Take them, O great Eternity!

Our little life is but a gust
That bends the branches of thy tree,
And trails its blossoms in the dust!

1 Used by permission of the Macmillan Company.

2 Used by permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company.

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THE DEAD 1
Rupert Brooke

I

Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!

There's none of these so lonely and poor of old,
But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene
That men call age; and those who would have been
Their sons they gave, their immortality.

Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth,
Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.

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Honour has come back, as a king, to earth,

And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
And we have come into our heritage.

II

These hearts were woven of human joys and cares

Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.

The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,

And sunset, and the colours of the earth.

These had seen movement and heard music; known

Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;

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Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.
There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
And lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,
Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
And wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance,

A width, a shining peace, under the night.

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1 Used by special arrangement with the John Lane Company. From Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke.

1. Who was William Vaughn Moody? 2. How was he a "bringer of fire down from the star"? 3. What is meant by "A wreath of worlds and wings"? 4. What is the force of the word "Promethean” in the next to the last stanza? Who was Prometheus in Greek mythology? 5. What is the "fire" brought by the "fire-bringer" of this poem? 6. What is meant by "star-wrestling spirit"? 7. Why cannot Death follow? (See last stanza.) 8. What work by William Vaughn Moody suggested this title?

ELEGIES FOR OPTIONAL READINGS

Note. Read at least seven elegies. Which did you like the best? Who is mourned in each case?

"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"......Gray

"The Loss of the Royal George".

"Highland Mary".

....Cowper
...Burns

1 From Uriel and Other Poems, by Percy MacKaye, Copyright, 1912, by Percy MacKaye. Used by special permission of the author.

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"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd". . . .Whitman

"On an American Soldier Fallen in France". . . . Clinton Scollard

"Uriel" (In memory of William Vaughn Moody). Percy MacKaye

CHAPTER IV

THE SONG: SACRED AND SECULAR

The song is a short lyric poem which differs from the other forms in that it is intended, primarily, to be sung. It has that particular melodious quality required by the singing voice. Songs are either sacred or secular. The sacred songs include hymns, anthems, and oratorios. The secular songs may have any theme or emotion. Burns is called the greatest song-writer of the world because of the number, variety, and quality of his songs. Some of the finest songs that we have are strewn through Shakespeare's plays. Thomas Moore, Tennyson, Longfellow, and Eugene Field are also noted song-writers. Although our song-writers are not, as a general thing, poets, yet many of our poets have written songs.1 The best songs were composed to music instead of adapted to it.

SOME SONGS FROM SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

From A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Puck's Song)

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moonës sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see:

Those be rubies, fairy favours,

In those freckles live their savours.

I must go seek some dewdrop here,

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

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1 Since there are few school buildings now that do not include at least one phonograph in their equipment, it is suggested that a musical program be given in place of the regular English lesson. Songs should be felt, not studied.