English when so many of the old pirates were e. Explain clearly how he translated the symbols into letters. f. Explain clearly how he divided the clauses and sentences. g. Explain clearly how he overcame the difficulties he encountered in trying to apply the directions to the landscape. h. Does Legrand explain in the last eight paragraphs any points about the hiding and the discovery of the treasure left obscure by II 3? How does he account for his apparent insanity? III. General questions: 1. Which part of the tale is of greater interest, II 3 or II 4? Does II 4 lose in interest because it comes after you know the treasure is found? Should you prefer II 4 before II 3? Compare the management of the plan and the escape in A Descent into the Maelstrom. 2. How essential is the gold-bug in II 3? In II 4? What is its office in the tale? Justify the title of the tale. Why does not Poe tell us what became of the bug? Is the story complete without that information? 3. Is the story probable? Does it seem probable? Does the introduction of scientific fact (the chemical treatment of the parchment) give it verisimilitude? Compare with the use of scientific material in A Descent into the Maelstrom. 4. Is this location a better one than the coast further north for the setting of a pirate story? Give the reason for your answer. Where was "the Spanish main," once infested by pirates? Mention the essential points in the setting. 5. Dialogue is not found very much in Poe's tales. Has he used it successfully here? 6. How does he attempt humor in this story? Is he successful in this regard? 7. Has Poe chosen an appropriate bit of poetry for the opening of this tale? The drama All in the Wrong was written by an Irishman, Arthur Murphy (1727-1805). A scholar who has looked in the play for the quotation tells us he does not find it there. 8. What did Poe know about the coast of South Carolina? Are his descriptions accurate? 9. For a somewhat similar method of solution actually applied to deciphering an inscription in an unknown language, see Dr. Hempl's "The Solving of an Ancient Riddle," in Harper's Magazine for January, 1911. CHAPTER XIV HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES Life, Letters, and Journal, 3 Vol., by Samuel Longfellow; Boston, 1886. Final Memorials, by Samuel Longfellow; Boston, 1887. Life, by F. H. Underwood; Boston, 1882. Life, Works, and Friendships, by G. L. Austin; Boston, 1883. Life, by T. W. Higginson; Boston, 1902. Life, by W. S. Kennedy; Boston, 1882. SUPPLEMENTARY READING A Psalm of Life, The Reaper and the Flowers, The Light of Stars, The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Village Blacksmith, The Rainy Day, Endymion, God's Acre, Maidenhood, Excelsior, Nuremberg, The Belfry of Bruges, Rain in Summer, The Bridge, The Day is Done, The Arrow and the Song, The Builders, The Ladder of St. Augustine, The Ropewalk, St. Filomena, Sandalphon, The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face, The Three Kings, The Sifting of Peter, Maiden and Weathercock, The Windmill, The Phantom Ship, The Warden of the Cinque Ports. See also Appendix I, titles 33 to 39 inclusive. THE OLD CLOCK ON THE STAIRS I. In his Journal entry for November 12, 1845, the poet says: Began a poem on a clock, with the words 'Forever, Never,' as a burden; suggested by the words of Bridaine, the old French missionary, who said of eternity, "It is a clock whose pendulum says and repeats without ceasing these two words only, in the silence of tombs -"Tou jours, jamais! Jamais, toujours!' And during these solemn revolutions a condemned sinner cries, 'What time is it?' and the voice of another wretch responds, 'It is eternity!”” The country seat and the clock belonged to relatives of the second Mrs. Longfellow, who lived at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The clock is still in the Appleton family, and is said to resemble very much the one that stands "half-way up the stairs" in the Longfellow home at Cambridge. The clock suggests to the poet the family life it must have seen in the years it has stood in this central and commanding position. II. Read the poem by stanzas aloud thoughtfully, with this outline: Stanza 1. The house and its location. Stanza 3. Its voice. its position and appearance. Stanzas 4-7. Its message. Stanza 8. The family scattered. Stanza 9. The eternal reunion. State briefly and clearly Longfellow's purpose in writing this poem. III. What is the effect of the refrain? You notice in it the predominating sound of the front vowel e and the liquid r. Review Poe's discussion of his choice of resonant o and liquid r for the refrain of The Raven. Notice that the rhythm of the refrain in The Old Clock imitates the swinging of the pendulum, and the accents suggest the ticking. Is Longfellow's refrain as good for his poem as Poe's was for his? Notice how Longfellow has secured variety in the "application" of his refrain; and notice that in the line introducing the refrain in each stanza there is a word particularly suitable to the thought, diction, or figure of that stanza. IV. Discuss in detail the diction, figures, allusions, sentence structure, melody, and harmony of the poem. Pay particular attention to the following notes and questions: Line 10. Connect with the simile in line 12. Line 34. What figure in Hospitality? Notice that the pronoun his is used in referring to this noun. Line 37. The skeleton was, in early, ascetic days, placed at the feast to remind the revellers of their mortality. The old exhortation was, "Prepare for death." Our modern thought is, "Live; get all you can, in the best sense, out of life." When we are happy, we do not wish to hear a warning voice say, "Memento mori;" neither do we think that it would be wholesome to spoil our pleasures with such an admonition. Line 45. Explain the figure. Line 46. Told has the old meaning "counted." Line 52. What figure of speech in snow? Lines 65, 68. What emphasis do you make in these lines to bring out the full meaning? Line 69. Refer to the words of the French missionary in explaining this metaphor. V. Read the poem again, aloud. Try to express all Longfellow's feeling about the never-ending succession of minutes that make up time and eternity. The unceasing, insistent regularity of the ticking of the clock forces the thought of eternity upon you. VI. Turn to Longfellow's little poem called The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls. After a first reading tell the simple story it relates. Read a second time, giving particular attention to the refrain. How are the two phrases of the refrain imitative? Why is the absolute monotony of this line, recurring so frequently, an artistic feature in this poem? Read |