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The Daffodils

146. ORAL LESSON

THE DAFFODILS

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay :

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be but gay

In such a jocund company:

I gazed and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

131

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

What is the meaning of sprightly, jocund, pensive, solitude? Note the order followed by the poet. The first and second stanzas describe the daffodils as he saw them. The third

Give the picture

stanza tells how he felt about them. The fourth stanza tells how the picture of the daffodils reappears in memory and brings anew its lesson of joy. Note the picture that the poem. brings to the mind, to the "inward eye." Describe the picture you receive from the first two lines. of the daffodils along the lake. How do you see the waves? Note the words that aid in giving a picture of movement among the flowers: fluttering, dancing, twinkle, tossing, sprightly. Some of these words and some others in the poem help to give the feeling of joy. What are they? What words help in showing us what a great crowd of daffodils there were? What is "a pensive mood," "the inward eye," "the bliss of solitude"? Commit the poem to memory.

William Wordsworth, one of the greatest English poets, often wrote about flowers, birds, animals, and children. Some of his poems that you should read are: "We are Seven," "The Pet Lamb," "To the Cuckoo," "The Green Linnet," "To a Butterfly," "The Daisy," "Lucy Gray," "The Reverie of Poor Susan."

147. WRITTEN LESSON

Write a composition following this outline. Your teacher will change the outline to suit the place and season. WHAT I SEE ON MY WALK TO SCHOOL:

(1) Flowers. (2) Trees. (3) Birds. (4) Other Animals.

148. LANGUAGE LESSON

Some of the compositions written in Lesson 147 are to be read aloud in the class. The teacher will select from these compositions simple declarative sentences which are to be analyzed. In each sentence select the simple subject and its modifiers, and the simple predicate and its modifiers.

Modifiers

149. ORAL LESSON

YOUR STATE

133

Have you studied in geography about the state in which you live? What are its boundaries? its rivers? its mountains? its lakes? Has it any famous natural wonder, like Niagara Falls, or the Yosemite Valley? What can you tell about its soil, its products, its industries? How far have you traveled in your state? What are its chief cities?

What are the industries of each? Locate each. How would you go to get from your state to New York? to Chicago? to New Orleans? to San Francisco? What have we talked about in this lesson which would make a good topic for a written composition? Is there some river or lake you could describe? or some city? or some journey? Or you may tell a story of the early settlement or history of your state.

150. WRITTEN LESSON

Write a composition on a topic selected from Lesson 149. At the close of your composition, at the foot of the page, write the name of a state (not your own) which you have studied in geography, and which you can write a composition about later on. (Lesson 153.)

Lessons 149, 150, 152, 153, may be used in connection with the class work in geography.

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Dogs is a noun that names all dogs. The words the, black, in our yard, modify and add to the meaning of dogs. They are called modifiers.

Suppose we wish to make a statement about these dogs. We shall need a verb-bark. Notice the differences in meaning in the following sentences:

1. The black dogs in our yard bark.

2. The black dogs in our yard bark loudly.

3. The black dogs in our yard bark loudly every night.

The words loudly and every night modify or add to the meaning of the word bark. They are called modifiers.

Make sentences with the following modifiers of the simple subject.

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What is the complete subject in each sentence?

Make sentences with the following modifiers of the simple

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What is the complete predicate in each sentence?

Modifiers are words which modify or limit the meaning of other words.

The simple subject and its modifiers make the complete subject of a sentence.

The simple predicate and its modifiers make the complete predicate of a sentence.

The States

152. ORAL LESSON

THE STATES

135

How many stars are there in the flag? What does each star represent? How many states are there? In Lesson 150 you selected a state that you would like to write about. If every one wrote about a different state, we should have an account of nearly the whole United States. How many states were there when the United States first became an independent nation? How many stars were there in the flag? Where were these states located? Who lived in the rest of the country? Were there any cities west of the Alleghany Mountains? any railroads? Can you tell anything about the settlement of the country? What is the difference between a state and a territory? What territories are there? What islands are in the possession of the United States? Can you give an outline of the composition you are going to write about a state? What will you speak of first? second? A few outlines may be put on the board.

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