THE SANDPIPER Across the lonely beach we flit, The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry. 5 The wild waves reach their hands for it, The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, As up and down the beach we flit, One little sandpiper and I. Above our heads the sullen clouds Scud, black and swift, across the sky; Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds Stand out the white lighthouses high. Almost as far as eye can reach I see the close-reefed vessels fly, As fast we flit along the beach, One little sandpiper and I. I watch him as he skims along, 5 Uttering his sweet and mournful cry; He starts not at my fitful song, 10 Nor flash of fluttering drapery. He has no thought of any wrong, He scans me with a fearless eye; Stanch friends are we, well tried and strong, Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night, The tempest rushes through the sky; For are we not God's children both, Thou, little sandpiper, and I? The wild waves reach their hands for it, The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, As up and down the beach we flit, One beach (bēch): shore comrade (kom'rad): companion driftwood: wood that drifts up from the sea fitful: coming now and then wroth (rôth): angry, fierce HELPS TO STUDY 1. If you did not know, how could you tell from the poem what the sandpiper is? 2. What picture does the first stanza give? The second? 3. Who are the only creatures on the lonely beach? 4. What things show that a storm is coming? 5. Where will the poet be to-night during the storm? 6. Where will the bird be? 7. Will it be safe and warm? sentence in the poem mean? arranged in this poem? you? Which do 10. Which do you like best? 8. What does the last 9. How are the rhymes Which lines sound best to 10 15 20 5 THE FOUNTAIN Into the sunshine, Full of the light, Into the moonlight, When the winds blow; Into the starlight, Rushing in spray, Ever in motion, Blithesome and cheery Still climbing heavenward, Never aweary; Glad of all weathers, Still seeming best, Motion thy rest; |