"Dear Mother," at first, of course, and then
"Dear Captain," inquiring about the men.
Captain's answer: "Of eighty and five
Giffen and I are left alive."

"Johnston pressed at the front," they say;
Little Giffen was up and away.

A tear, his first, as he bade good-by,
Dimmed the glint of his steel-blue eye;

"I'll write, if spared." There was news of the fight,
But none of Giffen - he did not write.

I sometimes fancy that were I king
Of the courtly knights of Arthur's ring,
With the voice of the minstrel in mine ear
And the tender legend that trembles here,—
I'd give the best on his bended knee,
The whitest soul of my chivalry,

For little Giffen of Tennessee.

- FRANCIS O. TICKNOR: Little Giffen of Tennessee.

What word in the first line shows that little Giffen had fought on the firing line? What word shows that he not only fought on the firing line, but in the central and hottest part of it?

Describe little Giffen as he appeared to the surgeon.

What do you suppose Giffen wrote to his mother? to his captain?

What news caused Giffen to be "up and away"?

Tell what you know of the Confederate general, Joseph E. Johnston.

How are we told of Giffen's fate?

Tell what you know of the Knights of Arthur's "Round

Table" or of "Arthur's Ring." little Giffen compares with them? Confederate hero.

How does the poet think
Tell what you think of the

II

This poem was written by Dr. Finch when he heard that on Memorial Day the women of Columbus, Mississippi, had strewn flowers on the graves of Union soldiers as well as of Confederate:

By the flow of the inland river,

Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:
Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day;
Under the one, the Blue,
Under the other, the Gray.

These in the robings of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat,
All with the battle-blood gory,

In the dusk of eternity meet:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Under the laurel, the Blue,

Under the willow, the Gray.

From the silence of sorrowful hours

The desolate mourners go,

Lovingly laden with flowers

Alike for the friend and the foe:

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day;

Under the roses, the Blue,
Under the lilies, the Gray.

So with an equal splendor
The morning sun-rays fall,
With a touch impartially tender,
On the blossoms blooming for all:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Broidered with gold, the Blue,
Mellowed with gold, the Gray.

So, when the summer calleth,
On forest and field of grain,
With an equal murmur falleth
The cooling drip of the rain:
Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day;
Wet with the rain, the Blue,
Wet with the rain, the Gray.

Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
The generous deed was done;
In the storm of years that are fading,
No braver battle was won:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Under the blossoms, the Blue,
Under the garlands, the Gray.

No more shall the war-cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;

They banish our anger forever

When they laurel the graves of our dead:

Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Love and tears for the Blue,

Tears and love for the Gray.

-

- FRANCIS MILES FINCH: The Blue and the Gray.

What lines in the poem tell where this incident took place? What lines briefly describe the incident? Who were the "Blue"? the "Gray"? Why were they so called? To which does “the robings of glory" refer? To which "the gloom of defeat "? Which wears "the laurel"? Which wears the willow"? How does nature treat the graves of each side? What is meant by " No braver battle was won "?

III

The following lines were given at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1918:

Here's to the Blue of the wind-swept North,
When we meet on the fields of France,
May the spirit of Grant be with us all,
As the sons of the North advance.

Here's to the Gray of the sun-kissed South,
When we meet on the fields of France,
May the spirit of Lee be over us all
As the sons of the South advance.

Here's to the Blue and the Gray as one,
When we meet on the fields of France,
May the spirit of God be over us all
As the sons of the Flag advance.

GEORGE MORROW MAYO: Sons of the Flag.

CHAPTER XXXI

REVIEW BY QUESTIONS

1. What is a sentence? the subject of a sentence? the predicate of a sentence?

2. What are the parts of speech? Define them.

3. What rules do you know for the forming of plurals? 4. What rules do you know for showing possession?

5. What have you learned about the comparison of adjectives? the comparison of adverbs?

6. What lesson do you learn from "Little Giffen "? "The Blue and the Gray "? "Sons of the Flag "?

CHAPTER XXXII

REVIEW BY EXERCISES

1. Write two sentences and two groups of words. Read them to the class and let the pupils tell which are sentences. Call on some one to change the groups of words to sentences. Ask for the subject and predicate of each.

2. Write a letter to a pupil in another grade or in another school and tell him what your favorite stories and poems are. 3. Tell what you have learned of the use of the following:

The capital

The period

The comma
The apostrophe

Quotation marks
The parts of a letter

4. Write sentences in which you use the eight parts of speech.

5. Make a list of the words you are trying to use correctly; also one of the new words you have learned.