Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay. First a shiver, and then a thrill, Then something decidedly like a spill- When he got up and stared around? End of the wonderful one-hoss shay. NOTES AND QUESTIONS For Biography, see page 94. Discussion. 1. What is a chaise? 2. Explain the allusion to Lisbon. 3. What is meant by "Braddock's army"? 4. Of what besides chaises is the second line of the third stanza true? 5. What did the deacon determine to do? 6. Find the words that tell how the deacon thought this could be done. 7. What woods were used in making the chaise? S. Find the lines in which the poet tells us the only things that keep their youth. 9. What happened on the morning of the hundredth year of the "shay"? 10. Explain the "logic" of the chaise going "to pieces all at once." 11. Have you ever heard of a carriage or coach lasting one hundred years? 12. Is it the thought of the chaise lasting one hundred years that is funny, or is it the thought of it going to pieces "all at once" that is funny? 13. Did you ever hear of such a thing's happening? Do you think the poet ever heard of such a thing? 14. Read lines in which the humor is furnished by the poet's manner of telling the fact. 15. Suggestions for a Holmes program. Holmes was a member of the famous Harvard class of 1829, which held annual reunions as long as any of its members were able to attend. In 1889, at the sixtieth anniversary, ten of the fifty-nine classmates were still living. At these class reunions everyone looked to Holmes for the anniversary poem and some of the ones he wrote are: "Bill and Joe" (1851); "The Boys" (1859); "Lines" (1860); "The Smiling Listener" (1871); "The Archbishop of Gil Blas" (1879); and "After the Curfew" (1889). These class poems, with other selections by Holmes found or suggested in this book, will furnish material for an interesting program. 16. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: Earthquake Day; felloe; thill; thoroughbrace; linchpin. 17. Pronounce: "ellum"; "hahnsum"; encore. Thank God for the might of it, The ardor, the urge, the delight of it- 10 Work! Thank God for the pride of it, For the beautiful, conquering tide of it, And what is so glad as the surge of it, And what is so strong as the summons deep, Work! 5 Thank God for the pace of it, For the terrible, keen, swift race of it; Nostrils a-quiver to greet the goal. 15 Oh, what is so good as the pain of it, Work! 20 Thank God for the swing of it, For the clamoring, hammering ring of it, On the mighty anvils of the world. Shaping the earth to a glorious end, 80 Draining the swamps and blasting the hills, Doing whatever the Spirit wills— Rending a continent apart, To answer the dream of the Master heart. Thank God for a world where none may shirk 35 Thank God for the splendor of work! NOTES AND QUESTIONS Biography. Angela Morgan was born in New England, spent most of her childhood in the Middle West, and early in her youth entered upon a career of journalism. Her warm sympathy for the industrial worker and her keen interest in social reforms make her a poet of the people. You will enjoy reading "Wood Hath a Soul" and "Open the Gates" in Forward March! "To-Day," and "Kinship" in The Hour Has Struck, from which "Work: A Song of Triumph" is taken. In the Review of Reviews, April, 1919, you will find a biography and a portrait of Miss Morgan. Note. Everyone is expected to do his part of the world's work. A wide acquaintance with occupations, both at first hand and through reading, will help you to choose a vocation with intelligence; it will also give you greater sympathy for the worker and deeper appreciation of the heroism of everyday toil. Great writers have told the story of industry in tales so fascinating that we are made to feel the wonder of work, its hardships and its joys. Discussion. 1. To what is work compared in the first stanza? 2. What is meant by the "stern command" which challenges "brain and heart and hand"? 3. What does work do to stupor and despair? What does work do for the dreamer? 4. Read the third stanza so that you feel the swift pace of the horses to which your purpose, your mind, and your will are compared. 5. Who is the driver? 6. What is meant by the expression "runaway wishes"? 7. How does work hold them back? 8. What is meant by "reining the will"? 9. What may the goad be which forces us on? 10. To what is work compared in the first part of the fourth stanza? 11. Who were the Titans? 12. Why are swamps drained? 13. When is it necessary to blast hills? 14. The making of what great canals may be described as "rending a continent apart"? 15. What other great achievements can you mention as the result of man's work? 16. Read the next to the last line in the fourth stanza; is it true that none in the world may shirk? 17. Library reading: "The Telephone Directory," and "The Power Plant," Braley (in Songs of a Workaday World); Famous Leaders of Industry, Wildman; Heroes of Progress, Morris; Modern Americans, Sanford and Owen; The Silver Horde, Beach; Pictures of the Wonder of Work, Pennell; the magazine The World's Work. |