LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, MRS. BIXBY, Boston, Mass. Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic that they died to save. I pray that the Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. NOTES AND QUESTIONS For Biography, see page 376. Discussion. 1. Of what fine qualities in President Lincoln does this letter give evidence? 2. The Italian patriot (page 346) says, "This faith was shown to Italy, our mother; she uses my hand and blesses thee." How do these words apply similarly to Lincoln? 3. Memorize these words from Lincoln's second inaugural address: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." 4. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: beguile; bereavement. 5. Pronounce: adjutant; sacrifice. YUSSOUF JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL A stranger came one night to Yussouf's tent, I come to thee for shelter and for food— To Yussouf, called through all our tribes 'The Good."" "This tent is mine," said Yussouf, "but no more Our tents His glorious roof of night and day, So Yussouf entertained his guest that night, And, waking him ere day, said: "Here is gold; 15 My swiftest horse is saddled for thy flight; Depart before the prying day grow bold." That inward light the stranger's face made grand, 25 "Take thrice the gold," said Yussouf, "for with thee Into the desert, never to return, My one black thought shall ride away from me. 30 Thou art avenged, my first-born; sleep in peace!" NOTES AND QUESTIONS Biography. James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) came of an old and influential New England family. Born in an atmosphere of learning in Cambridge, he enjoyed every advantage for culture that inherited tastes, ample means, and convenient opportunity could offer. Besides the facilities of the college near by, his father's library was one of the richest in the whole country. It is not strange, then, that he became one of the most scholarly Americans of his time. After leaving college he became deeply interested in political issues, and was thus stirred to his first serious efforts in literature. In 1848 appeared his Vision of Sir Launfal, a narrative poem with a beautiful meaning. Few patriotic poems surpass his Commemoration Ode. Besides his poetical works, he wrote many books of travel and essays about literature. He succeeded Longfellow in his professorship at Harvard, and was the first editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Discussion. 1. Where do you think the scene of this poem is laid? Give the reason for your answer. 2. What do you know of the habits of people who live in tents? 3. What virtues would men living in this way most admire? Why? 4. How do you think Yussouf had won his title of "The Good"? 5. To what does the stranger compare himself? 6. What does the bending of the bow signify? 7. To what tribes does the stranger refer? 8. What did the stranger expect? What more than he expected did Yussouf do? How did this affect the stranger? 9. What was the struggle going on in the stranger's mind and heart that is called "selfconquest"? 10. What emotions made the stranger's face “grand"? 11. Read the words in which he reveals himself to Yussouf. 12. What do you suppose Yussouf's "one black thought" had been? 13. How did he avenge his son? 14. When does Yussouf show himself most noble? 15. Which lines in the last stanza are addressed to the stranger and which to the dead son? 16. Into which two lines is the thought of the poem condensed? 17. How does this thought compare with that of "The Bugle Song," page 87? 18. Class reading: "The Shepherd of King Admetus"; "The Finding of the Lyre,” Lowell. IF RUDYARD KIPLING If you can keep your head when all about you 10 Or, being hated, don't give way to hating; And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream-and not make dreams your master; And treat these two impostors just the same; 20 Except the will which says to them: "Hold on"; 30 With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, YOURS is the Earth and everything that's in it, And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son. NOTES AND QUESTIONS Biography. Rudyard Kipling (1865—) was born in Bombay, India, of British parents. He was sent to England to be educated, but returned to India at the age of seventeen to work as a journalist. Very soon he began to write tales of the life about him, as well as poems dealing with British civil officials and soldiers in India. By the time he was twenty-four he had won fame with his Plain Tales from the Hills and other short stories; and when he published Barrack Room Ballads, in 1892, he was widely recognized as a great poet. From 1892 to 1896 he lived in the United States. Perhaps he is best known to boys and girls as the author of the Jungle Books. He is a master of the art of telling stories, either in prose or verse. His ballads about the British soldier, "Tommy Atkins," and his experiences on the frontiers of civilization, have a ring and a movement that suggest the old days when the ballad-maker was a man of action, living the adventures that he celebrated in song. Discussion. 1. Which of these "If's" seems to you especially difficult to practice? 2. Notice how in the first two examples the conditions are made doubly difficult by the additions, "and blaming it on you" and "But make allowance for their doubting, too." 3. What is better than looking good and talking wise? 4. What does Kipling imply should be the aim of dreaming and of thinking? 5. How does he regard Triumph and Disaster? Can you cite an instance where victory proved disastrous, or one where disaster was turned into triumph? 6. Which "If" embodies advice especially good for athletes? 7. Which one makes a fine motto when a difficult task is before you that you must see through to the end? 8. How might "loving friends" hurt one? 9. Which "If" suggests making good use of one's time? 10. Is the reward worth striving for? 11. Library reading: The Iron Trail Beach. (Compare the hero with that of Kipling's "If.”) |