23. 24. Over the housetops, over the street, Over the heads of the people you meet; Dancing, Flirting, Skimming along, Beautiful snow! it can do nothing wrong. Pure as an angel and fickle as love!-Jas. W. Watson Labor is rest from the sorrows that greet us- A life on the ocean wave, A home on the rolling deep, On this dull, unchanging shore; The spray and the tempest's roar !—Sargent. 25. Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, 26. There's a game much in fashion-I think it's called euchre (Though I never have played it for pleasure or lucre)- 27. There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, By the deep sea, and music in its roar; To mingle with the universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. -Byron. 28. Hark! they whisper; angels say, Sister spirit, come away! 29. What is this absorbs me quite Steals my senses, shuts my sight, Drowns my spirit, draws my breath? Tell me, my soul! can this be death?—Pope. Flake after flake, They sink in the dark and silent lake.-Bryant. 30. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber. door. ""Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door Only this, and nothing more."-Poe. RHETORIC AND LITERATURE. THE principles of Rhetoric should be applied in the study of Literature. Both Grammar and Rhetoric are designed not only to enable us to express ourselves in accordance with the best usage of reputable authors, but also to interpret intelligently and correctly the language of these authors, comprehend clearly all their historical, mythological, or literary allusions, and appreciate fully their depth of thought, accuracy of expression, and beauty of style. The study of literary productions, whether poetry or prose, should be analytic, embracing a logical application of the principles of both Grammar and Rhetoric. The following brief study of Holmes's Chambered Nautilus will suggest a plan that may be followed with profit. It is a plan that may be enlarged upon and varied by the teacher to suit the requirements of the selection and the demands of the student. The result of such a critical study of masterpieces in literature is to make the student careful in his own use of the principles heretofore presented, while it also trains him to judge accurately of the real merits of literary productions, and creates in him a love for such literary work as most nearly approaches perfection. THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS. Note. This charming poem-of which Dr. Holmes, the author, has said, "If you will remember me by the Chambered Nautilus, your memory will be a monument I shall think more of than any bronze or marble"-is not so familiar to students of literature as its beautics merit. The author of this work has made the selection of the poem for study, partly because it is a favorite, but chiefly because its beauty will well repay the labor of careful study and critical analysis. Let the student first refer to a cyclopædia for a description of the nautilus, in order that he may the better understand and appreciate the allusions made by the poet. This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings And the coral-reefs lie bare, Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair. ANALYSIS.-Scan the poem carefully. Name the prevailing foot. Name the meter of each line in the first stanza. Is the same metrical arrangement found in all the stanzas ? Line 1. Is ship of pearl literal or figurative language? Explain the expression poets feign. What kind of clause rhetorically? What kind of modifier is which sails the unshadowed main? 2. main.-Parse the word; give its government. 3. Pronounce venturous as it occurs in the line. Give the case of bark. To what does bark refer? What figure on bark? 4. sweet summer wind.-Why sweet? What figure? purpled wings.-Has the nautilus wings? Note.-Purpled doubtless refers to the color of the membrane which serves as a sail. 5. What is meant by In gulfs enchanted? What by where the siren sings? 6. Supply the ellipsis. What kind of adjective is bare? 7. What is meant by sea-maids? What are coral-reefs? Explain their formation. Rewrite the stanza in well-constructed prose, supplying such words as are omitted by poetic license. II. Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl,- And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell, Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! 8. Is living gauze literal or figurative? To what does it refer? Change the expression to a simile. Parse the word more. Why no more unfurl in preference to no longer unfurl? 9. Why is this sentence reversed? What figure in the line? 10. Point out the figure in this line. 11. Point out the figure. sion. What is the meaning of was wont? Give an equivalent expres 12. What is meant by the frail tenant? 14. irised ceiling.-What figure? What is the literal meaning here of irised ceiling rent? Give the meaning of its sunless crypt unsealed. Is the expression literal or figurative? III. Year after year beheld the silent toil That spread his lustrous coil; Still, as the spiral grew, He left the past year's dwelling for the new, Stole with soft step its shining archway through, Built up its idle door, Stretched in his last found home, and knew the old no more. Note.-In Stanza III. the poet shows beautifully how the nautilus passes from the smaller to the greater coils as it grows and develops. 15. Give the grammatical construction of Year after year. |