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WILL AND I

PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE

This fine poem was written by Paul Hamilton Hayne, a gifted Southern poet, who was born at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1831, and who died near Augusta, Georgia, in 1886. a poet of much ability.

'Will," in the poem, was Mr. Hayne's son.

He was

To read the poem, you must see these two, the father and son, tramping joyously over the hills "in the golden summer weather." See and hear the four things named in the second stanza, giving each a moment's thought.

In stanza 3, see the pair as, in "forest closes" (klōz'ěs), which are open spaces in a thick forest, they gather flowers and make wreaths for little Will's beloved mother.

WILL AND I

1

We roam the hills together,
In the golden summer weather,
Will and I:

And the glowing sunbeams bless us,
And the winds of heaven caress us,
As we wander hand in hand

Through the blissful summer land,
Will and I.

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2

Where the tinkling brooklet passes
Through the heart of dewy grasses,
Will and I

Have heard the mock-bird singing,
And the field-lark seen upspringing
In his happy flight afar,
Like a tiny wingèd star,
Will and I.

3

Amid cool forest closes

We have plucked the wild wood roses,
Will and I;

And have twined, with tender duty,
Sweet wreaths to crown the beauty
Of the purest brows that shine
With a mother-love divine,
Will and I.

4

Ah! thus we roam together,

Through the golden summer weather,
Will and I;

While the glowing sunbeams bless us,
And the winds of heaven caress us
As we wander hand in hand
O'er the blissful summer land,
Will and I.

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QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Who wrote this poem? was Will"?

66

2. What time of the

66 Who 4. What are forest closes "?

year

What did they do there?

Can you see them?

was it? In what kind of 5. Explain "And the winds of

country?

3. What four things did they 6.

hear and see in the second

stanza?

heaven caress us."

Which do you like better,

this poem, or "A Boy's Song," which follows?

A Boy's SONG

Where the pools are bright and deep,
Where the gray trout lies asleep,
Up the river and o'er the lea,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the blackbird sings the latest,

Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,

That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the mowers mow the cleanest,
Where the hay lies thick and greenest,
There to trace the homeward bee,
That's the way for Billy and me.

Where the hazel bank is steepest,
Where the shadow falls the deepest,
Where the clustering nuts fall free,
That's the way for Billy and me.

JAMES HOGG

THE BROWN THRUSH

LUCY LARCOM

Lucy Larcom, who for a number of years worked in a factory in Massachusetts, wrote many stories and poems to show us how foolish we are to let ourselves be miserable and unhappy. She has shown us that we ourselves make ourselves unhappy. She means to tell us that if, when we imagine that we are unhappy, we should think for a minute, How foolish I am to be unhappy!" — the unhappiness would leave us at once. Listen to the thrush as you read the following poem; then try being happy just because you are determined to be happy instead of being miserable.

Now imagine that you have a frown drawing down your brows, and that you are walking sullenly in a field. Suddenly a brown thrush on a treetop begins his rapturous song. Then think of what he is saying to you. The poem will tell what he says. juniper tree: a kind of evergreen tree.

THE BROWN THRUSH

1

There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in a tree —
He's singing to me! He's singing to me!
And what does he say, little girl, little boy?
"Oh, the world's running over with joy!

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Don't you hear? Don't you see?
Hush! Look! In my tree,

I'm as happy as happy can be!"

2

And the brown thrush keeps singing, "A nest do you

see,

5 And five eggs, hid by me in the juniper tree?

Don't meddle! Don't touch! little girl, little boy,
Or the world will lose some of its joy!

Now I'm glad! Now I'm free!

And I always shall be,

If you never bring sorrow to me."

3

So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree,
To you and to me, to you and to me;

And he sings all the day, little girl, little boy,
"Oh, the world's running over with joy!

But long it won't be,

Don't you know? Don't you see?
Unless we're as good as can be!"