NOTES

1. Name some "grand old masters"; some "bards sublime."

2. Read "The Children's Hour," "The Children," and "Footsteps of Angels," and other poems you like. What is your favorite Longfellow poem?

3. Be prepared to explain the meanings of the following words and expressions: wafted, akin, banish, corridors of time, martial music, gushed, devoid, melodies, restless pulse of care, benediction, treasured, infest.

EXERCISES

1. How is a feather "wafted" from a flying eagle?

2. How do lights look through rain and mist?

3. What mood fills the poet's soul at this time?

4. Why is he careful to tell us that his feeling "is not akin to pain"?

5. In what way does mist resemble rain?

6. Explain "resembles sorrow only as the mist resembles rain.”

7. Why does the author now ask that a poem be read to him?

8. Why not have a poem from "the grand old masters"?

9. Explain “distant footsteps echo through the corridors of Time."

10. What do the poems of the masters suggest?

11. How do showers come from the clouds of summer?

12. Then what kind of song does the poet now long to hear?

13. Why does he want the poem read aloud?

14. What is Longfellow's ideal of the work of the real nature poet?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

MRS. BROWNING: The Sleep. The Little Cares that Fretted Me.

POE: A Dream Within a Dream.

LONGFELLOW: A Psalm of Life.

COOLIDGE: Every Day is a New Beginning.

CARLYLE: To-day.

LONGFELLOW: The Rainy Day.

TENNYSON: Tears, Idle Tears.

HANS ANDERSEN: The Bell.

THE IMAGE AND THE TREASURE

THE following story is taken from the Book

of Legends written by Horace E. Scudder, then editor of the Atlantic Monthly. This is an intensely fascinating story of a learned man who skillfully interpreted the words "Strike Here," which were found on the middle finger of the hand of the graven image of a man in the city of Rome. Many had struck the image, thinking that was what it meant, but this learned man interpreted the meaning differently. His interpretation of the words "Strike Here" and the strange experience he had as a result are told in this story. The story will have the keenest interest to each one of us who has built air castles or has dreamed of finding great riches suddenly. Practically the same story is told in Longfellow's beautiful poem Morituri Salutamus.

THE IMAGE AND THE TREASURE

In the city of Rome there was a graven image of a man. It stood upright, and held out its hand. On the middle finger of the hand were the words "Strike Here." No one knew what this meant, but all thought that the image held some hidden treasure.

So the image was marred by blows where one

person and another had struck it to find the opening.

At last a learned man looked hard at the image to see if he could find out the secret. The sun was shining brightly. It was noon, and the shadow of the image lay upon the ground. The hand of the shadow was stretched out, and the learned man saw the shadow finger.

He marked the spot where the tip of the finger rested, and at night, when all was still, he came again. He had brought a spade with him, and he dug down at the spot he had marked.

Soon he came to a trap door. He raised the door, and saw some steps leading down. Then he closed the door above him, and went down the steps.

He found himself in a great hall, and in the middle of the hall was a table. The table was set with dishes of gold and silver, with golden knives and cups of gold.

At one end sat a king and queen. He knew them by their rich robes, and by the crowns on their heads. Fine nobles, too, sat at the table, and all about were men standing.

The wonder was, there was not a sound, and not a single person moved. The king sat still; the queen sat still; the nobles did not stir; the men were fixed. It was as if they were all of stone, and so they were; for when this learned man touched them, he found that they were stone.

He went into a room beyond. There he saw many women dressed in purple. They, too, were of stone.

He went into a stable; there stood horses in the stalls, and dogs; but they had all been turned to

stone.

So he went about the palace, for palace it plainly was, and everywhere it was as still as death. Not a living thing was to be seen; but there were riches more than he had ever dreamt of.

At last he came back to the great hall. He saw that the light which lighted the hall came from a precious stone in one corner. The light, as he gazed, fell upon a stone archer, who stood with his bow drawn, and the arrow pointed at the precious stone. On the archer's brow were the words:

"I am what I am. My shaft is sure; least of all can the precious stone escape me."

Now the learned man thought to carry away some of the treasures. He went to the table and chose some of the golden cups. They would be the easiest to carry.

But no sooner had he hidden them in his cloak than, whish! the arrow sped from the bow and struck the precious stone. In an instant the stone was shivered to bits and there was total darkness.

The learned man groped for the stairs. He could not find them. He went back and forth, but he never found the stairs. He, too, became a stone Horace E. Scudder.

statue in the secret hall.

NOTES

1. Rome. Locate the city of Rome and tell something regarding its

early history.

2. If possible read other legends from Scudder's "Book of Legends." Read also the story of "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp."

3. Look up the meanings of the following words and expressions: image, hidden treasure, palace, borrowed, precious, archer, shaft, shivered, groped.

EXERCISES

1. What did the people think was the meaning of the words "Strike Here"?

2. As a result, what damage was done to the image?

3. How did the learned man find out the secret?

4. As a result what did he do?

5. What discovery did he make?

6. Describe what he saw in the great treasure hall.

7. What was peculiar about all of the beings in the treasure hall?

8. How was the hall lighted?

9. What thought now came to the learned man?

10. What words were on the archer's brow?

11. What happened the instant the man hid the golden cups under his cloak?

12. What was finally the fate of this learned man?

13. Do you think this man was properly rewarded for his wisdom and shrewdness?

14. Had he been less anxious for treasure and more anxious to serve others, would he have been so rewarded?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

GRIMM: The Sleeping Beauty.

Arabian Nights-Aladdin's Lamp.

LOWELL: Vision of Sir Launfal.

SARAH PIATT: The Gift of Empty Hands.

HAWTHORNE: The Threefold Destiny. The Minister's Black Veil.

The Great Carbuncle.

POE: MS. Found in a Bottle.

HANS ANDERSEN: The Little Match Girl. Garden of Paradise. The

Tinder Box.

STOCKTON: Fanciful Tales.

CARROLL: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.