65. + (3) _The Fox and the Stork_, I, 73. + (4) _The Gnat and the Bull_, I, 70. + (5) _The Lion and the Mouse_, I, 75. + (6) _The Wolf and the Crane_, I, 96. + (7) _The Fox and the Grapes_, I, 135. + (8) _The Bat and the Two Weasels_, I, 154. + (9) _The Owl and the Pussy Cat_, I, 339. + (10) _The Horse and the Stag,_ I, 338. + (11) _The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse_, I, 377. + (12) _The Wolf and the Lamb_, I, 455. + + _c._ Poetry: + (1) _The Cow_, Volume I, page 106. + (2) _Mercy to Animals_, I, 413. + (3) _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_, V, 335. + (4) _To a Mouse_, VII, 5. + + _d._ Stories: + (1) _A Dog of Flanders_, Volume IV, page 93. + (2) _The Lion and the Missionary_, VI, 93. + (3) _Rab and His Friends_, VI, 99. + (4) _Elephant Hunting_, VI, 385. + (5) _The Gorilla Hunt_, VII, 247. + + _e._ Essays: + (1) _Some Clever Monkeys_, Volume VI, page 402. + (2) _The Buffalo_, VII, 96. + + _f._ See, also, references to _Tom, the Water Baby_, _The Swiss + Family Robinson_, _Brute Neighbors_, and _The Pond in Winter_, + in the earlier part of this section. + + IV. Reptiles: + _a._ Fable: + (1) _The Boys and the Frogs_, Volume I, page 63. + + _b._ See, also, references to _Tom, the Water Baby_, and _The + Swiss Family Robinson_, in the earlier part of this section. + + V. Insects: + _a._ Nursery rhyme: + (1) _Little Miss Muffett_, Volume I, page 29. + + _b._ Fable: + (1) _The Gnat and the Bull_, I, 70. + + _c._ Poem: + (1) _The Spider and the Fly_, III, 19. + + _d._ Essay: + (1) _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_, VII, 306. + + _e._ See, also, references to _Tom, the Water Baby_, in the earlier + part of this section. + + VI. Denizens of the water: + _a._ Fish: + (1) _Salmon Fishing_, Volume VII, page 285. + (2) "Pickerel," in _The Pond in Winter_, VII, 280. + (3) See, also, "Salmon," in _Tom, the Water Baby_, II, 272, 279-283. + + _b._ See numerous references to _Tom, the Water Baby_, in the + earlier part of this section. + + VII. Natural Phenomena: + _a._ Nursery rhymes: + (1) _Rainbow in the Morning_, Volume I, page 48. + (2) _If All the World Were Water_, I, 48. + + _b._ Poems: + (1) _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_, Volume I, page 44. + (2) _The Sun's Travels_, I, 68. + (3) _Rain_, I, 110. + (4) _Autumn Fires_, I, 394. + (5) _The Wind_, I, 440. + (6) _The First Snowfall_, II 403. + (7) _In Time's Swing_, II, 481. + (8) _Echo_, III, 286. + (9) _The Rainbow_, VI, 91. + (10) _Sweet and Low_, VI, 122. + (11) _The Cloud_, VII, 257. + + _c._ Fable: + (1) _The Wind and the Sun_, Volume I, page 95. + + VIII. Geographical in Nature: + (1) _At the Seaside_, Volume I, page 129. + (2) _From a Railway Carriage_, I, 198. + (3) _Stop, Stop, Pretty Water_, I, 317. + (4) _Song of the Brook_, IV, 60. + (5) _A Descent into the Maelstrom_, VIII, 95. + (6) _Ascent of the Jungfrau_, IX, 1. + + +II + +Aid in answering the second problem may be found in the following +paragraph: + +A series of interesting studies may be founded on the use which authors +make of nature by way of direct and indirect allusion in their works. +Such lessons are the opposite of those we have been considering. Now, +the literary selection is taken first, read carefully and the allusions +noted and classified. It will be noticed that it is not necessary that +selections used for this purpose should be new to the pupils. In fact, +genuine literature has the merit of being always new, always +interesting. No better service can be rendered to a child than to create +in him a love for the fine things in literature. Continued, monotonous +study of a masterpiece may breed dislike of it, especially if the +exercises are dull and formal. But to approach an old favorite from a +new direction, to look at it from a new point of view, is to lend it +added charms. + +A. To illustrate our method, we will use _The King of the Golden River_ +(Volume II, page 405). + +1. _Assignment._ The leader assigns the work as follows: "I wish you to +read the first section of _The King of the Golden River_ and write in +the order of their occurrence, every mention of a living thing or +natural object and every allusion to them. Use the words of the story +when possible, but be brief. After each put a number, to show the page +of the story. Let us see who can find the greatest number and who can +make the best paper." + +2. _Preparation._ If the children work well their lists will be +something like this: + + a. The valley in the mountains. Page 405. + (1) Snow-covered peaks; cataracts; a crag; river; circular hollows. + (2) Heavy crops; high hay; red apples; blue grapes; rich wine; sweet + honey. + (3) Blackbirds; hedgehogs; crickets; cicadas. + (4) Corn. + + b. The wet summer. Page 407. + (1) Hay; vines; corn. + + c. A nice piece of mutton. Page 408. + + d. Must be the wind. Page 408. + + e. A black feather some three feet long. Page 409. + + f. Like a beaten puppy's tail. Page 410. + + g. Like a mill stream. Page 410. + + h. Licking its chops. Page 410. + + i. A gust of wind that made the old chimneys totter. Page 411. + + j. Quicksilver-like streams. Page 411. + + k. Like a straw in the high wind. Page 413. + + l. A wreath of ragged cloud, that whirled and rolled away down the + valley. Page 415. + + m. A gush of rain. Page 415. + + n. Howling wind and rushing rain without intermission. Page 415. + + o. The room was full of water. Page 416. + + p. A misty moonbeam. Page 416. + + r. Like a cork. Page 416. + + s. The inundation. Pages 416-417. + (1) Trees; crops; cattle swept away. + (2) Red sand and gray mud left in their stead. + (3) Corn swept away. + (4) _Breezy_ letters. + (5) Southwest Wind, Esquire. + +3. _Recitation._ The leader's part in the recitation is to help the +children to classify the things mentioned, to bring out the meaning of +the figures of speech, and to see that the allusions are understood. + +In writing this fine chapter, Ruskin has mentioned or alluded to the +following: + + a. Land and water forms: Mountains; valley; snow; peaks; cataracts; + river; circular hollow; mill stream; cloud; rain; globe of foam. + + b. Animals: Sheep (mutton); bird (feathers); puppy; dog (licking its + chops); wolf (howling wind); cattle. + + c. Plant life: Crops; hay; apples; grapes; corn; vines; straw; cork; + trees. + + d. Natural phenomena: A wet summer wind blowing; gushing rain; + whirling clouds; misty moonbeam; floating foam; sweeping + inundation; breezes (breezy letters). + + e. Rock material: Quicksilver; red sand; gray mud. + + f. Natural products: Crops; apples; hay; grapes; wine; honey; corn; + mutton; cork; cattle. + + g. Figures of speech: (In studying figures of speech, make three + points in each, viz.: _First_, the basis of the figure; _second_, + the translation of the figure into literal English; _third_, the + force and beauty of the figure and its effect on the meaning of the + sentence. With older children the names of the figures may be + given. Illustrations of these directions will follow.) + + (1) Like a beaten puppy's tail. (A beaten puppy drops his tail and + drags it weakly behind him. The feather drooped down behind him + and dragged limply along. The figure gives a vivid picture of the + wet feather, limp and unhandsome. The figure is a comparison in + the form of a _simile_.) + + (2) Like a mill stream. (Rushing, roaring, fast and furious.) + + (3) Licking its chops. (_First_, a dog runs out his tongue and + licks his lips and the outside of his face [cheeks--chops] when he + sees food brought to him. A red flame twists and waves around like + the tongue of a dog. We speak of "tongues of flame" and "hungry + flames devouring." _Second_, long streams of flame waved around + and curled about the wood as they burned it. _Third_, how much + more vivid is the picture we see of the beautiful fire. The words + "rustling" and "roaring" help to strengthen the figure. This is a + fine comparison, but as it is not directly expressed by the use of + the words "like" or "as" we call it a _metaphor_.) + + (4) Quicksilver-like streams. (Bright, shining, smoothly running, + with metallic luster.) + + (5) Like a straw in the high wind. (Rapid, uncertain, irregular + motion.) + + (6) A wreath of ragged cloud. (Notice the metaphor in _wreath_--also + in _ragged_.) + + (7) Howling wind. (A wolf howls. The figure which raises an inanimate + object to the level of animate beings, or raises an animate being + [a dog, for instance] to the level of a human being, is called + _personification_.) + + (8) Like a cork. + + (9) _Swept_ away. + + (10) _Breezy_ letters. (The words _swept_ and _breezy_ are + somewhat metaphorical, though their frequent use in this manner + makes the meaning almost literal.) + + (11) Southwest Wind, Esquire. (Personification.) + +B. A second lesson may confine itself more closely to the figures of +speech. Naturally this study of figures belongs with language and +literature, but the point we wish to make is one of correlation. There +is a literary side to nature study, and a natural history side to +literature. Many of the greatest authors have been ardent lovers of +nature, and have drawn liberally on their knowledge of nature in +beautifying what they have written. Many a reader, from lack of +knowledge or from careless habits, passes over the most delightful +things, as blind and deaf as he who sees no beauty in the wild flowers +and hears no melody in the songs of birds. + +For the second lesson of this character we will take the second and +third chapters of _The King of the Golden River_, hoping to find an +abundance of figures based on nature in some of its forms. We may not +find many. Some writers use few. We suspect that Ruskin used them +freely; as a matter of fact he was one of the greatest lovers of nature, +a man who labored hard to bring art and nature together and to find a +place for them in the lives of all. + +We find in the second chapter the following nature figures: + + a. Southwest Wind, Esquire, page 418. + b. His relations, the West Winds, page 418. + c. It looks more like silk, page 419. + d. The hot breath of the furnace, page 420. + e. Bright tongues of fiery cloud burning and quivering about them, + page 420. + f. A clear _metallic_ voice, page 420. + g. Like that of a kettle on the boil, page 421. + h. As smooth and polished as a river, page 421. + i. The prismatic colors gleamed over it, as if on a surface of + mother-of-pearl, page 422. + j. In order to allow time for the consternation ... to evaporate, page + 424. + +In the third chapter are the following: + + a. Knotty question, page 426. + b. Like a line of forked lightning, page 427. + (This whole paragraph is a wonderfully beautiful description.) + c. Rose like slow smoke, page 427. + d. In feeble wreaths, page 428. + e. Shrieks resembling those of human voices in distress or pain, page + 428. + f. None like the ordinary forms of splintered ice, page 428. + g. _Deceitful_ shadows, page 428. + h. Lurid lights _played_, page 428. + i. Ice _yawned_ into fresh chasms, page 428. + j. Fell _thundering_ across his path, page 429. + k. Rays _beat_ intensely, page 429. + l. Its lips parched and burning, page 430. + m. Long snake-like shadows, page 430. + n. The _leaden_ weight of the _dead_ air pressed upon his brow and + heart, page 430. + o. Shaped like a sword, page 431. + p. Like a red-hot ball, page 431. + q. They shook their crests like tongues of fire, page 432. + r. Flashes of _bloody_ light gleamed along their foam, page 432. + s. An icy chill shot through his limbs, page 432. + t. The _moaning_ of the river, page 432. + u. _The Black Stone_, page 432. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--(Continued) + + +_Geography and History_ + +The connection between geography and history on the one hand and +literature on the other is most intimate. In the first place nearly all +our knowledge of history must come through reading, and while we learn +our geography most accurately through travel and observation, but a +small part of our information comes through those channels. We read +incessantly of our own country and others, we fill our minds with +visions of plants, animals and the peoples of foreign lands from the +facts we gather from the papers, magazines and books. If most of our +facts come through reading it is no less true that most of our real +interest in geography and history comes not from the facts of our +text-books but from the literature we have read, the literature that +clothed those facts and made them real and living. Ask yourselves what +gave you your first real interest in the history of Scotland and see if +your answer is not, "The novels of Scott." Again, where did you get your +first adequate ideas of chivalry and the feudal system if it was not +from _Ivanhoe_ or some similar piece of literature? What makes the +Crimean War a household word in the homes of two continents if it is not +the deeds of Florence Nightingale and Tennyson's _Charge of the Light +Brigade_? Who can tell most of the Battle of Waterloo, he who has read +the facts of history or he who has read Byron's thrilling poem and the +description by Victor Hugo? Who knows the English home as it was? He who +reads Goldsmith's _Deserted Village_. + + [Illustration: OLIVER GOLDSMITH + MATTHEW ARNOLD + JOHN RUSKIN + THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY + JOHN BUNYAN + THOMAS DE QUINCEY + CHARLES LAMB] + +It is in furnishing those literary masterpieces that give life to +geography and inspiration to history that _Journeys Through Bookland_ +gives the best of assistance to boys and girls in their school work. +Some of its selections will give facts and many of them, but the facts +form the smaller part of the contribution. History is valuable only as +it enables us to understand the present, thrills us with the +accomplishments of the past and teaches us how to live and act in the +future. No man is so wrapped up in business that he does not heed the +charm of noble deeds and fails to be moved by glorious achievement. Some +histories are literature in themselves and have the inspiring quality we +crave, but most of them are too dry and scientific to afford much +interest to the child. So the greater part of our selections are not +from the books that are called real history but from those which appeal +to the imagination and stir the soul. Geographical teaching is likewise +indirect in _Journeys_ but it is none the less helpful and inspiring. To +prove the truth of these statements we have only to present what the +books contain and show how the selections may be used. + +It does not seem wise to separate the two subjects too widely, for they +are closely related and intimately interwoven in almost all reading. +There are, it is true, some masterpieces that may be considered purely +geographical and others that are as entirely historical, but these will +be easily identified. Yet for ease and readiness in locating them we +append a list of nearly one hundred selections and classify them in a +simple manner: + + 1. Largely geographical. + _a._ Juvenile poems with geographical allusions, or based on + geographical facts: + (1) _The Suns Travels_, Volume I, page 68. + (2) _Singing_, I, 83. + (3) _Foreign Lands_, I, 130. + (4) _At the Seaside_, I, 129. + (5) _Old Gaelic Lullaby_, I, 203. + (6) _Where Go the Boats?_ I, 256. + (7) _Foreign Children_, I, 351. + (8) _Keepsake Mill_, I, 349. + (9) _Windy Nights_, II, 123. + (10) _Picture Books in Winter_, II, 87. + (11) _The Child's World_, II, 66. + + _b._ Stories and poems that describe places or people in Europe + and some of their customs and modes of life: + (1) _The Tree_, Volume I, page 301. + (2) _The Snow Maiden_, I, 257. + (3) _The Snow Queen_, II, 124. + (4) _The Skeleton in Armor_, V, 327. + (5) _Rab and His Friends_, VI, 99. + (6) _The Governor and the Notary_, VII, 20. + (7) _Don Quixote_, VII, 431. + (8) _The Alhambra_, VIII, 153. + (9) _Ascent of the Jungfrau_, IX, 1. + (10) _The Cotters Saturday Night_, VIII, 319. + + _c._ Fanciful legends with geographical interests: + (1) _Why the Sea Is Salt_, Volume II, page 484. + (2) _Origin of the Opal_, II, 480. + + _d._ A Story from Japan. + (1) _The Mirror of Matsuyana_, Volume II, page 36. + + _e._ A story of longitude: + (1) _Three Sundays in a Week_, Volume VI, page 453. + + _f._ Plants or plant life: + (1) _The Potato_, Volume II, page 467. + (2) _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_, VII, 306. + (3) _A Bed of Nettles_, VIII, 209. + + _g._ Animal life: + (1) _Salmon Fishing_, VII, 285. + (2) _Winter Animals_, VII, 293. + (3) _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_, VII, 306. + (4) _Owls_, IX, 229. + (5) _Elephant Hunting_, VI, 385. + (6) _Some Clever Monkeys_, VI, 402, + (7) _The Buffalo_, VII, 96. + (8) _A Gorilla Hunt_, VII, 247. + (9) _Brute Neighbors_, VII, 260. + (10) _The Pond in Winter_, VII, 280. + + _h._ Natural phenomena: + (1) _The Cloud_, Volume VII, page 257. + + 2. Indians and their habits. The selections are either historical or + geographical or both. + _a._ _The Arickara Indians._ (A description of the habits + and customs of one of the western tribes.) Volume IV, page + 472. + + _b._ _Reminiscences of a Pioneer._ (This contains a few + interesting anecdotes of Indians and many incidents of pioneer + life.) Volume V, page 340. + + _c._ _Black Hawk Tragedy._ (A very interesting biographical + and historical sketch.) Volume VII, page 58. + + _d._ _An Exciting Canoe Race._ (A story of the New York Indians + at an early day.) Volume VII, page 79. + + _e._ _David Crockett in the Creek War._ (An interesting account + of southern Indians and their wars.) Volume VIII, page 37. + + 3. Biography. The selections in this group consist of anecdotal + sketches, brief biographies, extracts from longer works, and a few + poems. + + _a._ Authors of the United States and of foreign countries: + (1) _Robert Louis Stevenson_, Volume I, page 128. + (2) _Eugene Field_, I, 242. + (3) _Hans Christian Andersen_, II, 81. + (4) _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_, IV, 62. + (5) _Alice and Phoebe Cary_, IV, 116. + (6) _Nathaniel Hawthorne_, IV, 180. + (7) _Sir Walter Scott_, VI, 26. + (8) _John Greenleaf Whittier_, VII, 381. + (9) _William Cullen Bryant_, VII, 391. + (10) _Oliver Wendell Holmes_, VII, 398. + (11) _James Russell Lowell_, VII, 411. + (12) _Washington Irving_, VIII, 216. + (13) _Charles and Mary Lamb_, VIII, 328. + + _b._ Biblical Characters: + (1) _The Story of Joseph_, Volume I, page 456. + (2) _The Story of Esther_, II, 448. + (3) _David_, IV, 274. + (4) _Ruth_, VI, 143. + + _c._ The author of many fables: + (1) _Aesop_, Volume II, page 1. + + _d._ English history: + (1) _Alfred the Great_, Volume IV, 260. + (2) _Queen Victoria_, VII, 152. + (3) _Florence Nightingale_, IX, 13. + + _e._ American history: + (1) _George Rogers Clark_, Volume VI, page 422. + (2) _David Crockett in the Creek War_, VIII, 37. + (3) _Pere Marquette_, VIII, 121. + (4) _Abraham Lincoln_, IX, 324. + + _f._ Roman history: + (1) _Julius Caesar_, Volume IX, page 126. + + 4. Myths from several sources: + _a._ Grecian and Roman: + (1) _Atalanta's Race_, Volume I, page 386. + (2) _Baucis and Philemon_, I, 431. + (3) _The Golden Touch_, II, 43. + (4) _The Chimera_, II, 173. + (5) _The Story of Phaethon_, II, 206. + (6) _The Queen of the Underworld_, II, 468. + (7) _Cupid and Psyche_, III, 365. + + _b._ Northern Europe: + (1) _How the Wolf was Bound_, II, 91. + (2) _The Death of Balder_, II, 99. + (3) _The Punishment of Loki_, II, 111. + (4) _Beowulf and Grendel_, III, 350. + + _c._ Miscellaneous: + (1) _Stories of the Creation_, Volume IV, page 159. + + 5. Legendary heroes. The following selections give vivid ideas of the + great national heroes whose reputed deeds have been an inspiration + to hosts of children in many lands: + + _a._ Scandinavian: + (1) _Frithiof the Bold_, Volume III, page 394. + + _b._ German: + (1) _The Story of Siegfried_, Volume III, page 410. + + _c._ English: + (1) _Robin Hood_, Volume III, page 436. + (2) _King Arthur_, V, 113. + (3) _Balin and Balan_, V, 130. + (4) _Geraint and Enid_, V, 148. + (5) _The Holy Grail_, V, 207. + (6) _Dissensions at King Arthur's Court_, V, 232. + (7) _The Passing of Arthur_, V, 237. + + _d._ French: + (1) _Roland at Roncesvalles_, Volume III, page 460. + + _e._ Spanish: + (1) _The Cid_, Volume IV, page 9. + + _f._ Greek: + (1) _The Death of Hector_, Volume IV, page 364. + (2) _Ulysses_, IV, 398. + + _g._ Roman: + (1) _Horatius_, Volume VI, page 1. + + 6. Historical tales, poems, and selections of different kinds and + varying degrees of difficulty: + + _a._ Northern Europe: + (1) _Holger Danske_, Volume II, page 377. + (2) _Make Way for Liberty_, VII, 172. + (3) _Marco Bozzaris_, VIII, 90. + + _b._ France and Napoleon: + (1) _Incident of the French Camp_, Volume IV, page 174. + (2) _Battle of Ivry_, VIII, 76. + (3) _Herve Riel_, VIII, 168. + (4) _The Battle of Waterloo_, VIII, 176. + (5) _The Battle of Cressy_, IX, 161. + + _c._ Classic lands: + (1) _The Wooden Horse_, Volume IV, page 383. + (2) _The Battle of Thermopylae_, VIII, 81. + (3) _The Death of Caesar_, IX, 126. + (4) _The Death of Caesar_, IX, 143. + (5) _Julius Caesar_, IX, 155. + + _d._ British Isles: + (1) _Chevy Chase_, Volume IV, page 312. + (2) _The Ballad of Agincourt_, V, 95. + (3) _Some Children's Books of the Past_, V, 101. + (4) _The Rise of Robert Bruce_, V, 278. + (5) _Bruce and the Spider_, V, 314. + (6) _The Heart of Bruce_, V, 316. + (7) _The Tournament_, VI, 38. + (8) _Bannockburn_, VII, 15. + (9) _The Charge of the Light Brigade_, VII, 147. + (10) _The Recessional_, VII, 164. + (11) _The Battle of Trafalgar_, VIII, 284. + (12) _Casabianca_, VIII, 313. + (13) _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_, IX, 32. + (14) _The Battle of Cressy_, IX, 161. + (15) _The Battle of Hastings_, IX, 330. + + _e._ United States: + (1) _The Pine Tree Shillings_, Volume IV, page 192. + (2) _The Sunken Treasure_, IV, 199. + (3) _The Hutchinson Mob_, IV, 208. + (4) _The Boston Massacre_, IV, 217. + (5) _The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England_, IV, 197. + (6) _Sheridan's Ride_, IV, 223. + (7) _Henry Hudson's Fourth Voyage_, V, 254. + (8) _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_, V, 340. + (9) _Braddock's Defeat_, V, 379. + (10) _The American Flag_, V, 396. + (11) _Stonewall Jackson's Way_, V, 400. + (12) _The Capture of Vincennes_, VI, 428. + (13) _The Old Continentals_, VII, 175. + (14) _America_, VIII, 60. + (15) _The Fall of the Alamo_, VIII, 141. + (16) _The Knickerbocker History of New York_, VIII, 224. + (17) _The Battle of Saratoga_, IX, 176. + (18) _The Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321. + + _f._ America, outside of the United States: + (1) _The Buccaneers_, Volume V, page 359. + (2) _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_, V, 365. + (3) _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_, VIII, 1. + (4) _The Retreat of Cortez_, VIII, 63. + +The object of teaching geography and history is not solely that children +may acquire a collection of facts. Too often the lessons in these +branches consist merely in memorizing text books, in learning long +descriptions, in the study of meaningless maps and in the listing of +political and military events in chronological order. The value of such +work is comparatively small, and the studies cannot be considered +profitable. If, however, children are taught to know and understand +people, their habits and modes of life; if they learn geographical facts +in their relation to humanity, to study events in the relation of cause +to effect, to seek for truth and the meaning of things, then nothing is +more productive of good than the teaching of geography and history. + +If we accept as true the foregoing statements, then methods of teaching +the subjects become clear as we think of them. It is evident that early +lessons should be designed to create interest: + +(1) In the world of things immediately around us; in the land and what +grows and lives upon it; in the water, its relation to the land, its +motions, and the life that it contains; in the air, its phenomena and +its denizens; in human beings, their feelings and all their activities. + +(2) In the great earth as a whole and its parts; in foreign animals and +plants; in humanity in other lands. + +It appears that so broad an outline as the one just given can never be +filled in, that the study of geography and history, the study of the +world and its peoples, can never be completed. If such is the case, it +follows that the teacher who creates the most vital interest in the +subject, who leaves with her pupils the most ardent desire to study and +know, has been of greatest service to them. + +Now, the great interests of life have their inception in early years +when the mind is active, curiosity strong, and instruction accepted +without question. Then should be created that abiding interest which +will make good students of geography and history, good citizens, good +men and women. If too many formal lessons are given them, and pupils are +set to work at dreary tasks and are asked to memorize dry facts, it is +probable that they will never become good students. How, then, shall an +abiding interest be created? + +The entrance to the field of geography is through nature study, which is +discussed elsewhere under that title. For the first two years of a +child's school life he will hear nothing of geography, and even in the +third year there will be little formal reference to it, but all the time +he is quietly mastering facts and developing interests that are +geographical in their character. + +When systematic lessons begin, there should be presented only real facts +and genuine things, that bear some close and direct relation to +ourselves and that should be matters of personal observation, as far as +possible. Day and night in summer and winter, the seasons, the weather, +wind, rain, snow, sleet, foods, clothing, the occupations of the +neighborhood, the brooks and bodies of water about the school, hills, +valleys, plains, plants and animals of the locality, each in turn +serves its purpose. We cannot here show how these various subjects +should be treated, but to illustrate the use of literature in elementary +geography lessons we will present an outline on a single subject. New +possibilities will be seen in every direction if frequent use of the +list given above is made in finding suitable selections. + +If we choose the wind as the subject of our model lesson, we may be sure +to cover several recitations that will lead us into reading, nature +study and language (oral and written). It is a subject that encourages +wide correlation. The outline might be the following: + + 1. _Purpose of the Lesson._ To teach the following facts: + _a._ That air occupies space. + + _b._ That wind is air in motion and has force. + + _c._ The directions and names of winds. + + _d._ The uses of winds. + + 2. _Experiments and Observation._ + _a._ _Take an empty bottle and thrust it squarely, mouth down, into + water._ Does the water rise in the bottle? (Only a little way.) + Why? (It can't get in. There is air in the bottle.) + + _b._ _Raise the bottle slowly and tip it slightly so that a part of + the mouth is above the water, then push it horizontally into + the water._ Does the water go into the bottle now? (Yes.) Why? + (Because there is no air there to keep it out.) How do you + know? (I saw the air coming out in bubbles.) Why didn't the air + come out when we pushed the bottle down the first time? (The + water was too heavy; it held the air in.) + + _c._ _Hold your hand close in front of your mouth and blow._ Can you + feel anything? (Yes; the air strikes my hand.) When you are out + in the wind can you feel it? (Yes; it pushes against me.) Can + it push hard? (Yes; sometimes it pushes over trees and houses.) + What is the wind? (It is air moving.) + + _d._ Is the wind blowing today? Did it blow yesterday? From what + direction is it (was it) blowing? How do you know? (I saw trees + bending away from it. I felt it pushing from that side. It came + in at that window. The vane on the church steeple pointed that + way.) + + _e._ When a wind comes from the South, what do we call it? (South + wind.) When a wind blows from the North what do we call it? + (North wind.) What wind brings cold weather? (North.) What wind + brings warm weather? (South.) What wind brings long spells of + rainy weather? (East.) What wind brings showers and + thunderstorms? (South and West.) What winds prevail in summer? + (South and West.) What winds prevail in winter? (North.) + + _f._ What work have you seen the wind do? (Turn windmills; sail + boats.) Have you seen it do any work for us here? (Yes; it + drives the clouds that bring us rain. It drives away stormy + clouds.) Can't you think of something else? (It scatters seeds + of plants. It shakes nuts from trees. It helps melt snow and + ice. It keeps the air clean and pure.) + + 3. _Literature._ + _a._ As an introduction to the lesson or in preparation, give the + first two stanzas of that beautiful poem by W. B. Rands, _The + Child's World_ (Volume II, page 66). + + _b._ In considering the strength of the wind, there is a fine + opportunity to introduce the fable _The Wind and the Sun_ + (Volume I, page 95). + + _c._ Robert Louis Stevenson's verses, _Windy Nights_ (Volume II, + page 123), are entertaining and give an opportunity for nice + explanation. + + _d._ In the same light as the preceding selection may be regarded + the imaginative verses by the same author, _The Wind_ (Volume + I, page 440). + + _e._ In _The King of the Golden River_ (Volume II) is a humorous + personification of the southwest wind. It is strikingly true of + the nature of that wind. The description begins on page 408, + and a second appearance of the wind is chronicled on page 415. + + _f._ Finest of all the selections for this topic is Tennyson's + exquisite lullaby, _Sweet and Low_ (Volume VI, page 122). This + is well worth memorizing. + +If we wish a model for a history lesson, the following will answer: + +One of the interesting characters in history is King Alfred of England, +and in the sketch of him (Volume IV, page 260) are facts enough for +several elementary lessons in history. The outline for teaching might be +as follows: + + 1. _Preparation._ + _a._ Read the article above referred to, and such other material + concerning Alfred as can be found. + + _b._ Select two incidents for story telling and prepare them for + recital. (See articles on _Story Telling_ in this Volume.) + + 2. _Presentation._ + _a._ Tell the first story (page 260). It might be given in this + form: + +"More than a thousand years ago, Alfred, the youngest of the four sons +of the king, was born. He was a fine lad and the favorite of his +parents, but when he was twelve years of age he had not yet learned to +read. This is not so strange, when we stop to think that it was long +before people knew anything about printing, and every letter in every +book had to be slowly made with a pen. + +"This made books very expensive and rare, so that only a few people +could own even one. Still, you have no idea how beautiful some of those +books were. They were written on thin, fine-grained leather called +parchment, and were beautifully decorated in colors. The capital letters +which began paragraphs, and sometimes all the capital letters, were made +large, in fanciful shapes, and all around them were painted flowers, +birds, human beings, or pretty designs, so that each letter was a +beautiful picture in itself. Then in the margins, above the titles, at +every place where there was no writing were still other delicate +designs. Some of those wonderful old books are still in existence, and +people go long distances to see them. They are more valuable now than +ever, and most of them are safely guarded in museums. + +"One day Alfred's mother was reading to her children, from one of those +beautiful books, some fine poems which the Saxons had written. The boys +all became very much interested in the rich little paintings that +decorated it. The mother pointed out its beauties and told the boys how +carefully the artists had worked and how long it had taken them to do +it. + +"'Did you ever see its equal?' she asked. + +"'No,' replied the oldest boy, 'I have not seen anything like it. I wish +I had one like it.' + +"'Boys,' said the mother, 'this is one of the greatest treasures I have, +and I would not like to part with it. Yet I love my boys better than the +book, and I want them to learn to read. So this is what I will gladly +do: I will give this book to the first of you who comes to me and shows +that he can read it understandingly.' + +"'It is my book, for I can read some already,' said the oldest. + +"'But I can work harder than you, and I will learn faster,' said the +second. + +"'I learn more easily than any of you,' the third boy added. 'I feel +sure I shall win the book.' + +"Alfred said nothing, but as soon as his mother had ceased to read he +hurried away, found a wise man to teach him and began immediately to +work with great diligence. It was not long before he began to read for +himself, and before his brothers had made much progress Alfred went to +his mother. + +"'I think I can read the book,' he said. + +"'I do not think you have had time to learn. You are hurrying too much. +You should study more,' his mother replied. + +"'But, mother, please let me try,' pleaded Alfred. + +"The mother yielded and Alfred brought the big book to her and laid it +on her knee. Then he opened it at the beginning and with very few +mistakes read poem after poem. His mother was more than satisfied, and +when Alfred left the room he was hugging the elegant book and carrying +it to his part of the castle. + +"This was only the beginning, for Alfred became the greatest scholar and +the wisest king the Saxons ever had. He made just laws, he ruled kindly, +he founded schools, and he tried in every way to make his subjects +better, wiser and happier. Do you not think it all began in his love for +the beautiful look?" + +3. _Recitation._ + +Ask questions and make the children see in the story: + + _a._ (The Introduction.) The first general facts about Alfred. + + _b._ (The Body of the Narrative.) The story of how Alfred learned + to read. + + _c._ (The Conclusion.) Alfred wins the prize and becomes a great ruler. + +Then ask them to tell the story in their own words. + +Finally ask them to write the story for a composition. + +4. _Additional Information._ Find out what other things about Alfred are +already known to the class. Then tell the story of Alfred and the cakes +(page 261); of his battles with the Danes under Guthrum (page 262); of +his war with the Danes under Hastings (page 263); of his work for his +people (page 264); and of his plans and inventions (page 265). + +5. _Supplementary Readings._ If the lessons on Alfred have been well +conducted, interest will have been created in a variety of subjects +relating to early English history. The Saxons, their mode of life, +armor, weapons, manner of warfare, laws and customs; the Danes and their +characteristics; the rulers who followed Alfred; the formation of the +English nation, are topics that readily suggest themselves. + + * * * * * + +More or less closely connected with these lines of thought are the +following selections in _Journeys Through Bookland_. Interest may be +deflected in any direction. If the selections are too hard for the class +to read, tell the stories in simplified form: + + 1. _The Legends of King Arthur_ (Volume V, beginning on page 113). + + 2. _The Attack on the Castle_ (Volume IV, page 322). + + 3. _The Battle of Hastings_ (Volume IX, page 330). + + 4. _Beowulf and Grendel_ (Volume III, page 350). + + 5. _Chevy Chase_ (Volume IV, page 312). + + 6. _Frithiof the Bold_ (Volume III, page 394). + + 7. The myths of the Northland, viz.: _How the Wolf Was Bound_ (Volume + II, page 91); _The Death of Balder_ (Volume II, page 99); _The + Punishment of Loki_ (Volume II, page 111); and part of _Stories of + the Creation_ (Volume IV, page 159). + + 8. _A Norse Lullaby_ (Volume I, page 246). + + 9. _The Tournament_ (Volume VI, page 38). + + 10. _The Skeleton in Armor_ (Volume V, page 327). + +It will be noticed that while this outline is given for use with young +children, it easily may be adapted to the use of older ones and may lead +into a wide course in historical reading. + +The textbook in history is necessarily brief and really little more than +an outline of events. In many instances the book gives too much space to +battles, sieges and military movements and too little to the conditions +of life, to manners, customs and causes and effects of events. Yet the +textbook is a valuable guide and enables anyone to present the subject +logically and to systematize what is learned, if nothing more. + +What a wide range of subjects is covered in the study of history! What +abundance of material for study is required! Dates must be learned and +events arranged chronologically; maps must be studied, fixed in mind and +made of real value by a comprehension of the things they are supposed to +represent; military events must be understood in relation to the causes +that lead to them and the results that follow. Some few battles or +campaigns must be made vivid enough to give an idea of the expense, the +labor, the suffering and the horrors involved in war; government, +educational and religious institutions, religious and social customs and +financial methods must be studied; industries and amusements, the lives +of the people, food and food supplies, the production of clothing and +building material must be examined; in fact, each one of the multiform +interests of humanity may be a fair topic for study at some time in the +history class. + +Methods of instruction must be as varied as the subject-matter. +Sometimes drill is necessary to fix facts; again it is necessary to +encourage the observation and study of persons, things and events about +us; a third time, wide research and extensive reading are demanded; +again, the feelings must be aroused, sentiment and enthusiasm +encouraged, patriotism taught. + +There is material for many of these exercises in _Journeys Through +Bookland_. + +As a type of study for the military campaign, we might take Burgoyne's +campaign in the Revolution. From the textbook we may learn certain facts +and encourage the pupils to group them as follows: + + _Burgoyne's Campaign._ + + 1. Conditions prior thereto: + _a._ The British occupied only New York and Newport. + + _b._ They understood the natural highway that existed along Lake + Champlain and the Hudson River from the Saint Lawrence River to + New York. + + _c._ They resolved to establish a line of military posts along this + highway. + + 2. Plan of Campaign: + _a._ General Burgoyne was sent to Canada with 4,000 British regulars + and 3,000 Hessians. + + _b._ Canadians and Indians to the number of 1,000 joined the troops + under Burgoyne. + + _c._ St. Leger was sent to Oswego to descend the Mohawk, capture + Fort Stanwix and join Burgoyne. + + _d._ Burgoyne was to go through Richelieu River and Lake Champlain + by boats; thence march to New York by land. + + 3. American Troops in Opposition: + _a._ General St. Clair with 3,000 men at Ticonderoga. + + _b._ General Schuyler with about 3,000 men on the Hudson. + + 4. Burgoyne's Advance: + _a._ The trip to Ticonderoga made and the Americans dislodged from + the fort. + + _b._ The skirmish at Hubbardton was successful, but the Americans + were not captured, and the delay to Burgoyne enabled St. Clair + to join Schuyler. + + _c._ The march to the Hudson was full of difficulties and + discouragements: + (1) Obstructed roads; destroyed bridges. + (2) Inadequate supplies. + (3) Deserting Indians. + (4) Leaving a third of his troops at Ticonderoga. + + _d._ The Expedition against Bennington: + (1) Colonel Baum sent to take supplies from the Americans there. + (2) Met General Stark with a force outnumbering him two or three + to one. + (3) Rain delayed battle, and British entrenched. + (4) Baum surrounded; his force captured or killed, including a + relief party under Riedesel. + + _e._ St. Leger's Campaign. + (1) Unsuccessful battle at Oriskany. + (2) St. Leger retreated and disappeared from the region after a + flight induced by a ruse invented by Benedict Arnold. + + 5. Burgoyne's Surrender. + _a._ He attempted to cut his way through the lines of the American + troops which surrounded him. + + _b._ Crossed the Hudson and met the Americans at Bemis Heights; + defeated. + + _c._ Defeated at Freeman's Farm. + + _d._ Surrendered October 17, 1777. + + 6. Effects of the Surrender. + _a._ Gave the Americans many arms and munitions of war. + + _b._ Gave the Americans greater confidence in themselves and their + cause. + + _c._ Caused great discouragement to the British, both at home and in + the colonies. + + _d._ Established the prestige of the American cause in Europe. + + _e._ Secured the assistance of France. + + _f._ Probably was the most influential single campaign in the war + and largely instrumental in enabling the colonists to win. + +The preceding outline is the framework for the study of one military +campaign. In a school it would be the basis for topical recitations, but +in itself it has neither interest nor vitality. The main points should +be memorized so that facts learned subsequently may be logically +arranged. When the general outline is mastered, teachers and pupils +begin to fill in details from all available sources and create in the +minds of the pupils vivid pictures of the scenes, a thorough +understanding of the course of events, and a lively realization of the +effect of this remarkable episode of a great war. At home it may be used +in a similar manner. + +To further assist in this instance and to furnish a type or model for +succeeding studies, we will traverse the outline again, showing what may +be done with it and how literature may lend its aid to the study of +history. In _Journeys Through Bookland_ we have a long extract from _The +Battle of Saratoga_ by Creasy (Volume IX, page 176). This will be the +source of much of our information, and there are explanatory footnotes +of considerable value. We reproduce here only the indices of the +original outline: + +1. _a_, _b_ and _c_. A good outline map of the colonies is necessary. It +must show the location of bodies of water, natural thoroughfares, cities +and forts. The map should be made for the purpose and contain no details +beyond those necessary for an understanding of this campaign. A second +map showing a strip of country from the Saint Lawrence to New York and +wide enough to include all the operations of the armies should contain +more detail and be used frequently as the study proceeds. It may be +well for each child to draw this region in outline and fill in the +details as his study proceeds. Read page 177, Volume IX. + +2. _a_, _b_, _c_ and _d_. Read pages 180-182, Volume IX. + +3. _a_ and _b_. Pages 182-183, Volume IX. + +4. _a_ and _b_. Pages 181-182, Volume IX. The quotation from Burke, +Volume IX, pages 183 and 184, and the following paragraph are +interesting accounts of the feeling in England and America over the +apparent successes of Burgoyne. + +_c._ The causes of the increased efficiency of the Americans and the +bitterness with which the British were regarded by the colonists is +explained on pages 184 and 185 of Volume IX. + +Something of the nature of the Indian allies may be gained from the +story, _An Exciting Canoe Race_ (Volume VII, page 79). + +A stirring poem, to be read in this connection, is _The Old +Continentals_ (Volume VII, page 175). + +5. _a_, _b_, _c_ and _d_. The final days of the campaign and the +surrender are described on pages 193-200, Volume IX. In using this, +bring out the following points not made in the original outline: + +The near approach of Clinton and the message from him. What must +Burgoyne have felt when he received the message! Put human interest into +the tale. + +The character of Burgoyne, Gates and Arnold, as shown by their acts. + +The Germans (Hessians) in the campaign. + +The burial of General Frazer. + +The condition of the British troops when they surrendered. + +The terms of surrender. + +Gates's message to Congress. + +6. _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_ and _e_. See, in this connection, pages 198 and +199 of Volume IX. + +_The Soldier's Dream_ (Volume VII, page 170) is a good poem to read for +the purpose of exciting sympathy for the soldiers. + +_The Picket Guard_ (Volume VII, page 177) is useful in a similar way, +though written in connection with another war. + +_The American Flag_ (Volume V, page 396) may be used here. Did the +American soldiers carry the flag of the United States at the time of the +battle of Saratoga? If not, what flag was borne? Did the "United +Colonies" have a flag? + +By consulting the tabulated list of selections useful in history classes +you may find other things of interest. Care should be taken, however, +not to cloud the main purpose of the lessons by the introduction of too +much literary matter. + + * * * * * + +Before leaving the subject of history and geography we urge upon those +who wish to work with children, a careful perusal of the sections +entitled _Close Reading_ in this volume. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND IN ITS RELATION TO THE HIGH SCHOOL + + +_Introduction_ + +All high school students are expected to be well grounded in good +literature. It is part of every well planned course of study and the +basis of much of the work in every year. Yet very few high schools are +able to furnish the material for every student to read, and often the +methods of instruction are inadequate to the large classes or fail in +character and execution. There is contained in _Journeys_ practically +all the real literature that is necessary for the foundation of a broad +culture, and though much of it is simple and elementary, it is no less +interesting and valuable. As a matter of fact, few high school students +have ever read the simpler classics in a manner that brought to them the +full message of the selections. Accordingly the most elementary things +are often the newest and the most valuable. The simplest of the nursery +rhymes, as may be seen by the comments and explanations given in another +part of this volume, are full of interest to high school boys and girls, +and in not a few schools form the basis of many serious lessons. The +fables, the myths and the literature of the legendary heroes are not +only interesting, but are of sufficient breadth in meaning to justify +hard work on the part of anyone who has not already mastered them. It is +a mistake to think that the simple things do not interest young men and +young women. The people who scorn the elementary literature of nursery +rhymes, fairy tales and fables are the immature boys of thirteen or +fourteen years to whom everything juvenile seems beneath their dignity +and newly acquired independence. + +The reader of _Journeys_ will notice, however, that the quantity of +matter that may be called really juvenile is small in comparison with +the grand total. As a matter of fact, the selections of the last six +volumes are worthy the reading by anyone, old or young, at any time, and +to be fully appreciated they must be read with care and discrimination +by everyone. The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth volumes are all +high-class literature for adults as well as young children and the +studies are worthy a place in any high school. + +The older a person grows the more he loves the things that were a +delight to his childhood and the more keenly he realizes his loss if he +never had the opportunity to become well acquainted with the great +masterpieces that have been the comfort and inspiration of such +countless thousands of people. Men and women of judgment never criticize +the selections in _Journeys_ on the ground that they are too simple or +are childish. Good literature never dies, never loses its interest. It +lives in a day-by-day intimacy with every one of its acquaintances, and +the love for it increases year by year for everyone who will listen to +its teachings. + +Doubtless some high school students will be glad to have pointed out to +them more in detail the things which are especially applicable to their +work in school and which will help them in the mastery of the subject so +that their school work will be made easier and they may raise their rank +in the eyes of their teachers and companions. + + +A + +Nearly all of the studies in the other volumes and all of them in this +volume are of value to high school students. If they are not difficult +enough to cause work they at least suggest ways of reading that will be +valuable. In the ten volumes the studies are scattered so that young +children may not see too much of the machinery of instruction as they +read. On the other hand the high school student wants the material +systematically arranged and easy of access. + +Accordingly the following arrangement of the studies in this and the +other volumes of _Journeys_ will be of assistance: + + I. Studies in Character: + (1) _Cinderella_, Volume I, page 224. + (2) _The Hardy Tin Soldier_, X, 158. + (3) _Rab and His Friends_, X, 177. + + II. Studies in plot: + (1) _The Snow Queen_, Volume II, page 124. + (2) _The Gold Bug_, IX, 232. + (3) _Cinderella_, X, 150. + + III. Studies in description: + (1) _The King of the Golden River_, Volume II, page 405. + (2) _The Reaper's Dream_, VII, 345. + (3) _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_, VII, 352. + + IV. Method of analysis: + (1) _The Gettysburg Address_, Volume IX, page 321. + (2) _Braddock's Defeat_, X, 227. + + V. General studies involving several or all of the main points: + (1) _Incident of the French Camp_, Volume IV, page 174. + (2) _The Tempest_, VIII, 468. (Extensive + studies following the drama.) + (3) _The Passing of Arthur_, X, 214. + + VI. Studies in rhyme, meter and melody: + (1) _The Country Squire_, Volume VI, page 474. + (2) _To My Infant Son_, VI, 478. + (3) _The Daffodils_, VII, 1. + (4) _The Old Oaken Bucket_, VII, 11. + (5) _Bannockburn_, VII, 15. + (6) _Boat Song_, VII, 17. + (7) _The Bugle Song_, X, 287. + + VII. Studies in interpretation, giving various methods and considering + different phases of the subject: + (1) _Christmas in Old Time_, Volume VI, page 356. + (2) _The Recessional_, VII, 164. + (3) _The Cubes of Truth_, VII, 406. + (4) _America_, VIII, 60. + (5) _A Descent Into the Maelstrom_, VIII, 95. + (6) _Dream Children_, VIII, 335. + (7) _The Vision of Mirza_, IX, 285. + (8) _Pippa Passes_, IX, 293. + (9) _Rab and His Friends_, X, 225. + (10) _The Reaper and the Flowers_, X, 272. + (11) _Adventures in Lilliput_, V, 8. + (12) _David Crockett in the Creek War_, VIII, 37. + (13) _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_, IX, 32. + (14) _A Christmas Carol_, VI, 244. + + VIII. Biographical sketches of authors, suitable for class use: + (1) _Robert Louis Stevenson_, Volume I, page 128. + (2) _Eugene Field_, I, 242. + (3) _Aesop_, II, 1. + (4) _Hans Christian Andersen_, II, 81. + (5) _Henry W. Longfellow_, IV, 62. + (6) _Alice and Phoebe Gary_, IV, 116. + (7) _Nathaniel Hawthorne_, IV, 180. + (8) _Jonathan Swift_, V, 1. + (9) _Sir Walter Scott_, VI, 26. + (10) _John Howard Payne_, VI, 221. + (11) _John Greenleaf Whittier_, VII, 381. + (12) _William Cullen Bryant_, VII, 391. + (13) _Oliver Wendell Holmes_, VII, 398. + (14) _James Russell Lowell_, VII, 411. + (15) _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_, VII, 419. + (16) _Washington Irving_, VIII, 216. + (17) _Charles and Mary Lamb_, VIII, 328. + (18) _William Shakespeare_, VIII, 468. + + +B + +The assistance that literature may give in reading, language, nature +study, history and geography is set forth at length in other chapters of +this volume, and the high school student is earnestly requested to +examine those chapters carefully and utilize whatever appeals to him in +his studies. Especially are the chapters on reading and language +valuable. Usually the greater part of the criticisms passed upon high +school work is aimed against weaknesses in English. No small portion of +this criticism is just, and it comes to a considerable extent from the +fact that theme work is usually assigned on subjects so abstruse and so +far beyond the ready appreciation of the student that the youthful +writer is more concerned in finding out what he is to write than in +thinking how he shall write. The result is a carelessness that brings +errors in construction and an entire lack of clearness and elegance in +expression. Even the older pupils can learn more from writing upon +simple subjects where the material is easily obtained and is in itself +interesting than from the usual difficult and uninteresting subjects. + +The close analysis of a masterpiece gives fine models of expression and +furnishes the best of material for discussion. The use of capital +letters and punctuation marks, spelling and the choice of words are all +subjects for study and are all learned best from good models, such as +are found in the masterpieces of literature. Students will soon learn +that the rules of grammar are not always so hard and fast as they appear +and that the practice of authors and publishers varies in minor things, +especially in the use of commas and capital letters. + +Some studies of special interest that may be based upon the masterpieces +in _Journeys_ will be given below. Many of the stories, poems and essays +are accompanied by notes, queries and comments that will assist in +making the studies profitable. Several good lessons may be derived from +each topic and may be pursued at greater length by research in the +volumes of reference in the school or public library. + +Look in the Index of the tenth volume for the following topics and then +find in the proper volumes the several selections named in the Index: + +I. _Ballads._ Eight of the old English ballads and five more modern +imitations are given. They are virile poems; simple, direct narratives. +The old ones show the peculiarities of the old style English diction +before poetry had been refined, while the later ones, breathing still +the fire and originality of the earlier, are more polished and show the +greater skill and accomplishments of the poets. The old ballads sprang +spontaneously from the race, and doubtless many minds contributed to +their phraseology, for they were sung and recited and passed on from +mouth to mouth for generations before they were fixed in their present +form. + +II. _Essays._ In the list of essays (fourteen) are some of the most +exquisite ever written and others that are full of information and +inspiration. _Dream Children_ is a perfect prose lyric; _Some Children's +Books of the Past_ is an extremely interesting essay of the +informational class. Besides the essays listed in the Index there are +other selections in essay form that may be studied with profit. Here are +some of them: + + 1. _Abraham Lincoln_, Volume IX, page 324. + 2. _The Arickara Indians_, IV, 472. + 3. _The Buffalo_, VII, 96. + 4. _Alfred the Great_, IV, 260. + 5. _The Battle of Cressy_, IX, 161. + 6. _The Battle of Hastings_, IX, 330. + 7. _A Bed of Nettles_, VIII, 209. + 8. _Brute Neighbors_, VII, 260. + 9. _The Buccaneers_, V, 359. + 10. _Stories of the Creation_, IV, 159. + 11. _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_, VII, 306. + +III. _Fables._ The names of more than thirty fables are given in the +list. Comparative study of these fables, considering the animals most +frequently mentioned, the correctness and naturalness of the traits +ascribed to the different animals, the moral precepts inculcated by the +fables, etc., will be found interesting and profitable. + +IV. _Fairy Lore and Folk Lore._ Though fairy stories may have lost their +intrinsic interest for high school students, the teacher will find in +the collection given here the material for many a study. What merits +keep the old stories alive and make them perennially fascinating to +children of all nations? Which stories are the better for children, +those of Hans Christian Andersen or those of the Brothers Grimm? What +are the particular merits or demerits of each class? How do the stories +by the latter writers compare in originality and beauty with the older +stories? What comparisons can be made between _The Ugly Duckling_ and +_The King of the Golden River_? What merits has _Cinderella_ over +_Bluebeard_? What is the effect of _Jack the Giant Killer_ and stories +of that kind on the minds of young people? + +V. _Fiction._ Look under the subtitles for the long list of stories +suitable for study when the class is dealing with fiction. + +VI. _Legendary Heroes._ What can be more interesting than a study of +these characters from the borderland of history? These great figures +come forth from the shadows of the past and move before us like living +men: Beowulf, the Saxon; Frithiof, the Norse hero; Siegfried, the +German; Roland, the French knight; The Cid, Spain's greatest warrior and +gentleman; Hector and Ulysses, the Greeks; King Arthur and his knights +from England; Horatius, the Roman, and Sohrab, the Persian. + +The literature of the Arthurian legends as given in _Journeys_, where +they cover about 150 pages, is a cycle of great importance to every high +school student. The selections concerning Arthur form a series of +narratives which, though from different sources, give a vivid picture of +the great knight and his times. The cycle is in volume V and the titles +are: + + _a._ _Arthur Made King_, page 117. + + _b._ _Arthur Weds Guenevere; The Round Table_, page 119. + + _c._ _Arthur and Pellinore_, page 122. + + _d._ _Arthur Gets Excalibur_, page 127. + + _e._ _Balin and Balan_, page 130. (The stories given so far were + written expressly for _Journeys_, but all have followed rather + closely the relation of Malory.) + + _f._ _Geraint and Enid_, page 148. (This is one of the most popular of + Tennyson's _Idyls of the King_. The poem is given complete.) + + _g._ _The Holy Grail_, page 207. + (1) _The Knighting of Sir Galahad_, page 208. + (2) _The Marvelous Sword_, page 209. + (3) _Galahad and the Siege Perilous_, page 212. + (4) _Galahad draws the Sword of Balin Le Savage_, page 213. + (5) _The Holy Grail Appears_, page 214. + (6) _Galahad Gets His Shield_, page 217. + (7) _The Grail Achieved_, page 222. (The story of the search for + the Holy Grail, which is taken from the narrative of Sir Thomas + Malory, retains his quaint and charming style. The only + material changes are in paragraphing and the use of quotation + marks.) + + _h._ _Dissensions at King Arthur's Court_, page 232. (This was written + for _Journeys_, to cover the interval between the achievement of + the Grail by Sir Galahad and the death of Arthur.) + + _i._ _The Passing of Arthur_, page 237. (This is Tennyson's beautiful + poem given in full. It describes the last days of Arthur's reign + and the strange story of his death.) + +VII. _Lyrics._ This topic gives the titles of about fifty beautiful +lyrics. + +VIII. _Myths._ Twelve titles showing stories from the mythology of +different nations. Many of the articles have explanatory comments and, +though stories and notes are intended primarily for young children, the +whole offers a good introduction to a more extended study of mythology. + +IX. _Don Quixote._ The five adventures related give a good idea of the +nature of the book and are sufficient for reference when the history +class is studying chivalry. + +X. _Odes._ These seven of our finest odes will please the class in +literature. + +XI. _Poetry._ Look up the sub-titles for names of poems. + +XII. _Wit and Humor._ It is not always easy to find what is wanted for +class study under this head. The selections given are amusing, but at +the same time most of them have real literary value, as well, and are +worth study. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +RECITATIONS AND SPECIAL DAYS IN SCHOOL + + +Whoever has had charge of young children who are in attendance at school +has been many, many times worried in trying to answer for them the +oft-repeated request "Where shall I find a piece to speak?" Every volume +of _Journeys Through Bookland_ has a large number of selections suitable +for this purpose. All of them may be found readily by consulting the +Index at the end of the tenth volume, when the name is known or the +nature of the selection is understood, or by examining the table of +contents at the beginning of each volume when no intimation of title or +subject has been given. + +It has become customary in most schools to observe with appropriate +exercises certain notable days. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, +Flag Day, Arbor Day, and Bird Day have their own peculiar functions and +for each there is a different style of observance. Recitations, songs, +readings, stories, help to make up the programs, and upon the parent +often falls most of the burden in selecting material. In many states the +Department of Education issues beautiful circulars on some of these +special days, and from them the teacher draws some of her material and +forms her program for the occasion. Yet when the one or two days for +which material has been provided have passed there come a number of +others which make their demands. Besides those mentioned, there are the +birthdays of our great patriots and literary men and the general +exercises at other times for which no special provision has been made. +For the busy parent, teacher or pupil, _Journeys Through Bookland_ +provides an almost inexhaustible supply of excellent things, most of +which may be found readily through the Index. Moreover, the selections +are from the best literature for children, from that which they should +know, so that the tired and harrassed mother need not worry for fear +that the children are filling their minds with useless things. + +It does not seem worth while to give long lists of selections +appropriate to special days, as things are well classified in the Index +in the tenth volume. Yet to show more fully how _Journeys Through +Bookland_ may be used, the following suggestions are offered: + +I. BIRD DAY. Besides many other selections that are usable in different +grades, the following seem peculiarly appropriate: + + 1. _The Fox and the Crow_, Volume I, page 64. (This and the other + fables mentioned below may be repeated as given or, better, may be + told by a pupil in his own words.) + 2. _The Fox and the Stork_, I, 73. + 3. _The Wolf and the Crane_, I, 96. + 4. _The Lark and Her Young Ones_, I, 131. + 5. _The Brown Thrush_, I, 147. + 6. _The Owl and the Pussy-cat_, I, 339. + 7. _Minerva and the Owl_, II, 7. + 8. _The Sparrow and the Eagle_, II, 8. + 9. _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ II, 399. + 10. _The Barefoot Boy_, IV, 3. + 11. _Ode to a Skylark_, VII, 275. + 12. (See also the lists of articles relating to birds, given under the + section devoted to _Nature Study_ in this volume.) + +II. MEMORIAL DAY. A few of the selections suitable for this occasion are +the following: + + 1. _Sheridan's Ride_, Volume IV, page 223. + 2. _The American Flag_, V, 396. + 3. _"Stonewall" Jackson's Way_, V, 400. + 4. _Breathes There the Man_, VII, 151. + 5. _For A' That and A' That_, VII, 149. + 6. _How Sleep the Brave_, VII, 151. + 7. _The Picket Guard_, VII, 177. + 8. _The Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321. + 9. _Abraham Lincoln_, IX, 324. + 10. (See also in the Index the titles under the words _Patriotism_ + and _History_.) + +III. CHRISTMAS. There are at least three selections dealing specifically +with Christmas, while many others are appropriate to the time: + + 1. _A Visit from St. Nicholas_, Volume II, page 202. + + 2. _A Christmas Carol_, VI, 244. (This may be made the basis of a very + interesting afternoon. Parts of the story may be told briefly, + parts may be read in full, parts recited and parts given as a + dialogue. Thus the spirit of Christmas cheer and good will that + animates this beautiful story may be communicated to the pupils in + the pleasantest of ways and one that will be remembered.) + + 3. _Christmas in the Old Time_, VI, page 356. + +IV. BIRTHDAYS. In the Index will be found the names of a number of great +men and women of whom there are biographical sketches and from whose +writings quotations have been made. Each of these may be made the +subject of a general exercise at an appropriate time. + +V. DRAMATIZATION. Many a poem or story may be put into dramatic form +with very little effort and thus furnish an exercise for several pupils +at the same time. The descriptive parts may be read by a pupil not in +the dialogue or may be omitted. In the latter case, acting may fill the +void or the narrative may be made into conversation between the +characters. Some rearrangement may be necessary and a little change in +phraseology may be needed. Such adaptations the pupils may make +themselves. The following scenes may be used by pupils of different +ages: + +1. The description of the attack as given by Rebecca to Ivanhoe. (See +_The Attack on the Castle_, Volume IV, pages 324 to 338.) By costumes +and good acting this may be made a very effective scene. + +2. A few boys will enjoy rendering the conversational parts of _The +Heart of Bruce_ (Volume V, page 316) while a girl reads the descriptive +lines of the ballad. + +3. By making some changes in the text and putting into direct discourse +some of that which Dickens has written in indirect discourse, a capital +Christmas sketch may be made from the Christmas doings at the Cratchit +home. (See _A Christmas Carol_, Volume VI, pages 303 to 312.) + +4. _Limestone Broth_ (Volume VI, page 467) can be made into a neat +little humorous dialogue with very little change. + +5. Several scenes from _The Tempest_ (Volume VIII, page 364) are +suitable for school use. + +6. _The Death of Caesar_ (Volume IX, page 143) is a fine dialogue and +affords a good opportunity for many speakers. + +7. The conversation between Luigi and his mother (_Pippa Passes_, Volume +IX, pages 317-323) is a fine scene for school use, especially if Pippa +really passes singing at the right moment. + +VI. AN OLD-FASHIONED AFTERNOON. Not so many years ago it was an almost +universal custom to give over Friday afternoon to the "speaking of +pieces." Occasionally even now a teacher wants one of the old-fashioned +mixed programs, and though she will prefer to make her own for each +occasion, the following example will show one of the many that might be +made from _Journeys Through Bookland_: + + 1. _Roll Call._ (Pupils respond with a memory gem from the hundred + given elsewhere in this volume.) + 2. Song: _America_, Volume VIII, page 60. + 3. _Wynken, Blynken and Nod_, I, 262. + 4. _The Discontented Stonecutter_, II, 12. + 5. Song: _Sweet and Low_, VI, 122. + 6. _Beowulf and Grendel_ (retold in brief), III, 350. + 7. _Incident of the French Camp_, IV, 174. + 8. Song: _My Old Kentucky Home_, VII, 179. + 9. _Echo_, III, 286. (Let the answers of Echo be given by someone who + is concealed from view of the audience.) + 10. _The First Snowfall_, II, 403. + 11. Song: _Home, Sweet Home_, VI, 221. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HANDY LIST OF STUDIES IN JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND + + +The following list gives the names of those selections upon which the +more important studies have been based. Here, they are arranged in the +order in which the selections appear in the several volumes. When a +study accompanies a selection, the reference given is that upon which +the selection begins. However, as in a number of instances where studies +are in one place while the selections are in another, the cross +references are given more in detail, and a statement is made as to just +what points in the selection are covered by the studies--whether these +latter are character studies, scene studies, word studies, studies of +figures or historical studies. + +Probably not a few of the readers of _Journeys_ will be glad to use the +studies continuously, or will frequently want to know if some given +selection in the volume has been treated. This question is easily +answered by referring to this chapter, finding the volume in which the +selection occurs, and then running down the numbers at the right of the +page. This method will be more expeditious than running over the titles +of the selections, though of course the latter may be followed. + +Reference should also be had to the General Index, under _Studies_. + +VOLUME ONE + + PAGE + _Down Tumbled Wheelbarrow_ 46 + (See Study of Picture--Volume X, page 58) + _The Dog and His Shadow_ 63 + (See Study on Scene--Volume X, page 164) + _The Fox and the Crow_ 64 + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 187) + _The Hare and the Tortoise_ 71 + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 185) + _The Fox and the Stork_ 73 + (See Study on Scene--Volume X, page 166) + _The Rock-a-By Lady_ 94 + _The Wind and the Sun_ 95 + (See Lesson in Language--Volume X, page 357) + _My Bed is a Boat_ 126 + (See Study of Picture--Volume X, page 52) + _Little Blue Pigeon_ 133 + _The Land of Counterpane_ 144 + _The Brown Thrush_ 147 + (See Study--Volume X, page 276) + _The Hardy Tin Soldier_ 148 + (See Character Study--Volume X, page 158) + _Jack and the Beanstalk_ 156 + (See Study of Picture--Vol. X, page 52) + _The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse_ 199 + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_ 203 + _Cinderella_ 224 + (See Character Study--Volume I, page 238) + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 150) + _Wynken, Blynken and Nod_ 262 + (See Study of Picture--Volume X, page 53) + _The Twin Brothers_ 264 + _Industry and Sloth_ 300 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 229) + _The Drummer_ 303 + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 193) + _Keepsake Mill_ 349 + _"Something"_ 395 + _The Fairies_ 405 + _The Reaper and the Flowers_ 410 + (See Study--Volume X, page 272) + _The Ugly Duckling_ 414 + +VOLUME TWO + + _The Golden Touch_ 43 + _The Child's World_ 66 + (See Study--Volume X, page 277) + _The Fir Tree_ 68 + (See Study of Picture, _The Swallow and the Stork + Came_--Volume X, page 55) + (See Study in _The Lesson and the Author's Purpose_--Volume + X, page 173) + _Picture Books in Winter_ 87 + _Seven Times One_ 119 + (See Study--Volume X, page 278) + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber Locks_ 121 + (See Study of Picture--Volume X, page 54) + _The Snow Queen_ 124 + (See Study on _The Plot_--Volume II, page 169) + _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_ 202 + (See Study in Figures--Volume X, page 270) + _Tom, the Water Baby_ 215 + (See Study of Picture, _Tom and the Dragon Fly_--Volume X, + page 55) + (See Nature Study Lesson--Volume X, page 381) + _The Milkmaid_ 374 + _Holger Danske_ 377 + _The Fairies of Caldon-Low_ 395 + (See Story Told--Volume X, page 68) + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_ 399 + (See Character Study--Volume X, page 95) + _The First Snowfall_ 403 + (See Study in Figures--Volume X, page 270) + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 281) + _King of the Golden River_ 405 + (See Study--Volume II, page 441) + (See Study in Description--Volume X, page 366) + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 393) + _The Potato_ 467 + (See Study--Volume X, page 285) + _The Queen of the Underworld_ 468 + _Origin of the Opal_ 480 + (See Study--Volume X, page 285) + _In Time's Swing_ 481 + _Why the Sea Is Salt_ 484 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 231) + +VOLUME THREE + + _Robinson Crusoe_ 45 + (See Nature Study--Volume X, page 382) + _Faithless Sally Brown_ 92 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 232) + _Swiss Family Robinson_ 99 + (See Nature Study--Volume X, page 382) + _Cupid and Psyche_ 365 + _Frithiof The Bold_ 394 + _Lochinvar_ 432 + _Robin Hood and the Stranger_ 444 + (See Study in Narration--Volume X, page 363) + +VOLUME FOUR + + _The Barefoot Boy_ 3 + (See Study--Volume X, page 286) + _Cid Campeador_ 9 + (See Study in Exposition--Volume X, page 368) + _To H. W. L._ 84 + _The Village Blacksmith_ 86 + _The Definition of a Gentleman_ 170 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 234) + _Incident of the French Camp_ 174 + _The Boston Massacre_ 217 + (See Study in Argument--Volume X, page 370) + _Alfred the Great_ 260 + (See Study in History--Volume X, page 414) + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_ 461 + (See Story Told--Volume X, page 71) + +VOLUME FIVE + + _Gulliver's Travels_ 6 + (See Study in _Close Reading_ on _Adventures in + Lilliput_--Volume X, page 235) + _Ballad of Agincourt_ 95 + (See Story Told--Volume X, page 74) + _Lead, Kindly Light_ 110 + (See Study--Volume X, page 98) + _Geraint and Enid_ 148 + (See Study of Picture, _Geraint hears Enid Singing_--Volume X, + page 60) + _The Passing of Arthur_ 237 + (See Complete Study--Volume X, page 214) + _The Heart of Bruce_ 316 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 238) + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_ 335 + _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_ 340 + (See Study--Volume X, page 119) + _Braddock's Defeat_ 379 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 227) + _The American Flag_ 396 + +VOLUME SIX + + _Rab and His Friends_ 99 + (See Study in Emotional Power--Volume X, page 177) + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 225) + _Annie Laurie_ 119 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 243) + _Sweet and Low_ 122 + _The Bugle Song_ 133 + (See Study--Volume X, page 287) + _A Christmas Carol_ 244 + (See Study in Scene--Volume X, page 168) + (See Study of Picture, _Bob and Tiny Tim_--Volume X, page 41) + _Christmas in Old Time_ 356 + _Poor Richard's Almanac_ 407 + (See Study in Character Building--Volume X, page 101) + _The Country Squire_ 474 + _To My Infant Son_ 478 + + VOLUME SEVEN + + _The Daffodils_ 1 + _The Old Oaken Bucket_ 11 + _Bannockburn_ 15 + _Boat Song_ 17 + _The Petrified Fern_ 77 + (See Study--Volume X, page 291) + _An Exciting Canoe Race_ 79 + (See Study in Forms of Expression--Volume X, page 376) + _The Recessional_ 164 + _The Forsaken Merman_ 180 + (See Study--Volume X, page 295) + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_ 186 + _The Cloud_ 257 + (See Study--Volume X, page 301) + _Brute Neighbors_ 260 + (See Study--Volume X, page 383) + _Ode to a Skylark_ 275 + (See Study in Figures--Volume X, page 268) + _The Pond in Winter_ 280 + (See Nature Study--Volume X, page 383) + _Winter Animals_ 293 + (See Study--Volume X, page 383) + _Trees and Ants that Help Each Other_ 306 + (See Study--Volume X, page 385) + _My Mother's Picture_ 335 + (See Study in Description--Volume X, page 367) + _The Reaper's Dream_ 345 + _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_ 352 + _The Cubes of Truth_ 406 + _The Lost Child_ 409 + (See Study in _Close Reading_--Volume X, page 243) + + VOLUME EIGHT + + _David Crockett in the Creek War_ 37 + (See Study--Volume X, page 244) + _America_ 60 + _A Descent into the Maelstrom_ 95 + _Herve Riel_ 168 + (See Story Told--Volume X, page 78) + _Dream Children_ 335 + _Reading Shakespeare_ 346 + _The Tempest_ 364 + + VOLUME NINE + + _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_ 32 + (See Study--Volume X, page 248) + From _The Death of Caesar_ 143 + (See Study--Volume X, page 253) + _Battle of Saratoga_ 176 + (See Study in History--Volume X, page 419) + _The Gold Bug_ 232 + (See Study--Volume IX, page 283) + _The Vision of Mirza_ 285 + (See Study in Notes) + _Pippa Passes_ 293 + (See Study--Volume IX, page 316) + _The Gettysburg Address_ 321 + _Of Expense_ 397 + _Robert of Lincoln_ 444 + _The Chambered Nautilus_ 454 + _Ode to a Grecian Urn_ 462 + _The Fate of the Indians_ 466 + _A Call to Arms_ 475 + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SUPPLEMENTARY BOOK LISTS + + +If _Journeys Through Bookland_ is read as we intend, it will occupy no +inconsiderable part of the time boys and girls give to reading. Yet +there will be a call for more books. Some selections from great authors +will create a taste for more from the same writers, and certain pieces +will suggest lines of reading that may profitably extend far beyond the +limits of the present volumes. In fact, this series is meant to be the +stimulus to a lifetime of reading. Some children are naturally readers, +and will require more to satisfy their avid tastes than may be +sufficient for their brothers and sisters, while other children may need +to be helped even beyond the limits covered by our plans. It may be that +some parents will feel uncertain what advice to give their boys and +girls when asked about other books than those indicated in the text. For +such the following lists have been prepared. + +At the present day, good libraries are to be found in almost every town, +and either from the school or the town library may be drawn most of the +books mentioned. Books are always good presents, and from these lists +parents who have watched the development of their children's tastes will +find helpful hints in the selection of presents that will be accepted +with joy and read with continued pleasure. + +The training these plans for reading have given will excite interest in +the great classics which the quantities of light, frivolous stories +carelessly written for children have in a measure relegated to the +background. These classics are the foundation of literature, and without +a knowledge of them, best obtained in youth, genuine culture seems +almost impossible. + +In presenting the lists it has seemed best to make some of them parallel +to the volumes of this work rather than to arrange them by the ages of +the children or their grades in school. The power to read intelligently +and with appreciation is not wholly dependent upon age, nor does rank in +school show the capability of the young person. Some boys of twelve will +read and enjoy things that others of sixteen will find almost +impossible. Not infrequently a little "sixth-grader" reads better +literature than many a high school student. Other lists for older boys +and girls are classified according to subject-matter. The method in +every case is obvious. + +This series is for boys and girls of all ages; for girls as much as for +boys. Good literature appeals to universal taste, and there is little +question of sex in it. There was a time when girls were thought so +different from boys that "girls' books" were written in abundance. Now +that girls are given the same education that boys have, they usually +like the same things. There will be found nearly as great extremes of +taste in one sex as in the other during those years to which this set is +adapted. Whatever difference there is in the sexes will manifest itself +in what each selects for his or her own from the masterpiece that both +read. That we get from our reading what we put into it, is as true of us +when we are young as it is when we have grown older. To as great an +extent as Alice is different from Fred will what she gets from reading +_Rab and His Friends_ differ from what he absorbs. + +In the books of this series the love story has little place, and into it +sex problems do not enter. Its readers have not reached an age when such +things are of serious moment, and there is enough good literature for +them without dragging in or even admitting stories of passion and those +that make their strongest appeal to the attraction of one sex for +another. However, there is an abundance of sentiment, and the home +feelings are recognized again and again; the love of parents for each +other and for their offspring, the love of brother and sister, +friendship, the pure affection of young people, love of home, of God, of +country, all are subjects of the finest selections the language +contains. Such are to be found in abundance. + +In the lists more latitude has been allowed, and while nothing has been +included that may excite anything but the purest emotions, yet room has +been made for many of the great novels that are real studies of the +lives and characters of adults. These books, really written for older +people, will have their message for the young, a message that will be +amplified and perhaps changed entirely, when, after many years, the book +is read again with no lessened interest. _Les Miserables_ was read once +by a young boy whose attention was caught and held so strongly by the +exciting story that he held himself through all the long, prosy +meanderings with which Hugo has delayed the march of his plot. Some +years later the same boy, grown to a college student, read _Les +Miserables_ again with even greater interest. He remembered the story +quite well, but the prosy meanderings had to his broadened intelligence +become wonderful pictures of life, and even the book-long description of +the Battle of Waterloo was fascinating, though its only function in the +story was to say that one man saved another man's life. The boy, now a +man in middle life, read Hugo's masterpiece a third time. Story and +description were now secondary in interest, but the author's deep +insight into human nature, his brilliant style and shrewd, kindly +philosophy held the old reader more closely than had anything before. So +will it be with many of the books in the list. If we are to make +friends, let us meet them as early as we can, see them as often as we +can, and cling to them as long as we can. + +In recommending books to children, parents will do well to remember that +books in which young people are not interested will not be read in such +a way as to be profitable. The books in these lists are all interesting +in themselves, and there need be no fear that they will not be read. The +child who has been trained after the manner indicated in these talks +will need little further assistance in mastering these books. + + [Illustration: CHARLES KINGSLEY + THOMAS MOORE + JOHN TYNDALL + ALEXANDER POPE + THOMAS CAMPBELL + DAVID LIVINGSTONE + GEORGE MACDONALD] + + +_Volume I_ + + AESOP'S FABLES. + There are many good editions published by the various schoolbook + houses. That edited by J. H. Stickney and published by Ginn & + Co. is as good as any, and contains also a supplement with + fables from La Fontaine and Krilof. + + A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES, by _Robert Louis Stevenson_. + The edition illustrated by E. Mars and H. M. Squire and + published by Rand, McNally & Co. is excellent. Jessie Wilcox + Smith illustrates an edition for Charles Scribner's Sons. + + LULLABY LAND, by _Eugene Field_. + This is published in beautiful form by Charles Scribner's Sons. + + FAIRY TALES, by _Hans Christian Andersen_. + The schoolbook houses publish selections in an attractive form; + Blackie and Son, London, a cheap edition. + + FAIRY TALES, by _Wilhelm_ and _Jakob Grimm_. + Selections, such as those edited by Sarah E. Wiltse for Ginn & + Co., are better than the complete editions, for many of the + Grimm tales are coarse and valueless. + + BLUE FAIRY BOOK and GREEN FAIRY BOOK, by _Andrew Lang_. + Besides some of the Grimm tales these books contain folklore + stories from many nations. Lang has edited other books in this + series, but two are probably enough. + + THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE, by _Dinah Maria (Mulock) Craik_. + This is a charming little tale, much loved by children. + + PINOCCHIO, by _C. Collodi_. + Walter Cramp's translation of this little Italian classic will + be highly appreciated. Ginn and Company. + + OLD GREEK STORIES, by _James Baldwin_. + American Book Company. This contains the stories of Arachne, the + Gorgon's Head, Prometheus and Theseus. + + LETTERS FROM A CAT, by _Helen Hunt Jackson_. + Amusing letters which a cat writes to its mistress. Helpful in + teaching kindness to animals. + + THE BOOK OF JOYOUS CHILDREN, by _James Whitcomb Riley_. + Charles Scribner's Sons; _Child Rhymes_, Bobbs-Merrill Co.; + _Child World_, Bobbs-Merrill Co. Three books with delightful + poems for children and about them. + + +_Volume II_ + +While the books mentioned in these lists seem most closely connected to +the volume to which they are ascribed, yet no hard and fast lines can be +drawn. Children will read in the second volume of this set before they +have finished the first, and the books in the lists are suitable +whenever interest is ripe in the kind of literature which the books +contain. Several of the titles given in the list for the first volume +should be considered with the second volume. + + WONDER BOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, by _Nathaniel Hawthorne_. + This contains many other stories than those given in these + volumes. + + TANGLEWOOD TALES, by _Nathaniel Hawthorne_. + A second wonder book of classic myths. Houghton, Mifflin Co. are + the authorized publishers of the wonder books. + + THE HEROES, OR GREEK FAIRY TALES, by _Charles Kingsley_. + Published by E. P. Dutton & Co., with pictures by Rose Le + Quesne. + + THREE FAIRY TALES, by _Jean Ingelow_. + Illustrated by A. J. Ripley. D. C. Heath & Co. + + THE STORY OF AENEAS, by _Michael Clarke_. + American Book Company. Fine illustrations. This contains the + story of the _Aeneid_ for young American readers. + + THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE, _by Dinah Maria (Mulock) Craik_. + D. C. Heath & Co. An allegorical fairy tale of great beauty, + teaching the lesson of patience and true manhood. + + LITTLE MR. THIMBLEFINGER AND HIS QUEER COUNTRY, by _Joel Chandler + Harris_. + Illustrations by Oliver Herford. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + MR. RABBIT AT HOME, by _Joel Chandler Harris_. + A sequel to _Little Mr. Thimblefinger_. + + NONSENSE SONGS AND STORIES, by _Edward Lear_. + F. Warne & Co. + + COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS of _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_. + This is one of the books that every family ought to own, there + is so much in it for every age. Besides the lyrics children love + so well, there are _Hiawatha_, _Evangeline_, _Miles Standish_ + and other poems, which belong to children as well as to the + adults. The Cambridge edition published by Houghton, Mifflin Co. + is a cheap, serviceable book, though the print is necessarily + rather small. + + THE WONDERFUL CHAIR AND THE TALES IT TOLD, by _Frances R. + Browne_. + D. C. Heath & Co. + + THE BLUE BIRD FOR CHILDREN, by _Maurice Maeterlinck_. + The story of the play, beautifully told. Silver, Burdett & Co. + + THE JUNGLE BOOK, by _Rudyard Kipling_. + The hero is a child brought up among the wolves. A delightful + story to create interest in wild animals. The Century Company. + + THE SECOND JUNGLE BOOK, by _Rudyard Kipling_. + The Century Company. + + JUST SO STORIES, by _Rudyard Kipling_. + + WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN, by _Ernest Thompson Seton_. + A delightful series of stories full of human interest. + + +_Volume III_ + +This volume contains selections from several books which it is felt will +be read in their entirety by most children. They are: + + ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS. + Two modern fairy tales by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge + Dodgson). The amusing pictures are by Sir John Tenniel. The + Macmillan Company. These fantastic stories delight everyone who + reads them. + + ROBINSON CRUSOE, by _Daniel Defoe_. + There are many editions of this old and popular story for boys, + from an abbreviated form in words of one syllable to the + original work in full. W. H. Lambert has edited a school edition + in excellent manner for Ginn & Co. + + THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, by _Johann Rudolph Wyss_. + Though not of such literary merit as _Robinson Crusoe_, it is + similar in plot and usually more popular. Ginn & Co. publish a + good, cheap edition, edited by J. H. Stickney. + + ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENT. + The complete editions are not suitable for children to read, but + the edition edited by Andrew Lang is excellent. Several + schoolbook houses publish good selections, including the most + popular tales. + +Besides the books mentioned in the lists for Volumes I and II, the +following might be suggested here: + + THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS of _John Greenleaf Whittier_. + Houghton, Mifflin Company's Cambridge edition is perhaps the + best. Whittier did not write as much for children as Longfellow + did, but his _Snow-Bound_ is a classic that every child will + love if he is helped a little in reading it. Other poems will + appeal to the older members of the family. + + THE BOOK OF LEGENDS TOLD OVER AGAIN, by _Horace E. Scudder_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. _The Flying Dutchman_, _St. Christopher_, + _William Tell_, and _The Wandering Jew_ are some of the names. + + THE ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES, by _Charles Lamb_. + D. C. Heath & Co. + + NORSE STORIES RE-TOLD FROM THE SAGAS, by _Hamilton Wright Mabie_. + Rand, McNally & Co. + + THE BIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY, by _Ernest Thompson Seton_. + The Century Company. + + SOME MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. + Written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. Charles Scribner's Sons. + + THE STORY OF ROLAND, by _James Baldwin_. + Illustrated by R. B. Birch. Charles Scribner's Sons. + + THE STORY OF SIEGFRIED, by _James Baldwin_. + Illustrated by Howard Pyle. Charles Scribner's Sons. + + +_Volume IV_ + + STORY OF THE CID. + Retold by Calvin Dill Wilson. Lathrop, Lee and Shepard. + + OLD INDIAN LEGENDS. + Retold graphically by Zitkala Sa, one of the tribe of the + Dakotahs, and illustrated by Angel de Cora + (Hin-ook-Mahiroi-Kilinaka), the Indian artist. Ginn & Co. + + INDIAN BOYHOOD, by _Charles Eastman_, a Sioux Indian. + Full of the manners and customs of the Indians, and containing + as well some good stories of adventure. Little, Brown & Co. + + GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR, by _Nathaniel Hawthorne_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. This book contains, besides the stories + printed in this set, many other interesting historical tales. + + THE BOYS OF '76, by _Charles Carleton Coffin_. + Harper and Bros. A fine book that will interest any child in the + story of the Revolution. There are other books in a similar vein + by the same author. + + THE STORY OF THE GREEKS, + THE STORY OF THE ROMANS, and + THE STORY OF THE ENGLISH + are three good books by H. A. Guerber, which will help to create + an interest in the history of those peoples and at the same time + give information valuable in reading literature. All are + published for school use by the American Book Company. + + CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, by _Charles Dickens_. + This book is always interesting to children, and is such good + reading that we need not feel afraid of Dickens' inexactness and + apparent prejudices. Read it as literature, not so much as + history. + + BIRDS AND BEES, SHARP EYES AND OTHER PAPERS, by _John Burroughs_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. Though this may seem rather hard reading + to some, it is delightful literature, and full of good lessons + in observation for children. Other books by the same author are + equally entertaining. An excellent book to read to children. + + INDIAN DAYS OF THE LONG AGO, by _E. S. Curtis_. + World Book Co. + + THE MAGIC FOREST, by _Stewart Edward White_. + Macmillan Co. + + THE WORLD OF THE GREAT FOREST, by _Paul Du Chaillu_. + Harper and Bros. An interesting account of animal life, not + without some literary merit. Other books by the same author will + delight the adventurous. + + SHARP EYES, and + MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS + are two beautiful books, illustrated by the author, William + Hamilton Gibson. Harper and Bros. They are as interesting and as + charmingly written as any of the multitudinous nature books. + + +_Volume V_ + + THE BOYS' KING ARTHUR, edited by _Sidney Lanier_. + Illustrated by Alfred Kappes. Charles Scribner's Sons. + + THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL, by _James Russell Lowell_. + One of the finest poems in the language. Best read in connection + with the stories of King Arthur. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + THE BOYS' FROISSART. + The chronicles retold in simple English by Sidney Lanier. + Scribners. + + TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO, abridged by _Thomas W. Knox_. + The touch of fiction does not injure these old tales. + + LITTLE SMOKE, by _William Osborn_. + An exciting story of Sioux life. + + TEN BIG INDIANS, by _Mary Hazelton Wade_. + W. A. Wilde & Co. An interesting introduction to Indian history. + + HANS BRINKER; OR THE SILVER SKATES, by _Mary Mapes Dodge_. + A delightful story of child life in Holland. A valuable picture + of manners and customs. + + THE HOOSIER SCHOOL BOY, by _Edward Eggleston_. + Charles Scribner's Sons. An interesting story of pioneer times. + + THE PETERKIN PAPERS, by _Lucretia Peabody Hale_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. One of the few good humorous stories for + children. + + TOBY TYLER, OR TEN WEEKS WITH A CIRCUS, and + MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER + are two wholesome stories full of humor and pathos. Harper and + Bros. + + THE STORY OF A NUeRNBERG STOVE, by _Louise De la Ramee (Ouida)_. + Educational Publishing Company. + + BETTY LEICESTER, by _Sarah Orne Jewett_. + A fine story for girls. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL, by _Kate Douglas Wiggin (Riggs)_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. A charming story which will delight + everybody. By the same author, _The Story of Patsy_, _Timothy's + Quest_ and _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_ are all wholesome and + entertaining. + + REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM, by _Kate Douglas Wiggin_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, A TALE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, + by _Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)_. Harper and Bros. The + story relates to England in the sixteenth century. + + THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, by _Edward Everett Hale_. + Little, Brown & Co. The style and language are mature, but the + story is one of the best lessons in patriotism ever written. + + +_Volume VI_ + + TALES OF A GRANDFATHER, by _Sir Walter Scott_. + An abridged edition, published by Ginn & Co., contains the best + tales, but many children will like them all. + + THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + An excellent book for young people on account of its interest + and its clear literary style. An edition by Houghton, Mifflin + Co., contains a sketch of Franklin's life subsequent to the time + when his autobiography ends. + + LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, by _Thomas Babington Macaulay_. + Inspiring tales in verse such as children love to hear. + _Horatius_ is among them. + + IVANHOE, by _Sir Walter Scott_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. publish a cheap school edition. + + THE TALISMAN, by _Sir Walter Scott_. + + SCOTTISH CHIEFS, by _Jane Porter_. + This is one of the stories that young people enjoyed years ago. + It helps to the reading of Scottish history, and is a good type + of the romantic novel. + + ENOCH ARDEN, by _Alfred Tennyson_. + + IDYLS OF THE KING, by _Alfred Tennyson_. + + THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS of _Oliver Wendell Holmes_. + Cambridge edition of Houghton, Mifflin Co. _The Grandmother's + Story of Bunker Hill_, _A Ballad of the Boston Tea Party_, _Ode + for Washington's Birthday_, _Old Ironsides_, _Lexington_ and + others have historical value. The humorous poems like _The + One-Hoss Shay_, _How the Old Horse Won the Bet_, and such + beautiful poems as _The Chambered Nautilus_ and _The Last Leaf_ + always appeal to young folks. + + THE SPY, by _James Fenimore Cooper_. + This is a thrilling story of the Revolution. + + THE PILOT, by _James Fenimore Cooper_. + This also is a story of the Revolution, and it has Paul Jones as + its hero. + + MEN OF IRON, by _Howard Pyle_. + Harper and Bros. The "men of iron" are Henry IV of England and + the men of his court. + + THE STORY OF A BAD BOY, by _Thomas Bailey Aldrich_. + Houghton, Mifflin Co. An amusing and frank story of New England + boy life. + + +_Volume VII_ + + THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH, by _Charles Dickens_. + This is one of the Christmas stories, and is written in the best + vein of the fascinating author. + + DAVID COPPERFIELD, by _Charles Dickens_. + This is usually considered the masterpiece of the author. + + A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by _Charles Dickens_. + A thrilling story of the French Revolution, rather full of + terrible happenings, and rather mature. + + THE LADY OF THE LAKE, and + MARMION, by _Sir Walter Scott_, + the two best of his longer poems, rarely fail to interest young + people. + + TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE, by _Charles and Mary Lamb_. + + THE TEMPEST, + A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and + THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, + are the three Shakespearean plays that first interest children. + Care should be taken in the selection of the edition, as none of + the plays in their original form are suitable for children. + School editions with notes are excellent. _The Tempest_ is + printed in Volume VIII of this set, and is deferred to that + point on account of the very full notes and comments that + accompany it. The play itself may be read quite early, and + children should be encouraged to try their skill on Shakespeare + as soon as they show signs of interest. + + UNDINE, by _Baron de la Motte Fouque_, + is a beautiful fairy tale from the German, with interest for + older children than those who read Andersen and Grimm. + + PLUTARCH'S LIVES. + White's _Boys' and Girls' Plutarch_ is recommended. The lives of + Brutus, Julius Caesar, Themistocles, Pericles and Alexander are + among the more interesting. + + THE BURNING OF ROME, by _A. J. Church_, + is a thrilling story of that event. + + CUORE, by _Edmondo De Amicis_. + The journal of an Italian schoolboy. Useful and moral, but not + always interesting to American boys. + + IN HIS NAME, by _Edward Everett Hale_. + A tale of religious persecution. + + THE PEASANT AND THE PRINCE, by _Harriet Martineau_. + An intensely interesting picture of France just before the + Revolution. + + PICCIOLA, by _X. B. Santine_. + A touching story whose scene is laid in France in the time of + Napoleon. + + LIFE OF DANIEL BOONE, by _J. and J. C. Abbott_. + + THE ILIAD, _Bryant's_ translation. + + +_Classified Lists_ + +When boys and girls can read the first seven volumes of this set +intelligently and with pleasure they are thinking for themselves. Their +tastes are forming rapidly, and they have learned how to read nearly +everything that comes to them. They know how to use reference books, and +can "make out the meaning" of difficult passages. They are reading for +information and culture. What they lack is experience in life, and so +they are unable to interpret what they read as fully as can those who +have lived longer, seen more of the world, enjoyed more, suffered more. +Where they are liable to fail and go astray is in the lack of judgment. +They know right and wrong, but they cannot always see the difference. +They are apt to be misled by their feelings and to be ruled by their +emotions. + +The studies and selections of the last three volumes are varied and +highly suggestive. They will open new lines of thought and prompt to +wider reading in many directions. The contents vary in difficulty as in +character, but are not graded in a strict sense of the term. They are +meant for independent readers, readers who are governed by mood or +purpose and no longer rely upon outside guidance. + +Accordingly, lists of books suitable for readers of these volumes will +cover every department of literature and lead into the reading favored +by adults. The majority of these lists deal with literature. They +contain the names of those books which are distinctly helpful, and from +which young readers may derive nothing to corrupt taste or give false +impressions of life. They are the standard books of the language. The +lists might have been longer; they do contain, however, the names of +those best books that every cultured person should know. For convenience +in reference the arrangement is the alphabetical order of authors' +names. + + +Fiction + + AINSWORTH, WILLIAM HARRISON: _The Tower of London_, the story of + Lady Jane Grey, and the plots and intrigues that centered about + her. + + ALCOTT, LOUISA M.: _Little Men_ and _Little Women_, two interesting + and thoroughly wholesome books for boys and girls. + + AUSTEN, JANE: _Pride and Prejudice_, an old-fashioned story, + interesting, but liable to be called dull by those who read only + the lively stories of the day. + + BLACKMORE, R. D.: _Lorna Doone_, a delightful romance, the scene of + which is laid in Exmoor, England, in the beginning of the + eighteenth century. + + BULWER-LYTTON, SIR EDWARD: _The Last Days of Pompeii_, the author's + greatest novel; _The Last of the Barons_, the story of the Earl + of Warwick; _Harold, The Last of the Saxons_, a tale of the + Norman Conquest of England. + + DOYLE, A. CONAN: _The White Company_, an exciting fourteenth + century story. + + ELIOT, GEORGE: _Silas Marner_, an intensely human story, a heart + history; _Romola_, a thrilling story of Florence in the days of + Savonarola, a study in the degeneration of character that comes + from doing only the agreeable things in life. + + GOLDSMITH, OLIVER: _The Vicar of Wakefield_, an amusing and at + times pathetic picture of English country life in the eighteenth + century. + + HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL: _The Scarlet Letter_, a tale of sin and its + punishment in Puritan New England; _The Marble Faun_, an Italian + story full of the art and culture of Rome. + + HUGO, VICTOR: _Les Miserables_, one of the greatest novels of the + world, but its digressions and its philosophy make it difficult + reading for the young. Interesting abridgements of it may be had + from the schoolbook houses. + + SAINT PIERRE, BERNARDIN DE: _Paul and Virginia_, a pretty love + story from the French. + + SCOTT, SIR WALTER: _Kenilworth_, a tale of the days of Queen + Elizabeth; _Old Mortality_, a story of the Covenanters; _Guy + Mannering_, an eighteenth century tale, with Meg Merrilies, + Dominic Sampson and others of Scott's most famous characters; + _The Heart of Midlothian_, a tale of sin and its punishment, + with a wonderful picture of a sister's love and devotion. + + STOWE, HARRIET BEECHER: _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, an interesting story, + but like most books written for partisan purposes, its influence + is not now wholesome. + + THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE: _Henry Esmond_, _Pendennis_ and _The + Newcomes_ may be read in the order named. _Vanity Fair_ is + better appreciated by adults. + + TWAIN, MARK: _Tom Sawyer_ and _Huckleberry Finn_, two stories whose + fun every boy will appreciate. + + WALLACE, LEW: _Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ_. An admirable + historical novel. + + +Poetry and Drama + + BROWNING, ROBERT: Besides the poems given in these books, _The Lost + Leader_ and _Rabbi Ben Ezra_ are enjoyed by boys and girls. + + BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN: _The Poetical Works_ (Household Edition), + D. Appleton & Co. _The Song of Marion's Men_, _The Green + Mountain Boys_, _Thanatopsis_, _Sella_, _The Death of the + Flowers_, _The Planting of the Apple Tree_ and _Robert of + Lincoln_ are among his best poems. + + SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM: _Julius Caesar and Coriolanus_, two plays + based on Roman history and excellent for reading purposes; + _Richard II_ (1398-1399), _Henry IV_ (1402-1413), _Henry V_ + (1414-1420), _Henry VI_ (1422-1471), _Richard III_ (1471-1485), + all based on English history; _As You Like It_, a great comedy; + _Hamlet_ and _King Lear_, perhaps the two greatest tragedies. + All these are excellent reading, especially in such an edition + as the _Temple Classics_. Other plays may well be read, but + everyone should know the foregoing list. + + +Essays + + EMERSON, RALPH WALDO: _The American Scholar_, _Self-Reliance_, + _Culture_ and _Behavior_ may be read with profit by the young, + even if they do not fully understand the philosophy. + + HALE, EDWARD EVERETT: _American Essays_ and _English Essays_, two + books edited by Hale. They contain selections from the writings + of George William Curtis, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington + Irving, James Russell Lowell, Addison, Goldsmith, Lamb and + Thackeray. + + HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL: _The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table_, a + charming series of talks which embody the best of Holmes's wit, + wisdom and philosophy. One of those things everybody must read. + + IRVING, WASHINGTON: _The Sketch Book_ contains such perfect stories + as _Rip Van Winkle_ and _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_, as well + as a number of fine essays for later reading. + + ROOSEVELT, THEODORE: _American Ideals and Other Essays_. Putnam. + + RUSKIN, JOHN: _Sesame and Lilies_. In spite of its seeming + difficulty, this book contains some of the most inspiring words + ever spoken on books and reading. + + WARNER, CHARLES DUDLEY: _A-Hunting of the Deer and Other Essays_, a + delightful little collection that young people will enjoy and + that has fine literary qualities. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + +Nature + + THOREAU, HENRY DAVID: _Walden_, a vivid book of outdoor life. Such + also are _A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers_ and + _Excursions in Field and Forest_. + + +Biography + + FABRE, JEAN-HENRI: _Our Humble Helpers_, familiar talks on the + domestic animals. The Century Co. + + BOSWELL, JAMES: _Life of Samuel Johnson_. The first great + biography, and still the most remarkable in its intimacy. Not of + general interest to young people. + + BROOKS, ELDRIDGE STREETER: _Historic Girls_. G. P. Putnam's Sons. + + BROOKS, NOAH: _Life of Abraham Lincoln_. G. P. Putnam's Sons. + + BURROUGHS, JOHN: _John James Audubon_. Small, Maynard & Co. + + GOLDING, VAUTIER: _The Story of Henry M. Stanley_. E. P. Dutton & + Co. + + HARRISON, FREDERICK: _Oliver Cromwell_. Macmillan. + + IRVING, WASHINGTON: _Washington_, and _Mahomet_. + + LODGE, HENRY CABOT: _Alexander Hamilton_. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + NICOLAY, JOHN G.: _Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln_. + + OBER, FREDERICK O.: _Pizarro_. Harper. + + RIIS, JACOB A.: _The Making of an American_. Macmillan. + + SCHURZ, CARL: _Life of Henry Clay_. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + SCUDDER, HORACE ELISHA: _George Washington_. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + TRENT, W. P.: _Robert E. Lee_. + + WISTER, OWEN: _U. S. Grant_. Beacon Biography. + + +History + + BANCROFT, GEORGE: _History of the United States_ (to the + inauguration of Washington). A voluminous history with + interesting passages, but tedious to young readers. + + DRAPER, ANDREW SLOAN: _The Rescue of Cuba_. Silver, Burdett & Co. + + FISKE, JOHN: _The War of Independence_. Houghton, Mifflin Co. + + LODGE, HENRY CABOT, and ROOSEVELT, THEODORE: _Hero Tales from + American History_. The Century Company. + + MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP: _The Rise of the Dutch Republic_. This, with + other histories by the same writer, is a long and brilliant + account, full of interest to the older youths who have a taste + for history. + + PARKMAN, FRANCIS: _La Salle and the Northwest_, _The Conspiracy of + Pontiac_, and _Montcalm and Wolfe_ are three histories of a + brilliant series on the French explorations and colonizations in + the Northwest. Parkman is one of our finest historical writers, + and his graphic style has given many a young man a deep interest + in history. + + PRESCOTT, WILLIAM HICKLING: _The Conquest of Mexico_ and _The + Conquest of Peru_ are two interesting histories of the longer + type, written in an interesting style that many youths will + enjoy. Prescott's work lies with the Spanish, as Motley's with + the Dutch and Parkman's with the French. + + ROOSEVELT, THEODORE (see LODGE, HENRY CABOT). + + +Travel and Geography + + BUTTERWORTH, HEZEKIAH: _Zig-Zag Journeys in Classic Lands_. There + are other interesting Zig-Zag Journeys by the same author. + + DANA, RICHARD HENRY: _Two Years Before the Mast_. + + DARWIN, CHARLES: _Voyage of a Naturalist_. + + DU CHAILLU, PAUL: _The Land of the Long Night_. A winter journey + through Northern Europe. + + INGERSOLL, ERNEST: _The Book of the Ocean_. + + JENKS, TUDOR: _The Boy's Book of Exploration_. Deals principally + with Africa. + + KNOX, THOS.: _The Boy Travelers in South America_. There are other + interesting books in the same series. + + ROOSEVELT, THEODORE: _Stories of the Great West_. Century Co. + + STANLEY, HENRY M.: _In Darkest Africa_. + + STOCKTON, FRANK RICHARD: _Personally Conducted_. Interesting + descriptions of places in Europe. + + TAYLOR, BAYARD: _Views Afoot_. + + TWAIN, MARK (Samuel Langhorne Clemens): _Innocents Abroad_. An + amusing account of European travel with good descriptions. + + WARNER, CHARLES DUDLEY: _My Winter on the Nile_. + + +Miscellaneous + +The books in the following list have not been selected because of their +literary qualities, but because they contain things that are of interest +and value to young people. It is thought that parents may wish some +information concerning such books as are mentioned, and those given in +the list can be relied upon as being interesting, instructive and not +expensive. The arrangement is by title. + + AMERICAN BOYS' HANDY BOOK OF CAMP LORE AND WOODCRAFT, by _Daniel + Cortes Beard_. Tells how to fish, hunt, camp, and how to make a + great variety of things. + + AMERICAN GIRLS' HANDY BOOK, by _Adelia B. Beard_. Directions for + making and doing. A companion to _American Boys' Handy Book_. + + AMERICAN GIRLS' HOME BOOK OF WORK AND PLAY, by _Helen Campbell_. + Outdoor and indoor games and amusements, Christmas gifts, + cooking, etc. + + AMONG THE LAW MAKERS, by _Edmund Alton Bailey_. Deals with the + national Congress, largely the recollections of a former page. + + BEGINNER'S GARDEN BOOK, THE, by _Allen French_. + + BOYS' BOOK OF INVENTIONS, THE, by _Ray Stannard Baker_. + Descriptions of our latest inventions. + + BOYS' SECOND BOOK OF INVENTIONS, THE, by _Ray Stannard Baker_. + + BOY SCOUTS' BOOK OF STORIES, Edited by _Franklin K. Mathiews_. + + CAREERS OF DANGER AND DARING, by _Cleveland Moffett_. Deals with + the dangerous occupations of man, steeple-climbing, fire + service, ballooning, etc. + + CENTURY BOOK FOR YOUNG AMERICANS, THE, by _Eldridge Streeter + Brooks_. Deals with Washington and the government of the United + States. + + COMPLETE HOUSEKEEPER, by _Emily Holt_. + + ELECTRIC TOY-MAKING FOR AMATEURS, by _T. O'Connor Sloane_. A + practical book, interesting to boys. + + EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE, by _G. M. Hopkins_. A large and rather + expensive book on experimental physics. + + FLAME, ELECTRICITY AND THE CAMERA. An account of man's progress + from the first kindling of fire to the present time. + + GARDEN MAKING, by _Liberty Hyde Bailey_. A practical book for + school and house. + + HANDYCRAFT FOR HANDY GIRLS, by _A. Neely Hall_ and _Dorothy + Perkins_. Practical plans for work and play. + + HARPER'S INDOOR BOOK FOR BOYS, and HARPER'S OUTDOOR BOOK FOR BOYS, + by _J. H. Adams_. Practical directions for work and play. + + MARY FRANCES SEWING-BOOK, by _Jane Eyre Foyer_. + + OUTLINES OF THE EARTH'S HISTORY, by _N. S. Shaler_. A popular book + on physiography. + + PRACTICAL TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETICS, by _John Graham_ and _Ellery + H. Clark_. + + RULES OF ORDER (Pocket Manual), by _General Henry M. Roberts_. + Deals with rules of practice in deliberating assemblies. + + YOUNG PEOPLE'S STORY OF ART, by _Ida Prentice Whitcomb_. + + YOUNG AMERICAN, by _Harry Pratt Judson_. An outline of our system + of government. + + WITH MEN WHO DO THINGS, by _A. Russell Bond_. "Scientific American" + Series. + + + + +HANDY TABLE OF ENGLISH WRITERS + + A. PERIOD OF PREPARATION. From Caedmon's _Paraphrase_, (670), + to the death of Chaucer (1400). + I. Prior to Chaucer's birth (1340?). + _Beowulf._ + Caedmon, ?-680. + Bede, 673-735. + + II. During Chaucer's life. + Sir John Mandeville, 1300-1372. + John Wyclif, 1324-1384. + William Langland, _Piers Plowman_, 1332-?. + CHAUCER, 1340?-1400. + + B. PERIOD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT. From the death of Chaucer to present time. + I. The Period of Italian Influence. From the death of Chaucer to the + Restoration of Charles II (1660). + 1. The Age of Reaction. From the death of Chaucer to the + Accession of Queen Elizabeth (1558). + Malory, _Morte d'Arthur_. + William Tyndale, 1449-1536. + 2. The Age of Elizabeth. From 1558 to 1603, + the Accession of James I. + John Lyly, 1554?-1606. + FRANCIS BACON, 1561-1626. + Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586. + Sir Walter Raleigh, 1552-1618. + EDMUND SPENSER, 1552-1599. + Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593. + WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564-1616. + Ben Jonson, 1573-1637. + Francis Beaumont, 1584-1616. + John Fletcher, 1579-1625. + + 3. The Puritan Age. From the Accession of James I to the + Restoration of Charles II (1660). + Izaak Walton, 1593-1683. + Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667. + Sir Thomas Browne, 1605-1682. + John Bunyan, 1628-1688. + JOHN MILTON, 1608-1674. + Robert Herrick, 1591-1674. + + II. The Period of French Influence. From the Restoration of Charles + II to the death of Pope (1744). + 1. Age of the Restoration. From the Restoration of Charles II + to the Accession of Queen Anne (1702). + Samuel Butler, 1612-1680. + JOHN DRYDEN, 1631-1700. + John Locke, 1632-1704. + Samuel Pepys, 1633-1703. + Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727. + + 2. The Age of Queen Anne. From the Accession of Queen Anne to + the death of Pope. + Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745. + Daniel De Foe, 1661?-1731. + Richard Steele, 1672-1729. + JOSEPH ADDISON, 1662-1745. + ALEXANDER POPE, 1688-1744. + + III. The Modern English Period. From the death of Pope to the present + time. + 1. The Beginnings. From the death of Pope to 1780. + Samuel Richardson, 1689-1761. + Henry Fielding, 1707-1754. + Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784. + David Hume, 1711-1776. + Laurence Sterne, 1713-1768. + Thomas Gray, 1716-1771. + Tobias George Smollett, 1721-1771. + OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774. + Edmund Burke, 1729-1797. + Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794. + + 2. The Romantic School. From 1780 to 1837, + the Accession of Queen Victoria. + William Cowper, 1731-1800. + Robert Burns, 1759-1796. + WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770-1850. + SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1771-1832. + Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1834. + Robert Southey, 1774-1843. + Charles Lamb, 1775-1834. + Lord Byron, 1788-1824. + Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792-1822. + John Keats, 1795-1821. + + 3. The Victorian Age. From the Accession of Victoria to the + present time. + Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881. + Thomas Macaulay, 1800-1859. + Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861. + ALFRED TENNYSON, 1809-1892. + William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811-1863. + Charles Dickens, 1812-1870. + Robert Browning, 1812-1889. + John Ruskin, 1819-1900. + GEORGE ELIOT, 1819-1880. + Matthew Arnold, 1822-1888. + Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894. + + + + +HANDY TABLE OF AMERICAN WRITERS + + A. The Colonial Period. The seventeenth and eighteenth century writers. + Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672. + Cotton Mather, 1663-1728. + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1706-1790. + + B. The National Period. The nineteenth century writers. + I. The Earlier Group. + William Ellery Channing, 1780-1842. + WASHINGTON IRVING, 1783-1859. + James Fenimore Cooper, 1789-1851. + William Cullen Bryant, 1794-1878. + William Hickling Prescott, 1796-1859. + Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849. + + II. The Civil War Group. + George Bancroft, 1800-1891. + RALPH WALDO EMERSON, 1803-1882. + NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, 1804-1864. + HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 1807-1882. + JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, 1807-1892. + OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, 1809-1894. + John Lothrop Motley, 1814-1877. + Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862. + JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL, 1819-1891. + Francis Parkman, 1823-1893. + + III. Later Writers. + Walt Whitman, 1819-1892. + Richard Henry Stoddard, 1825-1903. + Bayard Taylor, 1825-1878. + Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1833-1908. + Mark Twain, 1835-1910. + Eugene Field, 1850-1895. + + + + +GENERAL INDEX + + + A + + _Abou Ben Adhem_: IX, 11. + + _Abraham Lincoln_: IX, 324. + + ADDISON, JOSEPH. + Selections: _The Vision of Mirza_: IX, 285. + _Sir Roger de Coverley_: IX, 371. + + ADVENTURE. + _Robinson Crusoe_: III, 45. + _The Swiss Family Robinson_: III, 99. + _The Escape from Prison_: IV, 130. + _The Sunken Treasure_: IV, 199. + _The Arickara Indians_: IV, 472. + _Gulliver's Travels_: V, 6. + _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_: V, 340. + _The Buccaneers_: V, 359. + _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_: V, 365. + _The Lion and the Missionary_: VI, 93. + _The Shipwreck_: VI, 371. + _Elephant Hunting_: VI, 385. + _An Exciting Canoe Race_: VII, 79. + _The Buffalo_: VII, 96. + _A Gorilla Hunt_: VII, 247. + _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_: VII, 352. + _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_: VIII, 1. + _David Crockett in the Creek War_: VIII, 37. + _A Descent into the Maelstrom_: VIII, 95. + _How They Took the Gold-Train_: VIII, 180. + _Ascent of the Jungfrau_: IX, 1. + _The Gold-Bug_: IX, 232. + _Modestine_: IX, 403. + + AESOP. + Biography: II, 1. + + _Afterwhile_: II, 123. + + _Aladdin, The Story of._ See _Story of Aladdin_. + + ALEXANDER, CECIL FRANCES. + Selection: _The Burial of Moses_: IV, 266. + + _Alfred the Great_: IV, 260. + + _Alhambra, The_: VIII, 153. + + ALLEN, GRANT. + Selection: _A Bed of Nettles_: VIII, 209. + + ALLINGHAM, WILLIAM. + Selections: _Fairies, The_: I, 405. + _Four Ducks on a Pond_: VI, 98. + _Leprecaun, The_: III, 33. + + ALLSTON, WASHINGTON. + Selection: _Boyhood_: VI, 122. + + _America_: VIII, 60. + + _American Flag, The_: V, 396. + + _American Writers, Handy Table of_: X, 473. + + _Ancient Mariner, The Rime of the._ See _Rime of the Ancient + Mariner, The_. + + ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN. + Biography: II, 81. + Selections: _Darning-Needle, The_: II, 463. + _Fir Tree, The_: II, 68. + _Flax, The_: I, 378. + _Hardy Tin Soldier, The_: I, 148. + _Holger Danske_: II, 377. + _Pea Blossom, The_: I, 205. + _Snow Queen, The_: II, 124. + _"Something:"_ I, 395. + _Ugly Duckling, The_: I, 414. + _What the Old Man Does Is Always Right_: II, 387. + + _Annabel Lee_: VII, 341. + + _Annie Laurie_: VI, 119. + + _Apostrophe_: X, 266. + + _Arabian Nights._ + Selections: _Falcon and the Partridge, The_: II, 6. + _Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor, The_: III, 340. + _Sparrow and the Eagle, The_: II, 8. + _Story of Aladdin, The_: III, 288. + + ARCHIBALD, MRS. + Selection: _John's Pumpkin_: III, 1. + + _Arickara Indians, The_: IV, 472. + + ARNOLD, MATTHEW. + Selections: _Forsaken Merman, The_: VII, 180. + _Sohrab and Rustum_: VI, 173. + + _Arthur, King_: V, 113. + + ARTON, BERNARD. + Selection: _Bruce and the Spider_: V, 314. + + _Ascent of the Jungfrau_: IX, 1. + + _Ass in the Lion's Skin, The_: I, 65. + + _Atalanta's Race_: I, 386. + + _Attack on the Castle, The_: IV, 322. + + _At the Seaside_: I, 129. + + _Auld Lang Syne_: VI, 228. + + _Autumn Fires_: I, 394. + + _Away_: IV, 460. + + AYTOUN, WILLIAM E. + Selection: _The Heart of Bruce_: V, 316. + + + B + + _Baby, The_: II, 11. + + BACON, SIR FRANCIS. + Biography: IX, 395. + Selections: _Of Expence_: IX, 397. + _Of Studies_: IX, 400. + + BAKER, SIR SAMUEL W. + Selection: _The Escape from Prison_: IV, 130. + + _Bald Knight, The_: I, 385. + + _Balin and Balan_: V, 130. + + _Ballad of Agincourt, The_: V. 95. + + BALLADS. + _Lochinvar_: III, 432. + _Robin Hood_: III, 436. + _Robin Hood and Little John_: III, 437. + _Robin Hood and the Stranger_: III, 444. + _Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons_: III, 449. + _Robin Hood and Allin a Dale_: III, 454. + _The Wreck of the Hesperus_: IV, 89. + _Chevy-Chase_: IV, 312. + _The Ballad of Agincourt_: V, 95. + _The Heart of Bruce_: V, 316. + _The Inchcape Rock_: V, 465. + _Lord Ullin's Daughter_: VI, 23. + _Herve Riel_: VIII, 168. + + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + + _Barbara Frietchie_: III, 347. + + _Barefoot Boy, The_: IV, 3. + + _Baron Munchausen._ See _Munchausen, Baron_. + + _Bat and the Two Weasels, The_: I, 154. + + _Battle Hymn of the Republic_: V, 399. + + _Battle of Cressy, The_: IX, 161. + + _Battle of Hastings, The_: IX, 330. + + _Battle of Ivry_: VIII, 76. + + _Battle of Saratoga, The_: IX, 176. + + _Battle of Thermopylae, The_: VIII, 81. + + _Battle of Trafalgar, The_: VIII, 284. + + _Battle of Waterloo, The_: VIII, 176. + + _Baucis and Philemon_: I, 431. + + _Beauty and the Beast_: I, 318. + + _Bed in Summer_: I, 173. + + _Bed of Nettles, A_: VIII, 209. + + BEERS, MRS. ETHEL LYNN. + Selection: _The Picket Guard_: VII, 177. + + BELT, THOMAS. + Selections: _Some Clever Monkeys_: VI, 402. + _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_: VII, 306. + + _Beowulf and Grendel_: III, 350. + + _Bernardo del Carpio_: IV, 270. + + _Beth Gelert_: III, 42. + + _Better Than Gold_: IV, 1. + + BIOGRAPHY. + _Robert Louis Stevenson_: I, 128. + _Eugene Field_: I, 242. + _AEsop_: II, 1. + _Hans Christian Andersen_: II, 81. + _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_: IV, 62. + _Alice Cary_: IV, 116. + _Phoebe Cary_: IV, 116. + _Nathaniel Hawthorne_: IV, 180. + _Alfred the Great_: IV, 260. + _John Bunyan_: IV, 417. + _Jonathan Swift_: V, 1. + _Sir Walter Scott_: VI, 26. + _Matthew Arnold_: VI, 204. + _John Howard Payne_: VI, 221. + _Charles Dickens_: VI, 232. + _Thomas Gray_: VI, 369. + _George Rogers Clark_: VI, 422. + _Queen Victoria_: VII, 152. + _William Cowper_: VII, 331. + _John Greenleaf Whittier_: VII, 381. + _William Cullen Bryant_: VII, 391. + _Oliver Wendell Holmes_: VII, 398. + _James Russell Lowell_: VII, 411. + _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_: VII, 419. + _David Crockett_: VIII, 29. + _Pere Marquette_: VIII, 121. + _Washington Irving_: VIII, 216. + _Charles Lamb_: VIII, 328. + _Mary Lamb_: VIII, 328. + _William Shakespeare_: VIII, 468. + _Florence Nightingale_: IX, 13. + _Julius Caesar_: IX, 155. + _Geoffrey Chaucer_: IX, 201. + _Samuel Johnson_: IX, 216. + _Sir Francis Bacon_: IX, 395. + _John Keats_: IX, 457. + See LEGENDARY HEROES; HISTORY. + + BJORNSON, BJORNSTJERNE. + Selection: _The Tree_: I, 301. + + _Black Hawk Tragedy, The_: VII, 58. + + BLAKE, WILLIAM. + Selection: _Infant Joy_: II, 10. + + _Blind Lassie, The_: VI, 120. + + _Block City_: I, 196. + + _Bluebeard_: II, 22. + + _Boat Song_: VII, 17. + + _Book Lists, Supplementary_: X, 451. + + _Boston Massacre, The_: IV, 217. + + BOSWELL, JAMES. + Selection: From _The Life of Johnson_: IX, 216. + + _Boy and the Nettle, The_: I, 65. + + _Boyhood_: VI, 122. + + _Boys and the Frogs, The_: I, 63. + + _Braddock's Defeat_: V, 379. + + BRANCH, MARY BOLLES. + Selection: _The Petrified Fern_, VII, 77. + + _Breathes There the Man_: VII, 151. + + _Brook, The._ See _Song of the Brook_. + + _Brother and Sister, The_: I, 410. + + BROWN, JOHN, M. D. + Selection: _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + + BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT. + Biography: VII, 419. + Selections: _Child's Thought of God, A_: VII, 418. + _Romance of the Swan's Nest, The_: VIII, 315. + + BROWNING, ROBERT. + Selections: _Herve Riel_: VIII, 168. + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_: V, 335. + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + _Pied Piper of Hamelin, The_: III, 384. + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + + _Brown Thrush, The_: I, 147. + + _Bruce, Robert, The Rise of._ See _Rise of Robert Bruce, The_. + + _Bruce and the Spider_: V, 314. + + _Brute Neighbors_: VII, 260. + + BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN. + Biography: VII, 391. + Selections: _Robert of Lincoln_: IX, 444. + _To a Waterfowl_: VII, 395. + _To the Fringed Gentian_: VII, 4. + + _Buccaneers, The_: V, 359. + + _Buffalo, The_: VII, 96. + + _Bugle Song, The_: VI, 133. + + BUNYAN, JOHN. + Biography: IV, 417. + Selection: _The Pilgrim's Progress_: IV, 423. + + _Burial of Moses_: IV, 266. + + BURNS, ROBERT. + Selections: _Auld Lang Syne_: VI, 228. + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + _Cotter's Saturday Night, The_: VIII, 319. + _For A' That and A' That_: VII, 149. + _To a Mountain Daisy_: VII, 8. + _To a Mouse_: VII, 5. + + BYRON, GEORGE GORDON, LORD. + Selections: _Battle of Waterloo, The_: VIII, 176. + _Destruction of Sennacherib, The_: VI, 141. + _Vision of Belshazzar, The_: VI, 153. + _Call to Arms, A_: IX, 475. + + + C + + CAMPBELL, THOMAS. + Selections: _Lord Ullin's Daughter_: VI, 23. + _Rainbow, The_: VI, 91. + _Soldier's Dream, The_: VII, 170. + + _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_: V, 365. + + _Capture of Vincennes, The_: VI, 428. + + CARROLL, LEWIS. + Selections: _Mock Turtle's Story, The_: III, 3. + _Queen Alice_: III, 23. + _Walrus and the Carpenter, The_: III, 36. + + CARY, ALICE. + Biography: IV, 116. + Selection: _Pictures of Memory_: IV, 127. + + CARY, PHOEBE. + Biography: IV, 116. + Selection: _Nearer Home_: IV, 126. + + _Casabianca_: VIII, 313. + + _Cat and the Chestnuts, The_: I, 142. + + CERVANTES. (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.) + Selection: _Don Quixote_: VII, 431. + + _Charge of the Light Brigade, The_: VII, 147. + + _Chambered Nautilus, The_: IX, 454. + + _Character, Influence of Reading in Formation of_: X, 88. + + CHARACTER, _Selections in_ Journeys _Teaching Valuable + Lessons in_ (see also Chapter V, page 85, Volume X): + _Wisdom, Ignorance_:-- + _The Ass in the Lion's Skin_: I, 65. + _The Fox and the Stork_: I, 73. + _The Fox and the Grapes_: I, 135. + _The Bat and the Two Weasels_: I, 154. + _The Horse and the Stag_: I, 388. + _The Fox, the Wolf and the Horse_: I, 377. + _The Bold Knight_: I, 385. + _The Wolf and the Lamb_: I, 455. + _Minerva and the Owl_: II, 7. + _The Country Squire_: VI, 474. + + _Attention to Little Things_:-- + _The Lion and the Mouse_: I, 75. + _The Reaper and the Flowers_: I, 410. + _The Daffodils_: VII, 1. + _The Petrified Fern_: VII, 77. + + _Promptness, Industry, Perseverance_:-- + _Time to Rise_: I, 340. + _The Hare and the Tortoise_: I, 71. + _The Lark and Her Young Ones_: I, 131. + _Industry and Sloth_: I, 300. + _Whittington and His Cat_: I, 442. + _Tom, the Water Baby_: II, 215. + _The Village Blacksmith_: IV, 86. + _Bruce and the Spider_: V, 314. + + _Independence, Equality of Man_:-- + _The Village Blacksmith_: IV, 86. + _For A' That and A' That_: VII, 149. + + _Courage and Bravery_:-- + _The Boy and the Nettle_: I, 65. + _The Mice and the Cat_: I, 197. + _Roland at Roncesvalles_: III, 460. + _Cid Campeador_: IV, 9. + _Ulysses_: IV, 398. + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + + _Evil of Conceit_:-- + _The Gnat and the Bull_: I, 70. + _The Cock and the Horses_: I, 146. + _The Pea Blossom_: I, 205. + _The Sparrow and the Eagle_: II, 8. + _The Milkmaid_: II, 374. + + _Flattery as a Vice_:-- + _The Fox and the Crow_: I, 64. + _The Spider and the Fly_: III, 19. + + _Love of Home and Family_:-- + _The Rock-a-By Lady_: I, 94. + _Little Birdie_: I, 142. + _Sleep, Baby, Sleep_: I, 204. + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_: I, 203. + _Lady Button-Eyes_: I, 366. + _The First Snowfall_: II, 403. + _Rain on the Roof_: IV, 7. + _Pictures of Memory_: IV, 127. + _Bernardo del Carpio_: IV, 270. + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + _Childhood_: VI, 124. + _Home, Sweet Home_: VI, 221. + _Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead_: VI, 231. + _A Christmas Carol_: VI, 244. + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + _The Old Oaken Bucket_: VII, 11. + _My Old Kentucky Home_: VII, 179. + _The Forsaken Merman_: VII, 180. + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_: VII, 186. + _The Family of Michael Arout_: VII, 314. + _My Mother's Picture_: VII, 335. + _Snowbound_ (Extract from): VII, 388. + _The Cotter's Saturday Night_: VIII, 319. + _Dream Children_: VIII, 335. + + _Honesty and Truthfulness_:-- + _The Shepherd Boy and the Wolves_: I, 92. + _The Falcon and the Partridge_: II, 6. + _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_: III, 384. + _The Cubes of Truth_: VII, 406. + + _Friendliness, Kindness, Consideration of Others_:-- + _The Two Travelers_: I, 109. + _Cinderella_: I, 224. + _Baucis and Philemon_: I, 431. + _The Snow Queen_: II, 124. + _The King of the Golden River_: II, 405. + _Auld Lang Syne_: VI, 228. + _A Christmas Carol_: VI, 244. + _Florence Nightingale_: IX, 13. + + _Generosity_:-- + _The Two Travelers_: I, 109. + _The Two Travelers and the Oyster_: I, 111. + _The Cat and the Chestnuts_: I, 142. + _Baucis and Philemon_: I, 431. + + _Kindness to Animals_:-- + _The Boys and the Frogs_: I, 63. + _The Brown Thrush_: I, 147. + _Mercy to Animals_: I, 413. + _The Ugly Duckling_: I, 414. + _Tom, the Water Baby_: II, 215. + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_: II, 399. + _A Dog of Flanders_: IV, 93. + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_: VII, 29. + + _Patience and Gentleness_:-- + _The Wind and the Sun_: I, 95. + _Cinderella_: I, 224. + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + + _Faithfulness_:-- + _"Something"_: I, 395. + _Whittington and His Cat_: I, 442. + _The Mirror of Matsuyana_: II, 36. + _The Snow Queen_: II, 124. + _Casabianca_: VIII, 313. + + _Envy and Covetousness as Evils_:-- + _The Dog and His Shadow_: I, 63. + _The Frog Who Wished to Be as Big as an Ox_: I, 66. + _The Golden Touch_: II, 43. + + _Contentment, Hopefulness_:-- + _The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse_: I, 199. + _The Pea Blossom_: I, 205. + _The Flax_: I, 378. + _The Discontented Stonecutter_: II, 12. + _The Fir Tree_: II, 68. + _The Blind Lassie_: VI, 120. + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + + _Patriotism--Love of Country_:-- + _Holger Danske_: II, 377. + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + _The American Flag_: V, 396. + _Battle Hymn of the Republic_: V, 399. + _Stonewall Jackson's Way_: V, 400. + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + _Breathes There the Man_: VII, 151. + _How Sleep the Brave_: VII, 151. + _Make Way for Liberty_: VII, 172. + _The Old Continentals_: VII, 175. + _America_: VIII, 60. + _The Battle of Thermopylae_: VIII, 81. + _The Fall of the Alamo_: VIII, 141. + _Herve Riel_: VIII, 168. + _The Battle of Trafalgar_: VIII, 284. + _The Gettysburg Address_: IX, 321. + + _Religious Feeling--Devotion to God_:-- + _A Thought_: I, 66. + _The First Snowfall_: II, 403. + _Nearer Home_: IV, 126. + _Stonewall Jackson's Way_: V, 400. + _The Rainbow_: VI, 91. + _A Child's Thought of God_: VII, 418. + + _Character, The Building of_: X, 85. + + _Chaucer, Geoffrey_: IX, 201. + + _Chevy-Chase_: IV, 312. + + CHILD, L. MARIA. + Selection: _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_: II, 399. + + _Childhood_: VI, 124. + + _Children's Books of the Past, Some._ See _Some Children's Books + of the Past_. + + _Child's Thought of God, A_: VII, 418. + + _Child's World, The_: II, 66. + + _Chimera, The_: II, 173. + + _Christmas Carol, A_: VI, 244. + + _Christmas in Old Time_: VI, 356. + + _Cid Campeador_: IV, 9. + + _Cinderella_: I, 224. + + CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS. + Biography: VI, 422. + Selection: _The Capture of Vincennes_: VI, 428. + + _Classification of Masterpieces, Graphic_: X, 12. + + CLEVELAND, HENRY R. + Selection: _Henry Hudson's Fourth Voyage_: V, 254. + + _Close Reading or Study_: X, 224. + + _Cloud, The_: VII, 257. + + _Cock and the Horses, The_: I, 146. + + COE, EDWIN D. + Selections: _Black Hawk Tragedy, The_: VII, 58. + _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_: V, 340. + + COLERIDGE, SAMUEL TAYLOR. + Selection: _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_: VII, 29. + + COLLINS, WILLIAM. + Selection: _How Sleep the Brave_: VII, 151. + + _Comic Songs, On._ See _On Comic Songs_. + + _Contrast, A_: II, 42. + + COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE. + Selection: _An Exciting Canoe Race_: VII, 79. + + _Correlation of_ Journeys _with the School_: X, 345. + _Reading_: X, 315, 348. + _Language_: X, 345, 349. + _Nature Study_: X, 380. + _Geography and History_: X, 400. + _High School_: X, 425. + + _Cortes, The Retreat of._ See _Retreat of Cortes, The_. + + _Cotters Saturday Night, The_: VIII, 319. + + _Country Squire, The_: VI, 474. + + _Cow, The_: I, 106. + + COWPER, WILLIAM. + Biography: VII, 331. + Selections: _Mercy to Animals_: I, 413. + _My Mother's Picture_: VII, 335. + + CREASY, E. S. + Selections: _Battle of Hastings, The_: IX, 330. + _Battle of Saratoga, The_: IX, 176. + + _Creation, Stories of the._ See _Stories of the Creation_. + + CROCKETT, DAVID. + Biography: VIII, 29. + Selections: _David Crockett in the Creek War_: VIII, 37. + _Fiddling Parson, The_: V, 440. + _Knock-Out, The_: VI, 471. + + _Cubes of Truth, The_: VII, 406. + + CUMMING, ROUALEYN GORDON. + Selection: _Elephant Hunting_: VI, 385. + + _Cupid and Psyche_: III, 365. + + + D + + _Daffodils, The_: VII, 1. + + _Darning-Needle, The_: II, 463. + + _David_: IV, 274. + + _David Crockett in the Creek War_: VIII, 37. + + _Death of Balder, The_: II, 99. + + _Death of Caesar, The_: IX, 126. + + _Death of Caesar, The_: IX, 143. + + _Death of Hector, The_: IV, 364. + + _Definition of a Gentleman_: IV, 170. + + DEFOE, DANIEL. + Selection: _Robinson Crusoe_: III, 45. + + DEKKER, THOMAS. + Selection: _Lullaby_: I, 96. + + DE QUINCEY, THOMAS. + Selection: _Joan of Arc_: IV, 225. + + _Descent into the Maelstrom, A_: VIII, 95. + + _Destruction of Sennacherib, The_: VI, 141. + + DICKENS, CHARLES. + Biography: VI, 232. + Selections: _Alfred the Great_: IV, 260. + _Christmas Carol, A_: VI, 244. + _Pickwick and Sam Weller_: IX, 76. + + DIMOND, WILLIAM. + Selection: _The Mariner's Dream_: III, 95. + + _Discontented Stonecutter, The_: II, 12. + + _Discreet Hans_: II, 15. + + _Dissensions at King Arthur's Court_: V, 232. + + _Dissertation upon Roast Pig, A_: IX, 56. + + DOBELL, SYDNEY. + Selection: _How's My Boy?_: VII, 169. + + _Dog and his Shadow, The_: I, 63. + + _Dog in the Manger, The_: I, 134. + + _Dog of Flanders, A_: IV, 93. + + _Don Quixote_: VII, 431. + + DOUGLAS, WILLIAM. + Selection: _Annie Laurie_: VI, 119. + + DRAKE, JOSEPH RODMAN. + Selection: _The American Flag_: V, 396. + + DRAMA. + _The Tempest_: VIII, 364. + _The Death of Caesar_: IX, 143. + + _Drama, Definition and Study of_: X, 325. + + _Dramatic Poetry, Definition of_: X, 339. + + DRAYTON, MICHAEL. + Selection: _The Ballad of Agincourt_: V, 95. + + _Dream Children: A Revery_: VIII, 335. + + _Drummer, The_: I, 303. + + DU CHAILLU, PAUL. + Selection: _A Gorilla Hunt_: VII, 247. + + _Duel, The_: I, 384. + + DUFFERIN, LADY. + Selection: _Katey's Letter_: IV, 470. + + + E + + _Echo_: III, 286. + + _Education, Forces in_: X, 3. + + _Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog_: IV, 57. + + _Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard_: VI, 360. + + _Elephant Hunting_: VI, 385. + + ELIOT, GEORGE. + Selection: _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_: VII, 186. + + _Emotional Power in Fiction_: X, 176. + + _Enchanted Stag, The_: I, 341. + + _English Robin, The_: II, 214. + + _English Writers, Handy Table of_: X, 469. + + _Epic Poetry, Definition of_: X, 331. + + _Escape from Prison, The_: IV, 130. + + _Essay, Definition and Study of the_: X, 322, 431. + + ESSAYS. + _Some Children's Books of the Past_: V, 101. + _Childhood_: VI, 124. + _Poor Richard's Almanac_: VI, 407. + _Cubes of Truth_: VII, 406. + _The Alhambra_: VIII, 153. + _Dream Children_: VIII, 335. + _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_: IX, 32. + _A Dissertation upon Roast Pig_: IX, 56. + _The Praise of Chimney Sweepers_: IX, 66. + _The Vision of Mirza_: IX, 285. + _Sir Roger de Coverley_: IX, 371. + _Of Expense_: IX, 397. + _Of Studies_: IX, 400. + _Modestine_: IX, 403. + + _Esther, The Story of_: II, 448. + + _Exciting Canoe Race, An_: VII, 79. + + _Expense, Of_: IX, 397. + + + F + + FABLES. + _The Boys and the Frogs_: I, 63. + _The Dog and His Shadow_: I, 63. + _The Fox and the Crow_: I, 64. + _The Ass in the Lion's Skin_: I, 65. + _The Boy and the Nettle_: I, 65. + _The Frog Who Wished to Be as Big as an Ox_: I, 66. + _The Gnat and the Bull_: I, 70. + _The Hare and the Tortoise_: I, 71. + _The Fox and the Stork_: I, 73. + _The Lion and the Mouse_: I, 75. + _The Old Man and His Sons_: I, 78. + _The Shepherd Boy and the Wolves_: I, 92. + _The Wind and the Sun_: I, 95. + _The Wolf and the Crane_: I, 96. + _The Two Travelers_: I, 109. + _The Two Travelers and the Oyster_: I, 111. + _The Lark and Her Young Ones_: I, 131. + _The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs_: I, 173. + _The Dog in the Manger_: I, 134. + _The Fox and the Grapes_: I, 135. + _The Cat and the Chestnuts_: I, 142. + _The Cock and the Horses_: I, 146. + _The Bat and the Two Weasels_: I, 154. + _The Mice and the Cat_: I, 197. + _The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse_: I, 199. + _The Lion, the Fox and the Ass_: I, 223. + _Industry and Sloth_: I, 300. + _The Horse and the Stag_: I, 338. + _The Fox, the Wolf and the Horse_: I, 377. + _The Bald Knight_: I, 385. + _The Brother and Sister_: I, 410. + _The Wolf and the Lamb_: I, 455. + _AEsop_: II, 1. + _Minerva and the Owl_: II, 7. + _The Falcon and the Partridge_: II, 6. + _The Sparrow and the Eagle_: II, 8. + _The Old Man and Death_: II, 9. + + _Fairies, The_: I, 405. + + _Fairies of the Caldon-Low, The_: II, 395. + + _Fairy Bread_: I, 198. + + FAIRY LORE AND FOLK LORE. + _Little Red Riding Hood_: I, 79. + _Tom Thumb_: I, 84. + _The Little Old Woman and Her Pig_: I, 97. + _Silver-Locks and the Three Bears_: I, 101. + _The Ladybird and the Fly_: I, 107. + _Hop-O'-My-Thumb_: I, 112. + _The Three Little Pigs_: I, 136. + _The Hardy Tin Soldier_: I, 148. + _Jack and the Beanstalk_: I, 156. + _Jack the Giant-Killer_: I, 174. + _The Pea Blossom_: I, 205. + _Hansel and Grethel_: I, 210. + _Cinderella_: I, 224. + _The Three Tasks_: I, 247. + _The Snow Maiden_: I, 257. + _The Twin Brothers_: I, 264. + _The Drummer_: I, 303. + _Beauty and the Beast_: I, 318. + _The Enchanted Stag_: I, 341. + _The Golden Bird_: I, 352. + _The Flax_: I, 378. + _"Something"_: I, 395. + _The Fairies_: I, 405. + _The Ugly Duckling_: I, 414. + _Whittington and His Cat_: I, 442. + _The Discontented Stonecutter_: II, 12. + _Discreet Hans_: II, 15. + _Bluebeard_: II, 22. + _Rumpelstiltzkin_: II, 33. + _Mirror of Matsuyana_, II, 36. + _The Fir Tree_: II, 68. + _The Snow Queen_: II, 124. + _Tom, The Water Baby_: II, 215. + _The Fairies of the Caldon-Low_: II, 395. + _The Darning-Needle_: II, 463. + _Why the Sea Is Salt_: II, 484. + _Origin of the Opal_: II, 480. + _What the Old Man Does Is Always Right_: II, 387. + _Holger Danske_: II, 377. + _The King and the Golden River_: II, 405. + _The Mock Turtle's Story_: III, 3. + _Queen Alice_: III, 23. + _The Leprecaun_: III, 33. + _The Walrus and the Carpenter_: III, 36. + _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_: III, 384. + _The Forsaken Merman_: VII, 180. + See MYTHS and LEGENDARY HEROES. + + _Faithless Sally Brown_: III, 92. + + _Falcon and the Partridge, The_: II, 6. + + _Fall of the Alamo, The_: VIII, 141. + + _Family of Michael Arout, The_: VII, 314. + + _Farewell, A_: III, 22. + + _Fate of the Indians, The_: IX, 466. + + _Father and Son_: X, 107. + + FICTION. See ADVENTURE; FABLES; FAIRY LORE AND FOLK LORE; NARRATIVE + POEMS; NOVELS; STORIES. + + _Fiction, How to Read_: X, 143. + + _Fiddling Parson, The_: V, 440. + + FIELD, EUGENE. + Biography: I, 242. + Selections: _Duel, The_: I, 384. + _Lady Button-Eyes_: I, 366. + _Little Blue Pigeon_: I, 133. + _Norse Lullaby_: I, 246. + _Rock-a-By-Lady, The_: I, 94. + _Seein' Things_: I, 240. + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks_: II, 121. + _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_: I, 262. + + _Figures of Speech_: X, 256. + + _First Snowfall, The_: II, 403. + + _Fir Tree, The_: II, 68. + + _Flax, The_: I, 378. + + _Florence Nightingale_: IX, 13. + + FOLK LORE. See FAIRY LORE AND FOLK LORE. + + FOLLEN, MRS. ELIZA LEE. + Selection: _Stop, Stop, Pretty Water_: I, 317. + + _Footsteps of Angels_: IV, 82. + + _For A' That and A' That_: VII, 149. + + _Forces in Education_: X, 3. + + _Foreign Children_: I, 351. + + _Foreign Lands_: I, 130. + + _Forsaken Merman, The_: VII, 180. + + FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS. + Selection: _My Old Kentucky Home_: VII, 179. + + _Four Ducks on a Pond_: VI, 98. + + _Fox and the Crow, The_: I, 64. + + _Fox and the Grapes, The_: I, 135. + + _Fox and the Stork, The_: I, 73. + + _Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse, The_: I, 377. + + FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. + Selections: _Braddock's Defeat_: V, 379. + _Poor Richard's Almanac_: VI, 407. + + _Frithiof the Bold_: III, 394. + + _Frog Who Wished to be as Big as an Ox, The_: I, 66. + + FROISSART, JEAN. + Selection: _The Battle of Cressy_: IX, 161. + + _From a Railway Carriage_: I, 198. + + FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY. + Selection: _Julius Caesar_: IX, 155. + + + G + + _Geography, Analysis and Classification of Selections Correlated + with_: X, 402. + + _Geography, The Teaching of_: X, 400. + + _Geraint and Enid_: V, 148. + + _Gettysburg Address, The_: IX, 321. + + GILBERT, W. S. + Selection: _The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"_: IV, 466. + + _Gnat and the Bull, The_: I, 70. + + _Gold-Bug, The_: IX, 232. + + _Golden Bird, The_: I, 352. + + _Golden Touch, The_: II, 43. + + GOLDSMITH, OLIVER. + Selection: _Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog_: IV, 57. + + _Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs, The_: I, 173. + + _Gorilla Hunt, A_: VII, 247. + + _Governor and the Notary, The_: VII, 20. + + _Graphic Classification of Masterpieces_: X, 12. + + GRAY, THOMAS. + Selection: _Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard_: VI, 360. + + GRIFFIN, GERALD. + Selection: _Limestone Broth_: VI, 467. + + GRIMM, JAKOB AND WILHELM. + Selections: _Discreet Hans_: II, 15. + _Drummer, The_: I, 303. + _Enchanted Stag, The_: I, 341. + _Golden Bird, The_: I, 352. + _Hansel and Grethel_: I, 210 + _Ladybird and the Fly, The_: I, 107. + _Three Tasks, The_: I, 247. + _Twin Brothers, The_: I, 264. + _Rumpelstiltzken_: II, 33. + + _Gulliver's Travels_: V, 6. + + + H + + HALLECK, FITZ-GREENE. + Selection: _Marco Bozzaris_: VIII, 90. + + _Handy Tables of American Writers_: X, 473. + + _Handy Tables of English Writers_: X, 469. + + _Hansel and Grethel_: I, 210. + + _Hardy Tin Soldier, The_: I, 148. + + _Hare and the Tortoise, The_: I, 71. + + HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL. + Biography: IV, 180. + Selections: _Boston Massacre, The_: IV, 217. + _Chimera, The_: II, 173. + _Golden Touch, The_: II, 43. + _Hutchinson Mob, The_: IV, 208. + _Pine-Tree Shillings, The_: IV, 192. + _Sunken Treasure, The_: IV, 199. + + HAY, JOHN. + Selection: _Little Breeches_: IV, 462. + + _Heart of Bruce, The_: V, 316. + + HEMANS, FELICIA BROWNE. + Selections: _Bernardo del Carpio_: IV, 270. + _Casabianca_: VIII, 313. + _Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England_: IV, 197. + + HENRY, PATRICK. + Selection: _A Call to Arms_: IX, 475. + + HEROES. See LEGENDARY HEROES. + + _Herve Riel_: VIII, 168. + + _High School, Correlation of_ Journeys _with_: X, 425. + + HISTORY. + _The Story of Joseph_: I, 456. + _The Hutchinson Mob_: IV, 208. + _The Boston Massacre_: IV, 217. + _Joan of Arc_: IV, 226. + _Alfred the Great_: IV, 260. + _Henry Hudson's Fourth Voyage_: V, 254. + _The Arickara Indians_: IV, 472. + _The Rise of Robert Bruce_: V, 278. + _The Buccaneers_: V, 359. + _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_: V, 365. + _Braddock's Defeat_: V, 379. + _The Capture of Vincennes_: VI, 428. + _The Black Hawk Tragedy_: VII, 58. + _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_: VIII, 1. + _David Crockett in the Creek War_: VIII, 37. + _The Retreat of Cortes_: VIII, 63. + _The Battle of Thermopylae_: VIII, 81. + _Pere Marquette_: VIII, 121. + _The Fall of the Alamo_: VIII, 141. + _The Battle of Trafalgar_: VIII, 284. + _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_: IX, 32. + _The Death of Caesar_: IX, 126. + _The Death of Caesar_: IX, 143. + _The Battle of Cressy_: IX, 161. + _The Battle of Saratoga_: IX, 176. + _The Battle of Hastings_: IX, 330. + + _History, Analysis and Classification of Selections Correlated with_: + X, 403-410. + + _History, The Teaching of_: X, 400. + + _Holger Danske_: II, 377. + + HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL. + Biography: VII, 398. + Selections: _The Cubes of Truth_: VII, 406. + _The Chambered Nautilus_: IX, 454. + + _Holy Grail, The_: V, 207. + + _Home, Sweet Home_: VI, 221. + + _Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead_: VI, 231. + + HOMER. + Selection: _The Death of Hector_: IV, 364. + + HOOD, THOMAS. + Selections: _Faithless Sally Brown_: III, 92. + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + + _Hop-O'-My-Thumb_: I, 112. + + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + + _Horse and the Stag, The_: I, 338. + + HOWE, JULIA WARD. + Selection: _Battle Hymn of the Republic_: V, 399. + + HOWITT, MARY. + Selections: _Fairies of the Caldon-Low, The_: II, 395. + _Spider and the Fly, The_: III, 19. + _Why the Sea Is Salt_: II, 484. + + _How Sleep the Brave_: VII, 151. + + _How's My Boy?_: VII, 169. + + _How the Wolf Was Bound_: II, 91. + + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_: V, 335. + + _How They Took the Gold-Train_: VIII, 180. + + _How to Read Aloud_: X, 311. + + _How to Read Fiction_: X, 143. + + _How to Read Poetry_: X, 272. + + _How to Read Stories_: X, 145. + + _Hudson's Fourth Voyage_: V, 254. + + HUGHES, THOMAS. + Selection: _Tom Brown at Rugby_: V, 469. + + HUMOR. See WIT AND HUMOR. + + HUNT, LEIGH. + Selection: _Abou Ben Adhem_: IX, 11. + + _Hutchinson Mob, The_: IV, 208. + + + + I + + _Imitation of Christ_: VI, 134. + + _Impeachment of Warren Hastings, The_: IX, 32. + + _Inchcape Rock, The_: V, 465. + + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + + _Industry and Sloth_: I, 300. + + _Infant Joy_: II, 10. + + INGELOW, JEAN. + Selection: _Seven Times One_: II, 119. + + _Interpretations._ See STUDIES. + + _In Time's Swing_: II, 481. + + IRVING, WASHINGTON. + Biography: VIII, 216. + Selections: _Alhambra, The_: VIII, 153. + _Arickara Indians, The_: IV, 472. + _Governor and the Notary, The_: VII, 20. + _Knickerbocker History of New York, The_: VIII, 224. + + + J + + _Jack and the Beanstalk_: I, 156. + + _Jack the Giant-Killer_: I, 174. + + JEROME, JEROME K. + Selections: _On Comic Songs_: V, 455. + _We Plan a River Trip_: V, 443. + + _Joan of Arc_: IV, 226. + + _Johnson, Samuel, The Life of_: IX, 216. + + _John's Pumpkin_: III, 1. + + _Joseph, The Story of_: I, 456. + + _Julius Caesar_: IX, 155. + + + K + + _Katey's Letter_: IV, 470. + + KEATS, JOHN. + Biography: IX, 457. + Selection: _Ode on a Grecian Urn_: IX, 462. + + _Keepsake Mill_: I, 349. + + KEMPIS, THOMAS A. + Selection: From _Imitation of Christ_: VI, 134. + + KEY, FRANCIS SCOTT. + Selection: _Star-Spangled Banner, The_: VII, 167. + + _King Arthur._ See _Arthur, King_. + + _King of the Golden River, The_: II, 405. + + KINGSLEY, CHARLES. + Selections: _A Farewell_: III, 22. + _How They Took the Gold-Train_: VIII, 180. + _Sands of Dee, The_: I, 412. + _Three Fishers, The_: VII, 343. + _Tom, the Water Baby_: II, 215. + + KINNEY, COATES. + Selection: _Rain on the Roof_: IV, 7. + + KIPLING, RUDYARD. + Selections: _Recessional, The_: VII, 164. + _Salmon Fishing_: VII, 285. + + _Knickerbocker History of New York, The_: VIII, 224. + + _Knock-Out, The_: VI, 471. + + KRAUT, MARY HANNAH. + Selection: _Little Brown Hands_: I, 441. + + KRUMMACHER. + Selection: _The Moss Rose_: VI, 98. + + + L + + _Ladybird and the Fly, The_: I, 107. + + _Lady Button-Eyes_: I, 366. + + LAMB, CHARLES. + Biography: VIII, 328. + Selections: _Dissertation upon Roast Pig, A_: IX, 56. + _Dream Children: A Revery_: VIII, 335. + _Praise of Chimney Sweepers, The_: IX, 66. + _Tempest, The_: VIII, 348. + + LAMB, MARY. + Biography: VIII, 328. + Selection: _The Tempest_: VIII, 348. + + _Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England_: IV, 197. + + _Land of Counterpane, The_: I, 144. + + _Language, Analysis and Classification of Selections for the Study of_: + X, 354, 378. + + _Language, Correlation of_ Journeys _with Study of_: X, 345, 349. + + _Language, The Teaching of_: X, 349. + + LARCOM, LUCY. + Selections: _Brown Thrush, The_: I, 147. + _In Time's Swing_: II, 481. + + _Lark and Her Young Ones, The_: I, 131. + + LATTO, T. C. + Selection: _The Blind Lassie_: VI, 120. + + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + + LEAR, EDWARD. + Selection: _The Owl and the Pussy-Cat_: I, 339. + + LEGENDARY HEROES. + _Beowulf and Grendel_: III, 350. + _Frithiof the Bold_: III, 394. + _The Story of Siegfried_: III, 410. + _Roland at Roncesvalles_: III, 460. + _Cid Campeador_: IV, 9. + _The Death of Hector_: IV, 364. + _The Wooden Horse_: IV, 383. + _Ulysses_: IV, 398. + _King Arthur_: V, 113. + _Balin and Balan_: V, 130. + _Geraint and Enid_: V, 148. + _The Holy Grail_: V, 207. + _Dissensions at King Arthur's Court_: V, 232. + _The Passing of Arthur_: V, 237. + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + _Sohrab and Rustem_: VI, 157. + _Sohrab and Rustum_: VI, 173. + + _Leprecaun, The_: III. 33. + + _Lesson and the Author's Purpose, in Fiction, The_: X, 170. + + _Let Something Good Be Said_: V, 111. + + _Life of Samuel Johnson, The_: IX, 216. + + _Limestone Broth_: VI, 467. + + LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. + Selection: _The Gettysburg Address_: IX, 321. + + _Lincoln, Abraham._ See _Abraham Lincoln_. + + _Lion and The Missionary, The_: VI, 93. + + _Lion and the Mouse, The_: I, 75. + + _Lion, the Fox and the Ass, The_: I, 223. + + _Literature and Its Forms_: X, 317. + + _Literature, Different Kinds of_: X, 143. + + _Little Birdie_: I, 142. + + _Little Blue Pigeon_: I, 133. + + _Little Breeches_: IV, 462. + + _Little Brown Hands_: I, 441. + + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_: IV, 461. + + _Little Old Woman and Her Pig, The_: I, 97. + + _Little Red Riding-Hood_: I, 79. + + LIVINGSTONE, DAVID. + Selection: _The Lion and the Missionary_: VI, 93. + + _Lochinvar_: III, 432. + + LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH. + Biography: IV, 62. + Selections: _Footsteps of Angels_: IV, 82. + _Reaper and the Flowers, The_: I, 410. + _Skeleton in Armor, The_: V, 327. + _Village Blacksmith, The_: IV, 86. + _Wreck of the Hesperus, The_: IV, 89. + + _Looking Forward_: I, 106. + + _Lord Ullin's Daughter_: VI, 23. + + _Lost Child, The_: VII, 409. + + LOVER, SAMUEL. + Selection: _Widow Machree_: VI, 464. + + LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL. + Biography: VII, 411. + Selections: _First Snowfall, The_: II, 403. + _Lost Child, The_: VII, 409. + _To H. W. L._: IV, 84. + + LULLABIES. + _The Rock-a-By Lady_: I, 94. + _Little Blue Pigeon_: I, 133. + _Sleep, Baby, Sleep_: I, 204. + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_: I, 203. + _Norse Lullaby_: I, 246. + _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_: I, 262. + _Lady Button-Eyes_: I, 366. + _Lullaby_: I, 96, II, 32. + + _Lyric Poetry, Definition of_: X, 333. + + LYRICS. + _A Thought_: I, 66. + _The Swing_: I, 67. + _The Sun's Travels_: I, 68. + _Singing_: I, 88. + _Looking Forward_: I, 106. + _The Cow_: I, 106. + _Rain_: I, 110. + _System_: I, 111. + _My Bed Is a Boat_: I, 126. + _Foreign Lands_: I, 130. + _At the Seaside_: I, 129. + _The Land of Counterpane_: I, 144. + _Bed in Summer_: I, 173. + _Block City_: I, 196. + _From a Railway Carriage_: I, 198 + _Fairy Bread_: I, 198. + _Seein' Things_: I, 240. + _Whole Duty of Children_: I, 301. + _The Tree_: I, 301. + _Young Night Thought_: I, 302. + _Where Go the Boats?_: I, 256. + _Stop, Stop, Pretty Water_: I, 317. + _Time to Rise_: I, 340. + _Keepsake Mill_: I, 349. + _Foreign Children_: I, 351. + _The Duel_: I, 384. + _Autumn Fires_: I, 394. + _The Reaper and the Flowers_: I, 410. + _The Wind_: I, 440. + _Little Brown Hands_: I, 441. + _Infant Joy_: II, 10. + _The Baby_: II, 11. + _Poppyland Express_: II, 21. + _A Contrast_: II, 42. + _The Child's World_: II, 66. + _Afterwhile_: II, 123. + _Windy Nights_: II, 123. + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks_: II, 121. + _Picture-Books in Winter_: II, 87. + _Seven Times One_: II, 119. + _The First Snowfall_: II, 403. + _In Time's Swing_: II, 481. + _A Farewell_: III, 22. + _Night_: III, 431. + _Better Than Gold_: IV, 1. + _The Barefoot Boy_: IV, 3. + _Rain on the Roof_: IV, 7. + _Mother's Way_: IV, 58. + _Footsteps of Angels_: IV, 82. + _The Village Blacksmith_: IV, 86. + _Pictures of Memory_: IV, 127. + _Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England_: IV, 197. + _Away_: IV, 460. + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + _Let Something Good be Said_: V, 111. + _Boyhood_: VI, 122. + _The Rainbow_: VI, 91. + _Four Ducks on a Pond_: VI, 98. + _The Blind Lassie_: VI, 120. + _Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead_: VI, 231. + _Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard_: VI, 360. + _The Daffodils_: VII, 1. + _The Recessional_: VII, 164. + _The Cloud_: VII, 257. + _My Mother's Picture_: VII, 335. + _Annabel Lee_: VII, 341. + _The Lost Child_: VII, 409. + _A Child's Thought of God_: VII, 418. + _Robert of Lincoln_: IX, 444. + _The Chambered Nautilus_: IX, 454. + + + M + + MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON. + Selections: _Battle of Ivry_: VIII, 76. + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + _Impeachment of Warren Hastings, The_: IX, 32. + + MCCALEB, ANNA. + Adaptations: _Atalanta's Race_: I, 386. + _Baucis and Philemon_: I, 431. + _Cupid and Psyche_: III, 365. + _Death of Balder, The_: II, 99. + _How the Wolf Was Bound_: II, 91. + _Punishment of Loki, The_: II, 111. + _Queen of the Underworld, The_: II, 468. + _Story of Phaethon, The_: II, 245. + _Wonderful Gifts, The_: I, 368. + Selections: _Battle of Thermopylae, The_: VIII, 81. + _Browning, Elizabeth Barrett_: VII, 419. + _Cary, Alice and Phoebe_: IV, 116. + _Dickens, Charles_: VI, 232. + _Nightingale, Florence_: IX, 13. + _Queen Victoria_: VII, 152. + + MACDONALD, GEORGE. + Selection: _The Baby_: II, 11. + + MCMASTER, GUY HUMPHREY. + Selection: _The Old Continentals_: VII, 175. + + _Make Way for Liberty_: VII, 172. + + MALORY, SIR THOMAS. + Selection: (Abridgment of) _The Holy Grail_: V, 207. + + _Mandeville, The Travels of Sir John_: IX, 207. + + _Marching Song_: I, 155. + + _Marco Bozzaris_: VIII, 90. + + _Mariner's Dream, The_: III, 95. + + _Marquette, Pere._ See _Pere Marquette_. + + MARVEL, IK. See MITCHELL, DONALD G. + + _Masterpieces, Graphic Classification of_: X, 12. + + _Memorizing_: X, 128. + + _Mercy to Animals_: I, 413. + + _Metaphor, The_: X, 264. + + _Method and Style of the Authors, in Fiction_: X, 174. + + _Metonymy_: X, 265. + + _Mice and the Cat, The_: I, 197. + + _Milkmaid, The_: II, 374. + + _Minerva and the Owl_: II, 7. + + _Mirror of Matsuyana, The_: II, 36. + + MITCHELL, DONALD G. + Selection: _Childhood_: VI, 124. + + _Mock Turtle's Story, The_: III, 3. + + _Modern Belle, The_: VI, 463. + + _Modestine_: IX, 403. + + MONTGOMERY, JAMES. + Selection: _Make Way for Liberty_: VII, 172. + + MOORE, CLEMENT C. + Selection: _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_: II, 202. + + MOORE, THOMAS. + Selections: _Potato, The_: II, 467. + _Those Evening Bells_: VII, 340. + + _Moral Instruction_: X, 126. + + _Moss Rose, The_: VI, 98. + + _Mother's Way_: IV, 58. + + _Munchausen, Baron_: V, 403. + + _My Bed Is a Boat_: I, 126. + + _My Heart Leaps Up_: IV, 2. + + _My Mother's Picture_: VII, 335. + + _My Old Kentucky Home_: VII, 179. + + MYTHS. + _The Wonderful Gifts_: I, 368. + _Atalanta's Race_: I, 386. + _Baucis and Philemon_: I, 431. + _The Golden Touch_: II, 43. + _How the Wolf Was Bound_: II, 91. + _The Death of Balder_: II, 99. + _The Punishment of Loki_: II, 111. + _The Chimera_: II, 173. + _The Story of Phaethon_: II, 206. + _The Queen of the Underworld_: II, 468. + _Cupid and Psyche_: III, 365. + _Stories of the Creation_: IV, 159. + + + N + + NARRATIVE POEMS. + _The Sands of Dee_: I, 412. + _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_: II, 202. + _The Spider and the Fly_: III, 19. + _Beth Gelert_: III, 42. + _The Mariner's Dream_: III, 95. + _The Pied Piper of Hamelin_: III, 384. + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + _Sheridan's Ride_: IV, 223. + _Burial of Moses_: IV, 266. + _Bernardo del Carpio_: IV, 270. + _The Death of Hector_: IV, 364. + _The Wooden Horse_: IV, 383. + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_: IV, 461. + _Little Breeches_: IV, 462. + _Geraint and Enid_: V, 148. + _The Passing of Arthur_: V, 237. + _Bruce and the Spider_: V, 314. + _The Skeleton in Armor_: V, 327. + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_: V, 335. + _Horatius_: VI, 1. + _The Destruction of Sennacherib_: VI, 141. + _The Vision of Belshazzar_: VI, 153. + _Sohrab and Rustum_: VI, 173. + _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_: VII, 29. + _How's My Boy?_: VII, 169. + _The Soldier's Dream_: VII, 170. + _The Forsaken Merman_: VII, 180. + _The Reaper's Dream_: VII, 345. + _Battle of Ivry_: VIII, 76. + _The Battle of Waterloo_: VIII, 176. + _Casabianca_: VIII, 313. + _The Romance of the Swan's Nest_: VIII, 315. + _The Cotter's Saturday Night_: VIII, 319. + _Abou Ben Adhem_: IX, 11. + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + See BALLADS. + + NATURE. + _The Brown Thrush_: I, 147. + _Mercy to Animals_: I, 413. + _The English Robin_: II, 214. + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_: II, 399. + _The Lion and the Missionary_: VI, 93. + _The Moss Rose_: VI, 98. + _Elephant Hunting_: VI, 385. + _Some Clever Monkeys_: VI, 402. + _The Petrified Fern_: VII, 77. + _The Buffalo_: VII, 96. + _A Gorilla Hunt_: VII, 247. + _Brute Neighbors_: VII, 260. + _The Pond in Winter_: VII, 280. + _Salmon Fishing_: VII, 285. + _Winter Animals_: VII, 293. + _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_: VII, 306. + _A Bed of Nettles_: VIII, 209. + _Owls_: IX, 229. + _Robert of Lincoln_: IX, 444. + + _Nature Study_: X, 380. + + _Nature Study, Analysis and Classification of Selections related to_: + X, 381-393. + + _Nearer Home_: IV, 126. + + NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY (Cardinal). + Selections: _Definition of a Gentleman_: IV, 170. + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + + _Night_: III, 431. + + NIGHTINGALE, FLORENCE. + Biography: IX, 13. + + _Norse Lullaby_: I, 246. + + NOVELS (Selections from). + _Robinson Crusoe_: III, 45. + _The Swiss Family Robinson_: III, 99. + _Cast Up by the Sea_:-- + _The Escape from Prison_: IV, 130. + _Fabiola_:-- + _Pancratius_: IV, 245. + _Ivanhoe_:-- + _The Attack on the Castle_: IV, 322. + _The Tournament_: VI, 38. + _Tom Brown's School Days_:-- + _Tom Brown at Rugby_: V, 469. + _An Attic Philosopher in Paris_:-- + _The Poet and the Peasant_: VI, 206. + _The Family of Michael Arout_: VII, 314. + _Kidnapped_:-- + _The Shipwreck_: VI, 371. + _The Last of the Mohicans_:-- + _An Exciting Canoe Race_: VII, 79. + _The Mill on the Floss_:-- + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_: VII, 186. + _Treasure Island_:-- + _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_: VII, 352. + _Don Quixote_:-- + _Don Quixote Prepares to Set Out on His Adventures_: VII, 433. + _The Adventure of the Windmills_: VII, 438. + _Mambrino's Helmet_: VII, 441. + _Don Quixote's Encounter with the Lions_: VII, 448. + _The Adventure of the Enchanted Bark_: VII, 459. + _The Adventure of the Wooden Horse_: VII, 467. + _The Story of the Lashes_: VII, 480. + _Westward Ho!_:-- + _How They Took the Gold-Train_: VIII, 180. + _Pickwick Papers_:-- + _Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller_: IX, 76. + + NURSERY RHYMES: I, 3. + + _Nursery Rhymes, Analysis of_: X, 18. + + + O + + ODES. + _To H. W. L._: IV, 84. + _To the Fringed Gentian_: VII, 4. + _To a Mouse_: VII, 5. + _To a Mountain Daisy_: VII, 8. + _Ode to a Skylark_: VII, 275. + _To a Waterfowl_: VII, 395. + _Ode on a Grecian Urn_: IX, 462. + + _Ode on a Grecian Urn_: IX, 462. + + _Ode to a Skylark_: VII, 275. + + _Old Continentals, The_: VII, 175. + + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_: I, 203. + + _Old Man and Death, The_: II, 9. + + _Old Man and His Sons, The_: I, 78. + + _Old Oaken Bucket, The_: VII, 11. + + _On Comic Songs_: V, 455. + + _On the Receipt of My Mother's Picture_: VII, 331. + + _Oration, Definition and Study of_: X, 324. + + _Oration, Illustrative Study of "A Call to Arms," as a type of_: IX, 481. + + ORATIONS. + _The Gettysburg Address_: IX, 321. + _Abraham Lincoln_: IX, 324. + _The Fate of the Indians_: IX, 466. + _A Call to Arms_: IX, 475. + + _Origin of the Opal_: II, 480. + + _Owl and the Pussy-Cat, The_: I, 339. + + _Owls_: IX, 229. + + + P + + PALMER, J. W. + Selection: _"Stonewall" Jackson's Way_: V, 400. + + _Pancratius_: IV, 245. + + PARKMAN, FRANCIS. + Selection: _The Buffalo_: VII, 96. + + _Passing of Arthur, The_: V, 237. + + PATRIOTIC POEMS. + _The American Flag_: V, 396. + _"Stonewall" Jackson's Way_: V, 400. + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + _The Charge of the Light Brigade_: VII, 147. + _Breathes There the Man_: VII, 151. + _For A' That and A' That_: VII, 149. + _Make Way for Liberty_: VII, 172. + _The Old Continentals_: VII, 175. + _The Picket Guard_: VII, 177. + _Marco Bozzaris_: VIII, 90. + + PAYNE, JOHN HOWARD. + Biography: VI, 221. + Selection: _Home, Sweet Home_: VI, 224. + + _Pea Blossom, The_: I, 205. + + _Pere Marquette_: VIII, 121. + + PERRAULT, CHARLES. + Adaptations from _Cinderella_: I, 224. + _Hop-O'-My-Thumb_: I, 112. + _Little Red Riding-Hood_: I, 79. + + _Personification_: X, 266. + + _Persons, in Fiction, Study of_: X, 156. + + _Petrified Fern, The_: VII, 77. + + _Phaethon, The Story of_: II, 206. + + _Picket-Guard, The_: VII, 177. + + _Pickwick and Sam Weller_: IX, 76. + + _Picture Books in Winter_: II, 87. + + _Pictures and Their Use_: X, 36. + + _Pictures and Their Value in Literature_: X, 44. + + _Pictures in_ Journeys, _On the Use of_: X, 48. + + _Pictures of Memory_: IV, 127. + + _Pied Piper of Hamelin, The_: III, 384. + + _Pilgrim's Progress, The_: IV, 423. + + _Pine-Tree Shillings, The_: IV, 192. + + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + + _Plan and Contents of_ Journeys: X, 7. + + _Plan and Contents of Each Volume_: X, 24. + + _Plot, in Fiction, Study of_: X, 149. + + PLUTARCH. + Selection: _The Death of Caesar_: IX, 126. + + POE, EDGAR ALLAN. + Selections: _Annabel Lee_: VII, 341. + _Descent into the Maelstrom, A_: VIII, 95. + _Gold-Bug, The_: IX, 232. + _Three Sundays in a Week_: VI, 453. + + _Poet and the Peasant, The_: VI, 206. + + POETRY. See BALLADS; DRAMA; LULLABIES; LYRICS; NARRATIVE POEMS; ODES; + PATRIOTIC POEMS; SONGS; WIT AND HUMOR. + + _Poetry, Kinds of_: X, 331. + + _Poetry, Reading_: X, 272. + + _Polonius' Advice_: V, 112. + + _Pond in Winter, The_: VII, 280. + + _Poor Richard's Almanac_: VI, 407. + + POPE, ALEXANDER. + Selection: _The Universal Prayer_: IV, 172. + + _Poppyland Express, The_: II, 21. + + _Potato, The_: II, 467. + + _Praise of Chimney Sweepers, The_: IX, 66. + + PRESCOTT, WILLIAM HICKLING. + Selection: _The Retreat of Cortes_: VIII, 63. + + PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES: + Volume I, 487. + Volume II, 491. + Volume III, 487. + Volume IV, 491. + Volume V, 497. + Volume VI, 481. + Volume VII, 485. + Volume VIII, 489. + Volume IX, 489. + + _Prose, Kinds of_: X, 318. + + _Punishment of Loki, The_: II, 111. + + + Q + + _Queen Alice_: III, 23. + + _Queen of the Underworld, The_: II, 468. + + QUEEN VICTORIA. See VICTORIA, QUEEN. + + _Quotations, One Hundred Choice_: X, 131. + + + R + + RAMEE, LOUISE DE LA. + Selection: _A Dog of Flanders_: IV, 93. + + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + + _Rain_: I, 110. + + _Rainbow, The_: VI, 91. + + _Rain on the Roof_: IV, 7. + + RANDS, W. B. + Selection: _The Child's World_: II, 66. + + READ, THOMAS BUCHANAN. + Selections: _Reaper's Dream, The_: VII, 345. + _Sheridan's Ride_: IV, 223. + + _Reading, Correlation of_ Journeys _with Study of_: X, 345. + + _Reading Aloud_: X, 123, 311. + + _Reading and the Building of Character_: X, 85. + + _Reading History_: V, 394. + + _Reading Poetry_: X, 272. + + _Reading Shakespeare_: VIII, 346. + + _Reading Stories_: X, 145. + + _Reaper and the Flowers, The_: I, 410. + + _Reaper's Dream, The_: VII, 345. + + _Recessional, The_: VII, 164. + + _Recitations and Special Days in School_: X, 436. + + _Recovery of the Hispaniola, The_: VII, 352. + + _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_: V, 340. + + _Retreat of Cortes, The_: VIII, 63. + + _Riddles_: I, 72, 202, 245. + + RILEY, JAMES WHITCOMB. + Selections: _Afterwhile_: II, 123. + _Away_: IV, 460. + _Let Something Good be Said_: V, 111. + + _Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The_: VII, 29. + + _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_: VIII, 1. + + RINGROSE, BASIL. + Selection: _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_: VIII, 1. + + _Rise of Robert Bruce, The_: V, 278. + + _Robert of Lincoln_: IX, 444. + + _Robin Hood_: III, 436. + _Robin Hood and Little John_: III, 437. + _Robin Hood and the Stranger_: III, 444. + _Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons_: III, 449. + _Robin Hood and Allin a Dale_: III, 454. + + _Robinson Crusoe_: III, 45. + + _Rock-a-by Lady, The_: I, 94. + + _Roland at Roncesvalles_: III, 460. + + _Romance of the Swan's Nest, The_: VIII, 315. + + ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. + Selection: _Abraham Lincoln_: IX, 324. + + _Rumpelstiltzkin_: II, 33. + + RUSKIN, JOHN. + Selection: _The King of the Golden River_: II, 405. + + _Ruth_: VI, 143. + + RYAN, FATHER. + Selections: _Better Than Gold_: IV, 1. + _Mother's Way_: IV, 58. + + + S + + _Salmon Fishing_: VII, 285. + + _Sands of Dee, The_: I, 412. + + SAXE, JOHN GODFREY. + Selection: _Echo_: III, 286. + + _Scenes, in Fiction, Study of_: X, 162. + + SCOTT, SIR WALTER. + Biography: VI, 26. + Selections: _Attack on the Castle, The_: IV, 322. + _Boat Song_: VII, 17. + _Breathes There the Man_: VII, 151. + _Christmas in Old Time_: VI, 356. + _Lochinvar_: III, 432. + _Rise of Robert Bruce, The_: V, 278. + _Tournament, The_: VI, 38. + + _Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor, The_: III, 340. + + _Seein' Things_: I, 240. + + SELLON, GRACE E. + Adaptations: _Frithiof the Bold_: III, 394. + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + _Snow Maiden, The_: I, 257. + _Story of Siegfried, The_: III, 410. + Selections: _Bryant, William Cullen_: VII, 391. + _Hawthorne, Nathaniel_: IV, 180. + _Holmes, Oliver Wendell_: VII, 398. + _Irving, Washington_: VIII, 216. + _Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth_: IV, 62. + _Lowell, James Russell_: VII, 411. + _Scott, Sir Walter_: VI, 26. + _Some Children's Books of the Past_: V, 101. + _Whittier, John Greenleaf_: VII, 381. + + _Seven Times One_: II, 119. + + SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM. + Biography: VIII, 468. + Selections: _Death of Caesar, The_: IX, 143. + _Polonius' Advice_: V, 112. + _Tempest, The_: VIII, 364. + + SHEALE, RICHARD. + Selection: _Chevy-Chase_: IV, 312. + + SHELLEY, PERCY BYSSHE. + Selections: _Cloud, The_: VII, 257. + _Ode to a Skylark_: VII, 275. + + _Shepherd Boy and the Wolves, The_: I, 92. + + _Sheridan's Ride_: IV, 223. + + _Shipwreck, The_: VI, 371. + + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks_: II, 121. + + _Siegfried, The Story of_: III, 410. + + _Silver-Locks and the Three Bears_: I, 101. + + _Simile, The_: X, 263. + + _Sinbad the Sailor, The Second Voyage of._ See _Second Voyage of + Sinbad the Sailor, The_. + + _Singing_: I, 83. + + _Sir Roger de Coverley_: IX, 371. + + _Skeleton in Armor, The_: V, 327. + + _Sleep, Baby, Sleep_: I, 204. + + SMITH, SAMUEL FRANCIS. + Selection: _America_: VIII, 60. + + _Snow Maiden, The_: I, 257. + + _Snow Queen, The_: II, 124. + + _Sohrab and Rustem_: VI, 157. + + _Sohrab and Rustum_: VI, 173. + + _Soldier's Dream, The_: VII, 170. + + _Some Children's Books of the Past_: V, 101. + + _Some Clever Monkeys_: VI, 402. + + _"Something"_: I, 395. + + _Song of the Brook_: IV, 60. + + _Sonnet, Definition of_: X, 337. + + SONGS. + _Singing_: I, 83. + _Little Birdie_: I, 142. + _Marching Song_: I, 155. + _The Owl and The Pussy Cat_: I, 339. + _Song of the Brook_: IV, 60. + _Nearer Home_: IV, 126. + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + _Battle Hymn of the Republic_: V, 399. + _Annie Laurie_: VI, 119. + _Sweet and Low_: VI, 122. + _The Bugle Song_: VI, 133. + _Home, Sweet Home_: VI, 221. + _Auld Lang Syne_: VI, 228. + _The Old Oaken Bucket_: VII, 11. + _Boat Song_: VII, 17. + _The Star-Spangled Banner_: VII, 167. + _How Sleep the Brave_: VII, 151. + _My Old Kentucky Home_: VII, 179. + _Those Evening Bells_: VII, 340. + _The Three Fishers_: VII, 343. + _America_: VIII, 60. + + SOUTHEY, ROBERT. + Selections: _Battle of Trafalgar, The_: VIII, 284. + _Inchcape Rock, The_: V, 465. + _Night_: III, 431. + + SOUVESTRE, EMILE. + Selections: _Family of Michael Arout, The_: VII, 314. + _Poet and the Peasant, The_: VI, 206. + + SPARKS, JARED. + Selection: _Pere Marquette_: VIII, 121. + + _Sparrow and the Eagle, The_: II, 8. + + SPENCER, WILLIAM R. + Selection: _Beth Gelert_: III, 42. + + _Spider and the Fly, The_: III, 19. + + SPRAGUE, CHARLES. + Selection: _The Fate of the Indians_: IX, 466. + + _Star-Spangled Banner, The_: VII, 167. + + STARK. + Selection: _The Modern Belle_: VI, 463. + + STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS. + Biography: I, 128. + Selections: _At the Seaside_: I, 129. + _Autumn Fires_: I, 394. + _Bed in Summer_: I, 173. + _Block City_: I, 196. + _Cow, The_: I, 106. + _Fairy Bread_: I, 198. + _Foreign Children_: I, 351. + _Foreign Lands_: I, 130. + _From a Railway Carriage_: I, 198. + _Keepsake Mill_: I, 349. + _Land of Counterpane, The_: I, 144. + _Looking Forward_: I, 106. + _Marching Song_: I, 155. + _Modestine_: IX, 403. + _My Bed Is a Boat_: I, 126. + _Picture-Books in Winter_: II, 87. + _Rain_: I, 110. + _Recovery of the Hispaniola, The_: VII, 352. + _Shipwreck, The_: VI, 371. + _Singing_: I, 83. + _Sun's Travels, The_: I, 68. + _Swing, The_: I, 67. + _System_: I, 111. + _Thought, A_: I, 66. + _Time to Rise_: I, 340. + _Where Go the Boats?_: I, 256. + _Whole Duty of Children_: I, 301. + _Wind, The_: I, 440. + _Windy Nights_: II, 123. + _Young Night Thought_: I, 302. + + _"Stonewall" Jackson's Way_: V, 400. + + _Stop, Stop, Pretty Water_: I, 317. + + STORIES. + _A Dog of Flanders_: IV, 93. + _The Pine-Tree Shillings_: IV, 192. + _Gulliver's Travels_: V, 6. + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + _A Christmas Carol_: VI, 244. + _Three Sundays in a Week_: VI, 453. + _The Governor and the Notary_: VII, 20. + _A Descent into the Maelstrom_: VIII, 95. + _The Tempest_: VIII, 364. + _The Gold-Bug_: IX, 232. + See ADVENTURE; FAIRY LORE AND FOLK LORE; NOVELS. + + STORIES OF ADVENTURE. See ADVENTURE. + + _Stories, Reading_: X, 145. + + _Stories, Telling_: X, 63. + + _Stories of the Creation_: IV, 159. + + _Story of Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp, The_: III, 288. + + _Story of Esther, The._ See _Esther, The Story of_. + + _Story of Joseph, The._ See _Joseph, The Story of_. + + _Story of Phaethon, The._ See _Phaethon, The Story of_. + + _Story of Ruth, The._ See _Ruth, The Story of_. + + _Story of Siegfried, The._ See _Siegfried, The Story of_. + + _Studies, Of_: IX, 400. + + STUDIES. (The following are selections upon which the studies are + based. In chapter XIX of Volume X the more important studies are + arranged in the order in which the selections appear in the several + volumes.) + _Alfred the Great_: IV, 260. + (Study in History--X, 414.) + _America_: VIII, 60. + _American Flag, The_: V, 396. + _Annie Laurie_: VI, 119. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 243.) + _Ballad of Agincourt_: V, 95. + (Story Told--X, 74.) + _Bannockburn_: VII, 15. + _Barefoot Boy, The_: IV, 3. + (Study--X, 286.) + _Battle of Saratoga_: IX, 176. + (Study in History--X, 419.) + _Boat Song_: VII, 17. + _Boston Massacre, The_: IV, 217. + (Study in Argument--X, 370.) + _Braddock's Defeat_: V, 379. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 227.) + _Brown Thrush, The_: I, 147. + (Study--X, 276.) + _Brute Neighbors_: VII, 260. + (Nature Study--X, 383.) + _Bugle Song, The_: VI, 133. + (Study--X, 287.) + _Call to Arms, A_: IX, 475. + _Chambered Nautilus, The_: IX, 454. + _Child's World, The_: II, 66. + (Study--X, 277.) + _Christmas Carol, A_: VI, 244. + (Study in Scene--X, 168.) + (Study of Picture, _Bob and Tiny Tim_--X, 41.) + _Christmas in Old Time_: VI, 356. + _Cid Campeador_: IV, 9. + (Study in Exposition--X, 368.) + _Cinderella_: I, 224. + (Character Study--I, 238.) + (Complete Study--X, 150.) + _Cloud, The_: VII, 257. + (Study--X, 301.) + _Country Squire, The_: VI, 474. + _Cubes of Truth, The_: VII, 406. + _Cupid and Psyche_: III, 365. + _Daffodils, The_: VII, 1. + _David Crockett in the Creek War_: VIII, 37. + (Study--X, 244.) + _Death of Caesar, The_: IX, 143. + (Study--X, 253.) + _Definition of a Gentleman_: IV, 170. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 234) + _Descent into the Maelstrom, A_: VIII, 95. + _Dog and His Shadow, The_: I, 63. + (Study on Scene--X, 164.) + _Down Tumbled Wheelbarrow_: I, 46. + (Study of Picture--X, 58.) + _Dream Children: A Revery_: VIII, 335. + _Drummer, The_: I, 303. + (Complete Study--X, 193.) + _Exciting Canoe Race, An_: VII, 79. + (Study in Forms of Expression--X, 376.) + _Expense, Of_: IX, 397. + _Fairies, The_: I, 405. + _Fairies of Caldon-Low, The_: II, 395. + (Story Told--X, 68.) + _Faithless Sally Brown_: III, 92. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 232.) + _Fate of the Indians, The_: IX, 466. + _Fir Tree, The_: II, 68. + (Study of Picture, _The Swallow and the Stork Came_--X, 55.) + (Study in The Lesson and the Author's Purpose--X, 173.) + _First Snowfall, The_: II, 403. + (Study in Figures--X, 270.) + (Complete Study--X, 281.) + _Forsaken Merman, The_: VII, 180. + (Study--X, 295.) + _Fox and the Crow, The_: I, 64. + (Complete Study--X, 187.) + _Fox and the Stork, The_: I, 73. + (Study on Scene--X, 166.) + _Frithiof the Bold_: III, 394. + _Geraint and Enid_: V, 148. + (Study of Picture, _Geraint Hears Enid Singing_--X, 60.) + _Gettysburg Address, The_: IX, 321. + _Gold-Bug, The_: IX, 232. + (Study--IX, 283.) + _Golden Touch, The_: II, 43. + _Gulliver's Travels_: V, 6. + (Study in Close Reading on _Adventures in Lilliput_--X, 235.) + _Hardy Tin Soldier, The_: I, 148. + (Character Study--X, 158.) + _Hare and the Tortoise, The_: I, 71. + (Complete Study--X, 185.) + _Heart of Bruce, The_: V, 316. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 238.) + _Herve Riel_: VIII, 168. + (Story Told--X, 78.) + _Holger Danske_: II, 377. + _How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix_: V, 335. + _Impeachment of Warren Hastings, The_: IX, 32. + (Study--X, 248.) + _In Time's Swing_: II, 481. + _Incident of the French Camp_: IV, 174. + _Industry and Sloth_: I, 300. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 229.) + _Jack and The Beanstalk_: I, 156. + (Study of Picture--X, 52.) + _Keepsake Mill_: I, 349. + _King of The Golden River, The_: II, 405. + (Study--II, 441.) + (Study in Description--X, 366.) + (Complete Study--X, 393.) + _Land of Counterpane_: I, 144. + _Lead, Kindly Light_: V, 110. + (Study--X, 98.) + _Little Blue Pigeon_: I, 133. + _Little Giffin of Tennessee_: IV, 461. + (Story Told--X, 71.) + _Lochinvar_: III, 432. + _Lost Child, The_: VII, 409. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 243.) + _Milkmaid, The_: II, 374. + _My Bed is My Boat_: I, 126. + (Study of Picture--X, 52.) + _My Mother's Picture_: VII, 331. + (Study in Description--X, 367.) + _Ode on a Grecian Urn_: IX, 462. + _Ode to a Skylark_: VII, 275. + (Study in Figures--X, 268.) + (Study in Reading Poetry--X, 306.) + _Old Gaelic Lullaby_: I, 203. + _Old Oaken Bucket_: VII, 11. + _Origin of the Opal_: II, 480. + (Study--X, 285.) + _Passing of Arthur, The_: V, 237. + (Complete Study--X, 214.) + _Petrified Fern, The_: VII, 77. + (Study--X, 291.) + _Phaethon, the Story of_: II, 206. + _Picture Books in Winter_: II, 87. + _Pippa Passes_: IX, 293. + (Study--IX, 316.) + _Pond in Winter, The_: VII, 280. + (Nature Study--X, 384.) + _Poor Richard's Almanac_: VI, 407. + (Study in Character Building--X, 101.) + _Potato, The_: II, 467. + (Study--X, 285.) + _Queen of The Underworld, The_: II, 468. + _Rab and His Friends_: VI, 99. + (Study in Emotional Power--X, 177.) + (Study in Close Reading--X, 225.) + _Reading History_: V, 394. + _Reading Shakespeare_: VIII, 346. + _Reaper and the Flowers, The_: I, 410. + (Study--X, 272.) + _Reapers Dream, The_: VII, 345. + _Recessional, The_: VII, 164. + _Recovery of the Hispaniola, The_: VII, 352. + _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_: V, 340. + (Study--X, 119.) + _Robert of Lincoln_: IX, 444. + _Robin Hood and the Stranger_: III, 444. + (Study in Narration--X, 363.) + _Robinson Crusoe_: III, 45. + (Nature Study--X, 382.) + _Rock-a-By Lady, The_: I, 94. + _Seven Times One_: II, 119. + (Study--X, 278.) + _Shuffle-Shoon and Amber-Locks_: II, 121. + (Study of Picture--X, 54.) + _Snow Queen, The_: II, 124. + (Study on Plot--II, 169.) + _Some Children's Books of the Past_: V, 101. + _"Something"_: I, 395. + _Sweet and Low_: VI, 122. + _Swiss Family Robinson_: III, 99. + (Nature Study--X, 382.) + _Tempest, The_: VIII, 364. + (Studies for The Tempest--VIII, 468.) + _To H. W. L._: IV, 84. + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + _Tom, the Water Baby_: II, 215. + (Study of Picture, _Tom and the Dragon Fly_--X, 55.) + (Study of Story--X, 198.) + (Nature Study Lesson--X, 381.) + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_: VII, 186. + _Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, The_: I, 199. + _Trees and Ants that Help Each Other_: VII, 306. + (Study--X, 385.) + _Twin Brothers, The_: I, 264. + _Ugly Duckling, The_: I, 414. + _Village Blacksmith, The_: IV, 86. + _Vision of Mirza, The_: IX, 285. + (Study in Notes.) + _Visit from St. Nicholas, A_: II, 202. + (Study in Figures--X, 270.) + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_: II, 399. + (Character Study--X, 95.) + _Why the Sea Is Salt_: II, 484. + (Study in Close Reading--X, 231.) + _Wind and the Sun, The_: I, 95. + (Lesson in Language--X, 357.) + _Winter Animals_: VII, 293. + (Study--X, 384.) + _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_: I, 262. + (Study of Picture--X, 53.) + + _Studies for The Tempest_: VIII, 468. + + _Study, or Close Reading_: X, 224. + + _Style and Method of the Author, in Fiction_: X, 174. + + _Sunken Treasure, The_: IV, 199. + + _Sun's Travels, The_: I, 68. + + _Sweet and Low_: VI, 122. + + SWIFT, JONATHAN. + Biography: V, 1. + Selection: _Gulliver's Travels_: V, 6. + + _Swing, The_: I, 67. + + _Swiss Family Robinson, The_: III, 99. + + _Synecdoche_: X, 265. + + _System_: I, 111. + + + T + + TAYLOR, JEFFREYS. + Selection: _The Milkmaid_: II, 374. + + _Telling Stories_: X, 63. + + _Tempest, The_ (A Tale from Shakespeare): VIII, 348. + + _Tempest, The_: VIII, 364. + Studies for: VIII, 468. + + TENNYSON, ALFRED. + Selections: _Bugle Song, The_: VI, 133. + _Charge of the Light Brigade, The_: VII, 147. + _Geraint and Enid_: V, 148. + _Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead_: VI, 231. + _Little Birdie_: I, 142. + _Passing of Arthur, The_: V, 237. + _Song of the Brook_: IV, 60. + _Sweet and Low_: VI, 122. + + THOREAU, HENRY DAVID. + Selections: _Brute Neighbors_: VII, 260. + _Pond in Winter, The_: VII, 280. + _Winter Animals_: VII, 293. + + _Those Evening Bells_: VII, 340. + + _Thought, A_: I, 66. + + _Three Fishers, The_: VII, 343. + + _Three Little Pigs, The_: I, 136. + + _Three Sundays in a Week_: VI, 453. + + _Three Tasks, The_: I, 247. + + _Time to Rise_: I, 340. + + _To a Mountain Daisy_: VII, 8. + + _To a Mouse_: VII, 5. + + _To a Waterfowl_: VII, 395. + + _To H. W. L._: IV, 84. + + _Tom and Maggie Tulliver_: VII, 186. + + _Tom Brown at Rugby_: V, 469. + + _Tom, the Water Baby_: II, 215. + + _Tom Thumb_: I, 84. + + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + + _To The Fringed Gentian_: VII, 4. + + _Tournament, The_: VI, 38. + + _Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, The_: I, 199. + + _Travels of Sir John Mandeville, The_: IX, 207. + + _Tree, The_: I, 301. + + _Trees and Ants That Help Each Other_: VII, 306. + + _Twin Brothers, The_: I, 264. + + _Two Travelers, The_: I, 109. + + _Two Travelers and the Oyster, The_: I, 111. + + TYNDALL, JOHN. + Selection: _Ascent of the Jungfrau_: IX, 1. + + + U + + _Ugly Duckling, The_: I, 414. + + _Ulysses_: IV, 398. + + _Universal Prayer, The_: IV, 172. + + + V + + VERGIL. + Selection: _The Wooden Horse_: IV, 383. + + VICTORIA, QUEEN. + Biography: VII, 152. + + _Village Blacksmith, The_: IV, 86. + + VILLENEUVE, MADAME. + _Beauty and the Beast_ (Adapted): I, 318. + + _Vision of Belshazzar, The_: VI, 153. + + _Vision of Mirza, The_: IX, 285. + + _Visit from Saint Nicholas, A_: II, 202. + + + W + + _Walrus and the Carpenter, The_: III, 36. + + WEIR, HARRISON. + Selection: _The English Robin_: II, 214. + + _We Plan a River Trip_: V, 443. + + _What the Old Man Does Is Always Right_: II, 387. + + _Where Go the Boats?_: I, 256. + + WHITE, GILBERT. + Selection: _Owls_: IX, 229. + + WHITTIER, JOHN GREENLEAF. + Biography: VII, 381. + Selections: _Barbara Frietchie_: III, 347. + _Barefoot Boy, The_: IV, 3. + + _Whittington and His Cat_: I, 442. + + _Whole Duty of Children_: I, 301. + + _Who Stole the Bird's Nest?_: II, 399. + + _Why the Sea Is Salt_: II, 484. + + _Widow Machree_: VI, 464. + + _Wind, The_: I, 440. + + _Wind and the Sun, The_: I, 95. + + _Windy Nights_: II, 123. + + _Winter Animals_: VII, 293. + + WISEMAN, CARDINAL. + Selection: _Pancratius_: IV, 245. + + WIT AND HUMOR. + _Time to Rise_: I, 340. + _The Cow_: I, 106. + _System_: I, 111. + _Rain_: I, 110. + _Seein' Things_: I, 240. + _Whole Duty of Children_: I, 301. + _The Owl and the Pussy-Cat_: I, 339. + _The Duel_: I, 384. + _The Potato_: II, 467. + _The Milkmaid_: II, 374. + _John's Pumpkin_: III, 1. + _Faithless Sally Brown_: III, 92. + _Echo_: III, 286. + _Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog_: IV, 57. + _The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"_: IV, 466. + _Katey's Letter_: IV, 470. + _Baron Munchausen_: V, 403. + _The Fiddling Parson_: V, 440. + _We Plan a River Trip_: V, 443. + _On Comic Songs_: V, 455. + _The Modern Belle_: VI, 463. + _Widow Machree_: VI, 464. + _Limestone Broth_: VI, 467. + _The Knock-Out_: VI, 471. + _The Country Squire_: VI, 474. + _To My Infant Son_: VI, 478. + _The Knickerbocker History of New York_: VIII, 224. + + _Wolf and the Crane, The_: I, 96. + + _Wolf and the Lamb, The_: I, 455. + + _Wonderful, Gifts, The_: I, 368. + + _Wooden Horse, The_: IV, 383. + + WOODWORTH, SAMUEL. + Selection: _the Old Oaken Bucket_: VII, 11. + + WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM. + Selection: _My Heart Leaps Up_: IV, 2. + _The Daffodils_: VII, 1. + + _Wreck of the Hesperus, The_: IV, 89. + + _Wynken, Blynken, and Nod_: I, 262. + + WYSS, JOHANN RUDOLPH. + Selection: _The Swiss Family Robinson_: III, 99. + + + Y + + _Yarn of the "Nancy Bell," The_: IV, 466. + + _Young Night Thought_: I, 302. + + YRIARTE, THOMAS. + Selection: _The Country Squire_: VI, 474. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's Note + + +The following corrections have been made: + + 60 made clear? changed to made clear?) + 61 After the childen changed to After the children + 75 long been forgotton changed to long been forgotten + 94 _Something_, Volume, I changed to _Something_, Volume I + 105 Pride breakfasted changed to "Pride breakfasted + 121 Pere Marquette changed to Pere Marquette + 126 you select changed to you to select + 145 _2. Reading Stories_ changed to 2. _Reading Stories_ + 239 hundred years ago. changed to hundred years ago.) + 239 What causes it? changed to What causes it?) + 242 forty-sixth stanza. changed to forty-sixth stanza? + 294 poet when he changed to poet when she + 303 are the genii" changed to are the "genii" + 303 mean: Wherever changed to mean: "Wherever + 313 person can forciby changed to person can forcibly + 356 Pere Marquette changed to Pere Marquette + 363 are easily modifed changed to are easily modified + 363 rough and-tumble changed to rough-and-tumble + 386 a. Nursery rhymes: changed to _a._ Nursery rhymes: + 390 Fox, The Wolf changed to Fox, the Wolf + 405 Pere Marquette changed to Pere Marquette + 434 of his death. changed to of his death.) + 452 to subject-matter, changed to to subject-matter. + 473 Fennimore changed to Fenimore + 479 The Forsken changed to The Forsaken + 481 Psyche. changed to Psyche: + 483 MYTHS AND LEGENDARY changed to MYTHS and LEGENDARY + 485 Pere Marquette changed to Pere Marquette + 489 SELECTIONS (under Macaulay) changed to Selections + 491 a Grecian Urn, changed to a Grecian Urn: (twice) + 491 Illustrative Study of "A Call to Arms," as a type of changed to + _Illustrative Study of "A Call to Arms," as a type of_ + 492 DRAMA: changed to DRAMA; + 493 _Queen Victoria._ changed to QUEEN VICTORIA. + 494 of the Past. changed to of the Past: + +The following words were inconsistently spelled or hyphenated: + + AEsop / Aesop + archway / arch-way + Caesar / Caesar + clearcut / clear-cut + Cortes / Cortez + De la Ramee / de la Ramee + highborn / high-born + lifelike / life-like + mediaeval / medieval + Nowadays / Now-a-days + retelling / re-telling + rewritten / re-written + Rock-a-by Lady / Rock-a-By Lady / Rock-a-By-Lady + Rumpelstiltzkin / Rumpelstiltzken + subtitles / sub-titles + Thermopylae / Thermopylae + today / to-day + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND, VOL. 10*** + + +******* This file should be named 24857.txt or 24857.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/8/5/24857 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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