POET AND KING CHARLES BUXTON GOING is a chemical engineer and editor, who has written many poems. Observe, in these biographical notices, how the chief occupation of many writers lies outside of literature. Recall any old ballads that you know. Who were the authors? Read Lowell's "Books and Libraries," Sir Gilbert Murray's Religio Grammatici, and Thomas Bailey Aldrich's poem on Shakespeare entitled Guilielmus Rex (Latin for King William), where he says, in closing : The rest with all their pomps and trains THE GRAVES OF MARTYRS MRS. HEMANS was an English poet of the last century, best known to us in America for her poem on the Landing of the Pilgrims: "The breaking waves dashed high." What similar thought can you find in this poem? What does it tell us about the democratic view of indebtedness as contrasted with the aristocratic? Read Masefield's poem, "A Consecration." MY FRIENDS [ERASMUS of Rotterdam, who lived in the days of Columbus, was one of the world's most gifted scholars. This selection is from a letter to a friend.] DICKENS IN CAMP BRET HARTE was a novelist and poet of the last century, whose chief work dealt with the life in California in the great days of the gold-miners. His own books owe much in their subject matter and style to the novelist whom he honors in this poem. In turn, his short stories became a leading inspiration to Rudyard Kipling. (Read this poem again after Section IX, "Life Kindleth Life.") Why does it seem strange at first that the miners listened? From what you know of Dickens, tell why the miners were interested. Note the image ("towering pine and stately Kentish spire") by which the poet tells how both California and England mourned Dickens's death. DIVINA COMMEDIA THE heritage which we enjoy to-day was enriched by people from every land. Name scientists from different countries; for example, trace back the history of the wireless telegraph. Name artists. What people gave us the Bible? Great statues? Music? Magna Carta? Longfellow wanted America to know the literature of Europe, and therefore translated many poems from other languages into English. One of his most cherished labors was the translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. In line 9, he refers to this task as the entering of a cathedral. What makes the figure appropriate? What was Dante's religion? What was Longfellow's? Is it necessary to be of another person's religion in order to respect what it has given to mankind? Recall Evangeline: how did Longfellow in that poem show his appreciation of a folk unlike his own? THE THINKER BERTON BRALEY, born in Wisconsin, is a New York magazine and newspaper man. A baby may beat a piece of steel with a hammer; but what has the poet in mind about the beating in a workshop? Name any one "thought" that may be found in the latter case. Why is the thought called "master"? From whom did the thinker get his thought? From whom did this person? Trace it as far back as you can. Why do you suppose that this poem was included in this section which has so much to do with schools? Why do some workers mistrust the "experts" in the offices of factories? Read again Angela Morgan's poem, "The Doer." Why is neither Thinker nor Doer alone able to accomplish the world's work? A GAIN FOR SCIENCE THERE is hardly a single acquisition of modern science which did not come through such labors as are here described. What answer do such efforts give to the statement that the chief thing in life to work for is money? When Madame Curie was presented (in 1921) by the women of America with a gramme of radium, costing one hundred thousand dollars, she did not want it for herself and her children, but drafted a will bequeathing it to the Radium Institute in Paris. "Radium is not to enrich any one," she said, "it is for all people." She and her husband had taken no patents on the processes which they had worked out. How would you characterize this spirit? How else is it illustrated in this selection? What debt did the Curies owe to their predecessors? How did they discharge this debt? How in general can people show that they appreciate what other workers have done? Read the quotation from Felix Adler on p. 40 and apply it to the Curies. Mme. Curie was Polish; her husband, French; Becquerel, Austrian. For other biographies, read Makers of Science by Ivor B. Hart (Oxford University Press). When you think of the many countries from which these scientists came, what aims can you suggest for rivalry among the nations? HAIL THE HERO WORKERS 1 MRS. ANNA GARLIN SPENCER is the author of books and articles on social progress. She was formerly a minister in Providence, R. I. Whom does the author mean by "heroes"? Give instances in illustration of the first stanza. How are past, present, and future here related? How would you phrase the thought in the last two lines of the poem? Read Rossetti's sonnet : "Think thou and act." Look into Carlyle's Heroes and Hero-Worship for types of the hero who ordinarily are not regarded as such. 1 This poem can be sung to the tune of “Onward Christian Soldiers." TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION CALE YOUNG RICE is a native of Kentucky. Formerly a professor of English literature, he has written many plays and poems. What image does he employ throughout the poem? How does he say that the older generation itself was indebted to earlier ones? Why does he speak of the hands of the old generation as "curbing"? For the answer, see the second half of the third stanza. Why is Time called a “foal”? What is meant by "goalless running"? How is it different from striving for progress? Why is the speaker not afraid of the new? Explain and illustrate the thought of yielding the reins "to your children, more near to the final goal." What is the one need which unites all the generations? Do you think that the thought in this poem conflicts with the commandment to honor parents? When are parents glad that the children are unlike them? How can the young generation show that its "difference" does not spring from mere self-will? Read Ralph B. Boas's Youth and the New World (Atlantic Monthly Press). THE PILOT ARTHUR STRINGER, a Canadian who now lives in New Jersey, is an editor and a poet. Mark Twain once said that, although he knew steamers ran at night, it was only when he became a pilot that he realized how some people had to stay awake to run them. Of what other kinds of work is this true? Show how the point applies to work done in the daytime as well. Write a sketch of what the world would be like if every worker stopped work for a week, or even for a day. A PARTIAL CONVERSION WHAT was it that Tim wanted most of all to have? Why? What would have happened if Dr. Grenfell had been less painstaking? What excuse might he have given for not taking all that care? When such a man thinks about his work, does he say that it is good because it brings him a fortune in money? What does it bring him? Read again the quotation by Felix Adler introducing this Section. Show how it applies to other work besides that of the doctor. Dr. Grenfell has inspired many young people to share his labors. In what respects do these labors offer the "moral equivalent of war" mentioned in Section VII? WORK EXPLAIN the first paragraph in terms of such work as is described elsewhere in this Section. Do the same with regard to any work in which you are particularly interested. What is the chief thing, according to Carlyle, which work accomplishes? What shows that he is not thinking only of manual toil? Relate the second paragraph to the thoughts in Section III. What image does Carlyle employ in the third paragraph to express the effect produced on the worker himself? Illustrate this truth, for example, with regard to self-reliance, or self-respect. What is the "destiny" mentioned in paragraph 4? Though the wages received for good work are spent, what remains? Repeat Carlyle's view of the relative importance of work and happiness. Can you suggest a way of uniting the two? (See the closing lines of "The Pioneer” in this Section.) What do you think of Carlyle's way of writing? If you like it, try his Heroes and Hero-Worship. LUCK AND WORK ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON, born in 1853, was formerly editor of The Century. He is Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Civilization has moved away from a belief in magic to reliance upon scientific work. The history of farming is one instance. Mention others in the personal life. Why is gambling excluded from the list of honorable occupations? |