3. Earth gets its price for what earth gives us :
The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in,
The priest hath his fee who comes and shrives* us,
We bargain for the graves we lie in;

At the devil's booth are all things sold,
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay:
Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking;
'Tis heaven alone that is given away,
'Tis only God may be had for the asking.
No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.

4. And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays :
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;

An instinct within it that reaches and towers,

Every clod feels a stir of might,

And, groping blindly above it for light,

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers.

5. The flush of life may well be seen

45

Thrilling back over hills and valleys;

The cowslip startles in meadows green,

The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace.

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-21-32. Earth... comer. What line in this stanza is in antithesis to line 21?-What specific instances are given of the general proposition contained in line 21? What renders these instances impressive? -By what synecdoche does the author indicate a fool's reward?—What is the meaning of "heaven as here employed?-Explain line 30, and state with what line in this stanza it contrasts.

33-36. And... lays. These fine lines have justly taken a place among familiar quotations. On what is the figure in this passage founded? 42. Climbs... flowers. Explain.

46. The buttercup... chalice. What is the figure? Express in plain language.

6. The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun

With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,

And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;

He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest:

55

In the nice ear of Nature, which song is the best?

7. Now is the high tide of the year,

And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer,

Into every bare inlet and creek and bay;
Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God wills it;
No matter how barren the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green.
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes, but we cannot help knowing
That the skies are clear and grass is growing.

8. The breeze comes whispering in our ear
That dandelions are blossoming near,

60

65

That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,

70

That the robin is plastering his house hard by;
And if the breeze kept the good news back,
For other couriers we should not lack;

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-49-56. The... best? In stanza 6 point out a simile; a striking epithet.—Explain “deluge of summer.”—What human application may be made of line 55?

57-60. Now... bay. What is the basis of the metaphor? Follow out the details of the application.

57-68. Now... growing. In stanza 7 are there any words of other than Anglo-Saxon origin?

69-79. The breeze... crowing! In stanza 8 point out instances of personi. fication.

75

We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing-
And hark! how clear bold chanticleer,
Warmed with the new wine of the year,

Tells all in his lusty crowing!

9. Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;
Everything is happy now,

Everything is upward striving;

'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue-
'Tis the natural way of living.

10. Who knows whither the clouds have fled?

In the unscarred heaven they leave no wake;
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth,

And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe
Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,

Like burned-out craters healed with snow.
What wonder if Sir Launfal now
Remembered the keeping of his vow?

PART FIRST.

1. "My golden spurs now bring to me,
And bring to me my richest mail,
For to-morrow I go over land and sea
In search of the Holy Grail;

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-78, Warmed... year.

What kind of phrase, and

adjunct to what word? What figure of speech in this line?

86, 87. Who... wake. Which subsequent lines express subjectively what these express objectively.-Explain the metaphor in line 87.

91-93. the sulphurous... snow. Point out the simile, show how it illustrates the thought, and state from what the sublimity of the figure arises.

94, 95. What wonder if Sir Launfal... vow? The poet, like his "musing organist," has, in the Prelude, been letting "his fingers wander as they list." Now the theme "nearer draws," and is formally introduced in this query. Let the pupil carefully re-read the Prelude, and state in his own language the thought in stanza 2; stanza 3; stanzas 4-10. In these the poet, like the musician, strikes his fundamental chords.

97. mail. Explain.

Shall never a bed for me be spread,

Nor shall a pillow be under my head,
Till I begin my vow to keep;

Here on the rushes will I sleep,

And perchance there may come a vision true

Ere day create the world anew.”

Slowly Sir Launfal's eyes grew dim,
Slumber fell like a cloud on him,

And into his soul the vision flew.

2. The crows flapped over by twos and threes,
In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees,
The little birds sang as if it were

The one day of summer in all the year,

And the very leaves seemed to sing on the trees;
The castle alone in the landscape lay
Like an outpost of winter, dull and gray;
'Twas the proudest hall in the North Countree,
And never its gates might opened be,
Save to lord or lady of high degree.

100

105

110

115

3. Summer besieged it on every side,

But the churlish stone her assaults defied;

She could not scale the chilly wall,

Though round it for leagues her pavilions tall
Stretched left and right,

Over the hills and out of sight;

Green and broad was every tent,

And out of each a murmur went

Till the breeze fell off at night.

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-100. Shall never a bed. Arrange in the direct order. 105. Ere day create, etc. Express this periphrasis in a single word.

109-118. The crows... degree. What contrast is presented in this stanza? -Point out a picturesque expression; a fanciful expression; a striking sim ile. Show the propriety of the term "outpost as here used.

119. Summer besieged, etc. Show how the thought suggested as simile in line 115 is here continued as metaphor.

122-125. her pavilions tall... every tent. Explain these expressions as here employed.

120

125

4. The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang,
And through the dark arch a charger sprang,
Bearing Sir Launfal, the maiden knight,
In his gilded mail, that flamed so bright
It seemed the dark castle had gathered all
Those shafts the fierce sun had shot over its wall

In his siege of three hundred summers long,
And, binding them all in one blazing sheaf,
Had cast them forth: so, young and strong,
And lightsome as a locust-leaf,

Sir Launfal flashed forth in his unscarred mail,
To seek in all climes for the Holy Grail.

5. It was morning on hill and stream and tree,
And morning in the young knight's heart;
Only the castle moodily

Rebuffed the gifts of the sunshine free,

And gloomed by itself apart;

The season brimmed all other things up

Full as the rain fills the pitcher-plant's cup.

6. As Sir Launfal made morn through the darksome gate,
He was 'ware of a leper, crouched by the same,
Who begged with his hand and moaned as he sate;
And a loathing over Sir Launfal came :

The sunshine went out of his soul with a thrill,

The flesh 'neath his armor 'gan shrink and crawl,
And midway its leap his heart stood still

Like a frozen waterfall;

LITERARY ANALYSIS.-128-139. The drawbridge... Grail. Note the powerful manner in which the narrative is managed: the mere structure of the lines suggests a rush and flash.-Point out the element of hyperbole in this stanza. 140, 141. It was morning... heart. In which line is "morning" used in a literal, in which in a figurative, sense?-Change the metaphor in line 141 into a simile. 143-146. Rebuffed.. Is "Rebuffed" used in a literal or in a figurative sense?-Remark on the verbs "gloomed" and "brimmed."-Show the felicity of the simile.

... cup.

147. made morn. Explain.

148. Point out an unpleasantly prosaic phrase in this line. 151. The sunshine went, etc. What is the figure of speech? 154. Remark on the simile.

130

135

140

145

150