13

And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Who is speaking in "The 4. What is meant by the

Brook"? (It is telling

us that it comes from a
lake far up in the high
hills, a lake where the

brook "chattering" "in

little sharps and trebles"? (Trebles means highpitched voices.)

coot and the heron have 5. What is meant by

their homes; that at a

steep place at the edge

"fretting" the banks?

Why does the fretting

occur at a curve"? 66 or flows 6. What is a fairy foreland"?

of the lake, it "makes a
sudden sally,"
out swiftly through the
ferns on the edge of the 7.
lake, then "bickers " or
flows crookedly and
noisily down a valley 8.
below the hills where the
little lake is. Now follow
it on, seeing the brook
all the way till it "joins 9.
the brimming river"
far below.)

2. Tell how the brook flows in
the second stanza. What 10.
is a "thorp "?

3. Where does it "join the
brimming river "?

Describe the flowing in the seventh stanza. What fishes are mentioned? What is meant by "a silver water-break above the golden gravel"? What makes it?

Make a list of the words

that tell the different ways in which the brook flows, and tell what each means. What is meant by,

"For men may come and

men may go, But I go on forever"?

THE SANDPIPER

CELIA THAXTER

About the year 1850, on the Isles of Shoals, a group of islands off the coast of New Hampshire, there lived a little girl named Celia Laighton. She was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper on the island. Later in her life, she married a gentleman named Thaxter, so she is now known as Celia Thaxter.

Life in a lighthouse must have been a very lonely life for a thoughtful little girl, especially in winter. Always in cold weather the great foamy waves were lashing the shore, and the winter winds rocked the tall lighthouse where at night the light always blinked toward the ocean to warn the sailors.

For fuel to keep the lighthouse home warm, the little girl gathered the driftwood, chiefly pieces of the wrecks of old ships which the waves and the tide drove far up on the shore.

Now picture to yourself a little girl, out on the beach gathering driftwood. As she walks along with the sticks that she has gathered in her arms, and the wind blowing her garments around her, there flits before her a pretty little bird called a sandpiper.

The sandpiper, the prettiest of our shore birds, is a dainty little bird, more slender and not quite so large as a robin. He has long, slender legs for wading, and a very long, slender bill. On his back he is a speckled brown in color, and his neck is graybrown. On his breast and underneath his body he is white. His head is small and very dainty, and he has a cunning white ring around his eye. He has a very funny habit. He will suddenly tip or teeter backwards and forwards. Then on his long legs, he will

run swiftly forwards, wading through shallow muddy pools, hunting for insects. Sometimes an insect will bury itself in the mud, and he will stick his long bill down into the mud and get it. That is the chief use for his long bill.

He is a very friendly little bird, and if you do not scare him, he will come very close to you. If you follow him up the beach, he will flit ahead of you, stopping a few rods away, teetering on his slender legs, and giving out a pretty cry which reminds you of the sound of some pipe-like musical instrument. That is why he is called a sandpiper.

So the little girl, the wind fluttering her dress as she gathers driftwood, goes up the beach, and her little friend, the sandpiper, is always just a little way ahead of her, stopping when she stops, teetering on his long, slim legs, and " uttering his sweet and mournful cry."

The little girl knows that, when the great storm which is coming breaks at night, she will be in the strong lighthouse, beside a warm fire made of her driftwood.

Then she thinks: "My little friend, the sandpiper, has no shelter and no warm fire. Where will he be to-night, when the great storm breaks?

So, much worried for her little friend, she goes back to the lighthouse with her driftwood, when suddenly she thinks,

"I do not fear for thee, though wroth

The tempest rushes through the sky;
For are we not God's children both,

Thou, little sandpiper, and I?"

This is a beautiful and well-known poem. If you could see a moving picture of this poem, you would clap your hands with joy. But you can see it just as you can see a moving picture, if you will read carefully, stopping to "see all the pictures." Try the second stanza, for example, and see what a wonderful "movie" it is.

When you come to the last stanza, stop at the lighthouse door

with Celia, turn around, and see the sandpiper. Then think the thought of the stanza with her.

Learn the following words before reading the poem:

5

The wild waves reach their hands for it,

The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,

As up and down the beach we flit,

One little sandpiper and I.

Almost as far as eye can reach

I see the close-reefed vessels fly,
As fast we flit along the beach,
One little sandpiper and I.

3

I watch him as he skims along,
Uttering his sweet and mournful cry.
He starts not at my fitful song,
Or flash of fluttering drapery.
He has no thought of any wrong;

He scans me with a fearless eye.

Stanch friends are we, well tried and strong,
The little sandpiper and I.

4

Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night
When the storm breaks furiously?
My driftwood fire will burn so bright!
To what warm shelter canst thou fly?
I do not fear for thee, though wroth
The tempest rushes through the sky,
For are we not God's children both,
Thou, little sandpiper, and I?

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Who wrote this poem?

2. How did it come to be

written?

in the first stanza.

4.

Describe the picture as told

3. Tell all you can about the 6.

sandpiper.