JUNE BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AND what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days; Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays; Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers; The flush of life may well be seen Thrilling back over hills and valleys; The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, And lets his illumined being o'errun With the deluge of summer it receives; His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; And whatever of life hath ebbed away 5 10 15 20 25 5 ΤΟ 15 20 Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer, Into every bare inlet and creek and bay; No matter how barren the past may have been, We may shut our eyes, but we cannot help knowing The breeze comes whispering in our ear, That dandelions are blossoming near, That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, That the robin is plastering his house hard by; We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing, Vision of Sir Launfal. 1. Write from memory the lines of the poem that make the most pleasing picture. 2. What evidences does Lowell give that June is the “high-tide of the year"? Does he omit any that you can think of? 3. In the following lines use your own words to explain what is meant: 3-4, 15-16, 21-23, page 16; 3–6, 15, 16-17, 19-21, page 17. S. H. R. SIXTH-2 A SONG OF THE RIVER BY ABRAM J. RYAN RIVER went singing adown to the sea, A-singing, low, singing, And the dim, rippling river said softly to me, "I'm bringing, a-bringing While floating along A beautiful song To the shores that are white, where the waves are so weary, To the beach that is burdened with wrecks that are dreary. "A song sweet and calm As the peacefullest psalm, And the shore that was sad Will be grateful and glad, And the weariest wave from its weariest dream And the tempests shall cease, And there shall be peace.' From the fairest of fountains Came the stream in its flow; Down the slopes where the rocks are gray, Through the vales where the flowers are fair, Where the sunlight flashed - where the shadows lay 20 S ΤΟ Day and night, and night and day; Longing to flow to the far away. Said, "Beautiful river, go to the sea, And another will whispered, "Stay with me"; - 1. Read aloud what the river said to the poet. Which did it do? What did each will it to do? 3. Describe the river's course by reading aloud the lines that tell of its source; its breaking out of the highlands; its travels in the lowlands; its mouth. IO ខ FERN SONG BY JOHN B. TABB ANCE to the beat of the rain, little Fern, DAN And spread out your palms again, And say, "Though the Sun Hath my vesture spun, He had labored, alas, in vain, But for the shade That the Cloud hath made, And the gift of the Dew and the Rain." Then laugh and upturn All your fronds, little Fern, And rejoice in the beat of the rain! Used by permission of the publishers, Small, Maynard & Company.) CAMPING IN THE WINTER WILDERNESS Ο BY H. O. TEMPLETON NE winter several years ago I decided to do some trapping up in northern Maine. During October, when I was guiding a sportsman on a moose-hunting trip, I had seen a great many signs of fisher, lynx, fox, and bear, and so I bought food for about five months and included s blankets and clothing with my traps. Before freezing weather came I loaded all my duffel into a canoe and started for Musquacook Lakes, about ninety miles distant. It took me ten days to go in, as there were several long portages where I had to tote everything in packs over 10 rough trails. I finally reached my trapping ground and selected for my camp site a sheltered spot near a good spring. It was on the north shore of a small lake, well shielded from the north winds, and there was plenty of bright sunshine in the 1s daytime. The camp I made of spruce trees chopped down and cut in twelve-foot and sixteen-foot lengths. I laid the largest logs at the bottom and notched them at either end to receive the next log, and so on up until the walls were seven feet high; then I laid up several end logs, each of 20 which was shorter than the last, to receive a log lengthwise of the camp, and in that way the roof was soon finished. My next job was to cover the roof. I found some large straight-grained cedars, cut them into three-foot lengths, and split these short pieces into boards, thin, flat, and 25 smooth, known as "splits." These I put on the roof like |