of. The Old Norse poetry shows, also, great emotional self-restraint, often speaking briefly and simply of intense feelings. Illustrate these qualities from the ballad.

2. The pictures of Norse customs correspond well with accounts we have of them in the old stories. What do you learn from this poem about the education of young Norsemen; about drinking, feasting, Berserks, story-telling, class feeling, etc.? Make a list of words referring to Norse and mediæval customs, literature, beliefs, etc. Notice particularly in the last stanza their belief that they will drink in Valhal around the table of Odin. Skoal is a drinking salutation, like "Your health." Heart's chamber for chest" or "bosom" reminds one of the old Germanic "kenning," or round-about poetic expression. The proper nouns, too, are Germanic. Notice geographical

names.

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3. Figures. Give particular attention to the metaphors and similes. Does the Viking use those that a man of his experience as hunter and sailor would be likely to choose? Do not be surprised because he is so poetic; the old Norsemen were full of imagination. How does the Viking speak of the Princess in figure? Of himself? Why? Are the figures used in the first two stanzas in harmony with those in the body of the poem? Do you find other figures besides simile and metaphor? Explain the allusion in line 5. Explain this in line 24. To what question is line 24 an answer?

IV. Longfellow could not here use the regular ballad stanza (see Lowell's The Singing Leaves), because it would

suggest Early English and not Norse. Neither could he imitate the old Norse line, because that poetry was entirely different from our modern verse in structure. However, he has chosen a rhythm that suggests something of the movement of the old Teutonic. The stanza of this poem is the same as that of a part of an old ballad written in the days of Queen Elizabeth, Drayton's Battle of Agincourt. There are three lines of three feet ending in a rest, followed by one line of two feet. The movement is trochaic and dactylic. The rimes are aaabcccb; b is feminine. There is a pause at the end of most of the lines, and the sentences have the effect of being short (though they are not), because they are made up of short, line-bound phrases. Notice the amount of sentence inversion, and explain its effect here.

V. Read the poem aloud.

In an article by Edward Thorstenberg entitled The Skeleton in Armor and the Frithjof Saga, may be found many interesting parallels between Longfellow's poem and the modernization of an old saga by the Scandinavian poet Tegnér. See Modern Language Notes, Vol. XXV, No. 6 (June, 1910), pages 189–192. Longfellow knew and admired the work of Tegnér.

THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

I. As a boy, Longfellow lived in Portland, Maine, in those days the chief ship-building city in the country. Every boy is, and ought to be, interested in the industries of the town in which he lives. In his poem called My Lost Youth, Longfellow tells of his interest in the wharves and the ships, and we may be sure he had watched the construction of more than one vessel. In later life, Longfellow often visited the seashore, near which he always lived. What was the name of the

volume in which this poem first appeared? What other seapoems did Longfellow write?

II. Read this poem. You will notice that two lines of action are woven together: (1) the building and launching of the ship, and (2) the courtship and marriage of the Master's daughter. These two lines are united in four ways. (a) The courtship is the time of building, and the wedding-day is the day of launching. (b) The ship is named "Union" in honor of the marriage. (c) The persons in the two lines are practically identical: those in 1 are the Master and his assistant; those in 2 are the Master's daughter and the assistant. (d) The two lines are interwoven by an interchange of figures, the ship and the sea being spoken of in terms of human life, and human life in terms of the ship and the sea.

The building of the ship follows the natural, business procedure. First, the order is given by the merchant (lines 1-4). Then the plans are drawn by the master of the ship-yard (lines 17-54). Then the lumber is brought into the yard (lines 55-69). Then the work of building is actually begun (line 70).

III. Study the style of the poem.

1. Diction. In a poem on ship-building, you will naturally find many technical terms. These need cause you no trouble if you look them up carefully in an unabridged dictionary; the pictures in the dictionary will help you to understand the explanations and definitions. Notice also the words in this poem chosen from the poetic vocabulary.

2. Figures. A large part of the beauty of this poem is in its figures, especially in its figures of comparison. Explain those in lines 10, 20-21, 72-77, 155, 166, 202, 206, 219, 232-245, 255; are they appropriate to this poem? The figure in lines 117-121 finds its reverse in lines 258-284, 350-365, and is

continued in lines 368-376. This is the comparison mentioned above as binding together the two thoughts of the poem, the ship being spoken of in terms of the bride (and vice versa) and the sea in terms of the bride-groom (and vice versa). This figure is particularly beautiful and effective in this poem, and should be thoroughly studied. The word pastor (line 300) suggests the metaphor of the next four lines, for the original meaning of pastor is "shepherd." The metaphor of lines 308-315 is appropriate in discussing a sailor's life; explain it fully. The wedding sermon of the good pastor (lines 317-339) is addressed to a sea-faring company, and he speaks to them, very wisely, in terms of the sea. Explain clearly his metaphors. Discuss also the use of apostrophe and personification in this poem.

3. The poem contains a number of literary allusions. The metaphor "wooden wall" applied to the ship (line 69) refers to a famous utterance of the Delphic oracle when Xerxes was invading Greece. Explain the allusion. The "Great Harry" (line 29) was a ship built in England under Henry VIII; Longfellow tells you its faults in construction. Argosy (line 73) recalls the expedition of Jason in quest of the Golden Fleece. "The Spanish Main" (line 151) recalls those romantic days when West Indian seas were infested by the Spanish pirates. Lines 157-162 take us to the shores of the Indian Ocean. Lines 213, 214, contain names from classic mythology. "The Fortunate Isles" (line 337) existed in the belief of seamen of other days as an abode of the blessed after death.

4. Not a great deal of narrative power is required for this poem, the action being the slightest possible. The description of the ship is of the sort sometimes called “dynamic,” i. e., the poet describes the ship by giving an account of its