Other men, who have travelled, have expressed themselves as Whittier has done in the stanzas we are studying. In a letter to his grandson, apropos of a disappointment about a trip to Europe, Lowell writes: "After all, the kind of world one carries about in one's self is the important thing, and the world outside takes all its grace, color, and value from that." See Lowell's An Invitation, Whittier's To and Our River, Emerson's Written in Naples, Holmes's After a Lecture on Wordsworth. Emerson's Journal (at Naples, 1834) says: “This moment, this vision, I might have had in my own closet in Boston." See also Carpenter's Whittier, 86. Line 89: Whittier enjoys the company of his books. Who are "the masters of the ancient lyre"? Bacon was the English philosopher and essayist of the early seventeenth century. Pascal was a French philosopher of the seventeenth century. Explain line 96. Some persons object that dead authors are not as satisfactory as living friends. Explain lines 99, 100. Herbs are simple food (see Proverbs 15:17); ambrosia is the food of the gods. "Laurelled shades" are the ghosts of those crowned with laurel because of their poetic gifts. Line 104: Whittier enjoys friends as well as books. Line 105: Stanza XIV refers to Emerson, whose nature was a strange combination of Yankee shrewdness and Oriental mysticism. As a philosopher, he would have been a fit companion of the old Greek Plato. Notice the contradiction. in "shrewd mystic." "Poor Richard's Almanac," compiled by Benjamin Franklin, is a book of practical commonsense, is shrewd. The Sufi was a monarch of a Persian dynasty; see Emerson's Saadi, a mystic poem. Emerson's Brahma (the Gentoo's, or Hindoo's, dream) is also a mystic poem. Manu was a Hindoo deified king, lawgiver, and philosopher. Fulton was the inventor of the steamboat. Eastern lands are famous for their metaphysical thought; the western world for practical invention and application. Line 113: This stanza refers to Bayard Taylor and his poems of travel. Prince Houssain, in The Arabian Nights, sat on a "wishing carpet," and was transported by magic whereever he wished to be. Phrygia is in Asia Minor; Nubia is in North Africa. Line 121: This stanza refers to Charles Sumner, interested, like Whittier, in the anti-slavery cause, and its champion in the Senate of the United States. He was attacked in 1856 by Preston Brooks on the floor of the Senate, and so badly injured that he was long an invalid. Aristides the Just was an Athenian general of the 5th century B. C. Find his story in your Greek History. What kind of statesman was Sumner? What reference here to his education and culture? Explain lines 122, 123, 124. Line 132: "Treasure" compare the figure with that in Snow-Bound, lines 423-427. "Conscious" compare Snow-Bound, line 199. Notice the return to the autumn landscape in lines 133 to 136. Explain "shadowy." Line 139: Whittier felt the keen winter air of New England bitterly. Explain line 140. Ceylon is a tropic island in the Indian Ocean. Line 148: The "Bear" is the constellation containing the Little Dipper, one of whose stars is the North Star. The "Cross" is the constellation that is related to the South Pole as the Bear is to the North. It is visible south of the Equator. Whittier thinks of the Cross as shining on tropic lands. The same contrast between the summer lands and cold climates is expressed in lines 149, 150, and 151–152. The "Line" is the Equator. Line 153: Explain the figures in this stanza. Memorize the stanza. What climate does it praise? Why? Line 162: Versailles was the magnificent home of French kings; Windsor is the palace of English monarchs. What does Whittier compare favorably with these splendid buildings? Why? Line 165: The simple village church. Line 166: Some of the finest cathedrals are of the Gothic style of architecture. Line 168: St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome. There is a beautiful Gothic cathedral at Milan. Line 169: "Equal" where the children are regarded as belonging to the same social class. Lines 171, 172: In countries where there is an established church, the schools teach its doctrines, as do the parochial schools established by certain sects in our country. Lines 173-176: He compares our Thanksgiving favorably with the Carnival, or Mardi Gras, that some countries celebrate just before Lent. That is a gay festival, when a great deal of license is permitted on the city streets. The revellers usually go masked. The "chains" are mental and religious. Whittier was earnestly grateful for our liberty of education and conscience. Show why the metaphor in line 174 is particularly good in connection with Thanksgiving customs. Line 179: Arcadia was a Greek state in the Peloponnesus, isolated from the rest of the country by surrounding mountains. The rustic, simple life of the Arcadians, far removed from the strifes and worldly anxieties of their neighbors, has given the name "Arcadian" the notion of pastoral simplicity and happiness. Line 181: New England has no canonized saints. Whittier prefers ordinary men and women, with characters of mingled strength and weakness. Line 185: What are some of the practical, social virtues he sees in the men and women about him? Were these social virtues valued and cherished by the saints and hermits of the Middle Ages? Line 188: Explain the metaphor. Line 190: Ex plain this, referring to Exodus 3:5. Doing one's duty puts one in touch with the divine. Line 191: There were no slaves in New England in 1856, when this poem was written. Line 194: Trumpets were used by heralds to announce guests; explain the metaphor. Line 196: See line 4. Lines 197ff. speak of winter pleasures in New England. Lines 201-204: Explain this reference to Nature. Line 208: Explain the figure. Lines 209-212: Whittier refers to his anti-slavery work. This poem was written in 1856, and the slaves were not freed till 1863. Line 218: Whittier had written many poems less artistic than this. Line 222: He had many enemies because of his anti-slavery work. Line 224: He was a good Quaker; while he hated the sin, he loved the sinner, and never felt personal enmity although he did sometimes feel a righteous indignation against the unjust. III. Study the poem carefully for melody and harmony. IV. Read the poem aloud. Express clearly Whittier's thought and his love for his home. CHAPTER XVI JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES Life, 2 Vol., by Horace Scudder; Boston, 1901. Life, by Ferris Greenslet; Boston, 1905. Life, by F. H. Underwood; Boston, 1893. Life, by E. E. Brown; Boston, 1887. James Russell Lowell and His Friends, by Edward Everett Hale; Boston, 1899. SUPPLEMENTARY READING The Beggar, The Fatherland, The Fountain, The Heritage, Longing, Without and Within, Sonnets 4, 6, 17, 24, 25; For an Autograph, Aladdin, The Parting of the Ways, Masaccio, In the Twilight, To a Pine Tree, Beaver Brook, Al Fresco, The Sower, Yussouf. An Indian Summer Reverie, Pictures from Appledore. Bibliolatres, Extreme Unction, Si Descendero in Infernum, The Cathedral. Poems of the War, Three Memorial Poems, Columbus. A Good Word for Winter. (Critical essays should be studied in connection with the authors they discuss.) See also Appendix I, titles 68 to 75 inclusive. THE SINGING LEAVES I. Read the poem for its story and general impression. II. Why is this poem called a ballad? The real folk ballads of our race have come down to us from the Middle Ages. Many modern poets also have written ballads, and |