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But blither still and louder carolled they

Upon the morrow, for they seemed to know It was fair Almira's wedding-day,

And everywhere, around, above, below, When the Preceptor bore his bride away, Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow, And a new heaven bent over a new earth Amid the sunny farms of Killingworth.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Stanza one-Blithe-heart King—the joyous Creator. Stanza two-"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows." -St. Matthew, 10:29-31.

Stanza two-"Who provideth for the raven his food? When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat." -Job 38:41. "He giveth to the beast his food and to the young ravens which cry."-Psalms 147:9.

Cassandra, in Greek mythology, was always prophesying woe, but Apollo had ordered that no credit should ever be attached to her predictions.

At Egyptian feasts, according to Plutarch, a servant brought in a skeleton towards the close and cried aloud to the guests: “Look on this! Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die."

The squire, the parson, the schoolmaster, and the deacon were the leading men of any community in early New England

days. They are described here quite true to nature. Edwards on the Will was Jonathan Edwards' famous book on Freedom of the Will. He was a powerful exponent of Calvinistic theology.

Stanza twelve-Plato, the greatest of the Athenian philosophers, wrote a scheme of an ideal republic. Various classes were to be excluded, among them the poets. The Reviewers refers to the critics in the English and Scotch magazines in the early part of the 19th century whose reviews of new poetry were severe and merciless. The Troubadours were a school of lyric poets who flourished in France and Italy, in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Many of them sang or chanted their poems in the streets.

In our dark hours, as David did for Saul-"And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with the hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”First Samuel 16:23. See also Browning's poem, Saul.

Stanza twenty-two-The other audience was composed of the women and girls, who were not permitted to attend the town meeting.

Stanza twenty-three-The massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day was the massacre of the Huguenots in France in 1572. The number of victims in Paris was from 3,000 to 10,000, and in all France, between 20,000 and 30,000.

sent

Stanza twenty-five-Like Herod "Then Herod forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under."St. Matthew, 2:16.

Stanza twenty-seven-The Doomsday Book was the ancient record of the lands and property in England, made by order of William the Conqueror, about 1086, to determine the taxable property in the country, and the corresponding services due to the crown. Also spelled Domesday (see page 168).

The Preceptor's speech for the preservation of the birds is the most important part of the poem, and special attention should be given to it in the study of the piece. Longfellow seems to intimate that the Preceptor's tender feeling for Almira at the Academy had something to do with his attitude towards the birds.

Whenever any kind of bird is mentioned throughout the poem, notice the accurate description of it; for example, "the noisy jay, jargoning like a foreigner at his food." Pick out these descriptions; are you familiar with the birds named? Merle and mavis are English names for the blackbird and the song-thrush.

THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS

No child is able to read The Light of Other Days with full understanding. He does not have the experience necessary to interpret it. Only those who have passed far beyond "the smiles, the tears of boyhood's years, the words of love then spoken," and can recall from personal experience "the eyes that shone, now dimmed and gone," will be able to "feel like one who treads alone some banquet hall deserted." May that experience be delayed for all of them for many and many a year! Nevertheless, the poem is a gem of pathetic beauty, and the youth who is familiar with it is sure to find a personal interpretation of it in the future years when memory brings the light of other days around him. It is a good thing to store away in the mind for future use.

THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS

1

Oft in the stilly night

Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the light

Of other days around me:

The smiles, the tears

Of boyhood's years,

The words of love then spoken;

The eyes that shone,

Now dimmed and gone,

The cheerful hearts now broken!

Thus in the stilly night

Ere slumber's chain has bound me,

Sad Memory brings the light

Of other days around me.

2

When I remember all

The friends so linked together

I've seen around me fall

Like leaves in wintry weather,

I feel like one

Who treads alone

Some banquet hall deserted,

Whose lights are fled,

Whose garlands dead,

And all but he departed.

Thus in the stilly night

Ere slumber's chain has bound me,

Sad Memory brings the light

Of other days around me.

-Thomas Moore.

THE ISLE OF LONG AGO

Children are just starting down the river of Time and as yet they have no isle of Long Ago, that willowcovered spot where most men and women have left so many sacred treasures-things that are now only "heaps of dust, but we love them so!" Children ought not to know from experience that this river of Time "runs through the realm of tears"; and of course they know nothing of "the broken vows and the pieces of rings, and the garments she used to wear." Yet the poem is rich in imagination and melody; and, as in the case of The Light of Other Days (page 141), it will be turned to again and again in after years, and they will hear, "through the turbulent roar, sweet voices they heard in the days gone before."

In teaching this poem and The Light of Other Days the teacher should explain these things to the children so that they will know that the experience of life will give them, soon enough, the ability to interpret and to understand.