This summary process was as effectual in those simple days as was the

seal ring of the great Haroun Alraschid among the true believers. The two

parties being confronted before him, each produced a book of accounts

written in a language and character that would have puzzled any but a

High Dutch commentator, or a learned decipherer of Egyptian obelisks, to

understand. The sage Wouter took them one after the other, and having

poised them in his hands, and attentively counted over the number of

leaves, fell straightway into a very great doubt, and smoked for half

an hour without saying a word; at length, laying his finger beside his

nose, and shutting his eyes for a moment, with the air of a man who has

just caught a subtle idea by the tail, he slowly took his pipe from his

mouth, puffed forth a column of tobacco-smoke, and with marvelous gravity

and solemnity pronounced—that having carefully counted over the leaves

and weighed the books, it was found, that one was just as thick and as

heavy as the other—therefore it was the final opinion of the court that

the accounts were equally balanced—therefore Wandle should give Barent a

receipt, and Barent should give Wandle a receipt—and the constable should

pay the costs.

This decision being straightway made known, diffused general joy

throughout New-Amsterdam, for the people immediately perceived that they

had a very wise and equitable magistrate to rule over them. But its

happiest effect was, that not another law-suit took place throughout the

whole of his administration—and the office of constable fell into such

decay that there was not one of those losel scouts known in the province

for many years. I am the more particular in dwelling on this transaction,

not only because I deem it one of the most sage and righteous judgments

on record, and well worthy the attention of modern magistrates, but

because it was a miraculous event in the history of the renowned

Wouter—being the only time he was ever known to come to a decision in the

whole course of his life.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 424.

=Discussion.= 1. Does Irving describe Wouter Van Twiller directly or

indirectly? 2. What conclusion are you led to concerning Wouter’s

mentality, despite the author’s statements to the contrary? 3.

Describe Wouter’s appearance in your own words. 4. Do you think the

author is more inclined to state facts, or to imply them? Prove your

point through the paragraphs dealing with the Dutchman’s behavior

during the council meetings. 5. What was the only decision that

Wouter ever reached? 6. Do you think Irving uses any of the following

methods for developing the humor of the tale: exaggeration, sarcasm,

irony? Or do you think the humor lies in the way he relates with

great seriousness facts that are obviously ridiculous? 7. What do you

think is the most amusing incident or description in the sketch?

=Phrases=

under the commission and control, 547, 3

transparent firmament, 548, 1

amorous ditties, 548, 3

successively dozed away, 548, 10

vaporing, superficial pretender, 548, 19

nobly proportioned, 549, 1

stupendous dimensions, 549, 5

infallible index, 549, 15

lesser magnitude, 549, 20

fabricated by an experienced timmerman, 550, 2

deliberation of extraordinary length, 550, 18

point of authenticity, 550, 23

example of legal acumen, 551, 1

losel scouts, 552, 9

AMERICAN WORKERS AND THEIR WORK

[Illustration]

MAKERS OF THE FLAG

FRANKLIN K. LANE

This morning as I passed into the Land Office, the Flag dropped me a most

cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: “Good

morning, Mr. Flag Maker.”

“I beg your pardon, Old Glory,” I said; “aren’t you mistaken? I am not

the President of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a

general in the army. I am only a Government clerk.”

“I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker,” replied the gay voice; “I know

you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday

straightening out the tangle of that farmer’s homestead in Idaho, or

perhaps you found the mistake in the Indian contract in Oklahoma, or

helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or

pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in

Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No

matter, whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may happen to

be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker.”

I was about to pass on, when the Flag stopped me with these words:

“Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier the future of

ten million peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag

than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn Club

prize this summer.

“Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska;

but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the night, to

give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag.

“Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday,

maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who

will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our

race. We are all making the flag.”

“But,” I said impatiently, “these people were only working!” Then came a

great shout from the Flag:

“The work that we do is the making of the Flag.

“I am not the flag; not at all. I am nothing more than its shadow.

“I am whatever you make me, nothing more.

“I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People may become.

“I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks and

tired muscles.

“Sometimes I am strong with pride, when workmen do an honest piece of

work, fitting rails together truly.

“Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I

play the coward.

“Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that blasts judgment.

“But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try

for.

“I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope.

“I am the day’s work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the

most daring.

“I am the Constitution and the courts, the statutes and the statute

makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook,

counselor, and clerk.

“I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of tomorrow.

“I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why.

“I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution.

“I am no more than what you believe me to be, and I am all that you

believe I can be.

“I am what you make me, nothing more.

“I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of

yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this

nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are

bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you

have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag

and it is well that you glory in the making.”

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Franklin Knight Lane (1864-⸺) was born near

Charlottetown, Canada. While he was yet a small boy his parents moved

to California, where he attended the State University at Berkeley,

being graduated in 1886. Then he entered the newspaper field and

became New York correspondent for a number of papers in the West.

He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-five and practiced

law in San Francisco. In 1913 he was appointed Secretary of the

Interior in the Cabinet of President Wilson. “Makers of the Flag” is

an address made by Secretary Lane, in June, 1914, before the five

thousand officers and employees of the Department of the Interior.

=Discussion.= 1. Why did the Flag greet the author as “Mr. Flag

Maker”? 2. Why are the Georgia boy, the mother in Michigan, and the

school teacher in Ohio, Makers of the Flag? 3. Tell in your own words

some of the things that Mr. Lane says the Flag is. 4. What does the

Flag mean by saying, “I am all that you hope to be and have the

courage to try for”? 5. How is the Flag a “symbol of yourself”? 6. Do

you think that you are a Maker of the Flag? 7. In your opinion, what

class of people are the greatest Makers of the Flag? 8. Pronounce the

following: cordial; government; garish; ego.

=Phrases=

cordial salutation, 553, 2

swelter of yesterday, 553, 9

Indian contract, 553, 11

beneficent individuals, 553, 16

financial panics, 554, 8

cynically I play the coward, 554, 25

ego that blasts judgment, 554, 26

mistake of tomorrow, 554, 37

clutch of an idea, 555, 2

purpose of resolution, 555, 2

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING

WALT WHITMAN

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be, blithe and

strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing

on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he

stands,

The wood-cutters’ song, the plowboy’s on his way in the morning, or at

noon intermission, or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of

the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows,

robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was born in Huntington, Long

Island, and educated in the public schools of Brooklyn. He left

school at the early age of thirteen to make his own way in life.

At different times he was school teacher, carpenter, builder,

journalist, and poet. During the Civil War he became a volunteer

nurse in and about Washington, D. C., and the story of his unselfish

hospital service is one of the most inspiring that has come down

to us from that war. Lincoln said of him, “Well, _he_ looks like a

_man_!”

Two points about Whitman are worthy of notice. The first is that

he was a man of intensely democratic sympathies. He wrote of “the

dear love of comrades” as the real means for bringing about a better

understanding among men of every nation, a better government, and the

end of war. He loved every part of America, and all America’s sons

and daughters.

The word “democracy” constantly occurs in his poetry and his prose,

and by it he means the cultivation of love and coöperation among men.

He had a vision of the time when autocratic government, and all forms

of selfishness, should cease among men; like Burns, he dwelt on the

time when men all over the world should be brothers.

The second point is closely related to the first. In his dislike

for conventional and exclusive life he objected even to the _form_

developed for poetry through centuries. He was a lover of freedom,

even in writing. So he rarely uses rimes and stanzas. He calls his

form “chants,” and so they are, chants of human brotherhood and

sympathy.

=Discussion.= 1. Who is it that the poet hears singing? 2. In stanza

1, what “varied carols” does he hear? 3. What do you think was the

poet’s underlying idea in writing this poem? 4. Do you think that he

meant to point out that the road to happiness is the road to work?

=Phrases=

varied carols, 556, 1

noon intermission, 556, 12

PIONEERS! O PIONEERS!

WALT WHITMAN

Come my tan-faced children,

Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,

Have you your pistols? Have you your sharp-edged axes?

Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,

We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,

We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,

So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,

Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?

Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas?

We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,

We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,

Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,

Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,

Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,

We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within,

We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,

From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus,

From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,

Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental blood

intervein’d,

All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!

O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!

O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,

Pioneers! O pioneers!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Discussion.= 1. Whom does the poet address in stanza 1? 2. What does

he ask them if they have ready? 3. Why cannot they “tarry here”? 4.

How does the poet characterize the “western youths”? 5. Why must the

Pioneers “take up the task eternal”? 6. What new world do they enter

upon? 7. Mention some of the tasks that the Pioneers must do. 8.

Where do these pioneers come from? 9. Why does the poet mourn and yet

exult?

=Phrases=

bear the brunt, 557, 6

sinewy races, 557, 7

task eternal, 558, 3

we debouch, 558, 6

surface broad surveying, 558, 15

continental blood intervein’d, 558, 22

THE BEANFIELD

HENRY D. THOREAU

Before I finished my house, wishing to earn ten or twelve dollars by some

honest and agreeable method, in order to meet my unusual expenses, I

planted about two acres and a half chiefly with beans, but a small part

with potatoes, corn, peas, and turnips.

Meanwhile my beans, the length of whose rows, added together, was seven

miles, were impatient to be hoed, for the earliest had grown considerably

before the latest were in the ground; indeed they were not easily to be

put off. What was the meaning of this so steady and self-respecting, this

small Herculean labor, I knew not. I came to love my rows, my beans,

though so many more than I wanted. They attached me to the earth, and so

I got strength like Antaeus. But why should I raise them? Only Heaven

knows. This was my curious labor all summer—to make this portion of

the earth’s surface, which had yielded only cinquefoil, blackberries,

johnswort, and the like, before, sweet wild fruits and pleasant flowers,

produce instead this pulse. What shall I learn of beans or beans of me? I

cherish them, I hoe them, early and late I have an eye to them; and this

is my day’s work. It is a fine broad leaf to look on. My auxiliaries are

the dews and rains which water this dry soil, and what fertility is in

the soil itself, which for the most part is lean and effete. My enemies

are worms, cool days and, most of all, woodchucks. The last have nibbled

for me a quarter of an acre clean. But what right had I to oust johnswort

and the rest, and break up their ancient herb garden? Soon, however, the

remaining beans will be too tough for them, and go forward to meet new

foes.

I planted about two acres and a half of upland. Before any woodchuck

or squirrel had run across the road, or the sun had gotten above the

shrub-oaks, while all the dew was on—I would advise you to do all your

work if possible while the dew is on—I began to level the ranks of

haughty weeds in my beanfield and to throw dust upon their heads. Early

in the morning I worked barefooted, dabbling like a plastic artist in the

dewy and crumbling sand, but later in the day the sun blistered my feet.

The sun lighted me to hoe beans, pacing slowly backward and forward over

that yellow gravelly upland, between the long green rows, fifteen rods,

the one end terminating in a shrub-oak copse where I could rest in the

shade the other in a blackberry field where the green berries deepened

their tints by the time I had made another round. Removing the weeds

putting fresh soil about the bean stems and encouraging this weed which

I had sown, making the yellow soil express its summer thought in bean

leaves and blossoms rather than in wormwood and piper and millet grass,

making the earth say beans instead of grass—this was my daily work. As I

had little aid from horses or cattle, or hired men or boys, or improved

implements of husbandry, I was much slower, and became much more intimate

with my beans than usual.

It was a singular experience, that long acquaintance which I cultivated

with beans, what with planting, and hoeing, and harvesting, and

threshing, and picking over and selling them—the last was the hardest of

all—I might add eating for I did taste. I was determined to know beans.

When they were growing, I used to hoe from five o’clock in the morning

till noon, and commonly spent the rest of the day about other affairs.

Consider the intimate and curious acquaintance one makes with various

kinds of weeds. That’s Roman wormwood—that’s pigweed—that’s sorrel—that’s

piper-grass—have at him, chop him up, turn his roots upward to the sun,

don’t let him have a fiber in the shade; if you do he’ll turn himself

t’other side up and be as green as a leek in two days. A long war, not

with cranes, but with weeds, those Trojans who had sun and rain and dews

on their side. Daily the beans saw me come to their rescue armed with a

hoe, and thin the ranks of their enemies, filling up the trenches with

weedy dead. Many a lusty crest-waving Hector, that towered a whole foot

above his crowding comrades, fell before my weapon and rolled in the dust.

My farm outgoes for the season were, for implements, seed, work, etc.,

$14.72½. I got twelve bushels of beans and eighteen bushels of potatoes,

besides some peas and sweet corn. The yellow corn and turnips were too

late to come to anything. My whole income from the farm was—

$23.44

Deducting the outgoes 14.72½

-------

There are left $ 8.71½

This is the result of my experience in raising beans. Plant the common

small white bush bean about the first of June, in rows three feet by

eighteen inches apart, being careful to select fresh, round, and unmixed

seed. First look out for worms, and supply vacancies by planting anew.

Then look out for woodchucks, if it is an exposed place, for they will

nibble off the earliest tender leaves almost clean as they go; and again,

when the young tendrils make their appearance, they have notice of it,

and will shear them off with both buds and young pods, sitting erect like

a squirrel. But above all, harvest as early as possible, if you would

escape frosts and have a fair and salable crop; you may save much loss by

this means.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born in Concord,

Massachusetts, and was educated in the village schools and later at

Harvard University. He was an intimate friend of Emerson, Hawthorne,

and the Alcotts. With the help of Emerson, he built a cottage beside

a pond in Walden Woods near Concord where he lived alone, planted

beans, caught fish, and for the most part lived on the products of

the soil, cultivated by his own hands. In his book, _Walden, or Life

in the Woods_, he gives a detailed account of his observations and

experiences. Other books by Thoreau are _A Week on the Concord and

the Merrimack Rivers_, _The Maine Woods_, etc.

=Discussion.= 1. Why did Thoreau wish to earn some extra money? 2.

What seeds did he plant? 3. The author likens the hoeing of the

beans to a “Herculean labor”; explain this reference. 4. What were

Thoreau’s auxiliaries? His enemies? 5. According to the author, what

is the best time to work in the garden? 6. How did he come “to know

beans” so well? 7. Explain the metaphor referring to the weeds as

Trojans. 8. How much did the author clear on his garden? 9. Do you

think the amount made was worth the labor put into it? 10. Tell one

of your experiences with a garden.

=Phrases=

Herculean labor, 559, 9

strength like Antaeus, 559, 12

auxiliaries are the dews, 560, 5

lean and effete, 560, 7

level the ranks, 560, 17

plastic artist, 560, 19

express its summer thought, 560, 28

implements of husbandry, 560, 32

intimate and curious acquaintance, 561, 3

crest-waving Hector, 561, 13

supply vacancies, 561, 29

THE SHIP-BUILDERS

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

The sky is ruddy in the east,

The earth is gray below,

And, spectral in the river-mist,

The ship’s white timbers show.

Then let the sounds of measured stroke

And grating saw begin;

The broad-axe to the gnarléd oak,

The mallet to the pin!

Hark!—roars the bellows, blast on blast,

The sooty smithy jars,

And fire-sparks, rising far and fast,

Are fading with the stars.

All day for us the smith shall stand

Beside that flashing forge;

All day for us his heavy hand

The groaning anvil scourge.

From far-off hills, the panting team

For us is toiling near;

For us the raftsmen down the stream

Their island barges steer.

Rings out for us the ax-man’s stroke

In forests old and still—

For us the century-circled oak

Falls crashing down his hill.

Up!—up!—in nobler toil than ours

No craftsmen bear a part;

We make of Nature’s giant powers

The slaves of human Art.

Lay rib to rib and beam to beam,

And drive the treenails free;

Nor faithless joint nor yawning seam

Shall tempt the searching sea!

Where’er the keel of our good ship

The sea’s rough field shall plow,

Where’er her tossing spars shall drip

With salt-spray caught below,

That ship must heed her master’s beck,

Her helm obey his hand,

And seamen tread her reeling deck

As if they trod the land.

Her oaken ribs the vulture-beak

Of Northern ice may peel;

The sunken rock and coral peak

May grate along her keel;

And know we well the painted shell

We give to wind and wave,

Must float, the sailor’s citadel,

Or sink, the sailor’s grave!

Ho!—strike away the bars and blocks,

And set the good ship free!

Why lingers on these dusty rocks

The young bride of the sea?

Look! how she moves adown the grooves,

In graceful beauty now!

How lowly on the breast she loves

Sinks down her virgin prow!

God bless her! wheresoe’er the breeze

Her snowy wing shall fan,

Aside the frozen Hebrides,

Or sultry Hindostan!

Where’er, in mart or on the main,

With peaceful flag unfurled,

She helps to wind the silken chain

Of commerce round the world!

Be hers the Prairie’s golden grain,

The Desert’s golden sand,

The clustered fruits of sunny Spain,

The spice of Morning-land!

Her pathway on the open main

May blessings follow free,

And glad hearts welcome back again.

Her white sails from the sea!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 60.

=Discussion.= 1. What does the title tell us? 2. Make an outline

which shows what each stanza tells us of the ship-builders, for

example:

Stanza 1—Morning; time for work.

Stanza 2—The smithy; work of the smith, etc.

3. What do the first four lines tell us of the time? 4. Note how much

more they tell; what pictures do they give? What comparison do they

suggest? 5. What line in the second stanza adds to the picture in

stanza one? 6. In what sense is the smith working “for us”? 7. What

does the “panting team” bring from the “far-off hills”? 8. With whose

labor does the work of ship-building really begin? Read the lines

which tell this. 9. Which line in the third stanza do you like best?

10. What comparison does the poet make between ship-building and

other kinds of labor? 11. Is the “master” the only one responsible

for making the ship obey the helm? 12. What is the subject of the

verb “may feel”? 13. What dangers to the ship are pointed out? How

may the ship-builders guard against these dangers? 14. Read the

stanzas which urge honest workmanship. 15. At what point in the

building of a ship are the “bars and blocks” struck away? 16. In

what sense does this “set the good ship free”? 17. Read lines which

tell of the ship’s work. 18. In what sense can the “Prairie’s golden

grain” “be hers”? 19. What is meant by the “Desert’s golden sand”?

20. What poetic name is given to the Far East? 21. Read the lines

that express the poet’s wish for the ship. 22. Select the lines in

this poem that give the most vivid pictures. 23. Can you think of

anything of which this ship may be the symbol? 24. Compare the poem

with Longfellow’s “The Builders” (page 566) for a suggestion as to

what the ship may represent. 25. Pronounce the following: sooty;

scourge; helm; coral.

=Phrases=

spectral in the river-mist, 562, 3

measured stroke, 562, 5

sooty smithy jars, 563, 2

groaning anvil scourge, 563, 8

century-circled oak, 563, 15

drive the treenails free, 563, 22

vulture-beak of Northern ice, 564, 1

sailor’s citadel, 564, 7

THE BUILDERS

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

All are architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time;

Some with massive deeds and great,

Some with ornaments of rime.

Nothing useless is, or low;

Each thing in its place is best;

And what seems but idle show

Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise

Time is with materials filled;

Our todays and yesterdays

Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;

Leave no yawning gaps between;

Think not, because no man sees,

Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,

Builders wrought with greatest care

Each minute and unseen part;

For the gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well,

Both the unseen and the seen;

Make the house, where gods may dwell,

Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,

Standing in these walls of Time,

Broken stairways, where the feet

Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build today, then, strong and sure,

With a firm and ample base;

And ascending and secure

Shall tomorrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain

To those turrets, where the eye

Sees the world as one vast plain,

And one boundless reach of sky.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 80.

=Discussion.= 1. Tell in your own words what the first stanza means

to you. 2. Find the line which tells that we must build whether we

wish to do so or not. 3. Which lines show that we choose the kind of

structure that we raise? 4. Upon what does the beauty of the “blocks”

depend? 5. Mention something that could cause a “yawning gap.” 6.

By whom are “massive deeds” performed? 7. By whom are “ornaments

of rime” made? 8. Explain the meaning of the “elder days of Art”

and mention some works that belong to that time. 9. Tell in your

own words the meaning of the last stanza. 10. What do you think was

Longfellow’s purpose in writing this poem?

=Phrases=

architects of Fate, 566, 1

massive deeds, 566, 3

yawning gaps, 566, 14

ample base, 567, 6

ascending and secure, 567, 7

boundless reach, 567, 12

LOVE OF COUNTRY

[Illustration]

THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

What flower is this that greets the morn,

Its hues from Heaven so freshly born?

With burning star and flaming band

It kindles all the sunset land;

O tell us what its name may be—

Is this the Flower of Liberty?

It is the banner of the free,

The starry Flower of Liberty.

In savage Nature’s far abode

Its tender seed our fathers sowed;

The storm-winds rocked its swelling bud,

Its opening leaves were streaked with blood,

Till lo! earth’s tyrants shook to see

The full-blown Flower of Liberty!

Then hail the banner of the free,

The starry Flower of Liberty.

Behold its streaming rays unite,

One mingling flood of braided light—

The red that fires the Southern rose,

With spotless white from Northern snows,

And, spangled o’er its azure, see

The sister Stars of Liberty!

Then hail the banner of the free,

The starry Flower of Liberty!

The blades of heroes fence it round,

Where’er it springs is holy ground;

From tower and dome its glories spread;

It waves where lonely sentries tread;

It makes the land as ocean free,

And plants an empire on the sea!

Then hail the banner of the free,

The starry Flower of Liberty.

Thy sacred leaves, fair Freedom’s flower,

Shall ever float on dome and tower,

To all their heavenly colors true,

In blackening frost or crimson dew—

And God love us as we love thee,

Thrice holy Flower of Liberty!

Then hail the banner of the free,

The starry Flower of Liberty.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 539.

=Discussion.= 1. Read the line in the first stanza answering the

question with which the poem opens. 2. Explain the metaphor of the

“burning star” and the “flaming band,” etc. 3. How many “burning

stars” does our flag contain? How many “flaming bands”? 4. Why does

the poet call America the “sunset land”? 5. How far back in history

must we go to find the seed time of the Flower of Liberty? 6. Did the

Flower of Liberty come to full-bloom in a time of strife or a time

of peace? 7. What were the “storm-winds”? What blood streaked its

opening leaves? 8. How does the poet show that the North and South

unite as one in the flag? 9. How do the “blades of heroes fence” the

flag? 10. In the fourth stanza the poet says that the flag makes our

land as free as the ocean; what do you know about a recent struggle

over the freedom of the seas? 11. Why is the Flower of Liberty thrice

holy?

=Phrases=

freshly born, 568, 2

flaming band, 568, 3

far abode, 568, 9

swelling bud, 568, 11

streaming rays unite, 569, 1

braided light, 569, 2

OLD IRONSIDES

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see

That banner in the sky.

Beneath it rung the battle shout,

And burst the cannon’s roar;

The meteor of the ocean air

Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,

Where knelt the vanquished foe,

When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,

And waves were white below,

No more shall feel the victor’s tread,

Or know the conquered knee;

The harpies of the shore shall pluck

The eagle of the sea!

O better that her shattered hulk

Should sink beneath the wave;

Her thunders shook the mighty deep,

And there should be her grave.

Nail to the mast her holy flag,

Set every threadbare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,

The lightning and the gale!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 539.

=Historical Note.= Old Ironsides was the popular name given the U. S.

frigate _Constitution_. It was proposed by the Secretary of the Navy

to dispose of the ship, as it had become unfit for service. Popular

sentiment did not approve of this; it was felt that a ship which

had been the pride of the nation should continue to be the property

of the Navy and that it should be rebuilt for service when needed.

Holmes wrote this poem at the time when the matter was being widely

discussed.

=Discussion.= 1. In what spirit was this poem written? 2. What was

the motive which inspired it? 3. Do you think the poet really means

it when he cries, “Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!”? Can you give

some other instance of irony? 4. As you read this poem, do you think

of the frigate as an inanimate object or does it seem personified?

5. What is meant by “meteor of the ocean wave”? 6. Who are the

“harpies of the shore”? The “eagle of the sea”? 7. What does the

poet say would be better than to have the ship dismantled? 8. Do you

think this a fitting end for a ship of war? 9. Read the story of the

fight between the _Constitution_ and the _Guerriére_ given in your

history and be prepared to tell it in class. Why did the nation have

particular pride in this achievement? 10. Pronounce the following:

ensign; beneath.

=Phrases=

tattered ensign, 570, 1

meteor of the ocean air, 570, 7

harpies of the shore, 570, 15

shattered hulk, 571, 1

THE AMERICAN FLAG

HENRY WARD BEECHER

A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation’s flag, sees not the flag only,

but the nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he

reads chiefly in the flag the government, the principles, the truths, the

history, which belong to the nation which sets it forth.

When the French tricolor rolls out to the wind, we see France. When the

new-found Italian flag is unfurled, we see resurrected Italy. When the

other three-cornered Hungarian flag shall be lifted to the wind, we shall

see in it the long buried but never dead principles of Hungarian liberty.

When the united crosses of St. Andrew and St. George on a fiery ground

set forth the banner of Old England, we see not the cloth merely; there

rises up before the mind the noble aspect of that monarchy, which, more

than any other on the globe, has advanced its banner for liberty, law,

and national prosperity.

This nation has a banner, too; and wherever it streamed abroad, men saw

daybreak bursting on their eyes, for the American flag has been the

symbol of liberty, and men rejoiced in it. Not another flag on the globe

had such an errand, or went forth upon the sea, carrying everywhere, the

world around, such hope for the captive, and such glorious tidings. The

stars upon it were to the pining nations like the morning stars of God,

and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light.

As at early dawn the stars stand first, and then it grows light, and then

as the sun advances, that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of

color, the glowing red and intense white striving together and ribbing

the horizon with bars effulgent, so on the American flag, stars and beams

of many-colored light shine out together. And wherever the flag comes,

and men behold it, they see in its sacred emblazonry no rampant lion and

fierce eagle, but only LIGHT, and every fold significant of liberty.

The history of this banner is all on one side. Under it rode Washington

and his armies; before it Burgoyne laid down his arms. It waved on the

highlands at West Point; it floated over old Fort Montgomery. When Arnold

would have surrendered these valuable fortresses and precious legacies,

his night was turned into day, and his treachery was driven away by the

beams of light from this starry banner.

It cheered our army, driven from New York, in their solitary pilgrimage

through New Jersey. It streamed in light over Valley Forge and

Morristown. It crossed the waters rolling with ice at Trenton; and when

its stars gleamed in the cold morning with victory, a new day of hope

dawned on the despondency of the nation. And when, at length, the long

years of war were drawing to a close, underneath the folds of this

immortal banner sat Washington while Yorktown surrendered its hosts, and

our Revolutionary struggles ended with victory.

Let us then twine each thread of the glorious tissue of our country’s

flag about our heartstrings; and looking upon our homes and catching the

spirit that breathes upon us from the battlefields of our fathers, let

us resolve, come weal or woe, we will, in life and in death, now and

forever, stand by the Stars and Stripes. They have been unfurled from

the snows of Canada to the plains of New Orleans, in the halls of the

Montezumas and amid the solitude of every sea; and everywhere, as the

luminous symbol of resistless and beneficent power, they have led the

brave to victory and to glory. They have floated over our cradles; let it

be our prayer and our struggle that they shall float over our graves.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was a native of

Connecticut and a son of the famous Lyman Beecher. He was a graduate

of Amherst College and of Lane Theological Seminary. For forty years

Beecher was the pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, discussing from

the pulpit the issues of the time and championing the rights of men

everywhere, particularly the rights of oppressed men. His lectures

and sermons breathed a spirit of intense patriotism.

=Discussion.= 1. What may be seen in a nation’s flag by a thoughtful

mind? 2. Of what is the American flag a symbol? 3. What are the stars

of the flag compared to? The stripes? 4. What do people see in the

“sacred emblazonry” of the flag? 5. Tell something of the history

of this banner. 6. What is it to “stand by the stars and stripes”?

7. Do you think the men who fought for us in the Great War lived up

to the ideals given to us in this poem? 8. Pronounce the following:

insignia; horizon; rampant.

=Phrases=

resurrected Italy, 572, 7

glorious tidings, 572, 21

ribbing the horizon, 572, 27

bars effulgent, 572, 27

sacred emblazonry, 572, 30

precious legacies, 573, 5

glorious tissue, 573, 17

weal or woe, 573, 20

luminous symbol, 573, 24

beneficent power, 573, 24

THE AMERICAN FLAG

JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE

When Freedom, from her mountain height,

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,

And set the stars of glory there;

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes

The milky baldric of the skies,

And striped its pure celestial white

With streakings of the morning light;

Then, from his mansion in the sun,

She called her eagle-bearer down,

And gave into his mighty hand

The symbol of her chosen land!

Majestic monarch of the cloud,

Who rear’st aloft thy regal form,

To hear the tempest-trumpings loud,

And see the lightning lances driven,

When strive the warriors of the storm,

And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven—

Child of the sun! to thee ’tis given

To guard the banner of the free,

To hover in the sulphur smoke,

To ward away the battle-stroke,

And bid its blendings shine afar,

Like rainbows on the cloud of war,

The harbingers of victory!

Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,

The sign of hope and triumph high,

When speaks the signal trumpet tone,

And the long line comes gleaming on,

Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,

Has dimmed the glistening bayonet,

Each soldier’s eye shall brightly turn

To where thy sky-born glories burn;

And as his springing steps advance,

Catch war and vengeance from the glance.

And when the cannon’s mouthings loud,

Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,

And gory sabers rise and fall,

Like shoots of flame on midnight’s pall;

Then shall thy meteor glances glow,

And cowering foes shall sink below

Each gallant arm that strikes beneath

That awful messenger of death.

Flag of the seas! on ocean’s wave

Thy stars shall glitter o’er the brave;

When death, careering on the gale,

Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,

And frighted waves rush wildly back

Before the broadside’s reeling rack,

Each dying wanderer of the sea

Shall look at once to heaven and thee,

And smile to see thy splendors fly

In triumph o’er his closing eye.

Flag of the free heart’s hope and home!

By angel hands to valor given;

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,

And all thy hues were born in heaven.

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?

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820), whose name is

inseparably associated with that of his friend, Fitz-Greene Halleck,

was an American poet. These two able poets together contributed a

series of forty poems to the _New York Evening Post_. Among these was

“The American Flag,” the last four lines of which were written by

Halleck, to replace those written by Drake:

“As fixed as yonder orb divine,

That saw thy bannered blaze unfurled,

Shall thy proud stars resplendent shine,

The guard and glory of the world.”

Drake was a youth of many graces of both mind and body, who wrote

verses as a bird sings—for the pure joy of it. His career was cut

short by death when he was only twenty-five years old. Of him Halleck

wrote:

“None knew thee but to love thee,

Nor named thee but to praise.”

=Discussion.= 1. Who is represented as making a flag? 2. How is it

made? 3. What flag is it? 4. What reasons can you see for choosing

the eagle as bearer of this flag? 5. What events are pictured in

which the flag has a part? 6. Note all the names the poet gives to

the flag; which of these do you like best? 7. Can you give other

names that are applied to our flag? 8. What feeling caused this poem

to be written? 9. What lines are the most stirring? 10. Which stanza

do you like best?

=Phrases=

unfurled her standard, 574, 2

azure robe, 574, 3

milky baldric, 574, 6

celestial white, 574, 7

majestic monarch, 574, 13

regal form, 574, 14

tempest-trumpings, 574, 15

sulphur smoke, 575, 3

harbingers of victory, 575, 7

sky-born glories, 575, 15

cannon’s mouthings loud, 575, 18

welkin dome, 576, 3

THE FLAG GOES BY

HENRY H. BENNETT

Hats off!

Along the street there comes

A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,

A flash of color beneath the sky.

Hats off!

The flag is passing by!

Blue and crimson and white it shines,

Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.

Hats off!

The colors before us fly;

But more than the flag is passing by.

Sea fights and land fights, grim and great,

Fought to make and to save the State;

Weary marches and sinking ships;

Cheers of victory on dying lips;

Days of plenty and years of peace;

March of a strong land’s swift increase;

Equal justice, right and law,

Stately honor and reverend awe;

Sign of a nation, great and strong

To ward her people from foreign wrong;

Pride and glory and honor—all

Live in the colors to stand or fall.

Hats off!

Along the street there comes

A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;

And loyal hearts are beating high:

Hats off!

The flag is passing by!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= 1. Henry Holcomb Bennett (1863-⸺), an American newspaper

writer, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. He is not only a journalist,

but also a magazine writer and a landscape painter. He has been a

frequent contributor to the _Youth’s Companion_, and to the New York

_Independent_. “The Flag Goes By” is his most popular poem.

=Discussion.= 1. What feeling inspires the cry “Hats off!”? 2.

What does the poet mean by “more than a flag is passing”? 3. Name

historical events which illustrate the different references in the

third stanza. 4. Explain the meaning of “march of a strong land’s

swift increase.” 5. How could the flag “ward her people from foreign

wrong”? 6. How many of the things mentioned by the poet do you see

when the flag goes by? 7. Do you think the poem will help you to see

more?

=Phrases=

ruffle of drums, 577, 3

steel-tipped, ordered lines, 577, 8

strong land’s swift increase, 577, 17

reverend awe, 577, 19

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming;

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On that shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream;

’Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; O long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war, and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave;

And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,

And this be our motto—“In God is our trust.”

And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biographical and Historical Note.= Francis Scott Key (1780-1843),

an American lawyer and poet, was a native of Maryland. “The

Star-Spangled Banner” made him famous.

The incidents referred to in this poem occurred during the war of

1812. In August, 1814, a strong force of British entered Washington

and burned the Capitol, the White House, and many other public

buildings. On September 13 the British admiral moved his fleet into

position to attack Fort McHenry, near Baltimore. The bombardment

lasted all night, but the fort was so bravely defended that the

flag was still floating over it when morning came. Just before the

bombardment began, Francis Scott Key was sent to the admiral’s

frigate to arrange for an exchange of prisoners and was told to

wait until the bombardment was over. All night he watched the fort

and by the first rays of morning light he saw the Stars and Stripes

still waving. Then, in his joy and pride, he wrote the stirring

words of the song which is now known and loved by all Americans—“The

Star-Spangled Banner.”

=Discussion.= 1. Relate the incident that called forth the poem. 2.

What “perilous fight” had taken place? 3. Where was the author during

the fight? 4. What had he seen at the “twilight’s last gleaming”? 5.

Over what ramparts was the flag streaming? 6. Which lines suggest why

the poet could not be sure that the flag was still there? 7. What

sometimes “gave proof” to him? 8. What finally disclosed the flag “in

full glory”? 9. What feelings do you think this certainty aroused

in the watcher? 10. Who made up “the foe’s haughty host”? 11. Find

words that tell where the foe was and that he had ceased firing. 12.

What “war’s desolation” is named in the third stanza? 13. What other

war songs do you know? 14. What other country’s national hymn do you

know? 15. What purposes does such a song serve?

=Phrases=

perilous fight, 578, 3

o’er the ramparts, 578, 4

mist of the deep, 578, 9

dread silence reposes, 578, 10

towering steep, 578, 11

vauntingly swore, 579, 5

foul footsteps’ pollution, 579, 8

war’s desolation, 579, 14

CITIZENSHIP

WILLIAM P. FRYE

Citizenship! What is citizenship? It has a broader signification than you

and I are apt to give it. Citizenship does not mean alone that the man

who possesses it shall be obedient to the law, shall be kindly to his

neighbors, shall regard the rights of others, shall perform his duties as

juror, shall, if the hour of peril come, yield his time, his property,

and his life to his country. It means more than that. It means that his

country shall protect him in every right which the Constitution gives

him. What right has the Republic to demand his life, his property, in the

hour of peril, if, when his hour of peril comes, it fails him? A man died

in England a few years ago, Lord Napier of Magdala, whose death reminded

me of an incident which illustrates this, an incident which gave that

great lord his name. A few years ago King Theodore of Abyssinia seized

Captain Cameron, a British citizen, and incarcerated him in a dungeon

on the top of a mountain nine thousand feet high. England demanded his

release, and King Theodore refused. England fitted out and sent on five

thousand English soldiers, and ten thousand Sepoys, debarked them on

the coast, marched them more than four hundred miles through swamp and

morass under a burning sun. Then they marched up the mountain height,

they scaled the walls, they broke down the iron gates, they reached down

into the dungeon, they took that one British citizen like a brand from

the burning and carried him down the mountain side, across the morass,

put him on board the white-winged ship, and bore him away to England to

safety. That cost Great Britain millions of dollars, and it made General

Napier Lord Napier of Magdala.

Was not that a magnificent thing for a great country to do? Only think of

it! A country that has an eye sharp enough to see away across the ocean,

away across the morass, away up into the mountain top, away down into the

dungeon, one citizen, one of her thirty millions, and then has an arm

strong enough to reach away across the ocean, away across the morass,

away up the mountain height and down into the dungeon and take that one

and bear him home in safety. Who would not live and die, too, for the

country that can do that? This country of ours is worth our thought,

our care, our labor, our lives. What a magnificent country it is! What

a Republic for the people, where all are kings! Men of great wealth, of

great rank, of great influence can live without difficulty under despotic

power; but how can you and I, how can the average man endure the burdens

it imposes? Oh, this blessed Republic of ours stretches its hand down

to men, and lifts them up, while despotism puts its heavy hand on their

heads and presses them down! This blessed Republic of ours speaks to

every boy in the land, black or white, rich or poor, and asks him to come

up higher and higher. You remember that boy out here on the prairie, the

son of a widowed mother, poor, neglected perhaps by all except the dear

old mother. But the Republic did not neglect him. The Republic said to

that boy: “Boy, there is a ladder: its foot is on the earth, its top is

in the sky. Boy, go up.” And the boy mounted that ladder rung by rung; by

the rung of the free schools, by the rung of the academy, by the rung of

the college, by the rung of splendid service in the United States Army,

by the rung of the United States House of Representatives, by the rung

of the United States Senate, by the rung of the Presidency of the Great

Republic, by the rung of a patient sickness and a heroic death; until

James A. Garfield is a name to be forever honored in the history of our

country.

Now, is not a Republic like that worth the tribute of our conscience? Is

it not entitled to our best thought, to our holiest purpose?

Let us pledge ourselves to give it our loyal service and support until

every man in this Republic, black or white, shall be protected in all the

rights which the Constitution of the United States bestows upon him.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biographical and Historical Note.= William Pierce Frye (1831-1911),

an eminent lawyer and statesman, was born at Lewiston, Maine. He was

graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850, and was a member of Congress

from 1871 to 1881, and United States senator for Maine from 1881 to

1911. After the death of Vice-President Hobart, and also after the

death of President McKinley, he acted as president _pro tempore_ of

the senate.

The Magdala affair is a striking example of what a country will

do to protect its citizens. Magdala, more properly Makdala, is a

natural stronghold in Abyssinia. The emperor Theodore of Abyssinia

chose it as a fortress and a prison. Having taken offense because

a request that English workmen and machinery be sent him was not

promptly complied with, Theodore seized the British consul, Captain

C. D. Cameron, his suite, and two other men, and imprisoned them at

Magdala. Lieutenant-General Robert Napier was sent to rescue the

prisoners. For his services in this expedition Napier received the

thanks of Parliament, a pension, and a peerage, with the title First

Baron Napier of Magdala.

=Discussion.= 1. Who are citizens of this country? 2. What is the

duty of a citizen to his country? 3. What is the duty of a country

to its citizens? 4. What incident illustrates the difficulties one

country overcame in order to protect a citizen? 5. What does our

country do for its citizens? 6. What illustration of this is given?

=Phrases=

broader signification, 580, 1

duties as juror, 580, 5

incident which illustrates, 580, 12

incarcerated him, 580, 15

brand from the burning, 581, 8

across the morass, 581, 9

despotic power, 581, 25

tribute of our conscience, 582, 7

THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON

THOMAS JEFFERSON

I think I knew General Washington intimately and thoroughly, and were I

called on to delineate his character, it should be in terms like these:

His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order;

his penetration strong, though not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon,

or Locke, and as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow

in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in

conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers, of the advantage he

derived from councils of war, where, hearing all suggestions, he selected

whatever was best; and certainly no general ever planned his battles more

judiciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, if any

member of his plan was dislocated by sudden circumstances, he was slow

in readjustment. The consequence was that he often failed in the field,

and rarely against an enemy in station, as at Boston and New York. He was

incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest unconcern.

Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence; never acting

until every circumstance, every consideration, was maturely weighed;

refraining if he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going through with

his purpose whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity was most pure, his

justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motives of interest or

consanguinity, of friendship, or hatred, being able to bias his decision.

He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great

man. His temper was naturally irritable and high-toned; but reflection

and resolution had obtained a firm and habitual ascendancy over it. If

ever, however, it broke its bounds, he was most tremendous in his wrath.

In his expenses he was honorable, but exact; liberal in contribution to

whatever promised utility, but frowning and unyielding on all visionary

projects and all unworthy calls on his charity. His heart was not warm

in its affections; but he exactly calculated every man’s value, and gave

him a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know, was fine,

his stature exactly what one could wish, his deportment easy, erect, and

noble; the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that

could be seen on horseback.

Although in the circle of his friends, where he might be unreserved with

safety, he took a free share in conversation, his colloquial talents

were not above mediocrity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas nor

fluency of words. In public, when called on for a sudden opinion, he was

unready, short, and embarrassed. Yet he wrote readily, rather diffusely,

in an easy and correct style. This he had acquired by conversation with

the world, for his education was merely reading, writing, and common

arithmetic, to which he added surveying at a later day.

His time was employed in action chiefly, reading little, and that only in

agriculture and English history. His correspondence became necessarily

extensive, and, with journalizing his agricultural proceedings, occupied

most of his leisure hours within-doors.

On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in

few points indifferent; and it may truly be said that never did nature

and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him

in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an

everlasting remembrance.

For his was the singular destiny and merit of leading the armies of

his country successfully through an arduous war for the establishment

of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a

government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down

into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws

through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history

of the world furnishes no other example.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), a native of Virginia,

was Governor of Virginia, Minister to France, Secretary of State in

Washington’s Cabinet, Vice-President, and President. He wrote the

Declaration of Independence and was the founder of the University of

Virginia. Jefferson was a ripe scholar, a good violinist, a skillful

horseman, and an accurate marksman with a rifle. His influence was

clearly felt in the framing of the Constitution, though he was in

France at that time. His speeches were sound in policy and clear in

statement.

=Discussion.= 1. What peculiarly fitted Jefferson to describe

the character of Washington? 2. What conflict gave Washington an

opportunity to show his greatness? 3. How had Washington’s life

prepared him to take advantage of his opportunities? 4. Name the

qualities, as given by Jefferson, that made Washington so great a

leader. 5. How did he show prudence? Integrity? Justice? 6. From your

readings can you give any instance in which he showed fearlessness?

7. How did he show sureness in judgment? 8. What, in Jefferson’s

opinion, was the strongest feature of Washington’s character? 9.

How does Jefferson summarize his estimate of Washington? 10. What

quality especially characteristic of Lincoln is not mentioned in

this estimate, because it was lacking in Washington? 11. Give a

summary of the things Washington accomplished. 12. What part of this

characterization of Washington impressed you most. 13. Which of the

qualities mentioned would you most wish to possess?

=Phrases=

his penetration strong, 583, 5

invention or imagination, 583, 8

deranged during the course, 583, 12

dislocated by sudden circumstances, 583, 13

obstacles opposed, 583, 21

interest or consanguinity, 583, 23

bias his decision, 583, 24

habitual ascendancy, 583, 27

liberal in contribution, 583, 30

visionary projects, 584, 1

solid esteem proportioned, 584, 3

rather diffusely, 584, 13

arduous war, 584, 27

THE TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

Pale is the February sky

And brief the mid-day’s sunny hours;

The wind-swept forest seems to sigh

For the sweet time of leaves and flowers.

Yet has no month a prouder day,

Not even when the summer broods

O’er meadows in their fresh array,

Or autumn tints the glowing woods.

For this chill season now again

Brings, in its annual round, the morn

When, greatest of the sons of men,

Our glorious Washington was born.

Lo, where, beneath an icy shield,

Calmly the mighty Hudson flows!

By snow-clad fell and frozen field,

Broadening, the lordly river goes.

The wildest storm that sweeps through space,

And rends the oak with sudden force,

Can raise no ripple on his face

Or slacken his majestic course.

Thus, ’mid the wreck of thrones, shall live

Unmarred, undimmed, our hero’s fame,

And years succeeding years shall give

Increase of honors to his name.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 41.

=Discussion.= 1. How does the poet describe a day in February? 2.

Why has “no month a prouder day”? 3. Whose birthday occurs on the

twenty-second of February? 4. Do you know any other great man whose

birthday comes in February? 5. Give in your own words the comparison

of “the mighty Hudson” and the fame of Washington. 6. Do you know of

some interesting incident in Washington’s life? 7. In the last stanza

the poet speaks of wrecked thrones; what thrones can you name that

were wrecked during the Great War?

=Phrases=

summer broods, 586, 6

fresh array, 586, 7

icy shield, 586, 13

snow-clad fell, 586, 15

majestic course, 586, 20

’mid the wreck of thrones, 586, 21

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

RICHARD HENRY STODDARD

This man whose homely face you look upon,

Was one of Nature’s masterful great men;

Born with strong arms that unfought victories won.

Direct of speech, and cunning with the pen,

Chosen for large designs, he had the art

Of winning with his humor, and he went

Straight to his mark, which was the human heart.

Wise, too, for what he could not break, he bent;

Upon his back, a more than Atlas load,

The burden of the Commonwealth was laid;

He stooped and rose up with it, though the road

Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed.

Hold, warriors, councilors, kings! All now give place

To this dead Benefactor of the Race.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903), the son of a sea

captain, was born at Hingham, Mass. After the death of his father he

moved with his mother to New York City, where, after a short school

life, he began work in an iron foundry. He and Bayard Taylor became

warm friends, meeting once a week to talk of literary matters. His

characterization of Lincoln is regarded as a classic. He wrote both

prose and poetry and became noted as a literary critic. He is the

author of “Homes and Haunts of Our Elder Poets.”

=Discussion.= 1. Tell what you can of the author, noting anything in

his life that was common to that of Lincoln. 2. Name the qualities

that the poet says made Lincoln “one of Nature’s masterpieces.” 3.

What does “homely” mean as used in the first line? 4. From your study

of pictures of Lincoln what other words can you suggest to describe

his features? 5. Explain the meaning of “cunning with the pen.” 6.

Repeat any of Lincoln’s famous sayings you know. 7. What does the

eighth line tell you of Lincoln’s character? 8. How did his humor

help him to win? 9. Why was the “burden of the Commonwealth” so great

and why was it laid on his shoulders? 10. Toward what did the road

tend “suddenly downward,” and how did Lincoln meet the situation

created by Secession? 11. What reasons can you give for calling

him a “Benefactor of the Race”? 12. Compare the achievements of

Lincoln with those of Washington. 13. Which do you think the better

description, that written by Stoddard or that by Jefferson?

=Phrases=

unfought victories won, 587, 3

large designs, 587, 5

Atlas load, 587, 9

burden of the Commonwealth, 587, 10

not a whit dismayed, 587, 12

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

WALT WHITMAN

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills.

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here, Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!

But I with mournful tread

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography, see page 556.

=Discussion.= 1. Tell what you know of the poet that fitted him to

write of Lincoln’s character and achievements. 2. In this poem the

Union is compared to a ship; who is the captain of the ship? 3. What

fate befalls the captain, and at what stage of the voyage? 4. What

“port” has been reached? 5. What is “the prize we sought and won”?

6. Point out words of rejoicing and of sorrow in the last stanza.

7. What parts of the poem impress you with the deep personal grief

of the poet? 8. This poem put into words the nation’s deep grief at

the time of Lincoln’s death; do you think this accounts for the wide

popularity of the poem? 9. Read Whitman’s poem, “When Lilacs Last in

the Dooryard Bloomed,” describing the journey of the train bearing

the body of the martyred President from Washington to Springfield,

Illinois.

=Phrases=

weather’d every rack, 588, 2

all exulting, 588, 3

steady keel, 588, 4

swaying mass, 589, 4

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

LIEUT. COL. JOHN D. McCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks still bravely singing fly,

Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!

To you from falling hands we throw

The torch. Be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= John D. McCrae, a physician of Montreal, was made a

Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army and went overseas early in

the war. He died of pneumonia at the front in January, 1918. This

beautiful poem, was written by him during the second battle of Ypres,

April, 1915.

=Discussion.= 1. Tell in your own words the scene which the poet

describes in the first five lines. 2. Of what is the poppy a symbol?

3. What does the poet bid us do? 4. What do you think was the motive

which inspired Lieutenant Colonel McCrae to write this poem?

=Phrases=

poppies blow, 590, 1

mark our place, 590, 3

felt dawn, 590, 7

falling hands, 590, 11

AMERICA’S ANSWER

R. W. LILLARD

Rest ye in peace, ye Flanders dead.

The fight that ye so bravely led

We’ve taken up. And we will keep

True faith with you who lie asleep

With each a cross to mark his bed,

And poppies blowing overhead,

Where once his own lifeblood ran red.

So let your rest be sweet and deep

In Flanders fields.

Fear not that ye have died for naught.

The torch ye threw to us we caught.

Ten million hands will hold it high,

And Freedom’s light shall never die!

We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught

In Flanders fields.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

=Biography.= “America’s Answer” was written by R. W. Lillard of New

York City after the death of Lieutenant Colonel McCrae, the author of

“In Flanders Fields.” It was printed in the _New York Evening Post_

as a fitting response to the sentiment expressed in Dr. McCrae’s poem.

=Discussion.= 1. Why does the poet say that the “Flanders dead” may

now rest in peace? 2. Who took up the struggle? 3. Why does the poet

say that the heroes of Flanders have not “died for naught”? 4. Do you

think this poem is as stirring as the one that precedes it?

=Phrases=

true faith, 591, 4

lifeblood, 591, 7

Freedom’s light, 591, 13

learned the lesson, 591, 14

GLOSSARY

KEY TO THE SOUNDS OF MARKED VOWELS

ā as in ate

ă as in bat

â as in care

ȧ as in ask

ä as in arm

a᷵ as in senate

e᷵ as in event

ẽ as in maker

ē as in eve

ĕ as in met

ī as in kind

ĭ as in pin

ō as in note

ŏ as in not

ô as in or

o᷵ as in obey

ū as in use

ŭ as in cut

û as in turn

u᷵ as in unite

o̅o̅ as in food

o͡o as in foot

=a-banˈdon= (ȧ-bănˈdŭn), to leave, quit.

=a-baseˈment= (ȧ-bāseˈmĕnt), humiliation, shame.

=a-batˈed= (ȧ-bātˈĕd), reduced, decreased.

=abˈbess= (ăbˈĕs), head of a convent.

=abˈbey= (ăbˈī), the church of a monastery, convent.

=Abˌer-deenˈshire= (ăbˌẽr-dēnˈshẽr), a county in northeastern Scotland.

=Abˌer-dourˈ= (ăbˌẽr-do̅o̅rˈ), same as Abˌ-er-deenˈ, a city in Scotland.

=abˈdi-cate= (ăbˈdĭ-kāt), to surrender, abandon.

=ab-horˈrence= (ăb-hôrˈĕns), extreme hatred.

=a-bideˈ= (ȧ-bīdˈ), to entrust.

=a-bodeˈ= (ȧ-bōdˈ), residence, dwelling.

=a-bom-i-naˈtion= (ȧ-bŏm-ĭ-nāˈshŭn), disgust, hatred.

=a-booneˈ= (ȧ-bo̅o̅nˈ), Scotch for =above=.

=abˌo-rigˈi-nes= (ăbˌō-rĭjˈĭ-nēz), native races.

=ab-ruptˈ= (ăb-rŭptˈ), very steep, rough, sudden.

=abˈso-lute= (ăbˈsō-lūt), clear, positive; owned solely.

=ab-sorbedˈ= (ăb-sôrbdˈ), swallowed up.

=ab-stracˈtion= (ăb-străkˈshŭn), separation.

=ab-surdˈ= (ăb-sŭrdˈ), ridiculous.

=a-byssˈ= (ȧ-bĭsˈ), a bottomless pit.

=a-byssˈ of the whirl= (ȧ-bĭsˈ), great depth of the whirlpool.

=Abˌys-sinˈi-a= (ăbˌĭ-sĭnˈĭ-ȧ), a country in East Africa.

=A-caˈdi-a= (ȧ-kāˈdĭ-ȧ), the original French, and now poetic, name of

Nova Scotia.

=acˈcess= (ăkˈsĕs; ăk-sĕsˈ), admission.

=ac-comˈpa-nied= (ă-kŭmˈpȧ-nĭd), went with.

=ac-cordˈ= (ă-kôrdˈ), agreement of will, assent, blend.

=ac-cordˈing-ly= (ă-kôrdˈĭng-lĭ), consequently, so.

=ac-countˈa-ble= (ă-kounˈtȧ-b’l), responsible.

=ac-countˈant= (ă-kountˈănt), one skilled in keeping accounts.

=ac-cuˌmu-laˈtion= (ă-kūˌmū-lāˈshŭn), collection.

=acˌcu-saˈtion= (ăkˌu᷵-zāˈshŭn), the charge of an offense or crime.

=ac-cusˈtomed= (ă-kŭsˈtŭmd), wont, used.

=a-chieveˈ= (ȧ-chēvˈ), achieve your adventure, do your favor.

=A-chilˈles= (ȧ-kĭlˈēz), the central hero in the =Iliad=. See Elson

Reader, Book II.

=ac-quireˈ= (ă-kwīrˈ), gain.

=a-cuˈmen= (ȧ-kūˈmĕn), keenness, shrewdness.

=adˈage= (ădˈăj), an old saying.

=adˌa-manˈtine= (ȧdˌȧ-mănˈtĭn), impenetrable, hard.

=a-daptˈing= (ȧ-dăptˈĭng), fitting, adjusting.

=adˈder= (ădˈẽr), a kind of snake.

=ad-dressˈ= (ă-drĕsˈ), skill, tact; to make a speech.

=adˈe-quate= (ădˈe᷵-kwa᷵t), sufficient.

=ad-herˈence= (ăd-hērˈĕns), steady attachment, fidelity.

=ad-herˈent= (ăd-hērˈĕnt), follower.

=a-dieuˈ= (ȧ-dūˈ), farewell, good-by.

=ad-jaˈcent= (ă-jāˈsĕnt), near by.

=ad-justˈ= (ă-jŭstˈ), to arrange.

=ad-minˈis-ter= (ăd-mĭnˈĭs-tẽr), to apply, serve out.

=ad-minˌis-traˈtion= (ăd-mĭnˌĭs-trāˈshŭn), management of public affairs.

=adˈmi-ra-ble= (ădˈmĭ-ra᷵-b’l), wonderful, marvelous.

=adˈmi-ral= (ădˈmĭ-răl), a naval officer of the highest rank.

=a-dornˈ= (ȧ-dôrnˈ), to set off to advantage, beautify, decorate.

=a-dornˈment of all India= (ȧ-dôrnˈmĕnt), a flattering phrase—one that

helps to beautify India.

=a-droitˈness in traffic= (ȧ-droitˈnĕs, trăfˈĭk), skill in bargaining or

commerce.

=ad-vanceˈ= (ăd-vănsˈ), offer, set forth.

=adˌvan-taˈgeous-ly= (ădˌvăn-tāˈjŭs-lĭ), beneficially.

=ad-venˈture= (ăd-vĕnˈtu᷵r), undertaking.

=ad-venˈtur-ous= (ăd-vĕnˈtu᷵r-ŭs), daring.

=adˈver-sa-ries= (ădˈvẽr-sa᷵-rĭz), foes, opponents.

=adˈverse= (ădˈvẽrs), unfavorable.

=ad-vertˈ= (ăd-vûrtˈ), to refer, allude.

=ad-visˈa-ble= (ăd-vīzˈȧ-b’l), desirable.

=adˈvo-cate= (ădˈvō-ka᷵t), counselor, one who pleads for another.

=a-eˈri-al= (ā-ēˈrĭ-ăl), airy, pertaining to air

=af-fectˈed= (ă-fĕktˈĕd), fancied; laid hold of.

=af-fectsˈ so many genˈer-ous senˈti-ments= (ă-fĕktsˈ; jĕnˈẽr-ŭs;

sĕnˈtĭ-mĕnts), assumes so many noble feelings.

=af-frontˈed= (ă-frŭnˈtĕd), provoked, nettled.

=aft= (ȧft), toward the rear part of a vessel.

=Agˈas-siz= (ăgˈȧ-se᷵).

=aˈged= (āˈjĕd), old.

=agˈgra-vatˌed= (ăgˈgrȧ-vātˌĕd), added to, magnified.

=ag-gresˈsion= (ă-grĕshˈŭn), an unprovoked attack, invasion.

=a-ghastˈ= (a-gȧstˈ), amazed, astounded.

=agˈile= (ăjˈĭl), lively.

=agˌi-taˈtion= (ăjˌī-tāˈshŭn), a stirring up or arousing commotion.

=Agˈra-vaine= (ăgˈrȧ-vān).

=a-greeˈ= (ȧ-grēˈ), be in accord.

=aˈgue= (ȧˈgū), chill.

=aidˈde-camp= (ādˈde᷵-kămp, ādˈdē-kän), an officer who assists a general

in correspondence and in directing movements.

=alˈa-basˌte=r (ălˈȧ-bȧsˌtẽr), white stone resembling marble.

=alˌ-beˈit= (ălˌbēˈĭt), although.

=Al-giersˈ= (ăl-jērzˈ), seaport in Africa.

=Al-hamˈbra= (ăl-hămˈbrȧ), the fortress, palace, or alcazar, of the

Moorish kings.

=alˈien= (ālˈyĕn), foreign, strange.

=A-li-eˈna= (ā-lĭ-ēˈnä).

=al-leˈgiance= (ă-lēˈjăns), loyalty, allegiance merely nominal, loyalty

so-called, not real.

=al-legˈing= (ă-lĕjˈĭng), declaring, asserting.

=al-litˌer-aˈtion= (ă-lĭtˌẽr-āˈshŭn), repetition of the same letter or

sound at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each

other.

=al-lotˈment= (ă-lŏtˈmĕnt), share by chance.

=al-lowˈance= (ă-lŏwˈăns), share.

=al-ludeˈ= (ă-lūdˈ), refer, hint.

=al-luˈsion= (ă-lūˈzhŭn), indirect reference, hint.

=al-lyˈ= (ă-līˈ), partner, relative.

=Almesˈbury= (ämzˈbẽr-ĭ).

=alms= (ämz), charity.

=a-loftˈ= (ȧ-lŏftˈ), to the mast head, overhead.

=a-loofˈ= (ä-lo̅o̅fˈ), apart.

=al-terˈnate= (ăl-tûrˈna᷵t; ălˈtẽr-nāt), by turns.

=al-terˈna-tive= (ăl-tûrˈnä-tĭv), choice.

=amˌa-teurˈ in-specˈtion= (ămˌȧ-tûrˈ ĭn-spĕkˈshŭn), not professional

inspection.

=amature=, dialect for =amˌa-teurˈ= (ămˌȧ-tûrˈ), a beginner, not a

professional.

=Amˌa-zoˈni-an= (ămˌȧ-zōˈnĭ-ăn), of or pertaining to the river Amazon.

=Amˌba-arˈen= (ămˌbȧ-ärˈĕn).

=ambitious projects=, schemes for greater power.

=amˈbush= (ămˈbo͡osh), concealed place, snare.

=a-mendˈ= (ȧ-mĕndˈ), make better, give back.

=aˈmi-a-ble= (āˈmĭ-ȧ-b’l), friendly.

=a-midˈships= (ȧ-mĭdˈshĭps), in the middle of a ship.

=amˈi-ty= (ămˈĭ-tĭ), friendship.

=amˈo-rou=s (ămˈō-rŭs), loving.

=aˌmoursˈ= (ȧˌmo̅o̅rzˈ), loves.

=Am-phicˈty-on= (ăm-fĭkˈtĭ-ŏn), an assembly of deputies from the

different states of Greece.

=anˌa-conˈda= (ănˌȧ-kŏnˈdȧ), a large snake.

=a-natˈo-my= (ă-nătˈō-mĭ), the science which treats of the structure of

the body.

=Anˈdre=, =Major= (änˈdra᷵), a British officer in the Revolutionary War

who was arrested at Tarrytown and executed as a spy.

=anˈec-dote= (ănˈĕk-dōt), particular incident or fact of an interesting

nature.

=an-gelˈic kinˈdred= (ăn-jĕlˈĭk kĭnˈdrĕd), heavenly relationship.

=anˈguish= (ănˈgwĭsh), agony, distress.

=anˈi-mate= (ănˈĭ-māt), to enliven, inspire.

=anˈkus= (ănˈkŭs), an elephant goad.

=Anˈnoure= (ănˈōr), a sorceress of King Arthur’s time.

=an-nulˈ= (ăn-nŭlˈ), to cancel, abolish.

=a-nonˈ= (ȧ-nŏnˈ), soon.

=An-taeˈus= (ăn-tēˈŭs), a son of Poseidon. He was of gigantic size and

strength, and grew stronger as long as he touched his mother Earth.

=an-tagˈo-nist= (ăn-tăgˈō-nĭst), opponent.

=anˈte= (ănˈte᷵), to put up.

=anˈthem= (ănˈthĕm), a song of praise.

=an-ticˈi-pate= (ăn-tĭsˈĭ-pāt), to have a previous view of what is to

happen.

=anˈti-quatˌed= (ănˈtĭ-kwātˌĕd), old fashioned.

=anˈvil= (ănˈvĭl), a block usually of iron, steel faced, and of

characteristic shape, on which metal is shaped as by hammering or forging.

=apˈa-thy= (ăpˈȧ-thĭ), lack of feeling.

=aˈpex= (āˈpĕks), summit, point.

=apˈing= (āpˈĭng), mimicing, imitating.

=a-pocˌa-lypˈti-cal= (ȧ-pŏkˌȧ-lĭpˈtĭ-kăl), revealing.

=a-posˈtle= (ȧ-pŏsˈ’l), one of the twelve disciples of Christ, specially

chosen as his companions and witnesses, and sent forth to preach the

gospel.

=apˌos-tolˈic= (ȧpˌŏs-tŏlˈĭk), like one having a great mission.

=ap-pallˈing= (ă-pôlˈĭng), fearful, unusual.

=ap-parˈel= (ă-părˈĕl), clothing.

=ap-parˈent= (ă-pârˈĕnt), easily seen, seeming.

=apˌpa-riˈtion= (ăpˌȧ-rĭshˈŭn), ghost.

=apˌper-tainˈing= (ăpˌẽr-tānˈĭng), belonging to.

=apˈpli-ca-ble= (ăpˈlĭ-kȧ-b’l), suitable.

=ap-preˌci-aˈtion= (ă-prēˌshĭ-āˈshūn), valuation, estimate.

=apˌpre-hendˈ= (ăpˌre᷵-hĕndˈ), fear; seize.

=apˌpre-henˈsion= (ăpˌre᷵-hĕnˈshŭn), distrust, suspicion, fear.

=apˌpre-henˈsive= (ăpˌre᷵-hĕnˈsĭv), quick to learn or grasp.

=ap-proachˈ= (ă-prōchˈ), to draw near to stealthily.

=apˌpro-baˈtion= (ăpˌrō-bāˈshŭn), liking.

=apt= (ăpt), suitable.

=aptness to acts of violence=, tending to commit deeds of violence,

tendency to kill.

=Arˈa-bic= (ărˈȧ-bĭk), the Arabs’ language.

=arˈbi-tra-ry= (ärˈbĭ-tra᷵-rĭ), irresponsible.

=arˈbu-tus= (ärˈbu᷵-tŭs; är-būˈtŭs), a small trailing plant having

fragrant flowers.

=Arˌca-bu-ceˈro= (ärˌkä-bo̅o̅-thāˈrō), a soldier armed with firearms of

the middle fifteenth century.

=arˈchi-tect= (ärˈkĭ-tĕkt), master builder, designer.

=arˈchi-tecˌture= (ärˈkĭ-tĕkˌtu᷵r), art or science of building.

=arˈdent= (ärˈdĕnt), fervent, glowing.

=arˈdor= (ärˈdẽr), heat, zeal.

=arˈdu-ous= (ärˈdu᷵-ŭs), hard, difficult.

=arˈgent= (ärˈjĕnt), silver.

=A-riˈca= (ä-rĕˈkä), in Chile.

=Aˈri-el= (āˈrĭ-ĕl).

=Ar-maˈda= (är-māˈdä), a fleet; especially the great Spanish fleet

defeated by England in 1588.

=ar-maˈdos= (är-māˈdōs), large ships, battleships.

=arˈmor-er= (ärˈmẽr-ẽr), one who cleans and repairs the small arms or

iron parts on a ship.

=arms at the trail=, a military term, rifles carried at side in

horizontal position.

=arˈrack= (ărˈăk), liquor made from rice, or molasses, or the sap of

palms.

=arˈrant= (ărˈănt), downright.

=ar-rayˈ= (ă-rāˈ), order, dress.

=arˈro-gance= (ărˈō-găns), pride.

=arˈse-nal= (ärˈse᷵-năl), a public establishment for the storage or

manufacture of arms and military equipment.

=ar-tifˈi-cer= (är-tĭfˈĭ-sẽr), skilled worker.

=arˌti-fiˈcial-ly= (ärˌtĭ-fĭshˈă-lĭ), not genuinely.

=as-cendˈan-cy= (ă-sĕnˈdăn-sĭ), control, superiority.

=as-cendˈing= (ă-sĕndˈĭng), moving or climbing upward.

=asˌcer-tainˈ= (ăsˌẽr-tānˈ), find out for a certainty.

=as-cribˈing= (ăs-krībˈĭng), attributing, assigning.

=asˈpect= (ăsˈpĕkt), appearance.

=Asˈpi-net= (ăsˈpĭ-nĕt), an Indian chief.

=asˌpi-raˈtion= (ăsˌpĭ-rāˈshŭn), high desire.

=as-sailˈ= (ă-sālˈ), attack.

=as-sailˈant= (ă-sālˈănt), one that attacks.

=as-saultˈ= (ă-sôltˈ), attack.

=as-sertˈ= their lordship (ă-sûrtˈ), state their right to rule.

=as-simˌi-latˈing= (ă-sĭmˌĭ-lātˈĭng), resembling.

=as-suredˈ= (ă-sho̅o̅rdˈ), made sure.

=as-surˈed-ly= (ă-sho̅o̅rˈĕd-lĭ), certainly.

=Asˈta-roth= (ăsˈtȧ-rŏth), the Phoenician goddess of love.

=asthˈma= (ăzˈmȧ), a disease causing difficulty of breathing.

=Asˈto-lat= (ăsˈtō-lȧt), a name for Guildford, Surrey, England.

=astral lamp= (ăsˈtrăl), a kind of brilliant lamp.

=Atherfield= (ăthˈẽr-fēld).

=ath-letˈic= (ăth-lĕtˈĭk), strong, muscular.

=a-thwartˈ= (ȧ-thwôrtˈ), across.

=Atˈlas= (ătˈlăs), in Greek mythology, a god who bore up the pillars

which upheld the heavens.

=a-toneˈ= (ȧ-tōnˈ), to make satisfaction for.

=a-troˈcious= (ȧ-trōˈshŭs), wicked, terrible.

=a-trocˈi-ties= (ȧ-trŏsˈĭ-tĭz), savagely brutal deeds.

=at-tendˈance= (ă-tĕnˈdăns), service.

=atˌtenˈtive-ly scruˈti-nized= (ă-tĕnˌtĭv-lĭ skro̅o̅ˈtĭ-nīzd), examined

closely.

=atˈti-tude= (ătˈĭ-tŭd), posture or position.

=atˈtri-bute= (ăˈtrĭ-būt), quality.

=Auchmuty=, =Judge= (ŏkˈmu᷵-tĭ), British general (1756-1822).

=au-daˈcious= (ô-dāˈshŭs), impudent, daring.

=auˈdi-ble= (ôˈdĭ-b’l), actually heard.

=auˈdi-tor= (ôˈdĭ-tẽr), a hearer, listener.

=aug-mentˈed= (ôg-mĕntˈĕd), increased.

=auld= (ôld; äld), Scotch for old.

=aus-tereˈ= (ôs-tērˈ), stern, severe.

=au-thenˈtic= (ô-thĕnˈtĭk), real, trustworthy, true.

=auˌthen-ticˈi-ty= (ôˌthĕn-tĭsˈĭ-tĭ), genuineness.

=au-thorˈi-ta-tive= (ô-thŏrˈĭ-ta᷵-tĭv), commanding, positive.

=auˌto-bi-ogˈra-phy= (ôˌtō-bī-ŏgˈrȧ-fĭ), history of one’s life written by

himself.

=auˈto-crat= (ôˈtō-krăt), an absolute monarch.

=auˌto-cratˈic= (ôˌtō-krătˈĭk), absolute.

=au-tumˈnal= (ô-tŭmˈnăl), belonging to, or like autumn.

=aux-ilˈia-ry= (ôg-zĭlˈyȧ-rĭ), helper, assistant.

=a-vengedˈ= (ȧ-vĕnjdˈ), punished the injuring party.

=a-verseˈ= (ȧ-vẽrsˈ), disinclined, contrary.

=aversion=, =unbounded= (ȧ-vûrˈshŭn), unlimited dislike.

=A-vilˈion= (ȧ-vĭlˈyŏn), in Celtic mythology an earthly paradise in the

western seas where heroes were carried at death.

=avˌo-caˈtions= (ăvˌō-kāˈshŭnz), pursuits.

=a-vowˈal= (ȧ-vouˈăl), declaration.

=awed= (ôd), struck with great fear.

=Ayˈmer de Vaˈlence= (āˈmẽr da᷵ väˈlŏns).

=Ayr= (âr), a seaport in southwestern Scotland.

=A-zoresˈ= (ā-zōrzˈ), islands near and belonging to Portugal.

=azˈure= (ăzhˈu᷵r), sky-blue.

=Baˈal= (bāˈăl), a Phoenician god whose worship was attended by wild

revelry.

=babˈble= (băbˈ’l), utter unintelligible sounds, prattle.

=Babˌy-loˈni-an vauntˈing= (Băbˌĭ-lōˈnĭ-ăn väntˈĭng), referring to the

hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the world.

=bachˈe-lor= (băchˈē-lẽr), the lowest university degree.

=Bacon=, =Sir Francis=, English philosopher and statesman (1561-1626).

=bade= (băd), ordered, commanded.

=badge of his au-thorˈi-ty= (băj of his ô-thŏrˈĭ-tĭ), sign of his power.

=bafˈfled= (băfˈ’ld), defeated, thwarted.

=balˈdric= (bôlˈdrĭk), a broad belt, worn over one shoulder, across the

breast and under the opposite arm.

=balˈing= (bālˈĭng), dipping out water; making large bundles for shipping.

=balˈlast= (bălˈȧst), any heavy substance put into the hold of a ship to

sink it in the water.

=bam-booˈ= (băm-bo̅o̅ˈ), a woody kind of grass.

=Bancroft=, =George=, American historian.

=baneˈful= (bānˈfo͡ol), injurious, deadly.

=bang= (băng), a thump, a whack.

=bar=, an obstructing bank of sand.

=barb= (bärb), horse

=Barbary powers=, the countries on the north coast of Africa, from Egypt

to the Atlantic.

=bard= (bärd), a poet.

=barge= (bärj), a vessel or boat of state elegantly furnished and

decorated.

=bark= (bärk), a three-masted vessel.

=ba-roucheˈ= (bȧ-ro̅o̅shˈ), a four-wheeled carriage, with a falling top,

and two double seats on the inside.

=Barreˈ, Colonel= (bȧˈrāˈ), a British officer and politician.

=barˈren= (bărˈĕn), sterile, fruitless, empty.

=barˌri-cadeˈ= (bărˌĭ-kādˈ), a bar or obstruction.

=barˈter= (bärˈtẽr), to trade one article for another.

=basˈtions= (băsˈchŭnz), walls.

=Bath-sheˈba= (Băth-shēˈbȧ), the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 2 Samuel II.

=batˈten= (bătˈ’n), to fasten down with strips of wood.

=Baudˈwin= (bôdˈwĭn).

=beam-ends= (bēm-ĕndz), to lie upon the beam-ends, to incline, as a

vessel, so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.

=bear sway=, rule.

=Beauˈmains= (bōˈmānz).

=be-calmˈ= (be᷵-kämˈ), to stop the progress of the boat by lack of wind.

=be-daubedˈ= (bē-dôbdˈ), covered, coated.

=Bedˈi-vere= (bĕdˈĭ-vēr).

=beeˈtling= (bēˈtlĭng), projecting.

=be-fitsˈ the scene= (be᷵-fĭtˈ), suits or becomes the place.

=beget that golden time again=, recall to mind that wonderful time again.

=begˈgar de-scripˈtion=, phrase used to imply great magnificence.

=be-guiledˈ= (be᷵-gīldˈ), lured

=be-guilˈing= (be᷵-gīlˈĭng), whiling away.

=be-hests= (be᷵-hĕstsˈ), commands.

=be-hooveˈ= (be᷵-ho̅o̅vˈ), is proper for, suits.

=be-laˈbor-ing= (bē-lāˈbe᷵r-ĭng), thrashing.

=belaying pins= (bē-lāyˈĭng), strong cleats around which ropes are made

fast.

=belch= (bĕlch), to throw out.

=belˈfry= (bĕlˈfrĭ), room in a tower where a bell is hung.

=Bellˈi-cent= (bĕlˈĭ-sĕnt).

=bel-ligˈer-ent= (bĕ-lĭjˈẽr-ĕnt), warlike.

=belˈlow= (bĕlˈō), to roar, clamor.

=belˈlows= (bĕlˈōz), an instrument for blowing fires.

=be-neathˈ= (be᷵-nēthˈ).

=benˌe-dicˈtion= (bĕnˌe᷵-dĭkˈshŭn), blessing.

=benˌe-facˈtor= (bĕnˌe᷵-făkˈtẽr), one who does good.

=be-nefˈi-cence= (be᷵-nĕfˈĭ-sĕns), goodness.

=be-nevˈo-lent= (be᷵-nĕvˈō-lĕnt), kind.

=Ben-galˈ= (bĕn-gôlˈ), a division of British India.

=be-nignˈ= (be᷵-nīnˈ), of a kind disposition.

=be-nigˈnant= (be᷵-nĭgˈnănt), kind.

=Benˈwick= (bĕnˈĭk).

=be-reavedˈ= (be᷵-rēvdˈ), deprived.

=be-reaveˈment= (be᷵-rēvˈmĕnt), the loss of a loved one by death.

=Berˈnard, Francis, Sir= (bûrˈnȧrd).

=berˈserk= (bûrˈsûrk), a wild warrior of heathen times in Scandinavia.

=be-setˈ= (be᷵-setˈ), surrounded.

=be-stirsˈ him well= (be᷵-stûrzˈ), moves about briskly, or busily.

=be thy man=, be loyal to you as a vassal.

=be-trayˈ= (be᷵-trāˈ), to show or indicate.

=bevˈy= (bĕvˈĭ), flock.

=be-yondˈ perˌad-venˈture= (bē-yŏndˈ pĕrˌăd-vĕnˈtu᷵r), without doubt.

=beˈzoar= (bēˈzōr), a mineral matter found in the digestive organs of

certain animals, supposed to be an antidote for poison.

=biˈas= (bīˈăs), to prejudice, change.

=bickˈer-ing= (bĭkˈẽr-ĭng), wrangling.

=bide my time=, pass my life.

=bigˈot-ed= (bĭgˈŭt-ĕd), prejudiced, narrow minded toward others’

opinions.

=bi-ogˈra-phy= (bī-ŏgˈrȧ-fĭ), the written history of a person’s life.

=Bisˈcay-an= (bĭsˈkā-ăn), belonging to Spaniards of Biscay.

=bisˈcuit= (bĭsˈkĭt), hard-tack, a kind of hard sea bread baked in large

round cakes, without salt.

=biˈson= (bīˈsŭn), the buffalo.

=bite the dust=, to die on the battlefield.

=bitter east=, a cold, east wind.

=bivˈouac= (bĭvˈwăk), encampment of soldiers in the open air prepared for

fighting.

=blade= (blād), a wild fellow.

=Blake, Robert= (1599-1657), a British admiral.

=blared across the shalˈlows= (blârd across the shălˈōz), made a noise

like a trumpet across the shoals, or shallow places in the river.

=blastˈed= (blȧstˈed), withered or blighted.

=blazed= (blāzd), marked (a tree) by chipping off a piece of bark.

=blaˈzon= (blāˈz’n), a coat of arms.

=bleak= (blēk), without color, pale, barren.

=blench= (blĕnch), to draw back, shrink from.

=Bligh= (blī).

=blight= (blīt), to ruin, frustrate.

=Blighty= (blīˈtĭ), the British soldier’s slang for =home=.

=blitheˈsome= (blīthˈsŭm), cheery, gay.

=block chafes= (chāfs), anything goes wrong.

=blossom into melody=, break into song.

=blow= (blō), to blossom; =blows his nail=; blows on his fingers to warm

them.

=bluff= (blŭff), rough and hearty.

=boar= (bōr), a wild hog.

=boasts a crown=, is proud of its empire.

=bob-linˈcon=, bobolink, an American bird.

=Boche= (bōsh), a name given by the French to the German soldier.

=bodˈed ill= (bōdˈĕd), foretold ill.

=bog= (bŏg), swamp, marsh.

=boisterous rapidity= (boisˈtẽr-ŭs rȧ-pĭdˈĭ-tĭ), roaring rate.

=bomb= (bŏm; bŭm), a shell, especially a spherical shell, like those

fired from mortars.

=Bonˌa-ven-ˌture=ˈ (bōnˌă-vĕn-ˌtūrˈ), a ship of England’s fleet.

=bonny bird=, the fair lady.

=boon= (bo̅o̅n), favor; gay.

=bosˈom= (bo͡ozˈŭm), heart.

=botˈtoms= (bŏtˈŭmz), bed of river, valley.

=bounˈti-ful= (bounˈtĭ-fo͡ol), liberal, generous.

=bou-quetˈ= (bo̅o̅-kāˈ), a bunch of flowers.

=bour-geoisˈ= (bo̅o̅r-zhwȧˈ), head man.

=bow= (bou), the forward part of a vessel.

=bowˈer= (bouˈẽr), a lady’s private apartment.

=Boylsˈton= (boilzˈtŭn).

=Bra-bantˈ= (brȧ-băntˈ), a province of Belgium.

=brackˈish= (brăkˈĭsh), salt, distasteful.

=braes of broom= (brā, bro̅o̅m), hillsides covered with low shrubs

bearing yellow flowers.

=brake= (brāk), thicket.

=brand= (brănd), a burning piece of wood; sword.

=Branˈdi-les= (brănˈdĭ-lēz).

=brat= (brăt), a child.

=Brathˈwick= (brăthˈĭk).

=brawlˈing= (brôlˈĭng), quarreling noisily.

=breach= (brēch), an opening, a quarrel.

=breakˈer= (brākˈẽr), waves breaking into foam against the shore or reef.

=breastˈing= (brĕstˈĭng), forcing one’s way.

=breechˈes= (brĭchˈĕz), trousers.

=briˈer= (brīˈẽr), any plant with a woody stem bearing thorns or

prickles.

=brig= (brĭg), a two-masted vessel.

=bri-gadeˈ= (brĭ-gādˈ), a body of troops consisting of two or more

regiments.

=brigˈan-tine= (brĭgˈăn-tēn), a two-masted vessel, square rigged forward

and schooner rigged aft.

=brinˈdled= (brĭnˈd’ld), having dark streaks or spots on a gray or tawny

ground, streaked.

=bring him to knowledge= (nŏlˈĕj), recognize him.

=brink= (brĭnk), verge or edge.

=Britˈta-ny= (brĭtˈȧ-nĭ), formerly an independent province, now a part of

France.

=broached= (brōcht), uttered, put forth.

=broach-to=, to veer suddenly into the wind and expose the vessel to the

danger of capsizing.

=broad-sideˈ= (brôd-sīdˈ), broad surface of any object.

=Broadway=, a famous street in New York.

=broil=, a noisy quarrel.

=bronˈco= (brŏnˈkō), a small horse or pony.

=brook= (bro͡ok), to bear, endure.

=brought to bay=, brought to a standstill.

=brunt= (brŭnt), the force of a blow, shock.

=brutˈish= (bro̅o̅tˈĭsh), coarse, stupid.

=Brutus= (bro̅o̅ˈtŭs), a Roman politician and one of Cæsar’s slayers.

=bucˈca-neerˌ= (bŭkˈȧ-nērˌ), a robber, pirate.

=Buchˈan= (bŭkˈăn).

=Buckˈholm= (bŭkˈhōm).

=budgˈet= (bŭjˈĕt), stock, accumulation.

=bufˈfet= (bŭfˈĕt), blow.

=bullˈdozˌing= (bo͡olˈdōzˌĭng), restraining by threats or violence.

[Slang, U. S.]

=bulˈlied= (bo͡olˈĭd), intimidated or frightened.

=bulˈlion= (bo͡olˈyŭn), uncoined gold or silver.

=bulˈly-rag= (bo͡olˈĭ-răg), to scare by bullying.

=bulˈrushˌes= (bo͡olˈrŭshˌĕz), a kind of large rush growing in water.

=bulˈwark= (bo͡olˈwȧrk), the side of a ship above the upper deck; a

protecting wall, sea wall.

=bumpˈkin= (bŭmpˈkĭn), an awkward, heavy fellow.

=buoyˈant= (boiˈănt), tending to rise or float.

=buoyˈant-ly= (bouˈănt-lĭ), lightly.

=burˈgess= (bûrˈjĕs), a resident of a town.

=burghˈer= (bûrˈgẽr), a freeman of a borough, an enfranchised male

citizen.

=Burˈgo-masˌter= (bûrˈgō-mȧsˌtẽr), the chief magistrate of a town in

Holland.

=bur-lesqueˈ= (bûr-lĕskˈ), droll, treated ridiculously as a caricature.

=burˈnish= (bûrˈnĭsh), to make bright, to polish.

=burˈthen= (bûrˈth’n), burden.

=busˈkin= (bŭsˈkĭn), a covering for the foot coming some distance up the

leg.

=buttes= (būts), hills, small mountains.

=buxˈom= (bŭkˈsŭm), plump and rosy.

=by sheer weight= (shēr), by the very weight, by weight alone.

=Byles, Mather= (bīlz), American clergyman.

=Caer-leˈon= (kär-lēˈŏn), a town in south-western England, the

traditional seat of King Arthur’s court.

=ca-lamˈi-ties= (kă-lămˈĭ-tēz), misfortunes, disasters.

=Caˌla-veˈras= (käˌlȧ-vāˈrȧs), a county in central California.

=calˈcu-late= (kălˈku᷵-lāt), expect, plan, reckon.

=Calˈi-ban= (kălˈĭ-băn).

=calˈklated=, dialect for =calˈcu-late= (kălˈkûlāt).

=calm= (käm), freedom from motion, quiet.

=calˈthrop= (kălˈthrŏp), steel spike.

=Camˈel-iard= (kămˈĕl-yärd), the home of Leodogran.

=Camˈe-lot= (kămˈe᷵-lŏt), a legendary spot in southern England where

Arthur was said to have had his court and palace.

=Campˈbell, Thomˈas= (kămˈĕl; kămˈbĕl).

=canˈdid= (kănˈdĭd), fair, just.

=canˈo-py= (kănˈō-pĭ), covering, shelter.

=canˈyon= (kănˈyŭn), a deep valley with high, steep slopes.

=ca-paˈcious= (kȧ-pāˈshŭs), broad, large.

=ca-pacˈi-ty= (kȧ-păsˈĭ-tĭ), ability, power, position, extent of room or

space.

=caˈper= (kāˈpẽr), =cutting a caper=, to leap about in a frolicsome

manner.

=capˈi-tal= (kăpˈĭ-tăl), stock of accumulated wealth; seat of government.

=ca-priˈcious= (kȧ-prĭshˈŭs), fitful, whimsical.

=carˈcas-ses= (kärˈkȧs-ĕz), dead bodies, of beasts.

=cardˈed= (kärˈdĕd), made ready for spinning by the use of a card.

=ca-reerˈing= (kȧ-rērˈĭng), moving or running rapidly.

=carˈi-bou= (kărˈĭ-bo̅o̅), a species or kind of reindeer found in North

America and Greenland.

=carol so madly=, sing so joyfully.

=Carˈrick= (kărˈĭk).

=carˈtridge= (kärˈtrĭj), a case or shell holding a complete charge for a

firearm.

=caseˈment= (kāsˈmĕnt), a hinged window sash.

=case under native rule=, if the people of India ruled themselves.

=casˈu-al= (kăzhˈu᷵-ăl), occasional, happening without design.

=catˈa-ract= (kătˈȧ-răkt), a great fall of water over a precipice.

=ca-tasˈtro-phe= (kȧ-tăsˈtrō-fe᷵), disaster, calamity, misfortune.

=ca-theˈdral= (kȧ-thēˈdrăl), the church which contains the bishop’s

official chair or throne.

=cauld= (kawld), Scotch for =cold=.

=causeˈway= (kôzˈwā), a raised road over wet ground.

=cauˈtious= (kôˈshŭs), watchful, wary, careful.

=cavˌal-cadeˈ= (kăvˌăl-kādˈ), a procession of persons on horseback.

=cavˌa-lierˈ= (kăvˌȧ-lērˈ), a leader in the party of King Charles I;

knight, gallant.

=ca-vortˈing= (kȧ-vôrtˈĭng), prancing.

=cavˈi-ty= (kăvˈĭ-tĭ), a hollow place.

=cay= (kā), Spanish for =quay=.

=ceased= (sēst), stopped, left off.

=ceaseˈless= (sēsˈlĕs), without stop.

=ce-lesˈtial= (se᷵-lĕsˈchăl), heavenly, divine.

=cenˈsure= (sĕnˈshu᷵r), disapproval, hostile criticism, blame.

=century-circled=, with circles showing one hundred years’ growth.

=cerˈe-mo-ny= (sĕrˈe᷵-mō-nĭ), a formal act laid down by custom.

=ce-ruˈle-an= (se᷵-ro̅o̅ˈle᷵-ăn), deep blue.

=ces-saˈtion= (sĕ-sāˈshŭn), a stop.

=chafed= (chāft), rubbed so as to wear away; irritated.

=chafˈfer= (chăfˈeẽr), bargain, haggle.

=chaˈos= (kāˈŏs), confused mixture, yawning chasm.

=cha-otˈic= (ka᷵-ŏtˈĭk), confused.

=chalˈlenge= (chălˈĕnj), act of defiance.