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Discussion. 1. Tell in your own words what the first stanza means to you. 2. Find the line which tells that we must build whether we wish to do so or not. 3. Upon what does the beauty of the "blocks" depend?

4. Explain the meaning of the fourth stanza. 5. By whom are "massive deeds" performed? 6. By whom are "ornaments of rime" made? 7. Explain the meaning of the "elder days of Art," and mention some works that belong to that time. 8. Tell in your own words the meaning of the last stanza. 9. How do the selections in the group called "American Workers and Their Work" help you to realize how infinite are the activities of our country, about which you read in the Introduction on page 296? 10. How does a poem such as this one help you to see how much the character of the workman determines the quality of his work? 11. Read again the last paragraph of the Introduction on page 296; how does this poem help you to answer the question, “What is America, and what can I do to make her happy"? 12. In the second stanza Longfellow expresses the thought that the task that we have in hand, whatever it may be, is important, and "supports the rest." Apply this thought to situations in everyday life: (a) To the stenographer who carelessly misdirects an important letter. (b) To the horseshoer who carelessly shoes a horse. (c) To the mechanic who carelessly repairs an automobile. 13. What do you think was Longfellow's purpose in writing this poem?

Phrases for Study

architects of Fate, 455, 1 ornaments of rime, 455, 4 elder days of Art, 456, 5

ample base, 456, 18

ascending and secure, 456, 19
boundless reach, 456, 24

Library Reading. Heart, A Schoolboy's Journal, De Amicis; With the Men Who Do Things, Bond; All About Engineering, Knox; The Romance of Labor, Twombly and Dana; The Romance of Modern Manufacture, Gibson.

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10

OLD IRONSIDES

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky.

5 Beneath it rang the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;

The meteor of the ocean air

Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe

When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,

No more shall feel the victor's tread,

Or know the conquered knee;

15 The harpies of the shore shall pluck The eagle of the sea!

O better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave.
5 Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning, and the gale!

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

For Biography see page 432.

Historical Note. Old Ironsides was the popular name given to the U. S. frigate Constitution, which won renown in the War of 1812. In 1850 it was proposed by the Secretary of the Navy to dispose of the ship, as it had become unfit for service. Popular sentiment did not approve of this; it was felt that a ship which had been the pride of the nation should continue to be the property of the Navy and that it should be rebuilt for service when needed. Holmes's poem voiced this feeling so forcibly that the order to dismantle the ship was recalled.

Discussion. 1. This group of selections is called "Love of Country." Why is this poem a good one to introduce such a group? 2. As you read this poem, do you think of the frigate as an inanimate object or does it seem personified? 3. What does the poet say would be better than to have the ship dismantled? 4. Do you think this a fitting end for a ship of war? 5. Read the story of the fight between the Constitution and the Guerriére given in your history and be prepared to tell it in class. Why did the nation have particular pride in this achievement? 6. In the Introduction, on page 296, you read that history-the knowledge of past events—“must acquaint us with our country"; can you mention some other past events that are a source of pride to patriotic Americans?

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of the steel battleship. 2. Compare "Old Ironsides" with a modern battle

THE AMERICAN FLAG

HENRY WARD BEECHER

A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the government, the principles, the truths, the history, which belong to the nation 5 which sets it forth.

When the French tricolor rolls out to the wind, we see France. When the new-found Italian flag is unfurled, we see resurrected Italy. When the other three-cornered Hungarian flag shall be lifted to the wind, we shall see in it the long buried but never 10 dead principles of Hungarian liberty. When the united crosses of St. Andrew and St. George, on a fiery ground, set forth the banner of Old England, we see not the cloth merely; there rises up before the mind the noble aspect of that monarchy which, more than any other on the globe, has advanced its banner for 15 liberty, law, and national prosperity.

This nation has a banner, too; and wherever it streamed abroad, men saw daybreak bursting on their eyes, for the American flag has been the symbol of liberty, and men rejoiced in it. Not another flag on the globe had such an errand, or went 20 forth upon the sea, carrying everywhere, the world around, such hope for the captive, and such glorious tidings. The stars upon it were to the pining nations like the morning stars of God, and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light.

As at early dawn the stars stand first, and then it grows light, 25 and then as the sun advances, that light breaks into banks and streaming lines of color, the glowing red and intense white striving together and ribbing the horizon with bars effulgent, so on the American flag, stars and beams of many-colored light shine out together. And wherever the flag comes, and men behold it, 30 they see in its sacred emblazonry no rampant lion and fierce eagle, but only LIGHT, and every fold significant of liberty.

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