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In
NOTES:
EXPLANATOUY, SUGGESTIVE, AND Clll
TICAL.
ON THE
Literature Selections
FOK THIRD CLASS TEACHERS' NON-PROFESSIONAL
EXAMLVATIOAS, 1887.
BT
J. E. WELLS, M.A.,
Late Friticipal of Woodstock College.
TORONTO :
W. J. GAGE & COMPANY.
£r,:::rrr:rr:irr/r-r
"■'He';^^
1-
PREFACE.
T^HIS little work will, it la bolieved, be toumi to meet a felt
want, and to serve a useful and legitimate purpose. In
the study of a series of eighteen or twenty extracts and selec-
tions from the works of as many diflFerent authors, it is not to be
expected that the ordinary student will have within reach the
means of informing himself on the many points of inquiry and
difficulty that constantly arise. In the crowded state of the
programme and amid the pressing duties of the schoolroom, the
teacher can not reasonably be expected to find time to answer
all inquiries and solve all difficulties as they present themselves^
Both teacher and student must constantly feel the need of a
manual such as is herewith furnished.
In the use of literary selections for educational purposes, the
first and chief aim of the skilled teacher will be to have his pupil
read intelligently and with appreciation, In the preparation of
these Notes that fundamental principle has been kept coustantly
in view. Explanations, questions, suggestions an.' "iticisms
have been so framed, it is hoped, as to stimulate and guide the
student in his own earnest eflForts, rather than in any measure to
supersede the necessity for such efforts. Whatever appears in
the form of direct statement will be found to be matters of fact,
explanations of allusions, etc., which are essential to full under-
standing of the text and in regard to which, it may be assumed,
the means of information are not generally available.
In addition to the standard dictionaries, enc^lopjedias, and
histories, to which free recourse has been had, the author has
especially to acknowledge his iadebtedaess to Phillips' excellent
work on English Literature for many of the aritieal oBiaieBa
appended to the Notes.
lil
u
NOTES
ox TKE
LITERATURE S ELECTIOiXS
Fob the Non-Profehsioxal Examinations fok Third
Class Teachers' Certificates, 1887.
NO. XV.-THE GOLDEN SCALES.
ADDlSOy.
Joseph Aciai3on was born at Milston, Wiltshire, England, in
lf.72 H,8 father was an f-minent clergyman of the Church of
Englaml The son, after preparation in various schools, entered
Oxford University, at the age of fifteen. In collogo he specially
distinguished himself in Latin versification. His father had
intended him for the church, but various influcncs drew him into
literature and politics. Having won the favor of influential
patrons, especially Lord Somers, to whom he dedicated a poom
on one of King William's campaigns, he received in 1G99 a
pension of £300 a year. He shortly afterwards set out upon an
extended European tour, remaining in France long enou^di to
perfect himself in the French language, and visiting also Italy
Switzerland and Germany. In Italy he wrote his charming
•Letter" to Lord Halifax. He returned to England in mi,
and in the following year wrote "Blenheim, " at the requost of the
Ministry of the day. This triumphal poem pleased his patrons,
especially Lord Godolphin, immensely, and secured its author
even before the completion of the second half, the appointment
of Commissioner of Appeals. Addison afterwards was made
Under-Secretary of State, and two or three years later went to
Ireland as Secretary to the Lord Lieute ant, but his extreme
2 Notes ok Literature Seieotfons.
quieter ..z orZa":;" rnr:° tr'^^t '- '"
a„,l r„,„e „il, always be infeparably 1 Ltd tfth'li ' ''°''"
JO,,™.!, ,..,,ieh owe, to hi. far n.ora'tha„ rat/ , ef ITX
tor its pieemmeuce. " Thp OnM « o i „ . -^ '^""'^'^ '-■^"'^nou-
exquisite essays he wrote for ^tIw " °"° °' ""^ """"y
and the most'origina a:d dlhtW «" al n™"'" f "" ^^™''
t..ose i„ which I Roger de ct L^ ^X'^^ZZ H
%"-, L, this impersonation and th'e sX ilry Zlt
An.Irew Froeport and Will Honeycombe Ad,1i,„,, I
Plished the great literary feat of embLyinf fi t Xr"";
character which will liv« »« i xu nctioii typea of
out, ^^;^jz ^z:z Err:!' tr
not stood the tests of time and later eriticism ' * '""
Addison married in 1716, the Dowager-Countess of Warwick
b„t the union was not a happy one. He died at Holland hZ
Kensmgton, 1719. His verse is wanting in some of ft! rT'
Of the highest Cass of poetry, but his profe i" aZys excel S In'
the words of a recent writer, "ho has given a delieaoTt ' Zt, f
eentnnent, and a modesty to English wit "^ ",°*"J' '" English
^.efore. Elegance, whie^ 1„ Cll: s 'h d^^e?';::
Cttfui^pL^^.^r. :;itr' '- Trr "' - "»'«- ■""•
F ^y. nis style, too, is perfect after its kind n^u
are many nobler and grander forms of express on L p' p?
Ltoature than A,'s. but there are none co'^ab b ^t
sweetness, propriety and natural dignity "If Ad 1 '"
J^.ety^of^the fashions, vices and ahsurlSies wUh'^h-ch-h:!^::
Notes on Literature Selections.
8
cal office or
ived in the
a frequent
established,
acellany in
on's name
ihis unique
r contribu-
the many
tJie series,
itions, are
le central
les of Sir
as accom-
typea of
veil them
Guardian
uspended
i<nbitiou8
b brought
, but has
i^arwick,
i House,
qualities
llent. In
English
er knew
een the
)cate of
ign and
Thire
English
:o it in
Idison's
entury,
tuodern
» he so
Page 88. Homer's Balance.— Iliad, bk. VIII, lines 66-77.
" While yet 'twas morn and wax'd the youtliful day,
Thick flew the shafts and fast the people fell
(»n either side, but when the sun htd reach'd
The middle Heav'n, th' Eternal Father hung
His j;rolden Scales aluft, and placed in each
The fatal death-lot ; for the sons of Troy
The one, the other for the bra!*s-clad Greeits ;
Then held them by the midst ; down sank the lot
Of Greece, down to the (,'round, while hijjh aloft
Mounted the Trojan Scale and rose to Heav'n.
Then loud he bade the volleying thunder peal
From Ida s heij^hts ; and mid the Grecian ranks
He hurl'd his flashinjj lightning; at the 8i<rht -^
Aiiiaz'd they stood, and, pale with terror, shook."
— Derby's ranslati'
Cf. also Iliad, bk. XVII, 11. 209-213, where we are told that
during the memorable combat between Hector and Achilles,
" ' a' Eternal Father hung
His golden scales aloft, jnd plac'd in each
The lots of doom ; for great Achilles one ;
For Hector one, and held them by the midst.
Down t^ank the scale weighte I with Hector's death,
Down to the shades, and Phoebus kft hia side."
—Ibih.
Lord Derby observes that Jove is represented by Homer as
giving the victory to the party whose scale "rose to Heaven,"
wliile Milton reverses the picture and representsthe sign of tlie one
destined to be vanquislftd as '* kicking the beam." But may not
the difference be explained by reference to that which was in
each case put into the scale. In Homer, it was the "death-lot,"
the " lot of doom," which was weighed and naturally enough that
of the one about to be vanquished brings down the scale. In
Milton on the otlier hand, it was the '* sequel of parting or of
light," or as appears below ("where thou art weighed") the
symbols of the combatants themselves, which were put into the
scales, that which proved the lighter being the precursor of defeat.
Page 88. Hector. — The son of Priam and Hecuba, King and
Queen of Troy. He was the bravest warrior in the Trojan army,
and the animating spirit of its heroic defence during the ten
years' siege by the Greeks. Having £iially slain Patroclus, the
fiieiid of Achillea, tliC latter, forgetting his resentment against
Agameinnuii, the Grecian Commander-in-Chief, took up arms to
avenge his fallen comrade, met and slew Hector, and dragged his
bodjr in triumph around the tomb of Patroclus. King Priam
4 KoTEa ON Literature Selections.
afteiwanls succeode.l in ransoming the body of his son «n^
caus^-l it to be buried with great pomp. ' ^°^
Achilles—The famous hero of Homer's Iliad. He was the son
of Peleu. a n.ythioal King of Thessaly. and Thetis, a godd ss of
the sea descended fron. Zeus or Jupiter, '< Fathe; of'g ds Id
men. Having quarrelled with Agamemnon, who took from h m
his beautiful captive Briseis, Achilles withdrew in sullen
resentment, and for a long time refused to take any part InZ
war^ In oonsequeuce of the absence of their redoubtable warrio
the Greeks sustained a series of defeats, until at last the slaving
of hxs fnend Patroclus, who had rashly donned the terdb f
Ach r ' armour in the hope of frightening the Trojans, r used
, Achilles toavenge his death. Many later myths grew up around
he name of Achilles, such as that of his ifaving' b" rth b" n
aipped by his mother in the river Styx, to rende'r him invu W
able, after which the only vulnerable spot in his body was Z
heel by which he had been held during the process.
A passage of Virgil.— /Eneid. bk. XII. 725-7:
''Jo^ e sets the beam. In either scale he lavs
The champion s fate, and each exactly wViX
On th,8 SK e life, ami lucky chance ascends.
Loaded with death that other scale descend^"
Turnus-A King of the Rutulians. an ancient Italian tribe
lurnus was a rival of ^neas for the hand of Lavinia the
daug ter of King Latinus. Resisting the settlemea o^' th
exiled Irojans in Italy, he was slain by .Eneas
^neas. -The hero of Virgil's .Eneid. and mythical ancestor
of the lioman race. He was. according to Homer, the so lo
Anchisesand the goddess Venus, and his exploits during the w^
rank hun next to Hector amongst Trojan heroes. According t^
Virgil he escaped from Troy when it was captured by 'he
Btratagem of the wooden horse, and after many wanderings and
adventures, in the course of which ho landed in Thrace, Cre^e
and feicily, and was driven by a storm to Carthage, he mlde h !
way to Italy and married Lavinia. daughter of K^ng La i "t by
whon. he had a son .^...3 Sylvius, who was the aifcestor of 'tLe
Kings of Alba Longa, and of Romulus and Remus
Those noble passages of Scripture. -See Daniel, Chap. V,
son, and
as the son
;o(ldess of
gods and
from him
in sullen
irt in the
5 warrior,
le slaying
I terrible
s, roused
p around
ith been
invuluer-
was the
n tril)e.
"a, the
of the
tncestor
son of
ihe war
ding to
by the
ga and
, Crete
ade his
I us, by
of the
ip- v.
Notes on Literature SELKCTioxg. 6
Weighing the mountains, etc. -See Job XXVIII, 2.> • Is
XL, 12'; P,ov. X\ I, 2 ; Ps. LXII, 9, etc.
The Eternal. -This passage is from Paradise Lost, bk. IV.
near the end.
His golden scales. -Libra, the balance, the seventh of the
signs of the Zodiac.
Pendulous.— Lat. Pendeo, to hang.
Earth.— Explain grammatical construction.
Ponders.-Lat. Pondo, to weigh. Is the word used here
literally or in its usual figurative sense? Give reasons for
answer. W liat connective word or words would you supply.
Page 89. Battles and realms. -Are these words in apposition
with events, or grammatically coordinate ? If the latter, do you
approve of the punctuation ? '
The Sequel each.-Explain the exact meaning. Does each in
strict propriety express that meaning ? Give reasons for your
answer.
Though doubled now. -To what do mine and thine refer '
^ote carefully the meaning of doubled before decidincr
Nor more.— Supply the ellipsis. °
Methought.-Preterite of the imper.sonal wefhinlcs, much uPcd
by writers in Addison's time and before, now falling into disuse
Daily entertain. -In the columns of the Spectator. Addison's
essays dealt largely with moral questions.
Essay. -What is the meaning here? Give other meanings
and trace the transitions of thought.
Page 90. Do not exert their natural gravity till, etc —
Explain the thought conveyed in this sentence, freed froni
allegorical form.
^ Vanity. -Addison had no doubt in mind tlie first chapters oi
Ecclesiastes, and similar teachings of Scripture.
Avarice and poverty. -Note carefully the' valuable truths
contained in this and parallel .dauses. A man's poverty is
exactly measured by his avai • -e. The miser is in abject poverty
with millions in his chest. Follow out the thought with other
pairs of antithetical words.
One particular weight.— Cf. II. Cor. IV., 17.
6
Notes on Literature Selections.
Page 91 A thousand times more, etc.-Wl,at do you under,
stand Addison to mean here ? How does/a.7/. a<lded to moralUy
increasff the weight of the latter a thousand fold ? Follow out
the explanation in tha case of wit and judgmmt, and other
particulars named.
Impertinence—Used here in its literal sense. What is that v
Page 92. The first trial—That of wisdom and riches. Note
the veUed humor in this and the following contrasts of this
paragraph. The effect is heightened in this case by the smallness
of the com mentioned.
Tekel.— See Daniel, V., 27.
The student will do well to study for himself Addison's style.
It may be helpful to read the following criticisms and compare
with his own conclusions :
His sentences have neither studied amplitude nor affected
brevity ; h.s periods, though not diligently Joundsd, are voluble
and easy. W hoever wisl es to attain an English stWe fam ia
but not coarse and elegant but not o.tentaL„s,7ust S^^^
days and nights to the volumes of AMhon.-Johnson. ^
The style of Addison is adorned by the female graces of
elegance and irnXdnQs^.—Gibbon. . graces oi
Addison's writings a'-e the pure source of classical style • men
never spoke better i„ England. Ornaments abound, and neJe
has rhetoric a share in them. He saems to be listening to
himself. He IS too measured and correct.— 7'ame ^- "^ ^^
NO. XXII. -FROM "THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD."
GOLDSMIin.
OUver Goldsmith was born in the small village of Pallas in
Ireland, in 1728. His father was a Protestant clergyman of some
literary ability. His mother was daughter of a clergyman who
was master of a school at Elphin. When Oliver was about two
years old the family removed to Lissoy, in the County of
Westmeath, At six years of age Goldsmith was sent to the
village school, presided over by the sohoohnaster whose pedantry
and sterimeM he aftprwards portrayed in his " Deserted Village."
After sevenl years of boarding-school life during which he
Notes cn Litkhatuue Selections.
earned the reputation of "a stupid, heavy blockhead," he was
admitted a Sizar in Trinity College, Dublin, 1740. Here he further
distinguished himself by irregularity and glaring insubordination.
At one time, mortified by a flogging recei- d in the presence of
some acquaintances, he ran away, and led for a time the life of a
vagrant, but his brother's persuasions finally prevailed upon him
to return to college. He graduated B.A. at the foot of his class
ia 1749. He now contemplated the professions of teaching,
divinity, and law in succession, but his tendencies to idleness,
conviviality, and vagrancy, effectually debarred him fromser.ous
study for either. His schemes and resolves generally ended in
some escapade in which he spent all his money, and from which he
returned home in rags, to be again set up by the generous and
indulgent uncle who provided for him. In 1752, at his own
solicitation this uncle sent him to Edinburgh, to study medicine.
Here he remained about a year and a half, still displaying the
same dissipated recklessness. His uncle still providing for him,
he next went to the University of Leyden, in Holland, to com-
plete his medical studies. Here his gambling propensities found
too congenial and stimulating an atmosphere, and in 1755 he left
Holland, and without a shilling in his pocket, began his pedesLi ian
tour of Europe, travelling through France, Germany, Switzerland
and Italy, with no means of defraying his expenses except his
education and his flute. The former gained him admission to tl.e
institutions of learning where, he says, "I could converse on
topics of literature, and then I always forgot the meanness of my
circumstances." The flutii secured him food and lodgings from
the peasantry. In 175G he managed to roach England again, in
poverty and rags. During the next eight years he tried
unsuccessfully to practice as a physician, served as chemist's
clerk, boarding-school usher, and bookseller's drudge. He
now, however, began to write stories, criticisms and other
contributions for the Magazines, and gradually made his way till
he found himself in possession not only of the means of livelihood,
bnt of literary distinction. He became p-cquainted with eminent
men, amongst others Dr. Johnson, who became his "guide,
philosoplier and fiiei.d, helping him to pay his debts, critici.siii"
his . productions, and aiding in their publication," In 1704 he
8
Notes on Litehature Selections.
Johnson took to tl,c l,„„k,olle,, and thus obtained nonlv to
pay Its author's landlady. " Tho Deserted Vill , ", ^
1.0J,aud krfahation," m 1774. These two and the''Travpl
e,-," are Ooldsunth's best poetical pvo-Iuctiona. nlti. ht
hand at two o,- three drau.atic pieces, of which the we -known
omcdy "She stoops to Conciuer," was „,„st successful "Z
Knghan, 1 I,„mo ami Greece, are amongst his prose productions
but the l,e.t known „f these and that by which he wirheTo !1 J
If'"™!;:.: '""' '"■" ^'"'^ "- -"-' '» '^t-. " x-e w
the end. As his debts became more ami more oppre^ive he
grew despondent, morose and irritable. Ho died 1/1774
char "'■ ^"•""^-'^''^ ^i^ -»-<• daughter and third
Mr. B"rche'l.--AfriendwhohadsavedSophiafroradrowni„<r
and „. whom she had becon.e interested, but who had ofTeLZ t|f^
ianrdy by too much candor in giving good advice, and htl S t,;:
Our Landlord. -A worthless young rake.
Piquet, (pi-ket).-A game of cards for two persons
Ate short and crisp. -Are the adjectives proper here or
should aaverbs have b. caused? Give reasons ^ ' ''^'^' ''^
Page 128. Olivia.-The eldest daughter and second child of
the faniily. • '-"uu oi
Whichwas tallest-See Mason's Grammar. Ill ijo Th. '
n,o..esof EnglLsh Sy.tax were not always observed,' or perhan
had scarcely been ehtburate.l, in Goldsmith's day. ^ ^
Which she thought impenetrable. -The si.nplicity of the
\ic.rs wie and her constant use of the n.osfc t.a^..pue t
art.hces wUhout a suspicion that any observer could so hX
them. 13 one of the most humorous features of the sto y ^
Notes on Litvihature Selections.
d
third
Limner. — An old term used to denote an artist, especially a
painter of portraits or miniatures, connected perhaps with Latin
i'lumino.
And I said much. — The poor Vicar is engaged throughout in a
'eeble and hopeless struggle against the vanity and weakness of
his wife and daughters.
Page 129. Independent historical figures.— Let the student
not fail to note the incongruities in the characters grouped
together in the picture, as well as in their costumes. Venus, in
diamonds, receiving a theological work in advocacy of monogamy
from a clergyman in canonicals, with an Amazon in a gold-laced
dress sitting beside her, would, it will be seen, constitute a unique
historical group.
Venus. — The Roman goddess of lovo, a favorite subject for
ancient artists.
Cupids. — Cupid was one of the gods of Roman mythology,
sometimes represented as the son of Venus, and sometimes
as having sprung like Venus herself from the foam of the sea.
Prom the original mythical Cupid sprung in the later mythology
a legion of little Cupi»..>. The typical Cupid is a chubby child
fitted with wings and armed with bow, aiTows, and quiver. He is
often represented with a bandage over his eyes. His love-darts
could pierce not only the hearts of young men and maidens, but
fishes at the bottom of the sea, the birds of the air, and even the
gods on high Olympus.
Whistonian Controversy. —William Whiston was an eccentric
and whimsical, but no doubt honest, clergyman of the 17th
century. He was prosecuted in the church courts for having in
his writings promulgated opinionswhich were deemvid unorthodox.
The Vicar, in Chap. II., describes himself as having in his
sprmons strenuously maintained with Whiston, tfcat it was
unlawful for a priest of the Church of England, after the death
of his first wife, to take a second. The humor ot the historical
picture is heightened by the presentation of the defence of
monogamy to the heathen goddess,
Amazon. — The Amazons were, according to a very ancient
tradition, a nation of female warriors who suffered no men to
remain in their state.
10 Notes on Literature Selections.
Moses.— The second son and fourth child of the family.
Page 130. Fix— Is this word correctly used? Note its com-
mon misuse in our day.
Page m. Who came as friends to tell us, etc.-Note the
veiled sarcasm on a very common foible.
Too much cumiing.-The feeble scruples of the poor Vicar
are, as usual, overborne by the stronger personalities and less
•^c- upulous ambition of wife and daughter.
Page 131. It was then resolved. -Note the wrong position of
the adverb in this sentence and others. The then is clearly
mtended to modify ter^i/^,, not resolved, and should have been
placed after the latter and in juxtaposition with t..e former word,
rhis question of the proper position of adverbs and other quali-
fying words in our uninflectcd language is not. like many minor
grammatical questions, a matter in regard to which there is
danger of being finical. It is closely related to the clear and exact
expression of thought, and properly receives now from careful
writers more attention than it did in Goldsmith's day
If he did rot prevent it. -Do you approve the punctuation of
this sentence ?
As well as the novelty.-The Vicar's wife is, of course
impervious to this ironical thrust, as she is to the evasiveness and
msmcenty with which Mr. Thornhill parries her questions in the
conversation which follows.
The student should not fail to read, if possible, the whole story,
which 18 not lengthy. Subjoined are a' few opinions Mhich he
may profitably compare with his own independent judgments :
prSent'^^av "of "^ilTl?^ "^^^^e&eU " (1776) is best known at the
flwll- K- ^ ^ /^ ^•''^^f °^ *'^® Johnsonian Age, and will
ZlAlilTaJ;: ^^"™P^-*y-d delicate humolLpL^^']
With that sweet story of « The Vicar of Wakefield " he has
-ZethT'' "*° '"^''^ '''''' *"^ «-^y ^--l«t in Europe!
^l'^Xf^!^t^^-^'^^^? .f™'* °^ *^« narrative, as well a., th/
Notes on Litkrature Selections.
11
-n
Look ye now, for one moment, at the deep and delicate humor
of Goldsmith. How at his touch the venial infirmities and
vanity of this good " Vicar of \Vakefield," live lovingly before
the mind's eye. — Whipj)le.
"A prose idyl," somewhat spoiled by phrases too rhetorical,
but at bottom as homely as a Flemish picture. — Taine.
The irresistible charm this novel possesses, evinces how much
mny be done without the aid of extravagant incident to excite
the imagination and interest the feelings. — Washington Irving.
There is as much human nature in the character of the Vicar
alone, as would have furnished any fifty novels of that day, or
this. — William Black. ^-
NO. XLV.— "UNTHOUGHTFULNESS."
DR, ARNOLD.
Thomas Arnold, D.D., for many years Head Master of Rugby
School, was born in 1795 at West Cowes, Isle of Wight. At
about twelve years of age he was sent to Winchester Public
School. Four years later he was elec^od a scholar of Corpus
Christi College, Oxford. In 1815 he was elected fellow of Oriel
College. In this year and in 1817, he gained the Chancellor's
prize for the two university essays, Latin and English. About
ten years after graduation were spent in quiet and comparative
obscurity at Laleham, where he occupicl himself M'ith preparing
students for the university. Here he commenced his great
literary work, the History of Borne.
He was appointed to the Head Mastership of Rugby, in 1828.
The system of public education which he perfected while here,
will perpetuate his fame and influence so long as the work of
Public School education is carried on in the English-speaking
world.
To enter into a description of that system would require too
much space for this brief note. Amongst its many excellencies,
the method of moral government which he introduced and used
with wonderful success is the crowning one. His great reliance
was UT»on the /m?j/?c oiiinion of the school-, and that oTiinion he
moulded at the same time that he trusted it. '• In the higher
forms," says his biographer, "any attempt at farther proc^ -^f an
12
Notes o^ Liteuature Selectic
ma.
assertion was immediately chpcked." "If you Bay so, that
ia quite enough ; of course I believe your wonl." There grew
up ,n consequence a general feeling that it was . shame to toll
ArnoW a he-" he always believes one. " The fact is very familiar,
but It 18 invaluable in its suggestiveness to teachers, or those abont
to become teachers. In politics Dr. Arnold was an active but
broad-mi^nded Whig. In the church too ho was distinguished for
the breadth and liberality of his views. He was for a short time
on the Senate of London University. In the year 184" he
was appointed to the Regius Professorship of Modern History at
Oxford, but his sudden death from heart disease cut short his
labors and prospects in the summer of that year.
Every teacher should read the Life and Correspondence of
Arnold, m -^
Page 227.-Thi8 lesson requires little in the M-ay of note
or comment for its elucidation, though there is much, both in the
thoughts themselves, and in the mode of their presentation
which 18 worthy of close and careful study. It may be well to
call attention to a few rhetorical points by way of suggestion.
The state of spiritual folly.— To tie ouiselves down by rigid
rhetorical rules, is not the be&t way in which to develop freedom
force, or individuality, in thinking or in style. Yet, there are
certain principles easily deducible from the practice of the best
speakers and writers which are worthy of attention. One of
these is that the opening sentence of an address or essay, should
ordinarily be terse and pointed, and should be made, if possible
to embody an important statement calculated to fix the attention
at once, and to give the key note of the train of thought which is
to follow. Note how eflFectively this is done in the opening
sentence of this lecture. -
And the opposite belief.-Study carefully the important
distincti made in this sentence, and the admirable chain
of reasoning by which it is supported in the rest of the paragraph
It will well repay the atudeut to analyze this lecture, paragraph
by paragraph, and to write out the analysis, giving first the
leading tliought or main proposition in each, and then, in his own
t
Notes on Literatuuk Selections. 13
language, the arK'innenta by which it is supportcl, or the subsi-
dmry truths .kshiced from it.
Page 229. He, then, who'is a fool. -There are at least throe
hgiirea of speech, or common rhetorical devices, employe.l in this
sentence. What are they ?
Page 230. There is another case.-Every thoughtful teacher
must recognize the character depicted in this paragraph-the boy
or girl of good parts, some cleverness, and no glaring vices, but
whose individuality is vreak, and whose influence is small because
he or she is, as we sometimes say, without back-bone- morally
invertebrate. Notice the variety of expressions used to delineate
this character, and the prevalence of antithesis in the structure
of the sentences. Study carefully and make up your mind
whether the expansion is a blemish or a merit. Are the
repetitions tautological, or are they rhetorically defensible?
Page 231. Have no great appetite. -This incidental use of
the word appetite suggests, apparently, an analogy which catches
Pr Arnold's fancy and which he carefully unfolds, without
unpleasantly obtruding it, to the end of the paragraph. The laws
of the metaphor are observed throughout. There is no mixture
or incongruity, and the illustrations drawn from the laws of the
physical system are much more effective than they would have
been if formally introduced by terms of comparison
Page 232. But the time and interest . . . this has been
etc. -Can the use here of the singular form of the demonstrative
be justified, or is it grammatically indefensible ? Give reasons
That an unnatural and constant excitement.— Note the
several steps in this logical stairway, up to the conclusion •« there
can be no spiritual life;" also the clear and careful propositions
which sum up the teaching of the lecture. It would be well to
draw up both these in tabular, or, if the student has studied
lo^c, in syllogistic form.
LVII.-" DEATH OF THE PROTECTOR."
CARLTLE.
The facts of the life and character of Thomas Carlyle have
been so recently and so prominei.tly before the public that it is
unnecessary to recapitulate them here at any length. He wa»
u
NoTR« OX LrrjRATURR Selections.
horn ill 1795 in tho ^ilhf^fi of Enclefechan, DuinfriesBihirp,
Scotlunil. His educatiou wa* IS«S?uii at tho village pch. 1,
continued ut Annan Granunar S(Jiool and completed, so far
as completed at all, at Edinburgh University. He commenced
study with a view to the Ministry of tho Scottish Church. Soon
adopting opinions which precluded him from this career, he
taught school for a time at Kircalily, and aftcrwfvds began the
study of law, but finally gave himself to literature. He wrote
extensively for encycloptediaa, magazines, and reviews. He was
tl)e first to introduce Englishmen to the mines of philosophical
and speculative wealth embedded in the modern German
literature. Under the touch of his master hand, the images of
Schiller, Fichte, Jean Paul Richter, and other great modern
thinkers "tarted into life before the British reading public. His
lectures ui b <s on History, Literature, Philosophy, and
Biogrnphy, are U», numerous to be even enumerated here. They
were all aglow v tli the fiery energy of expression, often inten-
sified almost to fierceness, which marks his style throughout and
sots him as a writer in a class by himself, apart from all the
categories. In his " Latter-day Pamphlets," which appeared in
1850, he almost surpassed himself in sardonic fierceness and fury.
"The French Revolution," and the "History of Frederic the
Great," are both magnificent, though very different in kind.
Critics are divided in opinion as to which of his productions will
go down to future ages as hiq masterpiece. The choice oscillates
especially between two, "Sartor Resartus" ("The Tailor Done
Over," the title of an old Scottish song), and that work from
which the extract is taken, "Oliver Cromwell's Letters and
Speeches, with Elucidations and a Connecting Narrative." The
two works are so different in kind as scarcely to afford gronnd for
comparison. The first, " an indescribable mixture of the sublime
and the grotesque," like many mother immortal work, had
to seek long and far for a pul her. The second displays
marvellous research and isconsiJe*. .^ ,. iufr.T'.'jant vindication
of the Protector's character. Crjy'^ d.'.cl in I88J leaving
Froude as his literary executor. Tne i^:,. -.r sr in which the latter
discharged, or as many would think betrayed, this trust, gave
rise to much discussion. His publication of the contents of
Notes on Litehaturk Sfxections.
16
private letters and tliaries, some of tlicin exhibiting Ciirlylu's
domestic and social qualities in a very uiiamiahle light, and alxjve
all, his giving to the world matmial of this kind which, aa has
lately appeared, he wn strictly enjoined not to publish, have
exposed him to deservedly severe criticism.
Page 274. What we call ended. —Note the suggestiveness of
this expression. Thoy have not really ended. There is no such
thing as an absolute end of the speakings and actings and
Btrugglings of such a man. Their 'nflueiice is perpetual.
Victorious after struggle.— Tlie reference is to the conspicuous
part taken in the Battle of the Dunes, or Sandhills, by Cromwell's
Puritan contigent—" the immortal six thousand,"— of the French
army, and the capture which followed of the long coveted town
of Dunkirk, by the CromweUian force under the command of
Lockhart.
Three score and ten years.— See Ps. xc, 10.
Would have given another history.— The truth and force of
this remark are obvious. It would be difficult to over-estimate
what would have been, in all probability, the effect upon
England's future of another ten years of Cromwell's protectorate.
It was not to be so.— These are not simply the words of one
who is wise after the event. They are the outcome, we cannot
doubt, of that strong belief in predetermining and over-ruling
destiay which was one of the elements of strength in Carlyle's
ch.iacf.er, as it h is been in the characters of so many of the men
who ivixe wrong as great moral forces in the world.
Often indisposed.— That is strictly he, not his health, was
often indisposed. Carlyle's abruptness of expression and con-
tempt for the niceties of syntax were a part of himself, and
should not be imitated. His style is ful' ^ irregularities
especially those grammatical irregularities which rhetoricians
dignify by the use of such terms as anacoluthon, asyndeton and
ellipsis.
Like a tower.— Cf. preceding note, and complete the express-
ion.
Page 275. Manzinis and Dues de Crequi.— Ambassa.lors who
came in splendor across the Channel to congratulate ♦' the most
invincible of Sovereigns," on his great victories.
il
16
Notes. ON Literature Selections.
Hampton Court-The Palace in this court u^a W a royal
SaTnl "" —-ally occupied by cln^fp Th
by Hen.y VIII. The gardens in connection with the r^J.o.
cover 44 acres. They were laid out by AVilHa. II ^ d e^: „
an.o„g,t other curious features a '< n.aze,» or ^n h t "e
palace underwent extensive repairs five or six years ag^ and
though Wn.dsor Castle has superseded it as I resiS'ce o^
Royalty, xt is still usually occupied by persons of rank
Of much deeper and quite opposite interest—This is a fine
dramatic touch sotting as it does the splendors of pub"
pageants besulo the quiet an<l gloom of the death-chan^ber
Pale death knocking there. -Cf. Hor. Odes, I., IV 13 .
Pallida Mors a;quo pulsat pede paupcn.m taherraa "' *
■ Rcg-unique turrea.
Anxious husband-ClaypoIe. He became "Master of the
Horse to Ohver, sat in Parliament, etc
Anxious weeping sisters.- -In the first vol. of the work
Carlyle gxves xn a brief note, a list of Cron.welFs children. Tth a
short account of each. Tl,eir names in the order of age^te
Robert Ohver. Bridget, Riehard, Henry, ElizabetlMLad;
Claypole) Janu-s, Mary, Frar.ces, in all five sons and four
daughters, of whom three sons and all the daugiiters came fn
November. ,657. Her l,„,ba„d dW tl.roe months after .To tLit
8he had now been for a few months in widow's weeds
Be still, mjr child -These senti,a=„t, so b.autif„i; so to,„l,.
«.g, so mueh m that Scriptural language whieh l^^s al It
Cro„,well s vernacular, derive additional impre.sive„e.s (,o. e
ahrup manner u, which they are introduced. They are not
0,™v,yp,,tn.t„ Cromwell., n.„uth; the author do« not s ^
H s H,.hnc.» probably reasoned somewhat like this " Th,^
words are set down ni>A wo «..„ %..ej. x • , . . ' "^
the character apd "thrsi'tua'tior '"' '" ' '" *'""'"' "'''' """
It, the same dark days. -A couple „f paragraphs quoted from
Harvey are here omrtted. They describe Cron.well.s sieknesl II
Notes on Literature Selections. 17
commencing before Lady Elizabeth's death, and a scene at the
court a few days after it, in which Cron-.NVclI has " an honorub^e
and ^rodly person » read Philippians iv.. from which he derived
comfort.
' .. n ^T^"" Fox-The founder of the Society of Friends, or
(,»uakers. He was at an early age apprenticed to a shoemaker,
but when about 19 his religious impressions became so vivid
that he iK-heved himself called to a special Divine mission, and
finally gave hi.nself to the work of an itinerant religious reformer
box sullered much persecution for his religious opinions, but
bi-omwell, after an interview, pronounce.l his doctrines and
character irreproachable, and took hiapartwin the struggle with
h,« I. uritan antagonists. Fox's peculiar doctrines as to the "in-
ner light," etc., need not be here discussed.
Page 276. Hacker's men. -Col. Hacker M^as one of the three
colonels to whom the warrant for the execution of Charles I
waa sent.
Mews-(Fr. muer, from Lat. muto to exchange. Hence to
shed, as feathers, to moult.) The royal stables.
On the north side of Charing Cross stand the royal stables
£u^t;n:?J?^s^^s;^^i.^s^r ^^"^'^.^^^- - ^^'^^^
Orinfavorof him, Georg:e. -These fine thoughts, true, we
m ly believe, in their application to Cronnvell, seem doubly apnro-
pnate as addressed toGeorge Fox, who professed to have been
e.u.sted by the same great Ccmmander-in-Chief, and to live in
c instant view of the next life.
In the hollow of the tree. -Marsh, in his Life of George Fox
tells us that he passed the early part of the year 1647 " wander-
ing about through various counties, a stranger upon earth • se-
cluding himself in solitary places, fasting often, and often sitting
m hollow trees with his Bible until night came ; and not unfre
quently pas.s.ng whole nights mournfully in these retired places "
Clad permanently in leather. -In the earlv part of h,« itm-r
ant career, Fox wore nothing but a leatluu-ii dou blet, of his own
manufacture. He seen.s to have ,lone this not from any religious
notion, but simply as a matter of convenience. By the word per-
18
Notes on Literature Selections.
maneMly Carlyle refers probably to the durability of the ntate-
rial.
. Against thee and me. -His death may bring loss to others,
not to himself. '
• Nell-Gwynne, Defender-In allusion to King CI arles IL, who
like all other monarchs of England, was styled '< Defender of the
±aith, and his notorious mistress.
All-vlctonous cant. -This is thoroughly Carlylean. In his
eyes the age we live in is an age of show, and its religious pro-
fessions, cant,
^ Page 277. Worsening.-An expressive word, rare in mode.n
English, but used by. George Eliot, Gladstone and other good
writers, °
Tertian. — Returning every third day.
Harvey.-This chronicler, from whose account Carlyle quotes,
was a Groom of the Bed-chamber who attended the Protector in
his last illness.
Prayers abundantly, etc—Notice the want of predicates in
this and the following sentence of the old Puritan writer. These
sentences seem to be grammatically connected with the preceding
one, though not so punctuated. The terseness adds strength and
It IS easy to supply the ellipses. A similar syntacticr.l incomplete-
ness characterizes the next paragraph, and many others of Car-
lyle himself. So long as his meaning was clear, he scorned to
add words that he deemed unnecessary, save for form's sake
Owen, Goodwin, Sterry. -Prominent Puritans of the day *
Whitehall.— The Chapel of the Royal Palace.
Page 278. Strange enough to us. -Such prayers, real soul-
wrestlings, Carlyle thinks have become strange, and their lan-
guage obsolete, in these degenerate days.
Human wishes, risen to be transcendent.— What is Carlyle's
Idea here? Does he mean to imply that the petitioners were
wrong in allowing what were, after all, their human wishes for
Cromwell's recovery to become transcendent, rising above their
submission to the Divine Will, and so contravening the true spirit
of prayer, whose embodiment must ever bp '« T»^" vi'! '- ''-— •>"
Authentic. -Note the repeated and accurate use of this word-
Distinguish between authentic and gejiuine.
Notes on Litkrature Selections.
19
And of English Puritanism. — In what sense and to what ex-
tent was the exit of Cromwell that of English Puritanism?
Thurloe. — Cromwell's private secretary.
Richard. — Sketch briefly the character and history of Richard
Cromwell.
One does not know.- Does not know what ? That Richard's
was the name written in the paper, or that it might have been a
good name had ten years n)ore been granted ? The meaning is
not clear ; perhaps Carlyle means the statement to be a general
one, including ^.-^th those ideas.
Fleetwood, — One of Cromwell's military officers.
Page 270. Since the victories of Dunbar and Worcester. —
At Dunbar, on the 3id September, 1650, Cromwell had defeated
the Scottish army under Leslie, and on the same day of the fol-
lowing year, he had gained the decisive victory over King
Charles, at Worcester.
Page 2S0. — Friday, 3rd September. It was a somewhat singu-
lar coincidence that Cromwell's death should have occurred on
the anniversary of his great victories.
Fauconbarg. — Lord Fauconberg, husband of Cromwell's third
daughter, Mary. Cromwell elsewhere describas him as "a bril-
liant, ingenuous and hopeful young man."
Revolutions of Eighty-eight.— The revolution of 1688, re-
sulting in the deposition of James II., and tlie crowning of Wil-
liam and Mary, marking as it did the enthronement of Constitu-
tionalism in England, was one of the fruits of the seed sown by
Cromwell.
Star-Chambers.— The English court of the Star-chamber is
said to have been so called from the circumstance that the roof
of the Council-chamber of the palace of Westminster where it
met, was decorated with gilt stars. The court seems to have
originated in very early times, and at first probably consisted of
the King's Council acting in a judicial capacity. The powers of
the tribunal were curtailed and its composition modified at vari-
ous periods. I'lie proceedings of the Star-chamber had always
been viewed with more or less distrust by the Commons, but it
was during the reign of Charles I. that it made itself odious by
I
I
20
K"OTES on' LiTEftATUUE SELECTIONS.
its high-handed iniquities. The student might write a short
sketch of the tyrannical proceedings which led to its aholition
Brandinpirons—Ear-slitiings, branding with hot irons, and
other :nutUat.ons and tortures were common Star-chamber nfl"
tions during the Tudor and Stuart periods •
All-hallowtidc-The time of the celebration of the festival of
All-hamts, November 1st.
Oliver's works do follow him.-The student will do well to
study this paragraph and the following carefully both for fl
weight of their compressed thought and^he powe^'of Ihe ; el^
and vehement expression. A vokune of combined history and
oit:;tv:rst;r ^,^'^'- '''- — ^^ ^ ^- --p^^
Puritanism without its king:, is kingless.-This, which sounds
at first hke what the logicians call an iaeuHcal proposition, is in
eahty a fine play upon words, and enunciates both a subtle
thouglit and a broad historical truth.
The old disowned defender. -Tliat is, a king of the old style
who will be a defender of the High church, not Puritan, faith '
Hypocnsis.-A Latinized form of the Greek M>c^6i,. The
word originally signified the playing of a part upon the stage!
hence Its derivative meaning, as in our own h.pocrls,. Cariyle'
It will be seen, uses it with a double reference. I„ his i^iense'
and exaggerated conception all religious observances, ^in tie
decay o Puntan.sm, are hypocrisy, in both the Greek and
the English sense of the word.
Mewing: her mighty youth. -See note on Afetvs, ante. " Me-
toks I see her as an eagle n.noi„, her mighty youth, and kind-
ling hor undazzled eyes at the full midday beam, "-m/ton
Gemus. -Conceived by the ancients as a spirit, or tuielary
deity, presuhngover the destinies of an individual, place, or na
tion.anc representing or symbolizing his or itsessentlalcharact '
Intent on provender and a whole sI^in.-This sarcasm recalls
he French taunt, that theEngli.h are \ nation of shopkeepe" ' '
Iha the nation and her rulers do not revel in battles by seHnd
by land as in past centuries, is one of the best in iications
of true progress. That her sons are not poltroons has C
proved on too many bloody fields even in thi. century
Notes on Literature Selections. 21
Church-tippets Kingr-cIoaks.-Carlylo despises all church
mill.neiy and royal pageants as heartily as the veriest Puritan of
(.romwellian days.
or^nfnnf f" '^ f^^^^^^^-^ ^^g'^^l term denoting reasoning
or proof derived from a view of consequences; opposed to a
prion, from first principles.
Mark carefj^ly the pronunciation and give the meaning
and denvatiox.%f the following words :-,„„„.7c./.^ r^ractory,
symptoms, obsolete, amiiaiatin:,, anarchic, inevitable, terrene, L
The following are a few critical opinions upon the work from
. winch the foregoing extract is taken •
recogmzed houor of haying '• cleare.l .uvay theru ,li°l' tl J tw^
viiiuicaDion 01 the f .-otector's character is most trinmnJ,-inf T.
Carlyle has thus fallen the unspeakable hm^^rof repLnt fn tC
Pantheon of Eng sh Historv the sfafn^ 7f p ^fP^^cuig m the
Tn\ev.~Chambers^EncyTTJia '^ ^^ngland's greatest
That introduction of German thought M-hich be^an in th« ^^rl,.
years of the n neteenth century. un<li CoSlger has been Sf
? r vt L ^^^ fl!^«^q"«"t English thinkers. ^Notably '^^1^
miar cSvle^^ if^'^'' '^ ^ '"^^ ^"^^ ^^<^^^
In. 1 1 ■ ^"^'/yjf ^ genius was more German than En^rlish • \Z
called himseb "a bemired auroctis or urns of theSermau wl'l. »
Goethe was his intellectual god.-P/«7//„, ^'^euei man woods.
LXIII.-THE RECOXCILIATION.
TUACKERAY.
\\'illiam Makepeace Thackeray wa. born at Calcutta in' 1811.
Hi« father who was in the service of tlie East India Company
d.ed when his son was but a chil.l, I aving him an an^ple fortune.
1 he 8on was sent to England and educated at the Charterhouse
I
22
Notes on Li^tkrature Selections.
School and at Cambridge. He did not remain at the University
long enough to take a degree. When about twenty he travelled
over most of Europe, and studied at Paris and Rome with a view
of becoming an artist. His drawings, though not without merit,
failed to exhibit the genius of the true artist, and he wisely
devoted himself to liteiatn.re. His contributions to Fraser^
Magazine, under the pseudonymns of Michael Angelo Titmarsh
and George Fitz-Boodle, Esq., were numerous, of isisting of tales
criticisms, sketches, etc. They were lively in style and not
destitute of originality. The " Paris Sketch Book " and '^ Irish
Sketch Book " were his earliest book ventures. On the establish-
ment of Punch, in 1841. Thackeray became a regular and valued
contributor. His " Snob Papers," - Prize Novelists," -Jcames's
Diary," Ac., and many lyrics and ballads appeared in Punch
These were illustrated with his own hand, as were his famous
novels which followed. "Vanity Fair," his first and perhaps
greatest novel, was declined by many publishers. Other society
novels were "Pendennis," "The Newcomes," and "Philip''
" Esmond " and " The Virginians " take the read r back to
earlier days. By many " Esmond," from which the extr.ict is
taken, is considered Thackeray's most artistic and scholarly
work. His lectires on "The Four Georges" are well known
He was the first editor of "The Cornhill Magazine," in which
appeared some of his later novels and a series of cliarining es-ay.
since collected under the. title of "The Roundabout Pipers"
Thackeray was found dead in his bed at his house in Kensington,
Palace Green, on the 24th of December, 1863. -
Page 308. Mr. Tusher.— See introductory foot-note ui Reader
Page 309. Read from the eagle.-The eagle was a reading
desk in the shape of an eagle with expanded wings.
An authoritative voice, and a great black periwig. —Note
the amusing and unexpected bringing together of incongruous
ideas. In this seems to be the essence of humor, or at least of
many species of it. There is nothing unusual in speakins of a
person as reading in an authoritative voice, and nothing very
peculiar in spoakiTig of him as reading in a periwig. It is the
unexpected combination of the two that makes us°smile. Dis-
^guish Awwor fr-m w';,
Notes on Literature Selections.
23
Point de Venise. — Venetian lace, a kind of costly hand-made
Ircu.
Vandyke, or Vain'yck, or more correctly Van Dyok.- Sir
Anthony, an illustrious Flemish painter, famous for his portraits
and historical pieces. He died A. D. 1641.
Page 311. She gave him her hand.— The following paragraph
is a fine example of Thackeray's best vein in description. The
language is simple, the style easy and natural, and there is a
mingled tenderness and pathos which charm and captivate.
Set-up. — Full of pride or self-esteem.
Minx.— This word is properly a contraction of minikin, which
again is a diminutive of minion, a darling or favorite. Minx
is often used in an uncomplimentary sense, to denote pci-tness,
but here is evidently used playfully and appro^upgly. Note
how true to nature the boy's manner and expressions.
Page 312. Dowager. — Properly a widow endowed, or having
a settled income derived through her deceased husband. But in
England the titlfs is usually given as here to distinguish her from
the wife of the heir to the estate of lier deceased husband, buaring
the same \,itle. . _
Page 315. Non omnis moriar.— Hor. Od. III., 20, 6.
:i
Thackeray is perhaps the profoundest of English novelists.
. . . His power lay in his recognition of Society shams and
the vulgarity of snobs. — Phillips.
We may form an exact idea of English taste by placing the
portrait of William Makepeace Thackeray by the side of that of
Charles Dickens. — French Critic.
As a moral anatomist and master of English he stood unrivalled.
. . . In his delineation of the character and genius of Fieldinw"
Thackeiay has drawn his own. He had the same hatred of all
manners, caiit and knavery, the same large sympathy, relish of
life, thoughtful humor, keen insight, delicate irony and wit.
His strength lay iu per tt ay lug character rather than inventing
incidents. — Chambers^ Encycloposdia.
. {1
y
24
Notes on Literature SELECTioNa.
L^I. -DOCTOR ARNOLD AT RUGBY.
A IlTimii PES lUl YN ST A NLKY. ^
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., LL.D., Deuu of Westminster,
was born at 41derley, Cheshire, England, in 1815. He was the
second son of Edward Stanh^y, Bishop of Norwich. His mother
was a Wekhwoman, and the Dean used to say if there was any
brilliancy and vivacity in his family, he attributed it to the Cel-
tic fire niherited from his Welsh mother. At the age of fourteen
young Stanley entered the Rugby school.where he remained five
years. He was a favorite pupil of Dr. Arnold, who treate.l him
as a friend, and no doubt left upon his character the impie-s of
his own breadth and liberality of thought. Stanley afterwards
entered Balliol College, Oxford, where his course was most dis-
tinguished, he having won a first in classic^, taken the Newde-ate
prize for an English poem, also, as a Fellow of University Col-
lege, the Latin and English essay prizes and many in theological
subjects. He was for twelve years tutor in University Colle<^e
and subsequently held in succession the honorable posts of Select
Preacher ; Secretary of the Oxford University Commission •
Canon of Canterbury ; Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History
at Oxford ; Canon of Christ Church, Honorary Chaplain to the
Queen and Prince of Wales ; and Deputy Clerk of the Closet
He declined the Archbishopric of Dublin, in 1803, and the fol^
lowing year was made Dean of Westminster, a position he held
during the remainder of his life. In 1875 he was installed Lord
Rector of the University of St. Andrew, and on that occasion de-
livered a most powerful address, which still lives in the public
recollection. In 1876 his wife, a daughter of Lord Elgin, and an
intimate friend of the Queen, was borne to the grave amid such
manifestations of sorrow and such a profusion of panegyric as
have rarely been equalled. Two years after this great bereave
meiit, Dean Stanley visited the United States, where he was
everywhere received with the respect due to his great genius
and the fnauliy warmth which was begotten of his well-known
Christian liberality and catholicity He died in 1881 The
following, which were his last audible words, f lithfully* inter-
pret the great object of the later yeurd of his life: "I have
Notes on Literature Selections. 25
faithfully labored, amid many frailties and mnch weakness, to
make Westminster Abbey the great centre of religious and na-
tional life in a truly liberal spirit." The "Life <,f Arnold "
wntten in the maturity of hi, powers, is a model bio^raph;.
breathing," as has been well said, "in every chapter, the old
Kugby spirit of protest against despotism, and deep sympathy
with every phase of progress, and every movement to aid and ele-
vate mankind. "
Page3o0. Not performance, but promise. -A most valuable
distinction which the student teacher will do well to ponder and
develop more fully iu his own langaage. The very essence of
Arnold s management was not the enforcement of^arbitrary law
but the strengthenitig of the traits of character whicl. would make
the boy a law unto himself, and lead him up to a true Chris-
tian manhood.
Page 351. He shrunk from pressing. -The principle laid down
m this sentence is worthy of the most serious thought. 1 et the
student who aims at becoming a teacher write his views upon the
last half of It, m particular. Should the teac.ier shrink irom
enforcing a right action, because of a boy>. inability, at his sta.e
of moral development, to perform it from the right motive%
Would the action be right if performed from any other motive '
Give reasons, pro and con.
Failure of this trial.-Of what trial? Explain the meanin...
The neutral and midecided.-Dr. Arnold here admits tl^
existence of great <lifference,s in tlie characters of boys when thev
come to school. Should all be subjected to the same temptations
aud ujfluences, irrespective of those characters? Or should a
different re!,ime be adopted for those who are found to be neutral
and indecisive ? The question is a very important one for teach-
ers, bee Arnold's views in next paiagraph.
Moral thoughtfulness. How do you define it ? Can it be
cultivated, and hv what means ?
Members with himself of the same great institution—The
headmaster who can get his pupils thoroughly imbued with the
feelmg, this is om-school." and he alone, has learned the secret
of true discipline.
./
26 Notes on Literature Selections.
Denote carotully the pronunciation of indecmon, prematurely,
implicit, exemplification, emernenciex, amenable, having special
regard to the vowel sounds.
Define tiio meaning of each of the ahove.
LXXIV.— FROM "TPIE MILL ON THE FLOSS."
QEOliGE ELIOT.
George Eliot is the vom ih plume of one of the most talented
of English novehsts. Marian Evans. Like several otlier distin-
guished female writers she seems to have deemed that her chances
of literary success would be impaired by the knowledge of her
sex. So mai^ women have of late years won the highest repu-
tation as writers of fiction that whatever basis there may have
been thirty or forty years since for the belief thus implied in
the prejudice of the novel-reading public must have been pretty
well removed. Marian, or Mary Anne, Evans was born av, Griff
near Nuneaton, in 1820. Her education was begun at Coventry'
where she studied music, French, German, Greek, and Latin'
Later ni life she added to her language acquisitions, Spanish and
Hebrew. Her first literary work was a translation, in 1846, of
Strauss's Lehen Jesu. Five years later she settled in London as
assistant to the editor of the Wedminster Review. " The Scenes
of Clerical Life," published in Blackwood, in 1854, was her first
novel. Its merit was at once recognized. "Adam Bede " in
1858, and " The Mill on th-e Floss," in 1859, fully confirmed the
high estimate already formed of the powers of the still unknown
writer. By 1863, when "Romola," an historical novel dealing with
Italian life, appeared, the guise of George Eliot had been pierced
by the critics and Miss Evans was by many of the most compe-
tent assigned a place in the front rank of novelists. •• Felix
Holt," «' Middlemarch," and "Daniel Deronda," which followed
at intervals, the last in 1876, enhanced her already brilliant repu-
tation. Miss E. was also a poet of no mean order, " The Spanish
Gypsy," "Agatha," "Jubal," and "Armgart," being amoncrgt
her poetical productions. She herself is said to have° preferred
her poetry to her prose, a judgment in which she is probably alone
amongst critics. Miss Evans was at least in strong sympathy
Notes on Literatuim*: Sklkctio\s.
27
with the Positivists, though she does not obtrude her sceptical
views upon her readers. She was for many years known as the
wife of George Henry Lewes, who died in 1878. In 1880, she
married Mr. J. W. Cross. In December of that year she died.
m
Page 356. Maggie was trotting, etc.— How clearly the rural
portra't set before our eyes in the words of this single sentence
is ontiinfid. Of the whole extract it may be said that there is
little in it requiring explanation, but much tluit will repay study
and analysis. The piece is a prose idyl, inimitable in its simple
naturalness, its finished word-picturing, its touching mingling of
humor and pathos. As the perfection of art is to conceal art, so
the surpassing charm of such a bit of writing is seen in the impres-
sion it gives one at first reading that he could tell the story in the
same style himself. But if any one, as ho reads and re-reads
attentively, does not realize that he is in the presence of genius
of the highest order, does not feel that the finest chords of the
thought-instrument are under tlie touch of a master hand,
it is to be feared that criticism can -do but little for such a nnnd
in its dormant state. Those who are sensible of the charm of the
description may be glad of a few suggestions intended as helps in
the search for the hidden sources and elements of that charm.
By a peculiar gift.— Note the surprising choice of the word
gift, and compare the definition of humor quoted in a previous
extract.
Tom, indeed, was of opinion.— How tAie to nature is this
feeling of conscious superiority, and patronizing condescension, on
the part of the boy. One is not sure that the counterpart, the
self-abasement of the sister, is quite so common.
Page 357. The round pool. How skilfully the elements of
awe and mystery surrounding this pool are interwoven to
heighten the general effect. Had the fishing beon carried on in
an ordinary stream, a considerable part of the effect would have
been lost.
Maggie was frightened.— This little shadow-stroke in the
picture is touclungly suggestive. Compare the sentence begin,
ning •' Maggie thought it would make a very nice heavtu,"' ^
Uttle further ott,
/
28
J h^ mill ... .
^ Eagre. -A rare C, , ""P*" "'>■»• "'^ffi"--eablo
S-k o-erthl'^rtT'ofr '''" ■" » we,"'!"' •"""■■«"'=
I*"i' of p„,„j3, "J™^^"' Wie water at i J ,7 """"'"g "all or
'""A'ht, give, thoidw '''""''^'"'■■'"larwa „T "" •"'»."
'«t ^a,„i. ar. * "^" ^°°^« With ^u;I ^^^o^^-'^oed to iMi.
'no«t fa,„i. ar. * "^' ^°°^« with which f/'^^^'^^^^^ to i,,ti.
,, ^j^e did cha„.e.^Th.„ ... . *^""^^ "^"^"^ «>«
^ Life did change -r, • ^^'" ^^"^'^ be
°^ the spirit of pfetrv ? ^""^ *^« ^«^Jowi«^ ,„
. ** beautiful thL2"°^Phiio8ophylr'^''«^^ «'•« fu/]
'ul aud 8ut/£rp«f ; "bother tone-ne nf *u . ^■
«»ggestive metaphor. ^"^ °^ '^^ imagination ^A u
J"^icate the exn.f ^*"*'-
&iuWleot,„t • '"' '"Prkloa,;
8«te.t of^^ri^'^;* (aZ;;n:Uot) wa, „
« '- bt?et af r° T'^'' °' "t aiuff ^ ^^-So^tfr'''' -
the »eb of cot,fe"^*"^<^^'e' ?i'l£^^r"•«^quiet±>'»''y
m fi
fONa
.^^«'c again with
'«J»»ctnes8. eaci,
iidhowski]fu],j,
"d ioeffaoeable
"■« probably to
fs, during the
^''''ing wrai] o,.
' ^f^- In the
' the bore, "
sevoralfeeti,,
''"^^ part of
■"''ced to iuti.
'e would be
Ph are fu|j
^ce uiifolda
hiats at a
-A beauti.
J^OTES ON LiTERATUItE SkLKCTIONS
20
'sc/ii.
f^ous.
"Pricioun,
abJy the
iture.
leatal as
trage.ly
'"JBg, ill
n ravels
olute/y
i vailed
2are.-~
lity of
It, but
treat-
'»se i.s
t are
«
#
LXXXVU._OF THE MYSTETlY OF LIFE.
HUSK IN.
John Ruskin the founder of English art criticism, and the
n.osor.gu.a and eloquent of all writersupon art, was born in
London uj 1810. He studied at Christ Church. Oxfonl w le e
he won the Newdogatc prize for English poet y in 1839 Zl
graduated n. ,842. In ,843 he published the Lt volume o
pro^e t ho n.Hnite superiority of modern land.scape painters
.pecja y Turner, to the old moster. ; but in the later volume^
(the hf h and last was published in ISGO) the Mork expanded into
a vast chscursnc treatise on the principles of art, iiterspersod
with ar istic and symbolical descriptions of nature, more elabo-
rate and unaginative than any writer, p.ose or poetic, had ever
before attempted. Mo.Ieru Painter, was es.entiaUy revolutiona.l
m ;t3 spn-it and aim. and naturally excited the aversion and
h03td,ty of the con.servatives in art. But the unecjualled splen.lor
Of Its style gave it a place in literature ; crow<ls of admirers and
d.8c.ples sprang „p ; the views of art enunciated by Ruskin
gradually made M-ay, and have largely determined the course and
ohai-acier of ater English art. His other most famous works are
The Seven Lamps of Architecture," and the "Stones of Venice "
both of Hdnch were eiForts to introduce new an.l loftier concep-
tions of the significance of domestic architecture. Both were
exquisite.y illustrated by Ruskin himself. He has also pub-
lished several courses of letters addressed to artisans. Pre-
Raphaehtism, as a distinct phase of modern art, had his
warmest syinpathy, and called forth many letters, pampldet. and
whSi he" r- ^'''^^'^-''^^ -- a periodical pamphlet
which he issued for several years. AH his books are now wU: -
drawn from the general publishing houses, those of them wllich
are not out of print being issued by his own agent. From ,8(jq
1879 Ruskin was Slade Professor of Fine Arts a; Oxfoi'd. In
1871 he received the degree of LL.D. from Camhrid.e The
vehemenee of his language and the energy with which he IZ
Bounces what he regards as the shams of the age seem to in-
crease with years some of his re.ent utterances being almost
^(jQherent m their intensity and fierceuebg.
1
30 Notes on LmRiTCRE Selections.
co.ni„. r iJnt 1 tft ^r''^' '^ " "<">»«i»"».'ess of short-
though never reach In T ""^^ ^''"^' approximate
effort pli I Ir ^''^ ^^^'' ^^'^^ <^'^^ ^'^S'"'^* iucentive to
attaining ; m the motive an.l spirit in which the 11 Z%
in achievement. The nrinoin]. ,'« f , ^^'^^^ '""'^^^^
Tfl ., . ^""^'l^'^ ^^ of ""iversal application
Inflame the cloud of life with endless lire of oa n Xin- •
this metaplior. It has the rr.o,-,> ^f i ^ Criticise
u • . / ^'^® '"^^^^ of clearness and oricrinalitv ff
Another and a sadder one.-VVhat is tl.is third lesson' Sh,^
£:^:iS:oSr^-r:ii--r^tr^
WaldenaesXp :i tn M .«:r ".""?"" '^ ""' ^'""'""- «^
•
t
•'
KoTES ON Literature Selections. 31
The Garden of the II japsrides.-Tlfe name Ho.peri.les in
mythology denoted primarily the sisters who were fabled to guard,
with the help of a dragon, the golden apples which had been given
to Hera by Ge (the earth) on her marriage with Zens. The name
can»e by a natural transition to denote the place of the gardens
m which the apples were kept, which was a matter of controversy.
The more common tradition, to which Ruskin here alludes,
located them on the north-west coast of Africa, west of Mt.
Atlas.
A few grains of rice.— The allusion is, no doubt, to the great
famine in Orissa, in 1865, the same year in which Sesame and
Lilies was published, during Lord Laurence's Indian administra-
tiou, though at that dreadful time the deaths by starvation are
computed to have reached three times the number here given, or
one-and-a-half millions. There have been two or three threatened
famines in India since that date, but they have been so far anti-
cipated and relieved by the British and Indian Governments that
no such wholesale starvation has ensued.
The art of Queens.— Ancient literature abounds with alln-
sions to weaving as an art practised' by women in the highest
stations. Homer represents Creiisa, wife of Xuthus, King of the
Peloponnesus, as proving to Ion that she is his mother by means
of thegorgon woven in the centre of the web, and by resplendent
«* dragons with golden jaws, the virgin labor of her shuttles "
Iphigenia recognizes Orestes by a description of the ornaments
she had long before woven in the "fine-threaded web." Penelope
the wife of Odysseus, puts off the suitors by unravelling at night
what she fabricates by day, etc.
Their virgin goddess—The Grecian goddess Athena, with
whom the Roman Minerva was identified, was represented as
the patroness of all arts and trades and was invoked by all kinds
of craftsmen. In addition to having taught men all the useful
arts, and instructed them in tlie use of the implements of indus-
try, she invented nearly every kind of work in which women
were accustomed to engage, and was herself skilled in such work.
The word of the wisest king-.— Prov. xxxi, 19-24.
Page 393. All civic pride and sacred principle. -Develop the
ideas conveyed by this pair of expressions.
32
Noras ON LiraruTiKE SiLEcTioNa.
PageS94. Must it be always thus? Rn«f u '
upon what is not only one of fh! thus ?-Ruskm here touches
of the great problem of ol". '"'"' '"^''*'''''^ °^ ^^^«' ^^'' one
3hip. Itran^e indTd l^trlTo^ ^^^^
so many should be hungry and idTe ^.f I "'''' ""*'"^^'»
of material in the animl/ancTlg 4 tin".'^^^ ' -Perabundance
want for decent clothing srirnf I ^ "' '' '"^"^ ^'^^"^^
Surely human brain ^i ilnX ifavrb "" *? ''''' *^^'"-
purpose through all these ca^Jurie^" " ""^^^^"^ *° ^^"^«
This passage is a j5ne specimen of elonnpnf o i •
yet chaste and tasteful rhetoric. ^ and nnpassioned.
Page 395. Does it vanish then ? Th^ • •
graphs of the extract afford a reeramlTT^'V^ P^^^"
as well as of glowing eloquence. ^'^ ^'^''"^ ^?^^°«i»g •
The difernma is skilfully and powerfully used Fithp. V.
ife vanisiies in the grave or it does not r^ v f "'""°
iDdeed so brief and perishable iTu '' ''^''' ^^ ^* '«
made the .ost of whi^ Tas t jtif',""^'" '' ^'""^^ ^«
the adde<l motives derived f 1 o, / 1? """'' *'^'" ^^ ^»
future, we are bound to mall tl^noTtV: r^r^r, 'Z ^
will be seen the writer u^f^,] th. /• present. Thus it
or the dilemn. J U,„rel ."""m " T", ," "'= "''»»"»«•
further that while the fir tte IL t wT T-'"" '" ™'»
in such fo,™ that the condition wL^ lo '"' ^°' ""'
felt to ha antagonistic to our hi.Ir rel:* " °°"™"'''^"'» '»
lofty instinct and aspiration of t .oT See r»"""'V° "'"^
B.ons as: ..Because you have „„ heaven tfll; L'.' trn"
Wliat figure of speech is most freqnentiv used in tl.
ending .. then vanishetli away >" Colllt.tr ? P«i'™Ph
Dies Irae.-.. r„„ „f .1^/ „ 'f™''' ""* ■-stances.
eva. Latin hy„„, ;7th; j:d«;t„t Z """ "'' ""' ''"'°"' '"°'"-
In the flame 01 its West-Explain.
Notes on tiTERATL-BE Selections. 33
mel^L^ftr*^' Tf, "■"' "' °'" J"<'je3.-Kx,.lai„ R,.ki„',
mean „g m tlus an.l tl,e pa„,ll 1 se„to,o„, „-l,i„l fol|„„. .et
he rt„dent after careful .tudy of l,,i, extract I„; al ie al
Look and reproduce it in outline. He should be able to give „ t
only the general divisions, but a clear Matcmont of the I d"n.
, opos,t,o„s under each division and the a,-,„„e„ts by whicf
no diftcnlty ,n its reproduction. Let him also, by all means
rtCer™' '" '"""""^ '^"■" ^"^ '"''' -"■ -^-o "-'-
Distinguish between art«« and a,-(W,- ironz. and Sm«,. occ«.
«»» and an- principle and pri«v„,; e„cuul,cr and .-»„ X
I'hantom and tisww. ^w/^eae ,
Mark the pronunciation of industry, artisan, bequeathed fort-
res., ^a^ot^sm, tapestry, entfn.iasrn,i.npotent,nrornentar,, Ul^,
XCn.-MORALS A^D CFTARACTKR IN THE
EIGilTEI-:KTH CExNTU'lY.
GOLD WIN SMITH.
Ooklwin Smith was born in 1823, at Reading, England, M-here
"l W "t-'j'""'"''" ^^ "^^ -1-ated'at Eton and Ox-
ford, taking his degree of B.A. in 1845, with distinguished hon-
ors m classics Two years later he was called to the bar at
Lincoln 8 Inn. but 1 . never practised his profession. He acted
m assistant secretary to the first, and as secretary to the socon.i
commission appointed to inquire into the condition of Oxford
. - .-. n „ .^pvmoud a member of the PJducation Com-
uiission of 1859. In 1858 he was selected to fill the Modern hI
tory Chair in Oxford, and signalized his accession to it by »
fieriea of lectures, since republished, on "The Study of History "
Hw itrongly expressed opinions provoked a reply from the West-
111
34
Notes on Literature Selections.
muster Rrnao, an,l to this ^^,.. S.nith respo.ulea in letters to the
Oxtoid, he was appontecl Professor of English and Constitutional
H story m Cornell University, New York, a position which he
retau^ed for two or three years. During the greater portion of the
time smce h.s coming to America, he has resided in Toronto.
Canada In 18G7 appeared the series of lectures entitled -Three
English Statesmen- Pym. Cromwell, and Pitt," which, after his
Lee nres on the Study of History," is his most important his-
torical v/or^. Amongst his other literary productions is his "Life
of Cowi^r, which forms one of the series of "English Men of
Letters. Duri,.o- the greater part of his residence in Toronto he
has heen a contri: utor to Canadian an,l English journals, and for
some tmie ho conducted a monthly magazine called The Bystander.
Mr. Smith stands in the very front rank of writers of the English
language, and is o.e of the very few whose diction approaches
perfection. He xs never to be caught in the use of a slip-shod
expression, and he nc-er has the appearance of sacrificing either
trv^h or sen.e for ^he sake of form. He carries easily a weight
of oru.htion that may fairly be described as encyclopedic, and has
It alw.nys at command when he wishes to illuminate his theme by
an apt illustration or a suggestive allusion.
To the above, which is .lightly condensed from a note in Caere's
Cai;aaian Sixth Reader, it may be added that Mr. Smith has°for
some years past been the chief contributor to The Week, a Cana-
dian journal of politics, society, and literature, published iu
17^ 7r . J!^n'^ Cowper came.-Cowper was born in
1731 and died m 1800. He .has belonged to the latter half of
the eighteenth century. Pope had died in 1744. when Cowper
was a child, so that the popularity and influence of his volumin-
ous verse would be at their heigh't during Cowper's lifetime.
The throne of Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton. -This
great trio created and represented each a kinc-loni ^f ij|
Spenser's " Fairie Queen » was given to the wodd in 17.9^.917^!;
enthroned him permanently as the prince of English vison-secrs
Shakespeare was in the full exercise of those marvellous powers ^
Notes on Literature Selections.
35
etters to the
position in
nstitutional
II which he
irtion 01 the
in Toronto,
;led "Three
h, after his
^ortant hia-
ishis "Life
ah Men of
Toronto he
lis, and for
Bi/stander.
he English
ipproaches
I slip-shod
3ing either
a weight
ic, and has
theme by
i in Gage's
th has for
'<:, a Cana-
)Iished in
3 born in
er half of
II Cowper
volumin-
;ime.
•n.— This
iii3 u\vn.
0-91, and
on -seers,
s power* %
which not only made him the world's greatest dramatist, but set
him in solitary grandeur above all its literary geniuses, about the
year 1800. Milton gave to English literature its one gn;at epic
in 1672, only a few years before the Hevolution which trans-
formed England into another nation.
The arch-versifier Pope.— This well-chosen epithet fitly de.
scribes Pope as a poet.whetherwehave regard to hin voluminous-
ncss or to his wonderful facility and fluency in versification. There
have been few famous men whose writings have been so variously
estimated by critics as Pope, but the sober judgment of the pre-
sent day would probably incline to the view hinted at in the
above expression, and while cheerfully admitting his claim to
rank as the very prince of versifiers, and a great literary artist
and satirist, would hesitate to assign him a place in the royal
succession of England's greatest poets.
The Revolution of i688. -Write l brief account of this great
revolution, its causes, and its consequences.
The Puritan Revoltuion.— Read chapter viil., Green's "Short
History of the English People. "
TruUiber.— A fat clergyman in Fielding's novel, "The Adven-
tures of Joseph Andrews. "
Dr. Primrose.— The vain, weak, yet in many respects amiable
and estimable vicar, in Goldsmith's " Vicar of Wakefield."
Pluralities.— This word was technically used to denote the
holding of more than one benefice, or ecclesiastical living, by one
clergyman. Each benefice was called a " plurality."
Hogarth.- William Hogarth, the celebiated English ^.f^xnter,
who yfon both fame and fortune by his inimitable skill in depict-
ing the follies and vices of his day ( 1697-176 1).
Fielding.-Henry (1707-54). The firstgreat English novelist.
Tom Jones, the hero of his most famous novel is an immortal
creation, "a miracle of invention, character and wit"
Smollett, Tobias.- Another eminent English novelist, and
author of a Hutory of England. " jRoderic Random " waL one *
oi his numerous novels.
Pago 410. Chesterfield.— Lord Chesterfield, whoso name has
become a synonym of courtly elegance and grace, filled many
important offices in thQ state. He was possessed of cofts^derj^bj^
r
m
it I
m
m
36-
Notes on Litebaturb Selections.
. h„ character ia „„ doubt fitly descdbed in thTtoxf ' ™''
Wilkes.— The famous John Wiikos wi,<^ *u^ u ^^
Catch tri;[^;3i!:r; atr^ L:r;xr r^i '°
pXtraSibr„rdX::r:;t^^^^^^^
ce:r'' " "'■"■ -- '"^^ -- -p--™^ ^X":
AlIworthy.~A character in Fieldina's "Tnr™ t^ „ ,. .
guishedfor bccvolence and gcuineTfrth ""' """"•
t^^^e.,cod and bad. .rounded ou\ bSLt^b^^I'
principle of tbi^.y^ten, wbich liaLo™ dLtingu W llrr^'?'
.0 tar as it can be stated in a aenteno.. i, th "*"',- "■"''^
•■vain search after the ca„« and e»«„« of'tMnt, " Zd'::.' ""
,tn.t,on of aU philosophic- e„,„ir^ u, " fhe discov^^ Zu'Z
I
'or brilliant
to the rest,
he prosecu-
made him
ir man in
I worthless
ry of State
i the most
boon com-
g spies to
to purloin
f the same
isisting of
1 London,
oyal pro-
»" distin-
ember of
was pro
Bation of
virtue's
od.
fcman in
lescribes
irascibi-
but all
borough
y. was
omental
lerents,
it of all
the re-
he lafVH
Notes on Literature Selections. 37
of pheno.nona." Comte claimed that Europe had outlived the
theoloy^cal an.l rn.,^^,^,.iraf stages of intelLtual : n ZL
and had reached the .o^iUve which had superseded both '
^^^^^^'^i:t" ^^"^ ''-''- ^---"-
inl'Tcl^'T".^^'--''''' '''• ^" ^°""««*-" -^^^^ ^'- two
IndM r;!,''^^"'^""' ""'"'^ ^'' «^"«^ respectively the Inner
and the iI/^rfc/^ T'emp/., because they are in the building W
erly occupied by the order of Knight Templars. ^
^oAn ires?.y, r/«7./eW. /oAn.on, Howard, Wilbur rorce-\Y rite
a bnef note upon each of those well-known names. ^
Pronounce and define the following words : prosaic manlnu
'^;^;J~rn, fanatic, sordid, rationcdisVc, ^.^.a^IXX:
\
XCII.— A LIBERAL EDUCATION.
HUXLEY.
Eahng, and m that .ohool he received his preli™L,y educat „n
Tm. preparatory training wa. supplemented by a course of diui
gent private study, which included German scientific literature
by a brother-m-law who was a physician. He also subseouentlv
attended a cou,« of lectures at the Medical School of the ChlS
Cross Hospital. In 1845 the took the degree of M B 7 he
University of Undon, with honors in physiobgy. Having lied
^he requisite examinations he was appointed aslunt-sufg^^t^
had the same appointment in H. M. S, Rattl^snak,, in which he
SDent the crrfiafor r»»».f «f 4.u_ xj , , _ ,» ' ""'t-i ne
T?" * o----~ pa.v ^t viiv: time from Ibi/ to 1850 off the
Eastern and Northern coast of Australia. During this cruise h!
collected the materials for a work on " Oceanic Col" t
1850 Mr. Huxley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, t
38
Notes on Literature Sef^ecTio^s.
18.. ho was appouvted Professor of Natural History at the Royal
School of Mines in Jermyn Street and, in the s • n,o year, Pnlleria^
rofessnr of Phys.ology to the Royal Institution, and Examiner
m Physiology and Comparative Anatomy to the University of
London^ In 1858 he was appointed Croonian Lecturer to the
Royal Society when he chose for his subject "Theory of the
Vertebrate Skull." In 1860 he lectared to the workingmen in
Jermyn Street on "The Relation of Man to the Lower Animals."
Ihe question thus mooted became the subject of warm contro-*
versy at the meeting of the British Association in that and
following years. Subsequent lectures treated of Dr Darwin's
views on the origin of specie-^ and various other theories bearing
on anatomical and biological questions. He was elected a
member of the London School Board in 1870 and made himself
conspicuous by his opposition to denominational teaching and his
fierce denunciations of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Cuirch. In 1874 he was installed Lord Rector of Aberdeen
University for three years. He has since that <late received
distinguished honors from both British and foreign Scientific
Societies. His writings on Natural Science and kindre.l sul)jocts
are voluminous and well-known. His great ability and know-
ledge of the subjects which he has made his life study are un-
doubted, though his views are in many respects in conflict with
Christian orthodoxy. The extract in the text from one of his
more popular works aflFords a fine example of the singular simpli-
city, lucidity, and purity of his style.
Page 413. Retzsch.— An eminent painter and engraver b.f
Dresden, Germany (1779-1824). He gained great celebrity by
1iis dlustrations of the German poets ; als. by a number of works
drawn from classical mythology, or original. Amongst the latter
is "The Chess-players."
Page 414. Conduct would still be shaped— It will be seen
that Professor Huxley leaves no room for any standard of right
or wrong but that derived from observation of the natural con-
Bequeuces of actions. His system takes no account of intuitive
or supernatural teachings. In other words he is a utilitarian
Nature having: no Test-Acts. -What were the Teat-Acts?
Explain Huxley's meaning.
KOTES ON LiTERATUUB SELECTIONS.
39
t the Royal
•', Fiilleriaai
Examiner
liversity of
irer to the
lory of the
ingmen in
Animals. '|
'm contro-
that and
. Darwin's
I's bearing
elected a
le himself
ig and his
1 Catholic
Aberdeen
I received
Scientific
I subjects
id kuow-
r are un-
iict with
ne of his
IV simpli-
raver of
ibrity by
of works
ihe latter
be seen
of right
iral con-
intuitive
irian.
st-Acts ?
Who learn the laws which govern.— It would be out of place
to criticise in tliese notes tlie philosophy here taught. It will be
well, however, to caution the student against accepting it as
more than a half-tiuth, at least until he has carefully studied the
whole subject.
" Poll " (Gr. 01 TtoXXoi, the many).— This word as here used is
a technical or slang term in Camliritlge University, djiioting
those students who simply take a pass course for a degree, and
do not try for honors in any department.
Page 415. Ignorance is visited as sharply.— Is this true uni-
versally and absolutely, or only within certain limits ? Discuss
the propocHion briefly.
The object of what we commonly call Education.— The
thought of this paragraph is fine and well worthy of attention.
Gossamer.— What is it? Is there a real antithesis between
gossamer and anchor ? If so, in what does it consist ?
Page 416. To come to heel.— To be obedient and submissive.
A metaphor borrowed from a dog trained to follow at the heels
of its master.
Vigorous will, tendei conscience.— The nature and sphere of
will and conscience are amongst the questions in dispute between
the utilitarian and other schools of philosophy.
fl!
Give definition and mark pronunciation of phenomena, monitor,
extermination, compuhory, incapacity, discipline, preliminary,
mechanism, ascetic, benejicent.
XXXV. -THE ISLES OF GREECE.
BYRON.
[The following Life and Notes are taken, by permission, from
Book VI., Gage's Canadian Readers.]
George Gordon Byron was descended from an ancient family, and
was born in London in 1788. His father, a captain in the Guards,
dic(.t Vr'aen he was two year-s old, and the next eight years he
spent with his mother at Aberdeen, where they lived on the
wreck of her private fortune. Her injudicious treatment of him,
coupled with the irritation caused by a deformity ia one of hia
K\
40
Notes on Litekaturb Selections.
ite.l tl,o title a„.l estate of h?.f ,f . "" °' ''■"""» ""^ "'I""--
after fluislung h » b "^^ lt,i T b"""''' ^'■'' ^^'""' "»".
his iu.=„i,e poei e„«M '^,7^,: er'"1::'"'-/
" K„g„,i, Bari a;;.,"::, He , •:::;■;, Ta^Vt '":'■''■' "''
nate ™tire o„ l,i. litcary ecten.pora,! I , tL ' '"'""■''■
rxt::r:;o::rrt"''t""-"^^^^^^^^^
Ha..o«..,,,H,„a;e;»i:tra.:::\7r.tcr-;x"?'"''^
y™a.,ee. ..e ■■ai:::.;"..^ rci^.^:;-, ~
"Siege of Corinth," and " Parisina " «11 nf u u ' ■^^'■*'
prior to .8,6. ,„ that yeaf lilTIje. t wht teTa^ L?""'"
w .i,e of the co„;^:Ut::rr:;:::r4iiv;br'i
Byro,, at o„ce left E,ylan,I never to -etura hT .1 r ^''
at Geneva, where he wrote the "PnW of oT t.'""'"'"'''
fr«Van,l the third canto of "OhildeXl. T ?.' '"'"'•
of^.C,n,,eHaroUV..a:-^^^^^
aid of the Ore^U, l^'^l Z^Zlit7/T\''7'"''' "
.n.lep3,„le„„e. I„ January 18-^4 l!e anjlf. j!-^"*' '"" ""«''
health, and after spending a ft^ Jit ^h .t T'""^" """•
...activity, he died of fevefat the earl^t'onl^rr''™
Tl>i, heantifnl ode-one of tir, ,„„,t p„f,„t ,,.„v= ir f, r
Lsh, or any othei-, langnage-i, a son^ LVVu ° ^'«-
Notes on Literature SELECTioNa 41
" Don Juan." The hero of that name, after having heen wrecked
in a Mediterranean voyage, is oast alone on the shore of
"Ono of the wild and smaller CycladoB,
Where he ;s found by the daughter of a Greek pirate. By hor he
18 secretly tended until her father'.^ departure on a piratical exne-
d.t.on permits them to hoM n.ore open intercourse, and when his
prolonged absence gives rise to a report of his death Don Juan
and Ha.dee celebrate their primitive nuptials with elaborate fes-
tivities. The minstrel, or «• poet," ia represented as a Greek who
has travelled much, an.l is accustomed to suit his songs to the
referrTd'to ^"' '"'^''"''' "' ^' ^''''"* ^* *^^ ^"^^"^^"««
"And, singing ad he sung in his warm youth "
he embodies in what Byron himself describes as - tolerable verse »
the aspirations for freedom which, a few n.onths after this ode
was written, prompted the uprising that secured the indepen-
dence of Greece. The song occurs in Canto III., which was writ-
ten at Venice -n 1819, but was not published till 1821
^ In 1820 Ah Pacha, an Albanian chief with the rank of a Turk-
ish satrapand noted for his ability, cruelty, and treachery, revolted
against the Turkish Sultan. His scat of government wt Janina.
and the opportunity thus afforded was sufficiently tempting to
the Greeks, who at once commenced a series of insurrectionary
mov^ements. which the overthrow and death of Ali, i„ 1822 failed
to check. A deep interest was aroused in their behalf in En«.
nrii'f^ f. "^ *^' T"""^' "^ ^'"-^ ^^'■°"' ^"^^ "- association
'^^^^:^fo::^r' ^^- abo.. very appropriate tit.
J^^r^ ^' \^' ^t' 1. G^«^"-P-rse isles and name the
figure of speech in this line. The "Isles of Greece" have as
as many and as interesting historical associations, both ancient
and modern, clustering around them, as Greece herself can lay
ofTh oh /'.'' ««Pe-ally true of those in the^gean Sea, many
:!"'"': ""^^""^ ^7V*hf -« «P--lly referred to in the
awovc ode, stat oeioiig to Turkey.
Loved and sung:._On the form sunff and analogous fom.s
see Mason's Grammar, 225, 4, and foot note. Sappho Ma a
native of Mitylene in the island of Lesbos, and is safd to have
i|^
42
NOTKS ON LiTKUATUHE SkLECTIONS.
beoh born about B.C. 630 SJm «/..«♦„ i •
Byron evMontly „ll,'„los to the Mm :,;:::'"" "" f''".' ""'
And onvvard vieWd the monnt. not yet for^^ot.
The lovor s rofu^^e, and the Lesl.ia.i's gruN o
S^ITZT ^"^"'■'■'■'' '° '^ '"' ""°-" '--'"». •"« -.era
-nd of :a.pt„.,o, i„ „,,,.. to 1:;' L^ :.r;rLr;,:r"-
she was p„r„,oJ by the vengoanco of .Ju„ ' T , > ""
oliiW™,, Apollo ami Dianaioal ed ako P ' , """■\''"-- '*'"
becau» Apollo and Diana LetZniJZ^^'''''"'''r'''
moon-god respectively. "''^^IS"'"'' as tho Bun-god and
and Ahbotfs Shakespearian Grammar, 1 18. P„i,,t „ , . TJk '
of speech in these two lines Th. „„ ' <" " on. the agurcs
brightness of elimate and le darf ess »; ^1 tic: ""i '■ "*"'''"
bonr .at Byron wrote thVlL!' anf;::^. ^cSfH:::^^'
ci^rrcwixtter *: ^^'^" r'^-^"'"-'---'
being the birth-pla e „ Horn r^In" ftsTai"'' '"' °''""' *°
.erary.^^^^^^^^^^^
I-.-.- .oi .,„,.„ ,,ni„, auu thill It was the birtl.-Dlacs of Tl,„
pus the historian, and Theocritus the orator Id .,1k T'
one o, the largest and n.ost fertile islands inX^E^t^L. ft
Notes on LiTEUATunE Selections.
43
figured proniiiiontly tlironji^liont ancient rJnck History, nii 1 a
iiuiiihorof i'H peoplo in 1822 joining in a revolt of the Saniiaiia, tlie
island •, i-a sackcil by the Tiiikti and most of ita inhahitants w. ro
killed or sold into bhvvory. It in ^till under Tiuki.sh doinitiion,
but it long ago recovered its former proapei ity. In 1^81 it suf-
fered severely from the shock of an earthciuakc. Teo>*, an Ionian
city on the coast of Asia Minor, was the birth-place of the poet
Anacreon. See " Childe Harold," II., 03 :
Love coriqucrH ajje,— so Ilafl/ h;ith averred,
£■ A US tho Teiaii, and he aius* in sooth. ^
The Muses were in early times in Grocco regarded as the god-
desses of song ; hence the custom of invoking their aid as tho
ancient poets wore wont to do, Milton follows their example in
several of his poems. See "Para<lise Lost," L, 6; "Paradise
llegained," I., 8-17 ; "H^mn on the Nativity," stanza III.
Islands of the Blest.— The reference is to tho warm apprecia-
tion of Greek poetry in western Europe since the time of the
renascence, and also in America. The "Islands of the Blest,"
the abode of righteous . oula after death, were tabled to lie afar
off in the Western Ocr.m, but their precise location was never
given by either Greek or Latin writers. Tiiey are generally
identified with the Cape Verde, or the Canary Islands.
Stanza 3. The mountains look.— By n a 'a MS. has for the first
line 01 this stanza : ^
Euboea looks on Marathon.
Marathon was a village on tho eastern coast of Attica, about 20
miles from Athens. On the plain adjacent to it the Greek forces,
B.C. 490, under Miltiades, defeated the army sent by Darius
Hystapes of Persia to conquer tho country. The plain was ofTered
in 1809 to Byron for about $4,500, on which oflFer he remarks :
♦• Was the dust of Miltiades worth no more ? It could scarcely
have fetched less if sold by weight."
On the Persian's grave. -That is, on the spot where the
slaughtered Persians were buried. Traces of the mound erected
in honor of the fallen Athenians are still visible.
Stanza 4. A Kino- aai'i* Tlio Irin" .-if«....^^l t^^ :- \'
mi
xne
form sate is, with Byron, an affectation of a kind in which he
indulged frequently, and not always with a correct knowledge of
44
ON Literature SELRCTioNa
old English usage; for some curious examples see the oi-enin^
stanzas of " Childe Harold." . oi-ening
onfT'^T. ^^^^f'-^^^^'^-^^ i« a small island off the west
tought B.C. 480, the battle m which the Greek fleet under The-
mistoclea destroyed the armament collected by Xerxes who on
.r'ock b '' ^"^^^'"^^ ^" ^'^ -*"- of th7 : 'esl 't^:
WhL r T '' ''^ '^''^'^^^^^^ °f Mount ^galeos.
Where were they ?-Point out the figure of speech Comn«r«
the description of the san.e scene by ^Lylus? ^
Deep were the groans of Xerxes, when he saw
Th.a havoc: for his seat, a loftv mound
Co™"'^"''"'!? *he wide sea, o'erlooked the hosts.
Witti rueful cries he rent his royal robes
And through his troops embattle^ on the shore
Gave signal of defeat ; then started wild
And fled disordered.
stands. Degenerate into hands—The minstrel contrasts hb
lyre _£aUe.l to have been invented by MercuryJwas one of
the most a,,o.o„ of mnsioal instruments. It oonsisL essenlli;
fTam r, lit -7 '""Z °' ""'"' ='""«» "-'^'■ed across*^
frame, and, 1 ke .t, was played by twitching the string, with the
fingers. As ,t wa, generally used to accompany the voice poe 1
intended to be sung came to be known as " lyrfe" poe ry Com^
Ws"" ^'^"" *'°"^'" "^"^ "-"""'" -« th^Th
Stanza 6 In the dearth of fame.-i)eart4 is derived from
the Anglo-Saxon deore. dear, by the addition of the suffix T
"Wth^"; ' •:T'""°»"' '""-'fo- means '.dearnet-as
o,"T' " !'.""""" " ""°'»<'»'-" The original meaning
of dear 'seems to have been "costly," and amon|st the trans*
^o„s .t underwent was one to the meaning '.scarce,-' inee sca'i y
« always an element of costliness. The reference in jJlZ
'» f = '»»« -■' -«on of the Greeks to the Ottomans. whTch '
dated from the akmg of Constantinople in 1453. Byron iad not
always been a ph.lhellenist. During his European toLin Isl "'
ne .Ojournea m a.Uerent parts of the country, and, in hia mit
.ng. of that period, he .hows that he was famabJy ^r^^
Notes on Literature Sklections. 45
tTfl!;r^r'^'''''^r''''"' '"•^*^^* ^' «aw little to admire in
« e tir "''•' . / *^'" ''^'''^'"^ '^'''' ^«-'-g« -« hopeless.
Hartld » 7 "^"7^/°^«'S" -^- I" the second canto of 4hild;
nor do these feelings appear to have changed in the seven-yea^
mter^al between «' Childe Harold " and '. Son Juan." Th 1 1
wrmenT""'""'"'"' '"^ "^* "^ *^^ y^^* ^^^^ ^^is ode was
men r; J" ' ""\t"' '^ *^' ^^^^^^ ^"^ "^^-^ ^ ^«- ^-bitioua
desire to ass t them may have been partly due to a feeling that
he had unwittmgly wronged them ten years before.
Stanza 7. Must we but weep?-The use of but in the
in e:.! ^T'" '' r'"^^^^-"^ --*. but is now ^rcha
but rlv » r^'" *'' ^'""*^^' "^°**°= "Touch not a cat
but a glove." In composition. '« but » and - without " are anal-
Without ,s compounded of the Anglo-Saxon with and uti
and means ''on the outside ; " the '.but" is made up ofV and
2«. and means .'by the outside." AH the uses of "^^^ but "are
gLI'^,'''^^^^^^ ^^^'"'"^^' ^^«-120. and Mason's
^_ Our fathers bled.-Notice the antitheses in the preceding four
^^A new Thermopylae-Compare "Childe Harold." Canto II.,
Not such thy sons who whilom did await,
The hopeless warriors of a willing doom,
In bleak Therinopylae's sepulchral strait-
Oh, who that gallant spirit sh^l resume ?
Thermopyl. (the "hot gates ")-a narrow pass between Mt. (Eta
and the sea and leading from Thessaly to Locris-was the scene
of the celebrated defence made by Leonidas and his 300 Spar Z
agains the immense army of Xerxes. B. C. 480. The asp'rS
If tL "Z ^^Tf'» " "^ '° ^•'"^^ >«-«"- realized.'^for one
of the mcidents of the M'ar of independence wa« a «f rn..]. 11
the possession of this same strategic"position " " """ ^ '"'
Stan2«^8. One living hand.-There was no scarcity of popular
leaders during the Graaco-Turkiah war, but only one. 7^Z
46
Notes on, Literature Selections.
Bozarris, achieved a high military reputation, and he was not a
Greek, but a Suliote chief. See Note on stanza 13.
Stanza 9. In vain— in vain. --What is the figure of speech in
this line ?
Samian wine.— Samos and Scio (Chios) have been famous both
in ancient and modern times for their wine. Cf. "Don Juau,"
Canto III., stanza 31 :
And flasks of Samian and of Chian wine.
Each bold Bacchanal.— The term Bacchanal is used here
in the sense of " wine-drinker," and conveys a somewhat unjust
imputation on the national character of the Greeks of Byron's
day. The Bacchanal properly denotes one engaged in Bacchana-
lian revelry. The Bacchanalian festivals were originally festivals
at which the Bacchantes, the female companions of Bacchus, or
Dionysus, and those women who afterwards sa(!rificed to him on
Mounts Cithaeron and Parnassus, celebrated wild orgies in honor
of the wine-god.
Stanza 10. The Pyrrhic dance.— On the Pyrrhic dance com-
pare " Don Juan," Canto III., 29 :
'Midst other indications of festivity,
Seeing a troop of his domestics dancing
Like dervises, who turn as on a pivot, he
Perceived it was the Pyrrhic dance so nurtial,
To which the Levantines are very partial.
The Pyrrhic dance was Dorian in its origin, and, like some of the
rhythmic movements of the American Indians, was originally a
war dance, as distinguished from one devised for purposes of
religion or mere pleasure. The motions of the body were made
in quick time to flute music, and were intended to be a kind of
training in the acts of attack and defence, the dancers being
completely armed. The "Romaika," which is still danced in
Greece, seems to be a relic of the ancient Pyrrhic dance. The
latter was so much thought of by Julius Caesar that he had it
introduced into Rome.
The Phyrric phalanx.— The phalanx was a body of foot
soldiers set close together, sometimes in the form of a rectangle,
and sometimes in that of a wedge. It was in use in very early
times amongst the Spartans, and was greatly improved by Philip
of Macedou. The reference in the text is no doubt to the Mac©-
Notes on Literature Selections.
47
donian phalanx, by means of which Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, suc-
ceeded in routing the more loosely organized Roman army. From
the name of Pyrrhus comes the second " Pyrrhic » here ; the first
is from "Pyrrhichos," the reputed inventor of the dance referred
to. The use of the same word in such diflfereut senses is of the
nature of a pun.
The letters Cadmus gave.— Cadmus was according to some
accounts a native of Phoenicia, according to others a native of.>
Egypt. He was the reputed founder of Thebes in Greece, and -
IS said to have brought with him from Egypt sixteen letters of '
the alphabet which had come into use in the latter country.
Their number was subsequently iR-^r-ased to twenty by Pala-
medes, and to twenty-four by Si : js. The latter, who died
B,C. 467, is said to have iuventc^ tue long vowels and some of
the double letters of the Greek alphabet.
Stanza 11. Anacreon's song. — Anacreon, a celebrated Greek
poet, was born in the City of Teos, but spent much of his life in
Samos, which was then under the rule of Polycrates, who was
also a Greek. The latter had by treachery acquired supreme
power over his own and some of the neighboring islands, but he
was far from being a tyrant in the ordinary sense of the term.
He lived in great luxury and was a liberal patron of the artists
and poets of his day, the most eminent of whom lived much at
his court. The Greek work, tyrannos, originally meant simply
an absolute lord, but not necessarily a cruel one. Polycracea
was treacherously seized and crucified B.C. 622, by the satrap of
Sardis. Anacreon then wen*^^ to Athens, where most of his sub-
sequent life was spent. Only a few genuine fragments of his
lyrics have come down to us, but these tend to establish the cor-
rectness of the description given of him by tradition— that he
was a thorough voluptuary. " Our then masters » is a more
common form of expression than the one in line 5 of this stanza
Byron himself uses the phrase, «• the then world." See Mason's
Grammar, 362, 4. It is not easy to parse '« then," according to
A..J ...... o. ....m^i yttt.iiiiKii, buc, as uv. Abbott says of this con-
struction, " it is too convenient to be given up."
Stanza 23. The Chersonese. -The terra "Chersonesus" means
Utcrally "land-island," i. e. "peninsula." There were several
I.
48
Notes ojt Litebaturr Selections.
places which, in ancient treoffi-anhv wo,,* i *i. ^
the Hellespont and the Gulf of Melas • n\\u^ o 'y,"^^^^^^
the Crimea • /q\ fKo n- li- ' ^'^' *^® Scythian, now
in ArX ' i!l r 0?°' "°^ ^'^"'""''^ ' (*) a promontory
l\SlSd!; T ^^' ^''^'•^^"'^i' '^"d (5) a town in Crete!
Miltiades.-A promment Athenian citizen in the time of Pisi!
trati,8,who sent him to take possession of the Chersonruf wh h
had been colonized by an uncle bearin„ f »,. '»"nesus wnich
— Miltiadp*. TT. • • , ""^*® bearing the same name as himself
ditfon an 1 fo ' ^"1''' ^'''''^'' '^ ^^« Scythian expo-
dition, and, foreseeing the future danger <^ Greece counsplL
the cntt ng down of the bridge over the'oanube ^2 IT of he
Persian king so as to ensure the destruction of his army After
a somewhat checkered career he returned to AthenT and B C
400 won imperishable renown by his defeat of the Perstnfat
Marathon. Byron's nraise ^f him o. * u Persians at
«a. ,0 "X " .P ^ * ^*^'" ^®®'"^^ *o be not misplaced.
Stanza 13. On Suli's rock ti,<» u^ 1 -^ ^, ''''"•
Ti 1 i. 1- '^''•f""»™cK . . The Heracleidan blood —
The last line of this stanza is in Byron's M.S. :
Which Hercules might deem his own.
Grlt'Cof'th" '' '^ J"""'" ^'^^^ ''^ ^^"«' - -r*hern
Wee. One of their early kings is said to have been aided by
expetr ' Vh: T^'' 1 '': *''^^"^' ^"•-" -^-^ '- had been'
theCr!!; f .^T''""^"'' °^ Hercules-called from Herakles,
dnven fio . the Peloponnesus, took refuge in Doris, and were by
the Dorians restored to their possessions. The Dorians remained
m the Peloponnesus, and were thenceforward the ruling race in
It their conquest of the country being known in history as the
return of the Heraclid.. The Dorians, of whom the Spartan!
were the most la.nous branch, were the most warlike of the
Hellenic rac.a ; hence the reference in the fourth line. l>arira is
a fortified sea-port town on the western coast of Albania nearly
opposite the southern extremity of Corfu. Suli is the name of a
oistrict along the shore further to the south. The Suliote.
of Byron 8 tin.o were a mixed race-partly Greek, but chiefly
Albaman-the descendants of families who had, in the 17th cen
.ury, taken refuge in that mountainous region from Turkish
oppression For many years they resisted successfully the effo.t.
Of the Turkish satrap, Ali Pacha-himself of Albanian descent-
>* »
Notes on Literature Selections. 49.
W 'rofr ""f: "'^"^^ *^'^"^ P-* - *^« heroic de-
Mode;„ c::::: r"T °^ *^'« ^^-^g^^ «- Fimays '. History of
rje of r '/ """ '^''^ ^'^- ^^"^^"«' beautiful versions
of one of .ts episodes in '« Tue Suliote Motl.er." The Suliotes in
1803 under the leadership of Bozzaris, then a mere yout labln
doned he contest, and most of them retired to the Wn Isles"
where they remained until 1820. During Byron's Greek tour hi
b k tl mL: "^^* *° ^'; ^^^^^ ^' Tepelenf and. on the j!:„ i
back to Athens, was nearly lost in a Turkish vessel wh ch was
driven on the coast of Suli. See " Childe Harold " ii 65 68
2l'l'zr\T' ''' "^""*^^-- ^-^^'^ ^^^
Byro^ vould Lr I ^'"'"^^^ ''''''''' ''' *heir history than
By on would otherw.se have felt, and to have secured for them
onghit 1824 hir^^. '"r1 *'"' ^^"""^ ^"« «*^3^ - Misso-
clTct of a h ' If f f.PP°^"^"^^"^ h-"^g been due to the mis-
conduct of a band of Suliotes Mhom he had taken into his pay
^'j':tZr'T''''' ^"'^^ ''''' ^^ -^ constrateHo
msmiss them-an instance which shoMs the prosaic side of this
hal -cmhzed but interesting race. Their inmost remarkable x
iifeui m i»j^.j,i In a brilliant sort e, planned to snr
fZSofT"' ^'''^'' ""■^' ''°-='™ -- ki ed : tl
Halleck s well-known poem. It i, matter for re-ret that t>,»
land of the Suliote. ha. not been all included ^UUn tht Iw
northern bonndary of Greece as fixed in 1881.
Stanza 14. Freedom to the Franks.-Tho " Franks " in th.
5th centnry, conquered the Roman province of 0^1 Ind gave
that country .t. modern name, France. Byron may lie S
the term here either as a general epithet for the people oTwerr^
Europe or a, a poetical designation for the FreLh peopir Tl e
k.ng of France at the time was Louia XVIII., but the referenc:
wii^y.Stt:!::;r^;:---:;-tr
WiJI Gaul or Muscovite redress ye ? No.
50
Notes on ■ Literature Selections.
Would break your shield.— With this stanza compare "Childe
Harold," canto ii., stanzas 73-84, and also " The Giaour," lines
l-lG3,in both of which passages the gloomy view taken by Byron
of the political condition of Greece shows that he had not been
able to appreciate rightly the character of the people as it shortly
afterwards displayed itself during a long and severe struggle.
As a matter of historical fact, moreover, that struggle was tex-mi*-
uated by the interference of Great Britain, France, and Russia
in 1827. The term "Latin" is hero applied to France, and,
perhaps, also to Italy.
Stanza 15. Glorious black eyes shine.— See Mason's Gram-
mar, 397, and Abbott's Suakespearian Grammar, 349.
To think such breasts.— On this use of the iuhnitive see
Mason's Grammar, 196.
Stanza 16. Sunium's marbled steep. —Compare Sophocles
"Ajax," 1217. "Suuium" was the ancient name of Cape Colonna,
the southern extremity of Attica. It is a rocky promontory]
nearly 300 feet high, and in ancient times was crowned with a
splendid temple dedicated to Atiiena (Minerva). The columns
of thlf temple, which are still in existence, are seen at a consider-
able distance by the traveller who approaches by either sea or
land, and are the occasion at once of the modern name of the
cape, and of the allusion in Byron's epithet, "marbled steep."
Near this rock occurred the wreck of the Britannia, described in
Falconer's poem, "The Shipwreck." The author, who was the
second mate of the vessel, thus locates the scene of the catas-
trophe :
But now Athenian mountains they descry,
And o'er the surge Colonna frowns on high.
Beside the cape's projecting verge is placed
A range of columns long by time defaced ;
Firsb planted by devotion to sustain,
In olden times, Tritonia's sacred fane.
Athena was, according to one legend, born on Lafee Tritonie,
in Libya ; hence the name here given her.
Save the waves and I.— For the parsing of mve and /.
see Mason's Grammar, 282. Compare Abbott's Shakespearian
Grammar, 118 ; and, for a diflferent view, see Rushton's Rules
and Cautious, 482. '
C^,
KoTES ON Literature SELECTioNa
51
C^.
Swan-like. — Tlie belief tliat the swan gives uttciuuce to mu«i-
oal notes just before death is usually classed amongst poetic
myths, but it seems to have some real foundation in natural his-
tory. El man, in his "Travels in Siberia," says: "This bird,
when wounded, pours forth its last breath in notes most beauti-
fully clear and sweet." It is said of the Iceland swan that its
note resembles the v'olin, and that its music presages a thaw — a
circumstance sufficient in itself to connect it in t'lat country with
pleasant associations. Poetry abounds with references to the
alleged ante-mortem song of the swan. Compare with the allu-
sion in the text the following, from one of Dr. Donne's poema :
«• What is that, Mother?" " The swan, my love ;
He is floating down to his native grove.
Death ilarltens his ej'e and uiipluines his wing8,
Yet his sweetest song is the last he sings,
Live so, my son, that when death shall come,
Swan-like and sweet, it may -t aft thee home."
Drayton, in his "Baron's Wars,"b. vi., has the following :
Bright Empress, yet be pleased to peruse
The swan-like dirges of a dying man.
Shakespeare, as a matter of course, makes use of so poetical a
fancy, and with great effect. In "King John, Act v., scene 7,
Prince Henry says to his dying father, who has just been heard
singing :
'Tis strange that death should sing.
1 am the cygnet to this pale, faint swan.
Who chants a doleful hymn on his own death,
Arid from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
His soul and body to their lasting rest.
In the " Meroliant of Venice," he makes Portia say, while
Bassanio is choosing the "asket :
Let music sound while he doth make his choice,
Then, if he lose, he makos a swan-like end,
Fading in music ; that the couiparison
May stand more proper, my eye shall be the stream
And watery death lied for him.
In "Othello" he makes still more effecti'«'e use of the idea
when Emilia, at the point of death, compares Desd^,:.ona, as well
M herself, to ft dying swah. Referring to Desdemona's forebod-
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF EOUCATO
52
^ToTEs OS Literature SELROTioNa
curred to her before her nniriler, /i'milia says :
What did thy 8ong: bode, lady ?
Hark canst thou hear me ? I will play the swan.
And die in music : " Willow, willow, willow."
In the " Rape of Lncrece " he has :
And now this pale swan in her watery nest
Bc-iiis the ead dirye of her certain ending.
Pope, in the " Rape of the Lock, " canto v. , says ,
Thus on Mneandei-'s flowery margin lies
The expiring swan, and as he sings he dies
.to oTa^i-Siirrrr "'" '"''' ""- '"' ^ -'—
Sic ubi fata vocant, udis abjcctus in herbis,
Ad vada Micandri concinitalbus olor.
For a highly poetical treatment of the same myth, see Tennv
son's Bhort piece entitled «. The Dying Swan." Sim ll a^
o "^he^roTofV^ r"- ,.^«--^--' ^-ude. in his essTy
•« Find f r 1 ' "^"^^'"^ "^ *^^ J^^'^h prophets, says
Finding themselves too late to save, and only like C^,L J '
despised and disregarded, their voice; rise up Lgtg thrsw^
song of a dying people." f s g ^ne swan-
A land of slaves, etc. -These lines are a fitting conclusion fn
HINTS FOR READING.
Stanza l._Liue 1 : read the second half with increased force
especially on "Greece," with fallin, inflection on " Greece "7n'
on '4:;lr ''• jf^f,^-%^-f ^-^ warmth, with empha^
on fc,applio. Read lines 5 and 6 with equal warmth ; empha-
size ''summer "and "except," but not ''sun,"as "summe""by
the figure metonymy, anticipates " sun." and words or thought!
repeateu do not take repeated emphasis. "But all ig set"
should be read iu deeper pitch and slower time.
Stanza 2 -Line 3: emphasize "your." Line 4: emphasize
"bird," and increase the force on "alone." Linea 5 JdlTl
Notes on Literature Selections. - 63
ro-
56
. greater
slight emphasis on " west,"
Blest," with rising inflection
Stanza 3 —Emphasis on " Marathon." line 1, and on " .ea »
line J. Line 4 : read with warmth increasing on " still l)e tree "
L,ne 5 : emphasize " Persian's grave " with rising inflection, and
read line 6 with indignant warmth and emphasis on "slave."
Stanza 4. -Emphasize "king," with pauso. and -Salami^,"
thousands, and "nations." Read "all were his" with forceand
oroti.n.1 voice, an.l emphasize " his." Read linos 5 and 6 ^vith
force, but pause at " set "; then ask the question in .leopor and
more solemn tone, with emphasis on " where " and " they."
Stanza 5.-Line 1: emphasize "are" and "thou." Lin > 2-
rednce the emphasis slightly on " country." Lines 3 and 4 ': do
not regard the apocop^, but read "the heroic." R^ad the passage
bJth " "--"deeper, and with mo.rnful expLioa
but throw fervor and indignation iuto linos 5 and 6.
Stanza 6._Line 3 : "shame " takes empha.is, not " patriot ;"
because, If he cannot wield the sword nor strike the lyre as a
patriot, he at least feels the patriot's shame for his un worthiness.
The expression is uttered as a rebuke to those who hear him but
who are sacrificing patriotism to pleasure. Line 6 : read the'first
hal md^nant y. and the second tenderly, with en.phasis on
"blush "and "tear."
Stanza 7. - Lines 1 and 2: emphasize strongly «' ween »'
in'" :f::J^f'' ^^*^^ "^^"^ '"«-^-" «" ^'^^ «-t tZo a'nd
falling on the third. Rea,l the remainder of the verse with force
and orotund quality and lofty expression ; emphasize "three"
and " new Tiiermopylfe."
Stanza 8. Read this verse with grandest solemnity, almost
like a chant and increase this quality in the quotation : read
the second "we come" slower, but with more force tha« the
first; emphasize ..living" with falling iufl .ction, and end
dumb with a rising inflbction.
Stanza f). — divo yiainty ;^a^^i.:-., ^ «< . ., ,,
... " "V ■■•= '""9-^^"" to '- vam,-' reading the words
with an expression of despair; emphasize "other;" the remain-
der of the verse should be read with an expression of bitter
WPckin^ U'on^, mingled with sporfl, '
64
Notes on Literature Selectionh.
lasizH
Stanza 10.— Line 1 : e
"phalanx," reading the line in a tone of indignant rebuke.
Line 4 : emphasize " nobler " and «' manlier." Line 6 : emplia-
size "letters" with pause, and "Cadmus." Line 6: read the
question with indignant scorn; give emphasis to "think," in-
crease it with prolonged time and with rising inflection on
" slave."
Stanza 11. -Read the first three lines with reckless defiance
Liae 4 : emphasize " he " with falling inflection, prolonging the
time, r.nd, with rising inflection, "served ;" then render "aerved
Polycrates" slowly and rebukingly, with emphasis and feeling
on "Polycrates." Line 5 : arising circumflex on "tyrant" as
if he said, "a tyrant I admit, but," and read the remain.ler'with
patriotic warmth ; give emphasis to "masters" and "country-
men." ^
Stanza 12.— Read this verse in the same spirit. Line 3 : pause
at "tyrant," and emphasize " Miltiades." Lines 4 and 5 : pro-
long " oh !" and emphasize "another." Line 6 : emphasize "his,''
but read all the line with force.
Stanzas 13, 14 and 15 are to be read with an expression of
recklessness, as if mocking the revellers, but mingled with stern
rebuke.
Stanza 16.— Begin this verse in sterner tones, and with mourn-
ful expression, but pass to indignation in Ivpe 5, and give that
feeling the fullest force in line 6.
Byron's greatness as well as his weakness lay in the fact that
from ooyhood battle was the breath of his being. To tell him
not to fight was like telling Wordsworth not to reflect, or Shelley
not to Bing.—Ntchol. •'
Byron I alone place by my side. Walter Scott is nothing
compared with him.— Goelhe. """"g
Art thou nothing other than a vulture, then, that fliest through
the Universe seekmg after something to eat. and shrieking dole-
lully because carrion enough is not gi^n thee ^—Carli/le.
The genius of Lord Byron is one of the most remarkable in our
literature for originality, versatility, and enersy,^Angm.
Of the work I have done, it becomes me not to speak, save
^!;lLt' if 'Tn ^^ t"" *^» ^?^f "^° '°h«°^' ^"'i i*« Corypheus, the
author 9f "Pou Juaa." I hre held up that school to pibUg
Notes on Literature Selections.
^6
detestation as enemies to the religion, the institutions, and the
domestic morals of the country. I have given tliom a designa-
tion to which their leader and joioidcr amircrx. — Soidhey.
Byron's poetiy is great— great— it makes him truly great; he
haw not so much gieatness in himself. — Campbell.
It is in " Don Juan " that the Qhatacteristic genius of Byron,
with its \^omlerful poM'ers to blend wit, scorn, and pathos,
reached its highest development. - P/u///'(i>.'?.
Ah 1 but I would rather have the fame of "Childe Harold"
for three years than an immortality of "Don Juan." — Countese
Ouiccioli.
Every word has the stamp of immortality. — Shelley. ^
It has the variety of Shakespeare hiinself. — Scotl.
It is a work full of soul, bitterly savage in its misanthropy,
exquisitely delicate in its tenderness. — Goethe.
LVL— TO THE EVENING WIND.
BRYANT.
William Cullen Bryant was equally eminent as a poet and a
publicist, and his long li^e afforded him an opportunity of exer-
cising a highly beneficial influence on the intellectual and politi-
cal life of his day and country. He was born at Cummington,
Mass., in 1794, and died at New York in 1878. Like Pope he
" lisped in numbers," for his earliest poems were published when
he was only ten years of age. At nineteen he wrote " Thana-
topsis," and the unquestioned position that poem has, ever since
its first publication in 1817, held in English literature, is sufficient
proof of the precocity of the author's genius. After a partial
college course and a brief career at the bar, he turned his atten-
tion to journalism. In 1826 he joined the staff of the New
York Evening Pout, of which he soon became the leading spirit,
and which, during his connection with it, he raised to a very high
position amongst American journals. From time to time he pro-
duced poems which added to his literary reputation both at home
and abroad, and secured ](or him a warm reception on his first
visit to Europe in 1844. Bryant has produced no work of oreat
magnitude except his translations of the "Iliad " and the "Odys-
sey." His longest original poem, "The Ages, " was written to
be read before one of the "Greek letter" societies at Harvard
I
56
W
Notes on Literature Selections.
ColleRo. His minor poems are fftll of beauty an.I fe^Hnir an,l ....-
justly p„puhcr wherever t\u> h^, A; i i 'eeimg, and are
The charming simplicity of the.se verses is such a» .. j
ext™.,e.,exp.a„a«„„ or c„„„„e„. unnl™ J,;; "flLr
Ihose who have ever dwelt on fh« d.^ c «"pernuous.
..; -a. of .,™™. a.,::;;r«::ro rre::,:* :rz
eveiuncr sea-hrflp^A wi:^ u t. . ° '"""'"*-*'« oi tne
uoem ^'Z^^''^' will best appreciate the sentiments of the
poem Ihe cause of the regular alternation of the oi^shor!
nornmgana on-shore evening bree^e.s is easily nua.llo! Z
temperature of the surface of the water is for J„ u u
th» aajaoen. w.e's no., ::r,;:;;f,:?;::;^rrcr;^:f
the mormng the process is reversed The f«.f ':,,f^^--^"
temperature of the eontig.,„„s countries. TI.e eo„2 'n "?.
poem is truly poetical. Tl,e eve.,i„„ !,.„ ""'WopboD of the
a beneficeutspidt. ^VoJ,sby2y\'71e''r'Tu^' "
an,! wafting the white sail^over iL s" Ac and r!!. ° '""
night fall to the shore. laJen with refr st nV^d C^T
ence for man and nature. reviving mau-
The stanza is the Oitava Rima (octuple rhyme) consisting, of
eight Iambic Pentameter or Heroic verses thefi f f ^
alternately, the last two in successior T^rstn J is '""'"^
name indicates, of Italian origin. ''' ^ *^«
Stanza 1 Wild blue waves. -Account for "the coloring nf
the^wo^-picture." What kind of day must the poetlaTelad
.„^_K""i- Languishing:.-With what does this word «„.,«?
Gathering^ shade.— Explain.
NoTBa ON LlTKUATHRB Seleotioss, 67
.uT^,'' ?"" "",""' ™'<"-VVhatwato,-a do yo„ u,„l„r.
«tan<l to be desi^Miali d ? ' uh.hi
thI)lT^l"f fr^, ^*'-"»^">*^«-What are these harmonica-
the rustling of ti.e leaves, sighing of the wind through the
branches, etc., or the songs of birda or both V P, °"«"^'^<'
WhAr» t«a»i I u . ""*''*' ^^ »f>t» ? tMve reasons.
of nfr r . ^ ''°''' ^^'^ "'^""'"^ flower. -Justify the use
of the words bows and «Am«,-«<7. ^ "® "*"
Darkling waters. -Dark ling is a rare poetic word Has (•»,«
termination ling any diminutive force here '
o 1-1 ,/"^"*^c^e • . . nature— These words 'onfn:.,
a pulo.ophioal principle which is as old as 1^1, thp
ancient Greek philosopher who taught, more than twel three
centuries ago. that it was in the very nature of thinglthat thev
should be in a state of incessant transition, of infiiSe flow '/
wolr;b::Th'" f t" ^^'-^ "^^* "^^ ^^^^ -iff
rderstel, T ''''""°^ ''^^"^^ " «*i" found to be as
Tud decat T I T"'"'- ^^^P^r-^'on -nd rain-fall, growth
eraliitTon of r ^^'''*''" '"^ reproduction, even the grind gen
erahzation of the conservation and equilibrium of force are aU
L" ^riter"^^"^^^^^^"^ '' ''' -- ^- ^^'^^^ Co^t
stal'men'tf^D "''« '°""'' *"' scents.-Can you justify this
statement? Does Bryant probably mean it literal Iv r.f K fk
sounds and scents, or is the explanation so far a th " fo
tion nf K ^^^^"'"esick mariner.-This allusion to the opera-
tion of the law of association of ideas is nn«f;.oi a ^
m. . , ^^ '^ poetical and suggestive.
The student will not fail to notice the prevalence .f words of
one syllable and of Anglo-Saxon origin in the foregoingpoem
It would be a profitable exercise to make a list of the'latter"^
LXVII._THE HANGING OP THE CRANE.
LONGFELLOW.
Henry WadRwnrf.li l^n^t^u xt
educated.* Bo^doi. College, where he ^ZZlsi:Z
68
Notes on Literature Selections.
he spent some three years in a European tour in order to fit him-
r82Qr «^l"rTwr>'"'°' ""''"^^ '^ *^^' institution. Pron,
1829 to 18do he held this position, and in the latter year he was
appointed professor of belles-lettres in Harvard College. Again
before enteriiig on his work, he spent some months in European
travel m order to fit himself the better for undertaking it suc-
cessfully. His connection with Harvard endured till 1854 when
he retired to devote himself to literature, and was succeeded by
James Russell Lowell. From that year to his death, in 1882,
he lived m quiet retirement at his home in Cambridge, near Bos-
ton, the monotony of his literary labors being broken only by the
demands of social life and by visits to Europe. Longfellow's
career of authorship began when he was an undergraduate of
Bowdoin College. Some of his more important minor poems ap-.
peared during his incumbency of a chair in the same institution
but the great majority of them belong to the period of his Har-'
vard professorship. To the latter belong also his " Spanish Stu-
dent and «« Evangeline," while the first-fruits of his retirement
were "The Song of Hiawatha," "Miles Standish," and "Tales of
f-,7,?.?^! ^"''•" ^'^ ^'*^'^'y ^'*^^^<^y ^""^^^^ al'«««t unimpaired
till 18,8, but subsequently to that date he wrote comparatively
httle Longfellow had little of the real epic or dramatic spirit
His plots were of the thinnest character, and he was as deficient
m humor as he was in the objective faculty ; but his poems are
marked by a purity of sentiment, a felicity of diction, and a gen-
umeness of pathos which ensure for them lasting popularity
This is especially true of his beautiful lyrics, some of which as
for example the " Psalm of Life,' " Village Blacksmith » "E-
celsior,"and "The Builders," are more familiar to the' masses
than the productions of almost any other poet. His works i . fleet
little of the storm and stress of turbulent American democracy
but they exhibit, in its most attractive form, the inner aspects
of American domestic life.— (?agre'a Hixth Reader.
The metre of this poem is, as will be seen, of two kinds. Each
division consists of what may be called an iuuoduction or pre
lude and a description or vision. The introductory stanzas'are
regularly formed and consist in each case of six lines Oi- verses of
Notes on Literature Selections.
59
which the first five are Iambic Pentameters and the sixth an Iam-
bic Trimeter, or verse of three Iambics. The descriptive stanzas
are all Iambic Tetrameters, or verses of four lambios, but are
irregular as will be seen in respect to the place of the rhyme and
the number of lines in the stanza.
I. The hanging of the crane.— The stove of the present day
has well-nigh cast out the old-fashioned fireplace, with all the
pleasant associations that cluster around it in the memories of
our grandparents or great-grandparents. The crane of the ohi-
fireplace was a projecting iron rod or arm, in the shape of the
crane for raising heavy weights with which everyone is familiar.
It revolved freely in sockets by which its vertical shaft was
attached to one side of the fireplace, while from the horizontal
shaft were suspended pots, kettles, etc., over the blazing logs,
When, in New England, a newly-married couple were about to com-
mence house-keeping the relatives and friends used to accompany
them to their new home and hang the crane with due formality
and with much innocent mirth and jollity.
Like a new star just sprung to birth.— It seems probable
that Longfellow in writing- tliis line may have had in mind the
"nebular hypothesis " of Laplace, according to which the so-called
nebu'.ce, or patches of indistinct light observed in the heavens
were supposed to be attenuated world-matter in process of con-
densation into stars which were being from time to time launched
forth into space. Later observations with telescopes of higher
power have resolved these so-calL'.d nebulce into clusters of stars
already formed, and so destroyed the hypothesis so far as it was
based upon the observation of these fancied aggregations of cha-
otic matter.
II. More divine.— Transpose the sentence so as to show the
grammatical relation of these two words.
Mine and thine— thine and mine.— Note the significant inver-
sion of the order of these words in the last line.
Like a screen.— What do you think of this, simile ? Does it
oUU. ivnj'D >Ar iiiy luctt ui WCUllCII lit .'
And tell them tales.— Criticise this sentence, favorably or un-
favorably, according to your judgment of its effect upon the gen-
eral description,
60
Notes ok Litebatdm Seieotions.
Drums on the tablp at * . ' ^'
true to life this deJ^tZn '""^'' ''^ ^^"^"^Se and how
the oonnection. truest—Explain the force of these words in
In purple chambers of the mom Tf • .
exactly what idea this clause is ren";;ed L" '''^ *° '^''''"'^^'
Itself would be suggestive nf . , " , ''"''''''y- ^"'7'^e of
the ancients a bad^o iJer f ^ T'°"*^- '' "^« ^ Ast
the cow Of the Ko^ i^^ll^^^^^^^^^^ and was alwfys
chambers of the morn, which won M '" coniv>otion with
land of sunrise, its foroeTs not ann 'T J? '"^^^ *^« ^^^^^t. or
to .ome old or nurserylelnd r^f '"*-• ^^' """^^'^^ '"ay be
oon^ing from the East^orlth tTsrH:? "^"''^^^^ ^^^^^ ^
A conversation in his eves —Tu-
forcibly suggests the light as of nn„.T T''P"°" P^^ttily and
in the eyes of a young cl,d but the i "^'' "'"' ^^^^^
seem happily chosen. ' *^' ^"^"^ «o«t;..«a^/on does not
The 8:olden silence of the Grp«v at
famous Wks is in,n.ortalized by sHetrr^ of the
of the Odyssey where Ulysses inZ • '^'^""*^'^ ^ook*
departed heroes in Hades, meet's thatlJT"^" "" ^'^"'^^ «^ *he
been in the upper world nd^ll'e lat^V'-- -al ^« '-^^
dresses it, and, i„ the langualoIV/ '^^'^ '""^^''' ^^^-
-on to him with a hum ^ 11 lo""; " '";^^- ^^'-"J-ns-
turns away " with duuib, sullen m^L , T'"''' " *'^^ ^^^'er "
to use the words of LoL.inu? ZT" '"' "" '-l-ce as,
anything he could have Tpok L - V '7''""^ '" '* *^^«
have been the most eloqu!ut rnd t '^''''' '"'"'''^' '^ ''^^^l to
common proverb which 1^^^^:;::^:' ^ ^''
silence gold," is probably of Ger nan ° ' ^^"'^ '^ ^^^^er,
P ,, ' "V "i vrerinan origm
"ety f.p|w,eiit. The idea may be thaV'tV"' "'"''"('"ate.ess is „„4
purpoaea .re a ,ath„™,e. myltt; 'rtje eW """'""'^ ""f
Notes on Literature Sblectiona 61
Like the sea.-The simile is hardly a happy one. Rustling is
hardly the term to describe any sound of the sea.
An allusion or comparison, whose fitness is not readily seen,
must be regarded as a blemish.
Canute— The Danish king of England about A.D. 1017-35
He eflfected the complete subjugation of the Anglo-Saxons, but
his rule was nevertheless popular. One cannot but feel that the
need of a word to rhyme with absolute had too much infiuence in
the choice of the allusion.
IV. A Princess from the FairjlsX^^.-Fairy hlesiB ^^oeti<y^
variation from the more usual Fairy land.
Allcover'd and embower'd in cm\s.~Emboicer'd in curls is
pretty and appropriate, but cover'd in curls is open to criticism,
grammatically and poetically.
Ours.— Explain the grammatical construction of thij word.
Limpid.— Connected with Gr. XdjxiCEiVy to shine. Hence
clear, brightly transparent.
Yet nothing see beyond the horizon of their bowls.— This
can scarcely be meant literally. In what sense does the poet
probably Intend it ?
V. As round a pebble. -This is another simile which seems
far-fetched.
Garlanded.— A happy metaphor suggesting, or suggested by,
the simile which follows.
Ariadr —Daughter of Minos, a mythical king of Crete. She
was mailed first to Theseus, King of Athens, who deserted her
at Naxos. Then she was found by Bacchus returning from India,
who was captivated by her beauty, married her, and at her death
gave her a place among the gods and suspended her wedding.
croM'n as a constellation in the eky.
Flutter awhile.— This is a pretty metaphor, but it may be
questioned whether its eflfect is not weakened by its expansion
into the simile in the following lines.
The van and front. -Can you make any distinction between
these words sufficient to defend the use of both here from tha
charge of tautology ?
Knight-errantry.— Write an explanatory note in respect to
the knights-eiTant of the middle-ages.
62
Notes on Literatuke SELEcTiosa.
:£^^^^^'=^^-:^^:::^
Like the magician's scroll, -This simile seems open to th«
same cr.ticsm mad. i„ regard to several previous ones f
ing too studied and ingenious. If the proper uTof t ' T-'
to illustra^ by reference to something LT l!."! t ' Ci L^
these fail of their purpose. ^«iniiiai,
•Brighter than the day. -Criticise Lias description Does it
strike you as forcible ? ^ ^^ '*
And hearts.-A jewel can easily be conceived as shining i„ a
home. Can you conceive it as shining in a heart ? ^
In Ceylon or in Zanzibar. -Locate these places H-,v. *u
Cathay, (Ka-tha)._An old name for China said tn i, u
introWd into Euron« by Marco Polo, ?he"re:^.t:d';^^^^^^^^^^
traveller. It is corrupted from the Tartar Kkilai 'Lt^lZ
iH, the country of the Khitans, who occunied thp . h
tions of the Empire at the p.ri^d of tr^^ t Ti^" '^^■
Thousands bleed to lift one hero into fame Of k
of the world's battle-fi Ids this is true ^'^ "'""^
Anxious she bends. -The picture drawn in this and follow,-
matter-of-fact reader. ^ "* *^® ""^^^
din';^:""'''"^"''^^--'^'^ '^^'^^^^ --~y of the wed-
Monarch of the Moon.-Cf. Stenza III., li^e 10 " WitK
fftpe ground as ia the iMopu," *^'^*'
Notes on Literature Selections. 63
One charm of the foregoing poem the student should specially
note, the rhythmical harmony and melody of the versification
Very ma.iy of the wor.ls chosen M'ith poetic instinct are amon^
the softest and most musical in the language. Note, for instance!
the smoothness of flow and the prevalence of liquid sounds in
Jiuch verses as " And tell them tales of land and sea," "In purp'e
chambers of the morn," "Limpid as planets that emerge," etc.
All of his (Longfellow's) works are eminently picturesque, and
are characterized by elaborate, scholarly finish.— PAi/^s
Some of his shorter Lyrics are almost perfect in ide i and ex-
pression. His poetry is dex^cient in form but fiui of picturesque-
ncsB,— Chambers' Emydopcedia.
LXIX.-"AS SHIPS, BECALMED AT EVE."
ARillUR HUGH CLOUGH,
Arthur Hugh Clough was born at Liverpool in 1S16. He wa«
a scion of an old Welsh family with a well-uKuked genealocry
When he was four years old his father emigrated to Charleston
. in South Carolina, and here he obtained his early ^ nation
After a residence abroad of several years he was brought back t<i
England, and in 1829 entered Kugby, wlu-re he distinguished
himself by his abilities and endeared himself to all by a singular-
ly winning disposition. For a time he edited the Ruyby Maga-
zine, and was an adept in all athletic sports. la 1830 lie enteied
Oxford, and at once became deeply interested in the Tractarian
m.)vemeut, tlien in its full tide. His university standing was
not up to the expectations of his friends, but tiirough the in^
fluonce of Dr. Arnold and others he obtained a fellowship, after
wl).-h .o spent some years in the work of tuition. His connection
mu. C :ford, however, becama irksome t. him on account of his
&ro^ u{^ doubts on religious questions, and though ill able to give
uj. his emoluments, he resigned both his fellowship and his
r ' •v.-.i-„«crinuiii^ Sense oi ducy. i<or a abort tim«
he devoted himself to literature, publishing his first long poem
"The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich," in 1848. After gpeudini
two years in tutorial work in University Hall, London, he cam*
64
Notes ON Liteuatuue 8blt?ctioN8.
to America with the intention of devoting the rest of h;. life to
literary work but in 1853 he was appointed one of the ex.minera
of the British Education Office, and this post lie retained till his
untimely death in 1861. His more important works are the one
already mentioned and his '« Mari Magno." His poems are aot
popular m the usual meaning of the term but they posse.s mre
literary aad philosophical mei it. -Oage' a Sixth Header.
^ The subjective element predominates in Clough's poetry, that
IS to say, It is largely the outcome and of I., the record of his own
internal experiences and conflicts. It is ve,y m>Ay that th • fol-
lowing may have had its origin In some inoidr^n in hh own his-
toi^, .ome divergence more or less wide in opiv,fot, ^ym^^athy, or
faith, u-om a cherished comrade. There arc few who have extender
experience of life to whom these touching iinea will not suggest
facts m tunr OMn history. Were it not for the comforting
thoughts of the la., two stanzas one of the saddest thin^^s in life
would be the alienation of two souls which, having "been for
years m close companiauship, seeming ahnost to think the same
thoughts and feel the saine feelings, find themselves, after a few
years of independent thought and experience, widely separated
from each other in their sentiments in regard to many of the
most important questions touching life's duty and destiny And
yet few experiences are more common.
Themetre is very simple—Iambic Tetrameter, alternate lines
rhyming.
Stanza 1. As ships becalmed at eve, etc.-Any one who
has ever made a voyage in a sailing vessel will have seen in-
stances of the kind here referred to.
<L;rammatically it will be found somewhat difficult to apply the
ordinary rules of Syntax to the long sentence which includes the
first three stanzas. The as with which the poem opens, and
which introduces the first two stanzas containing one side of the
comparison, has its correlative in the even ao of the ■ .1 stanza
, ."" "'" -^^^^y?x=<i uy U.U aposiopenis. 'l^c chmse
however, is but in form, the substance of the other side of the
comparison being still given in the third and following stan^^as.
lines
I
ISOTli ON tiTERATURE SELECTIONS. 66
Becalmed at eve.-Explain (a) the grammatical and (6) the
^^t T ^'" f "' *° *'^ °*'^^ P^^'^ ^^ *he sentence.
Doti it« position properly indicate these relations '
tivlTr^T" ''5'^"~^' ^ot^ens subject or predicate nomina-
^'Lttr? ' ''' """''"' ^''* ^^ its grammatical con-
expl... aed? Is it ax., adjunct of subject or predicate ?
^^^Stanza 2. Darkling hours. -Explain grammatical construe^
By each.— Adjunct of what?
Brief absence joined anew—In what sense, if in any can
absence be said to Join anew those who have been separated iy it v
Re-write these three stanzas, carefully transposing them into
prose order and supplying all words absolutely necessary to ex-
pijss the meaning clearly. j- " «a
Stanza 4. Wist. -Preterite of wis, to know, or to suppose
^ht7b? V' rr '"^"^ ^^ ^^--^^ - — n use'as"
the Bible, King James' translation, and by early writers. Now it
IS scarcely used except in poetry. Cf. wit an intransitive fonn
""Xf //rU : '"" ''''' ""' "'^^ "^ *he infinitive to wit.
What first with dawn appeared. -/. e., the divergence of their
courses of thought and their gradual separation
Stanza 5 To veer.-A nautical term, meaning to change the
course of the vessel. Why does he pronounce it.a.'^ F Do vou
suppose the poet to imply that to veer is possible but vain.* or
that the attempt would be vain ? Note the important mefcaphysi-
cal and moral ,^ .estion involved-that of our power to chaLe
our opinions. °
Brave barks. -Distinguish hark, barque and barge
■ « compass guides—What do you understand the one com-
r->^ .obe? If both were guided by one compass how It^e
-i. rergence be accounted for ?
'^-\ ^^-^^^^^'^S^i^ the two sounds of the digraph
Which sound has it in this word ?
THat earUest parting past-What is tha construction of
Notes on T.iteratuhe Selections.
They join again. -What is the mood of the verb 90m? Rv
wi.atwovcI.Ietenn:nedv Express the sa.ne in prosofC '
Stanza 7 Fare. -What is the meaning of fare i.e.e v' Give
other meanmga and trace so far as you oan'the tr.nsit'^n;.
LXXIV.-THE LORD OF BURLEIGH.
LORD TA'NNVSOy.
Hit felLr ™rr"r" '°™ '" !."""' •'"""■■=''^' Li..col„shire.
ri.8 lather was a clergyman and also 8ome«liat of -i m„.f , i
art.st, and the family seem, to have been a pec^U a ^gSo"
Arthur wa. educated at the Louth «ran,„,ar School amUtT^^'
the Chancellor's medal in 1829, as the English prize poem hI
pnbhshed m conjunction with his brother Charles when bo tt
were boys, entitled " Poems by Two Brothers. " His ta" inde
pendent appearauce as an author was in 1830 when I vol" ,
Poems. Chiefly Lyrical," announced to the diseriminat" ng pub
.0 that a new poet.c star of the first magnitude was on the hrri-
zon In consequence, it is said, of the extravagant and ii,i,,dir
Praise with which certain critics greeted th^ ^^'.ToZ:
.w, May 1832, some trenchant and discriminating criticism and
some good advice. The publication of " The Princess," thTflrst
of Tennyson's lengthy poems, in 1847, established his reputaZn
as a poet of the highest order. In 1850, "In Memoriam ?
tabute to the memory of his chosen Cambridge freTdTrihur
Hallam, a son of the celebrated historian, appea ed In ^^
opinion of many competent Judges. ..In Men.E''r;nkr To
only as Tennyson's masterpiece, but as, in many respects l!
the noblest poems ever written in inv ].„„. »P«^'s, one of
qualiticsquL unique. "^U^^Si::^ZZ^
in 1859 and at once took a foremost place amongst grelt E„!^^ w
poems. It would be tedious ,ind i/nnneeesZ rreliS
here even thctitles of the n„m.,.,„. „„j...x, ' ^, '^^<:*P''"'»'«
nyson ha, enriched English classical literature during n^l
three score year.. Some of his lighter pieces hav. bee^f itHl
By
'hjoin ?
fornj.
lere ? Give
tioas.
incolnshire-
a poet and
gifted one.
nd at Trill-
00 " gaine<l
)oem. His
3 which he
when both
first iiide-
volume of
ating pub-
1 the hori-
njudicious
Professor
rf'a Maga-
ticisiu and
the first
eputation
)iiam," a
i, Arthur
In the
inks, not
ts, one of
3ine high
the light
English
ipitulate
ich Ten-
; nearly
it must
Notes on Literature Selections. 67
important efforts continue, by universal consent, to hold an hon-
be admitted, singularly trivial and ephemeral, but all his more
ored place among the best productions of the great British poets
Tennyson was made Poet Laureate in 1850, and in 1884 was
raised to the Peerage as Baron Tennyson.
The metre of "The Lord of Burleigh" is Trochaic Tetrameter
though It will be observed that the alternate lines are often a
syllable short-catalectic in a syllable. The reader will observe
the remarkable conciseness of this poem. The substance of whar
might be elaborated into a three-volume novel is condensed into
It. One scarcely knows whether to sympathize most deeply with
the modest wife whose dream of love in a cottage is grandly
dispelled and who, after years of patience, endurance and heroic
effort, succumbs to the weight of duties and responsibilities for
which she was not fitted by education and habit ; or with the
husband who, thinking to overwhelm the woman he truly loved
with the rapture of a delightful disappointment, finds his' well-
meant deception has only placed her in a position where she is
weighed down continually
" With the burden of an honor
Unto which she was not born,"
and by which she is in a few years crushed into the grave Those
who have read Mrs. Oliphant's " WhatShe Came Through" will not
fail to note some features of similarity in plot up to a certain point
It does not necessarily follow that the novelist was indebted Jo
the suggestiveness of the poem for the plan of her story Both
may have derived their inspiration from some common legend or
tradition.
Page 370. Gayly.-What is the more usual way of spelling?
Which is preferable, and why ?
In the land.— Up to this point the criti'? will „ot find a single
weak, unnecessary, or ill-chosen word. T is adverbial clause
has a little the appearance of havin" been put in to fil' f ' h '
line. The student will do well to notice, as one of the character-
istic excellencies of Tennyson's poems, the rarity of weak or
•uperauouB phrases. As a rule ever^ c: use and everjr wpr4 I9
68
Notes on Literature SELEOTioNf
full of meaning and exactly to the ooint T .t u >
considered highly finished and artfstcbnfM^ I ^^ ^""'"^ ''
respect wi„ not fail to .trJl^^^^ ^^'^'^-^ ^» *^«
Of f^detC^f -Ho^/t^r ^^^- —
<l"ce her to'i!is dflle. et! " ^'°"^' ""'^^^'^^ >"« -^«' -'-
stroke. """=°''««'"- Her "Ottage vision, are dispelled at a
Cheer'd her soul with Iova tu^ a ^
•nSerent from that rantWpaTe? iff T,"" '""''' ™^
Write sentences illustrating the meaning and n^• „f earb ,f ,y.
oUowng words: to,,;...^,, ^„.,, W,e.* .™ . 1^ ^1/
»«fl'a, consort. ''wrtai, oear-
LXXXI.-THE REVENGE.
/iO/J7) TENNYSON.
ooc?r::d'r*;.' 'i:":ri"T,7!"t"'" -^w »fo„nd.
land, chapLr LXXvil = "" " ''■"«'"'' H'"""^ "' Er
/-;^TS,t?jii:rrtet?:.o;?trvr'%'''^ -■"■"»'' of
to Spain. But l'liiIiD\™, " '"P' ,"'° 5'5"''2 *««» on its return
flftyfive sail .s ^XlT ^Vf^lf}:. '■"^ •■?. AWed out a force S
with this armamout, ^d one V/'li'!..,? "§''"'' «!"Mron fell in
8^-i.i ,ri«, Tbis V^thXfshlrt^'s^ai^Ct^X;;
.^^■
Notes on Litkkaturk Shieotions. 69
light wln-oh this heroic ca"i„\lta°7Z^^^^ "' tj.e „„e,,„„l
waters like X He; ...tltf ^^^ T'\ .^'"'^ '^^^ "P°" the
than 8urrenJer?but th mferof The or" "'^" ''-j "?' u^^^'^^^
yield himself a nrisoner R« K i • f ' "' ,'^«"iPollea him to
wonlawL: "Srecli;i RiofclV? * ^'u ^'^V^' ^"^l his last
a quiet mind ; for that? have n If mv'r "' ""''^ % ^'^^^ "^"'^
ought to .0. fighting for hrcrt^y^7e„l'tlig^ ^ C^!^
The term balfad is of Italian origin (hallata) and originally de-
noted a dance-song (mid. Lat. ballare, or halare ; Gr. ^aXxlTy
^t If -^ r:^i;:;q:r^'^- ^^^^^; ^--^"^ ^-^ ^»^«
ftnnl.-p,! f^ r ■ ■■ ^''^^ ^'"'■'^ ^« now commonly
appl ed to a species of mu. . epic ; a verbified narrative in a
in..uK uts. It .s generally adapted to ., ,ung or accompanied by
an instrument. The earliest ballads, as thus understood are
hose of England and Scotland. They date back to .bou the
ourteenth centu.y Of the popular ballads Scotland. or^Le
^rl 7; " K ''^''^'"' ^"' ^"°^^^^' '« -°-^--l to have
produced the best examples, e.,., Chevy Chase, etc. In recent
days the bdad has been cultivated chiefly by the GermaLwI
have given it a more artificial development than any other people
me er, but the lines are very irregular. Not only are the com-
mon sub, tu.tes for the Iambics, such as the spondee. troZ
anai,..st. and pyrrhicvery freely introduced, but he lenLth of tl;
lines vanes from three to seventeen or eighteen syllabi The
recurrence of the rhvme i« ^n„„ii„ ;.„^^„, .. , 1
^guWitie, ..e .t;died-.;j-a;L;;; ntautt tv^^^^^^^^
70
Notes on Litkhatuuk SKLKcrum.
Pinnae- r,„ . «'"»P- l^ocutc the Azores.
so called bv wav nt Ai f ,.^'"^/^^ "'«^' common. They were
smalle eanW fl . r" ''""^ ^'^^ ^'"'S^'^^' ^^hich were
did not Tairjot theT ^ to t,,,,^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^
scouts "LJ::" *'' ''^^ ^' ^^"^«' ^"* -- en,ployed as
Inquisition doga.-The Inquisifion, or ^oZ,/ 0>97..
be regarded as having had L nJ- 1 '' '^•^' ""^^
terrihll A C^ . ^ * °^ *^^ seventeenth century Its
leiriDie zeal. It is highly probable that the accounts wh,Vh
Notes on LiTKUATURK SELEoxioNa
71
Qiae
writers of the more judicial type admit that Llorente was a vio-
lent partiHan and that liis statements are often contradictory.
" Still, with all the deductions Which it is possible to make, the
working of the InquiRition in Spain, and in its dependencies even
in the New World, involves an amount of cruelty which it is im-
possible to contemplate without horror." It should, however, in
common justice be borne in mind that the Catholics were not
alone in earlier and darker days in the use of torture and the
stake for the suppression of heresy, and that oven the most bigot-
ed Catholics unanimously confess and repudiate the barbarities
of the Spanish Inquisitiim. In the text Tennyson has well re-
presented the intensity of horror and passionate hate with
which the loyal British sailor regarded the "Inquisition dogs
and the devildoms of Spain."
Past away.— Can you justify this spelling of past as the pre-
terite of the verb ?
Till he melted like a cloud.— Any one who has watched a
•fleet disappearing in the distance will not fail to appreciate this .
simile.
Bideford in Devon.— Bideford Bay is the chief indentation of
the North coast of Devonshire, England.
Huge sea-castles.— Some of the Spanish war-ships were of
immense size. At the battle of Trafalgar, Nelson's flagship was
pitted against the Santissima Trinidad, a huge four-decker carry-
ing 136 guns.
Seville.— The famous capital both political and commercial of
the ancient Kingdom of Spain. Locate it.
Don or devil.— Note the conjunction of terms and compare note
on the Inquisition above. Don was formerly applied only to
Spanish noblemen. It is now used as a general title.
Sheer into the heart.- 67/ee/- seems to mean either quickly, or
directly, or completely. Probably the latter is the meaning here,
as in Milton's
•' Thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements."
Page .375. Four galleons drew away. —The Spanish galleon M'as
a huge, four-decked, armed merchantman, used in war time for
couveying merchandize and treasure.
72
^^OTES ON LlTEItATTJKE SELECTIONS.
it -; bttSt^^^^^ -^^ ^^*^« inland student
board to the Hght^ 1 f " tl k""".' '" *'' '''' ^"' «*^^-
seems to be dedve" fromTs 1 '' ''' ^''^- ^*^^^°-^
board. The derivation^f T^" T""' ^ '^'^'' ^"'^ *«^^' ^
na a aog tnat shakes his ears _N„t. n. a
tempt iu the metaphor. '"»— Note the h„e tone of con-
Page 370. And the night went down ti, .
graph th„, commencing co„rc" a Zrv. '^""' '"' '^''■
gl«tly scene. It is . Lue pa«;err ,X 0':^ "' ""'
menoHig as it does with the „«i«t smMr„ .7 * '^^^""'' «""■
^depicting the heightening lZl7u'[t T'"^ ""'• ''"^•'
witl,thewiWdefia,,ceaucfdos. act ve rt,"'"*"'~
Su- Hichard. ^ ^* the thrice- wounded
Page 377. And the lion then lay dyin^ S,v p- , .
far gone to enforce lais terrible orJer ~ '^'^ ^^' <^°
lost captain and ^^^l^^ t:' ZTr""'/'' '"
SM-arthy aliens who now po,sse«.ed hfr ''^^"'^ *'^«
From the lands they had ruined—There is . fi
justice in representing the Snai.,--,.-,!- « f, , ^"® P°®"°
wind foni tlL lands ti.eyhad ^ .^ '"^''T' '^ "^
J- rtu luineci with their cruel misrule.
XC. -RUGBY CHAPEL.
yATTHEfV AJtXOLD.
4pc:-s:!:c-^--o,d,o.
B.dcd With his „up,l,, and „s educated a VV, t, o"" "•'■
..a Balliol College, Oxford. He vt feet V"t?''- ''''''^'
w«. the Kowdigate pri.e for Kngiish ver.e ^e^ C^w^S
a
Notes on Literaturs Selections. 73
1843 graduated in honors in 1844, and was elected a Fellow of
Onel College xn 1845. Prom 1847 to 1851 he occupied the posi-
tion of private secretary to the late Lord Lansdowne. In the
atter year he received an appointment as o.e of the Lay In-
spectors of Schools, under the Committee of the Council on Edu-
cation This position he still holds, and in discharge of its duties
he has rendered valuable service to the causeof public education.
M, Ar nold first achieved literary fame as a poet. His first pub-
lication was «VStrayed Reveller, and other Poems." in 1848.
Ihis work H-as given to the public over the signature " A." In
1854 he pubhshed a volume of poems over his own name, made
up of new pieces and selections from previous volumes. In 1857
he was was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In the fol-
lowing year appeared "Merope," a tragedy aft.r the antique,
prefaced wi h a treatise on the principles of (ireek tragedy
Three years later m some lectures "On Translating Homer » he
advocated the adoption of the English hexameter as the' best
equivalent to the Homeric rhythm, an opinion in which, it 3
scaroely necessary to add, he stands almost alone. In the same
year, 18G1 he presented the first of a series of Reports on the
educational systems of France, Germany and Holland, whi -h
countnes he had visited as Foreign Assistant Commissioner to
the Commissioners appointed to inquire iuto the state of popular
educa ion. In 1865 he ag.in visited the Continent to acquile in-
formation respecting foreign schools for the middle and upper
classes, and during the current year he has made a third vLit
and presented to the Commissioners another valuable report on
the same subject. Mr. Arnold visited America in 1883 and
again m 1886 and while there delivered some lectures, written
with his usual ability and high literary finish. Mr. Arnold's
poetry is marked, as will be seen in the subjoined extract, by
purity of style and diction, and by every evidence of a refined
and cultivated taste. Of late years he has confined himself
exclusively to prose, of which he is one of the greatest of living
masters. His numerous essays on political, social, literary, edu-
cational, and religious topics are models of clear and elcgmt
expression, as well as of trenchant criticism. The elegance is tl.at
Of artistic simplicity, the criticism is unhappily rather of the
74
Notes on Literatuhe Selrctioxs.
li*^
unsettling and destructive kind Thf« i .. .
more painfully prominent in some nfu , ' ^'^*"'° ^« «*'»
"God and the Bible," "L terTturV ^V"'^'' ^"^^«' «"«^ ««
he dissects religious reeds and In! '^'""'" ^*°-' ^« ^hich
ing and audacious badness a„d""" "'*' "" "°^* -A'-^-
unfairness begotten of anti th^n/ ?'"^ ^'" *^'^'^' ^^^^ an
unpardonablelntbeso^oT^rof^^^^^^^^^ which seema
The metre is Trochaic Trimeter w.-fj,
of the trochee and anap.s. in al pia" ^ "tZT r'^^'^'^'^ons
m keeping with the sad, son^bre nil J}'^^^^''^'^ generally
beautiful and touching iZte rttl ^ ^ '"'' ^"^^'^« *^^
father. ^ ^"^^ ^ *^« "memory of his revered
paintmg „f the firat s^L Lri""?""* T'""' '^0' »»'d-
has few „,„a,s i„ the Eult T ^nT^' ""^ ^'""°° ™«™
Seasons impaired not the rav -Th« . k u
this stanza is generalized and epitomi..^ .J °' ^^^^iment of
Clearly i„ your o.n language ^^Z^Z^^^::^' '''''
Arosest.~This, though unusual i« nf '"' ^«*
rect form. ^ unusual, is of course the strictly cor-
dist: ^^" ""^~-Dr. Arnold died suddenly of heart
far enough to bniig out its full su J.^fr ^^^^loped. just
as to weaken the effect. aLZ'lTt"""1^ '"^ "°* *°° ^^^ ^o
For that force surelv .1^1 . "^'' ^^' '^^
gives way to the innate convictioroV /h '?• T*^ "'"^^^'^'^"^ ^^''e
force of a strong human sou la^not ut , ''''■ "^^^'^ '"^^^ ^^e
Even Arnold's philosophic "rr^voirfro^"^^ " *'^ ^^^^'«-
ones to utter oblivion^ '^''™ consigning its Joved
Sounding- labor-house vast — Knf. *k ^
""^^ "" "^"'■"'' *»'-■ - - the d-rea„;/;;z;x':
KoTES ON Literature Selections.
76
of listless souls sometimes pictured in the in.aginati.,ns of tired
Christians, but as a vast labor-house resounding with the hum of
unceasing activity.
Page 403. Conscious or not of the past. -One of th-. str.-^^i.gest
and most unsatisfactory conceptions of the semi-sceptical school
of modern philosophers is that of a future state of being whicli
has no conscious connection with the present-an immortality
shorn of that continuity which is its most inspiring condition. In
an article in the Canadian Monthly, Mr. Goldwin Smith, some
years since, developed this dreary idea.
Still thou upraisest with zeal. -This stanza most graphically
and truthfully describes the noblest features of Dr. Arnold's
work at Rugby.
Most men eddy about. -Here again we have in a few masterly
strokes a sadly truthful picture of human life— the life of the
many. Students of the classics will be reminded of a passa-e in
Lucian's Charon, in which the lives of the masses are likeaJd to
foam bubbles, but the touch of the Greek satirist falls '.ar short
of the effectiveness of that of the Bible-taught English philoso-
phcr.
And there are some. -It would be difficult to find in all lit-
erature a more thrilling description of the experience of a strong
aspu-mg soul which refuses to feed on the poor husks around
which the multitudes linger, sets out in pursuit of some higher
achievement, some more satisfying and enduring good, and yet
fails to reach the highest goal. No one can study this wonder-
ful passage without realizing in some measure through what
fearful midnight darkness and tempest the soul of Matthew
Arnold must have passed, only to reach the loneliness and chili
of the icy peaks of philosophical scepticism. The history oJ
months or years of life and death struggle is, we may readily b.,-.
heve, compressed into the grand, awe-inspiring metaphor of thi#
magnificent paragraph. Sadly he must have needed the hoxu
of a vanished hand.
Page 404. -In an eddy oi purposeless dust. -A strik -
metaphor. What can better symbolize purposelessness than t-T.
wniri 01 tlie drifting pyramid of dust which flies past in a br»
day?
i
76
i^oTES ON Literature Selections.
I
..a^r^rt^trr'"" ««-= -^ »p-- ecu. „t„. i..
between the sdfeh St 3;Ttht f """', ""'"■'" '"^ "°°'^-»
."« h„„,clf in ,.ia long met„ph„Hcal X™ J'"l J""" '""
«n° m1 rireH^ir j^^^^ r ^ °^ t-""« » we.
His who willingly sees., Of. Mat. xviii 'u x,, , , „
acquaintance with the Bible and anp.-ecia l; of" ,> t"'^^ '
i«gs. "I'pieciation of its grand teach-
See I In the rocks of the worM t?
of the poen, .e have the eon,> tZl,nL "Lf r"' ^ ^^ ^"^
ardor divine, " set forth in ths fn™ t , '*"'°'''' "<liant with
carefn, ,tndy the .tudt won rTote, ™''"'''^'^^^^^- ^"'^
description in his own words. reproduce the whoU
Gave th»"> *^t«~-*- «
U«t lin'esr"" "'^" «"--^^"'** »nd where ia that goal f Se.
KoTEs ON Literature Selections. 77
.r:;::z^ f^^s: :r; '*-""'• "'"•^-" -'•
I
I
CI.-THE FORSAKEN GARDEN.
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
Algernon C arles Swinburne, one of the first of livin. poets «
857 bft leftthe u'""r"'^' Balliol College, Oxford, in
i»o7. but left the University without graduating. His first
Th/o ::' T'""^ P"'^^^*^^^ ^" »««!' -"t-i-^ng two play
The Queen Mother," anJ -Rosamond" attracted littTe SZ'
tion ; but "Atalanta in Calydon " a tratredrr^ T . "
laR/? „<. X , ,. . "*J"^""» a tragedy, which appeared in
ahL ° "'"""'°* ""•"P-'^'tioa which ha, be™ V , .„"
tamed by numerous sucoeedine DuWicatmn. A ™ Vj- ,
tragedie, .. Bothwen " ,.874) !::'^Z.t^Zl) ZX
mentioned. •• Poems and Ballads " appeared in ISfiB In^ ^
series of the same in 1878. "Soufes bX Snnre ^ out ofTs
most popnUr works was published in 1871 "S„„„! f .u o •
tide " in ,880, and •' Studies in tol " u 1831*..! *'" !""»«:
Roundels •• came out in 1883. The for "i'^ "is bv no' "''''
complete list of his works, but willTuffl' f ' ,t *
this sketch. The writer of 'the l^:" "ud h t ^IT'^cZ'
ber-s Encyclopedia," from which the above acc^r . ,.?
ated, says .^Swiubun,e belongs Jowhat hash elrdr-flX
school' of poetry, and even those who most admire h,CpowTr 1^
poetical expression, richness of coloring, and happ. IvricaUffectf
must deplore the sensuous tone of his muse -,. • i I '
jcverely^madverted upon for the tlZ ^i. ,C.: Z^^
he attacks the most sacred beliefs of his feUow..«. •'
The metre of the first seven line, of ^^\. .»._.. ,.
Tet^moter, the eighth line Anap«stioMo;„,7et:r: "xtni^^
of th. Une., and many of them have » hypermetrical ByUablHt
78
Notes on Litbbatoke SELEomom
i^L Witt zz^r "" " """'^^^ *" '"'"'' •""■
^CVou vL7 71 "■"°- •"" °''"'"«"" » Shak-p^.re^
oee you yond' cot<7n of the capitol »» " No i„tf„ * • 7
tress nor coigns of vantage. » " •'""^' ^"''"' '^"*-
slZst^tr'^''^ 'T' "''^ *^"'« °' «*^^ ^^''"^^d -long the
sea-coast by the joint action of wind and wave.
Where the weeds—Note Low the coloring of the picvtui^ of
desolation zs heightened by representing the weeds wh^rsL '
from the grave of the roses as themselves dead ^ ^
stanza 3. These remain.— "The good die first " «!»• u
r.;™"™ «.. «.we View .0 L\z^t j"::^r
tJ^'^'^lf^/'"""'^-^'^'^' iBgemo«8 reduplication of
the s.g,« of deaolation. There is not only no flower to be pleli
tt :::t.ir "■' '""•^ " " -"" ^-" ^»p- ^
Heart handfast in heart.— This conjuring un amid«f fh^ « *
«4a« «*, *arf «afe Mo«^«, /„, «, rf,^, Christian phiIo"Zy
affords a better poetic inspiration. Its refrain is. "iTf i
deeper than the grave. It is immortal "
Stanza 8. In the air now soft-In what sea«>n of the vear is
the scene laid ? ^ "
Stanza 9. Here deat-h ma» ^o.i i. t .1
, . .„ V ^^*'* ""'""""■13 ens sentiment of thJa
■taoza soientifioally true ? "
Notes on Literature Selections. 79
Stanza 10. Death lies dead. -Explain in the language of proae
the meaning of this last stanza. The words of the'lasflinerav
have been suggested bv I Cor YV or r> . ^
• conveyed byl two writers •''' ^«™P-« ^he thoughts
CV.-THE RETURN OF THE SWALLOWS.
EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE
j™, .nade ^a„,..t„r t„ the B«>rd of Tr.de. ll 872 Id m'l
he v„,ted Norway, Denmark, and Sweden for the pZJe „f
Holland with a similar purpose. Hie poetical writing ooneiet of
KHek.atraged^l^e^^.rUn^CnC^'alr^'^S?^^
of Northern studies," 1879, a series of critical essays in SoaZ
nav.a«, Dutch and German litemture, a "Life of GrrV'T^o
S:* .l^li';"7 *"'''^' ■"">»' '"^'y essayst^Slut^f S
waras Jmglish Poets, " m 1880-81, etc.
By way of exercise let the student find out for himself the
t.o„s: What measure do you find very often substituted for the
kmd of poebc hyperbole, to denote the freshness and fl^f^?.
imparted to the tender blade of Mass bt th. i fi«'blllty
intends to imply that the ;^:^l a^enT^atrcSn"
some motion or pulsation akin to shivering ^ '^ °°°
a.fr;^piu^^a:i;:'^c:^:run>''"« "'•«-' ""-'-"
i-i.%htwMchiusksteC:rf"t;i:r,;;:™«-'^
80
KOTES ON LiTEBATDBB SeLE0TI0N8.
I- i
1^
Horizons are luminous. -With returning spring the eMt«rn
and western horizons glow more brightly at sunrise and sunset.
Stanza 2. Far away, by the sea—The scene is changed to the
sunny south whither the swallows migrated at the approach of
winter, and which they are not yet impelled by the wonderful
migratory instinct to leave.
Drouth.— What other form of this word ? Which is the more
correct ? (See note on drouth in Worcester's Dictionary).
Fragrant.— Justify the use of this word. Is there anything
in the preceeding part of the stanza to suggest it ?
No sound from the larks.-Many of the larks are themselves
migratory. Whether the poet haa that fact in mind and intends
to represent them as having returned northward eariier and in-
viting the swallows to follow, or simply intimates that the first
flights of the "strong young wings," of the larks in the spring
takes place before the return of the swallows, is not clear.
Stanza 3. Soft rich throats. -Some of the many varieties of the
thrush are amongst the sweetest of feathered songsters. The
song-thrush, or throstle (Scotch mavis) is celebrated for the mel-
low richness of its notes. The thrush is common in both Europe
and America, the black-bird being one of the commonest varie-
ties. Many of these varieties are migratory.
Musical thought.-A pretty thought veiy happily expressed.
The mfluence of the mild air of early spring prompts to song.
The buds are all bursting.— It will be noticed that the poet
represents the thrush's song as begun later in the spring than
that of the lark, but eariier than the return of the swallow.
Stanza 4. Algiers.— Locate and describe. Why " white?"
Flashingly shadowing.— A fine word picture. Explain.
Bazaar.— The Oriental bazaar is, it will be borne in mind, a
market place, open or covered (which is it in the mind of the
poet ?) where various articles are offered for sale and where mer-
chants meet for the transaction of business. It is tlie eastern
"Change." The Place Eoyale in the centre of Aleier« is' a
famous bazaar, in which may be found representatives of almost
every race under th« sun. "^
Notes on Literature SBLBOTiONa
81
Stanza 5. Dingles.— Dales, or hollows between hiils. A some-
what rare word, but a very pretty and poetical one.
" I know each lane, and every alloy green,
J)i7i(fle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood."
Milton.
Daffodil.— Sometimes written daffadilly, and (I'lffadovmdUIy.
A species of the narcissus, bearing bell-shaped, yellow flowers.
It is a native of England and of most parts of Europe, growing
in woods and hedges.
A promise that noon fulfils.— A promise of coming warmth.
A later stage of the spring than those previously alluded to is
indicated.
The cuckoo cried. -The cuckoo, like the lark and the stork, is
a migratory bird. It is a native of India and other warm climates
and appears in Britain in April.
To swoop and herald.— The low swooping flight of the swal-
low before a rain storm is proverbial. " Low o'er the grass the
swallow wings," is one of the signs of rain in the old, familiar
rhyme.
Stanzas. Something awoke.— The migratory instinct is one
of the many wonderful provisions of nature for the preservation
of her unreasoning ofTspring. It is made scarcely less wonderful
or admirable by being called in the parlance of a school of modem
scientists an "inherited instinct."
White dreamy square.— Cf. Stanza 4, "the white Algiers."
The " square" is no doubt the bazaar above referred to. It is a
well-known habit of the swallows to assemble in great numbers
just before migrating.
Sad slave woman. —Algiers was always a great slave mart.
With a weary sigh.— The poet intimates either that the slave
woman will miss the companionship of the swallows in her heart
loneliness, or that she envies their freedom and longs for their
power to fly away and find rest.
To-morrow the swallows.- The migration of swallows and
other species of birds is now one of the settled facts. It was
long disbelieved, and the old theory tiiat they lay torpid in
winter was clung to, in spite t f the dtlstructive fact that no one
ever found any of them in their torpid state.
8d
Notes on Litkraturi Seleui'ions.
Compose sentences containing each of the following words,
and also each of any other words similarly pronounced but dif-
ferent m spelling or meaning, or in both: Air, lea, flew, blue,
tavea, bndaf, slow, rain, heart.
Pronounce and defiiie : SjHrally, horizon,, luminous infinite,
nvulet, alien.
. Point out and explain force of affixes in such of the above
words as have them.
SUBJECTS' FOR BRIEF ESSAYS
IN CONNKCXION WITH THE FOKEGOING LESSONS.
Lesson XV.
The Allegory as used in Ancient and Modern literature.
" An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy."
Appearance and reality, or the difference i>!t'^een conven
tional and intrinsic values. conven.
Lesson XXIL
Ancient veram Modern Greece.
The Battle of Marathon.
The Doric Mother.
Lesson XLV.
Moral thou^crhtfnlness a necessity of the age.
The use and abuse of fiction.
What is the true motive of the true student ?
Lesson LYL
*• The circle of eternal change."
The harmonies of Nature's sights and sounds.
Lesson LVII.
History as a vindicator of misjudged greatness
En^Uh'So^'™ '"^"' ■"""' °' O"''-^ Crom^dl have doBe for
The growth and decline of Puritanism.
The works of a true man cannot perish.
Curlyle's estimate of modern society-how far justified.
ti
w
w
w
n(
nc
pa
XOTES ON LlTKTlATURE SELEOTlONg.
83
rds,
dif.
'lue,
lite,
ove
eii>
jr
Lesson T.XTII.
Miauiulerstandings and how to avoid them.
Lesson LXVII.-'^i*^
Modern innovations destroy old associations.
Our intensely busy a^e destructive of the old habits of reverie;
the eflFectt) of the change.
The Golden Wedding day.
Lesson LXIX.
The various influences w iiich in after life tend to alienate in
opinion and sentiment thoae who were closely united in youth.
The probability that the difl"trences in view which separate
true mt I! here, will disappear in the future.
Lesson LXXII.
The posthumous intluenco of Dr. Arnold.
Dr. ^\ mold's method of school^overnment.
How to to train the conscience in childliood.
The influeiue of the tea- her's personal character in school
training and discipline.
Moral training in schools. How can it be effectually secured
without interference witli freedom of thuugUc and belief ?
Lesson LXXIV.
The mutual influence of brothers and sisters.
The world's homage to success.
** Life did change tor Tom and Maggie ; ! 1 yet they were not
wrong in believing i at the thouglits and loves of these first years
would always make part of their lives."
" We could never have loved the eart'a so well if we had lad
no childhood in it."
LissoN LXXIX.—«r
Other things being equal, was the wife to be congratulated or
not, in getting the Lord of Burleigh, instead of the laoids* ape-
painter, as a husband ?
Lesson LXXXI. —
The decline of the war-spirit in Great Britain,
The history of Spain and its lessons.
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8-i KOTES ON LiTBRATURR SELKCTIONa.
Lksson LXXXVII.
wnrlJllf '"°'''' b'^autiful the art, the more it is essentially the
work of men who jeel themselves wrong. " ^
. Which is the higher aim in Art, the real or the ideal ?
tinuJi'nlfnf'*'''^/fu*'"''^'^'^"'^°^ failure arises from the con-
of ?ruth?' ^ ^ ^^^' ""^'^ "^^^'^y ^ ^^^ ^'^^ aacreclest laws
"Ascending from lowest to higliest, through everv scale of
human industry, that industry wortlnlj: followecVgll^es^peace"
conduct.''^^ °' immortality the highest inspiration of art, and of
Lesson XC.
imm''o'rtality*'''''*'^^"''^°' ^''* ^' ''" '''''' ^"^ ^^^"""«"* ^"'•
^2:^l7,^nm!Ly ^^^^-P--P«— - P-Po- "-t without
"Thou woulds't not alone bo saved, my father."
diSe.'""""""* ^*^'^'''' ""^^ ^°«'^'' 'appear radiant with ardor
Lesson XCIL
Property has its duties as well as its rights.
comiiSlT^ ^"^ '"^ *^* seventeenth and nineteenth centuries
WUberSe""" °^ '^°^° Wesley-of Whitefield-of Howard-of
Lesson XCIII.
or,2n r^'" Huxley's comparison of human life to a game of
chess valid, and wherein does it fail ? ^
Who are the uneducated ?
wilfli*2nwr"^ *-"^ that "ignorance is visited as sharply as
M crimt ?» ^°^"'°°*P^°'*y ™''*' ""'^^ *^« ^'^^^ punishment
Lesson CL
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It is a key of the methods, a repertory of exercises uhioh «.„.,„4. * -i .
njaj^e the teacher a better teacher! and tVe studuir^n^^^'thX^VC
and'^ni^ed'SLS^ ""*'""'''■"'" ^^"''^'^^"'S^ authorities in Great Britain
l,^'I'^!V^*^® work of a Canadian Teacher and Inspector, whose name =s
fc?''^''r'''"'**'-'°."^ the hounds of his native province? for his exer
t^^ i"Al''''"",*''*'^''.r°'"°t"'" "'^^ admirable system of public h.stme
tion, which has placed the Dominion of (Ja.,ada so hi«h, as K^s ed uea
tion nob only amo.i!,^ the British Colonies, but amgn^Ahc civiffl nations
of the world VVe know of no work in this countrV that exactly o^cunis
the pkc. of Dr. McLellan's. which is not merely a text h.x)k of AkS n
the ordmary ^J5se, hut a Manual of Methods for Teuuhers illustrnfiiiTtl
ever/ktn!!!" '"^"^ *'^^*'"'"* "^ algebraical probleir'and 'SlL of
<im. . . . . From Barnes' Editational Movthiv m v
"The beat America n Algebra for Teachers that we hSv?eve?Si>i?iuli."
^J^Sagc^^^ Cos. |UU)^€b«cational MoxU.
THE BEST ELEMENTARY ANl'^RZiMlR'^^i.^^^o^
Revised Ed. of Miller's Language Lessons.
WOOFS OF TUB St'PERIORITT OF MILT-BR's EDITION
an?I!?1f:i?o;*^t '''*": ^"*'^*'"* ^"'^'^ ^^ '^''"-*-" °' Montreal.
IrPH^f ^ . ''"'"'»^' ^"^°'"''' «' tf^^ Province Of Quelle.
On y Edition uaed in the Schools of Newfoundland
of Onterio ' '' "'''' ^" "inc-tenths of the principal Schools
(A TIlOROtlGir EXAMINATION GIVEN).
TO th. Tresident and Menioers of the Count' o'f'C J^chTr's 'Cc.
tion:-,„adeo,dancewitha motion passed at the last ..X . e^^- "f
the Association, appointing the undersigned a Con.mitteeC co sTde. ^.1
resi^ctive merits of different English Grammars, with a view to « he
most suitable one for Public Schools, we beg leave to report, that afS^r fuL
LT'"M',r.*'cr ''''"" ^''*'°"^ *^'** ""''■' ^-" r«conime,;ded ;ete i e
tha .Miller's Swinton's Language Lessons is l>cst adapted t<^ the wa ts
of junior pupils and we would urge its authorization on the Govenimen
and Its introduction into our Pi.blic Schools. government,
Signed, A F. Bitlrr. (X, inspector. J. McLean. Town In.pector
J. Millar. M. A., Head Master St. Thomas High School
A. Steele, M. A., » Orangeville High School.
n ». C^«^8«i''^. " Co. of Elgin Model School.
It was moved and seconded that th« report be received and adopted-.
C»rriea unanimoualv, *<«»».—.
iWTO avoid mistakes, ask for
REVISED EDITION MILLER'S SWINT0N7