THE SONG-SPARROW+

HENRY VAN DYKE

As your teacher reads the poem aloud, see if you can find out why Henry van Dyke, from all the many birds in our country, would choose this little song-sparrow to be his "comrade everywhere."

THERE is a bird I know so well,

It seems as if he must have sung
Beside my crib when I was young;
Before I knew the way to spell

The name of even the smallest bird,
His gentle-joyful song I heard.

Now see if you can tell, my dear,

What bird it is that, every year,

Sings "Sweet - sweet — sweet — very merry cheer."

? He comes in March, when winds are strong,
And snow returns to hide the earth;
But still he warms his heart with mirth,
And waits for May. He lingers long
While flowers fade; and every day
Repeats his small, contented lay;°

As if to say, we need not fear

The season's change, if love is here

With "Sweet sweet sweet - very merry cheer."

3 He does not wear a Joseph's-coat
Of many colors, smart and gay;
His suit is Quaker brown and gray,

With darker patches at his throat.
And yet of all the well-dressed throng
No one can sing so brave a song.

+ From Poems, copyright, 1911. Used by permission of the publishers, Charles Scribner's Sons.

5

It makes the pride of looks appear

A vain and foolish thing, to hear

His "Sweet-sweet-sweet- very merry cheer."

A lofty place he does not love,

But sits by choice, and well at ease,

In hedges, and in little trees

That stretch their slender arms above

The meadow-brook; and there he sings
Till all the field with pleasure rings;
And so he tells in every ear,

That lowly homes to heaven are near

In "Sweet-sweet - sweet – very merry cheer."

I like the tune, I like the words;

They seem so true, so free from art,°

So friendly, and so full of heart,

That if but one of all the birds

Could be my comrade everywhere,
My little brother of the air,

I'd choose the song-sparrow, my dear,
Because he'd bless me, every year,

With "Sweet-sweet-sweet- very merry cheer."

art,5 here means pretending

lay, a song

2.

1. Which birds do you know by name? Describe them. Which wear "coats of many colors"? Which are quietly dressed? Where should you look for the song-sparrow? 3. Why does the poet like him?

4. Select a stanza and practice reading it aloud to make the last line sound like a bird's song. 5. Which stanza do you like best? 6. If the song-sparrow were changed to a little girl, how would she be dressed, where would she live, and how would she talk and behave? Quote to prove your points. 7. Give an example to show that the saying, "Appearances are deceiving," is true of animals.

8. Memorize the poem. 9. Get Olive Thorne Miller's True Bird Stories at the library and read the story of “Blizzard.” 10. Make a Bird Calendar. (Manual.) 11. Oral or written composition: Tell which bird you would like for your "little brother of the air."

THE WORKADAY WORLD

FARMYARD SONG

J. T. TROWBRIDGE

There are always many things for boys and girls to do on a farm, but these are pleasant things, going over the hills after the cows, into the cool, dusky barn for eggs, or out into the barnyard at sundown to milk the cows. "Bossy" is the pet name for these patient animals, so that's why the milkmaid quiets them with her "So, Boss! S-o! S-o!" Pretend to be the farm-boy, the farmer, or the milkmaid, as they gather together after supper. It will make you want to go for a real visit to a farm.

OVER

Read silently:

VER the hill the farm-boy goes,

His shadow lengthens along the land,
A giant staff in a giant hand;

In the poplar-tree, above the spring,
The katydid begins to sing;

The early dews are falling;

Into the stone-heap darts the mink;
The swallows skim the river's brink;
And home to the woodland fly the crows,
When over the hill the farm-boy goes,

Cheerily calling,

"Co', boss! co', boss! co'! co'! co'"! Farther, farther over the hill,

Faintly calling, calling still, —

"Co', boss! co', boss! co'! co'!"

2

3

Into the yard the farmer goes,

With grateful heart, at the close of day;
Harness and chain are hung away;

In the wagon-shed stand yoke° and plow;
The straw's in the stack, the hay in the mow,
The cooling dews are falling;

The friendly sheep his welcome bleat,°
The pigs come grunting to his feet,
The whinnying° mare her master knows,
When into the yard the farmer goes,
His cattle calling,

"Co', boss! co', boss! co'! co'! co'!"
While still the cow-boy far away,
Goes seeking those that have gone astray,
"Co', boss! co', boss! co'! co'!"

Now to her task the milkmaid goes.
The cattle come crowding through the gate,
Lowing, pushing, little and great;
About the trough, by the farm-yard pump,
The frolicsome yearlings frisk and jump,
While the pleasant dews are falling;
The new-milch° heifer is quick and shy,
But the old cow waits with tranquil° eye;
And the white stream into the bright pail flows.
When to her task the milkmaid goes,

Soothingly calling,

"So, boss! so, boss! so! so! so!"
The cheerful milkmaid takes her stool,
And sits and milks in the twilight cool,
Saying, "So! so, boss! so! so!"

To supper at last the farmer goes.
The apples are pared, the paper read,

The stories are told, then all to bed.
Without, the crickets' ceaseless song
Makes shrill the silence all night long;
The heavy dews are falling.

The housewife's hand has turned the lock;
Drowsily ticks the kitchen clock;

The household sinks to deep repose;
But still in sleep the farm-boy goes
Singing, calling,

"Co', boss! co', boss! co'! co'! co'!"
And oft the milkmaid, in her dreams,
Drums in the pail with the flashing streams,
Murmuring, "So, boss! so!"

bleat 2 (blēt), noise of a sheep

4

ceaseless (sēs' less), without stop-milch 3 (milch), giving milk

1. Sum up each stanza in a few words. Write on the blackboard the ones that the class select as best.

2. Read aloud the stanza that makes the best picture and tell why you choose it. 3. What makes the poem good for reading aloud? Practice reading it to bring out the pictures and the call at the end of each stanza. What does "co"" stand for?

4. What makes the boy's shadow "lengthen along the land”1? Draw a picture to show it. 5. What should you like best to do on a farm? Why? 6. Compare this evening on the farm with an evening in a city home.

7. Find magazine or newspaper pictures to illustrate some line in the poem. Vote on the best. 8. Oral or written composition: A visit to the country (or the city, if you live on a farm) — (a) What you saw, or (b) What you did. (Manual.) 9. Memorize your favorite stanza. See who brings out the pictures and the refrain the best. 10. Have a Harvest Home program. (Manual.)