8. Why did not Everett wonder that these ancients worshiped the sun? 9. What most filled him with amazement? 10. What great truth of life is revealed through Nature to the open-hearted observer? ADDITIONAL READINGS EVERETT: Washington. Gettysburg Address. RUSKIN: Modern Painters. DISRAELI: Description of a Storm. COLERIDGE: Ode to Mt. Blanc. BROWNING: The Year's at the Spring. JAMES THOMSON: Sunrise. WILSON FLAGG: The Morning Oratorio. STEVENSON: Morning Prayer. WORDSWORTH: Star-gazers. MOORE: I Saw the Moon Rise Clear. WHAT MAKES A NATION What makes a nation? Is it ships or states or flags or guns? Or is it that great common heart which beats in all her sons This makes a nation great and strong and certain to endure, This subtle inner voice that thrills a man and makes him sure; Which makes him know there is no north or south or east or west, But that his land must ever stand the bravest and the best. -W. D. Nesbit. THE LIGHTS OF LONDON TOWN HEART-BROKEN, worn, and weary, a man and woman return from the great city to their native village in the country districts of England. They had fought in vain against penury and want, and, defeated, they now return heartsick to the humble little home whence as mere lad and lassie, blithe of spirit, they followed the gleaming lights of London Town in search of fame and fortune. To young people reared in rural districts or in small villages, the great city has many allurements. The broad walks, finely paved streets, magnificent buildings, brilliant lights, fast-moving vehicles, and surging multitudes, enchant and charm. The ambitious country lad longs to enter the mad current of life, to make vast fortunes, and to rise to places of highest honor, little dreaming of the tireless struggles, dire hardships, and, perchance, defeats, in store. In this poem, every reader who has seen visions or dreamed dreams is fully disenchanted. All glitter and gloss is removed. Every young person who longs for life in a great city should read this message thoughtfully and resolve to face stern realities wherever he may seek to do his life work. THE LIGHTS OF LONDON TOWN The way was long and weary, But gallantly they strode, A country lad and lassie, Along the heavy road. The night was dark and stormy, For shining in the distance The Lights of London lay. O gleaming lamps of London that gem the City's crown, What fortunes lie within you, O Lights of London Town. The year passed on and found them The years had brought them trouble, O mocking lamps of London, what weary eyes look down, And mourn the day they saw you, O Lights of London Town. With faces worn and weary, They sought their native village, Yet shining still behind them, O cruel lamps of London, if tears your lights could drown, Your victims' eyes would weep them, O Lights of London Town. -George R. Sims. EXERCISES 1. In what mood were the man and woman returning to their native village? 2. Where had they been? 3. In what mood did they enter the great city? 4. What do you think attracted them to the city? 5. What were their fortunes in the "mighty fold"? 6. What mood prompted them to look yearningly back from their garret window toward their home village? 7. Explain "mocking lamps." 8. Why earlier "gleaming lamps"? 9. Why afterwards "cruel lamps"? 10. In what sense were the lad and lassie "victims" to the Lights of London Town? 11. What universal truth does this poem contain? ADDITIONAL READINGS BROWNING: Up at a Villa-Down in the City. HOOD: I Remember, I Remember. FELICIA HEMANS: The Homes of England. MRS. SHERWOOD: Carcassone. RILEY: Grigsby Station. WILL CARLETON: The New House. ROBERT BUCHANAN: Spring Song in the City. JOHN DAVIDSON: London. STEVENSON: Farewell to the Farm. EVELYN UNDERHILL: Uxbridge Road. THE WONDERFUL ONE-HOSS SHAY FEW poems of American authors have made people think more and smile more than has this wonderful bit of humor of Holmes. Oliver Wendell Holmes was himself a clear, scholarly thinker, who wrote excellent works pertaining to his profession of medicine, but whose reputation is especially secure in the field of literature. Doctor Holmes was a graduate of Harvard College who was loved by all his associates so that one of them said of him, "He made you think you were the best fellow in the world and he was the next best." Although his father was a sedate, dull, Congregational minister, the son was full of humor, bright, clever, with that happy faculty of teaching the truth while he caused a ripple of laughter. The following poem taken from the charming "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," is the cleverly told story of a pious old deacon who believed that the way to keep a chaise from breaking down is to avoid having a "weak spot" and hence, "Is only jest T' make that place uz strong uz the rest." Although "Logic is logic" and theories may be |