When what to my wondering eyes should appear, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick! 5 More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name: "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall — 10 Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the housetop the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys—and St. Nicholas, too. 15 And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, 20 And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry, 25 His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. 5 He was chubby and plump That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang in his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, QUESTIONS AND HELPS 1. Who was St. Nicholas, and where did he live? 2. Tell the story about St. Nicholas and the nobleman's daughters. 3. Tell about St. Nicholas and the boys at the inn. 4. How did we get the name Santa Claus"? 5. Tell how the Dutch children kept St. Nicholas's Day. 6. How did it happen to get mixed with Christmas? 7. Where do we get the idea of the Christmas tree? 8. Tell what you can about the author of these verses. 9. Describe the picture in the first eight lines of this poem. 10. Describe the picture in lines 13-24. 11. Describe the picture in lines 32-52. 12. Which is the prettiest picture? 13. Who is supposed to be telling this story, and what kind of cap did he wear? 14. What made the "luster of midday," and what do we call that luster? 15. Why are the reindeer compared with eagles, and why, a little later, with dry leaves? For the Bible story of Christmas see Luke ii, 1-20, and Matthew ii, 1-12. re Other Christmas poems which you can read are Nahum Tate's While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night,” Eugene Field's" Christmas Hymn," Margaret Deland's "The First Best Christmas Night," Lydia Avery Coonley Ward's "Why do Bells for Christmas Ring," J. G. Holland's "A Christmas Carol," Longfellow's "The Three Kings," Phillips Brooks's "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Susan Coolidge's "The Baby Christmas Tree"; also "He comes in the Night" (Literary Readers, Book Three). Good Christmas stories are Kate Douglas Wiggin's The Birds' Christmas Carol," Louisa M. Alcott's "Tilly's Christmas" ("Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag"), Washington Gladden's "Santa Claus on a Lark," Selma Lagerlöf's "Christ Legends," Abbie Farwell Brown's "Christmas Angel," Maud Lindsay's Gretchen " ("Mother Stories"), M. E. Wilkins Freeman's "Where the Christmas Tree Grew" ("Young Lucretia "), Nora A. Smith's "Piccola," and "The Story of Christmas" ("The Story Hour"). H. W. Mabie's "Book of Christmas" and Schauffler's "Christmas are full of Christmas poems, legends, and stories. kerchief (ker'chief): a cloth worn over the head or around the neck. luster (lus'ter): a glistening. miniature (min'ĭ ȧ tūre): small. coursers (cours ́ers): swift horses or racers. obstacle (ob'stà cle): something in the way. tarnished (tärnished): stained. encircled (en çîr'cled): surrounded Sant Niklaas (Sänt Nik ́läas). THE FROST SPIRIT JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER [In December of 1807, the same year in which Longfellow was born, another famous American poet also came into the world. He was the poet who wrote of country life, and the farm, and the winter snowstorm, and the 5 cheerful fireside, and the barefoot boy. You don't need to be told, I think, that it was Whittier. He was a Quaker, one of those quiet but earnest souls who live plainly, serve God, and talk only when they have something to say. You will read in your history how 10 shamefully the Quakers were treated in the old New England days, but at the time that Whittier was born all thoughtful people respected them for their honest lives and their goodness. Whittier was born on a farm near Haverhill, Massachu15 setts. The Whittier family were poor and had to work hard for a living, but they were cheerful and contented, and young Greenleaf, as the boy was called, found time for fun in the midst of his work. In the poem "Snowbound" he describes the family as 20 they sat about the open fire on a winter's night while the snow was driving hard outside. There were his father and mother, an uncle, an unmarried aunt, a brother and |