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ON A BICYCLE (Page 1)

Kate Douglas Wiggin once wrote about this poem:

"Beeching's bicycling song shows us that the sport of the moment need not of necessity be too commonplace to be wrought into verse. At first thought the amusements of these latter days are so swift and breathless, so complicated with steam, electricity, and other great forces of the new era, that they seem less poetic than the picturesque frolics of milkmaids, the games of the old Greeks, or the gay sports of the days of chivalry. But after all, as Lowell said, 'there is as much poetry in the iron horses that eat fire as in those of Diomed that fed on men. If you cut an apple across, you may trace in it the lines of the blossom that the bee hummed around in May; and so the soul of poetry survives in things prosaic.

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1. What picture of enjoyment does the poem bring to the mind? 2. Give another word for "vale."

3. Explain the last two lines.

4. Give other examples of what Kate Douglas Wiggin and Lowell mean by the poetry in common things?

GOING A-NUTTING (Page 2)

What "clear October morning" pictures does the poem paint for us?

SKATING (Page 3)

Notice that the author adopts a rhythm for his poem which suggests the long smooth glide of a skater.

jocund rout, jolly company

Explain: the stars are forth, our steel-bound feet, 'neath the lamps of the festal halls.

Comparison of the poems of sport and action:

Decide which of the four poems you prefer.

Then select good readers to read them aloud to you several times.
Do you then change your opinion? If so, why? If not, why?

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BLACK BEAUTY (Page 4)

The book called Black Beauty, from which this story is taken, was written many years ago by an English woman who loved horses and felt that they were often badly used. It has been widely read, and each reader becomes one of Black Beauty's friends before reaching the last of his adventures. The purpose of the book was to make people thoughtful and kind to horses, at that time more commonly used than now.

won the cup at the races. What type of horse must he have been? pales, a paling, a picket fence

1. What reason did the master give for refusing to sell Black Beauty until he was four years old?

2. Give other instances of the master's kindness and intelligence. 3. Describe Black Beauty's "breaking in." What was the worst part of the "breaking in"?

4. Name and describe some parts of Black Beauty's harness.

5. Why did the master drive him in double harness with his mother? 6. Does any of the advice which Black Beauty received from his mother (page 5 and page 11) apply to ourselves?

7. If possible read the entire book, Black Beauty, and discuss it. 8. Name or tell other famous animal stories. and Mew-Mew, Rab and his Friends Raggylug.)

(For instance So-Fat

THE WHITE SEAL (Page 12)

A story from Rudyard Kipling's First Jungle Book.
Notice the rocking rhythm of the Seal Lullaby on page 29.

Learn to pronounce:

Novastoshnah, nõ vás tŏsh' nà

Matkah, mȧt' kå

holluschickie, hol' us chick' Ĭ

Kotick, kō' tik

Lukannon, lũ kăn ăn

Kerick Booterin, kĕr' ik bōo' ter în

Patalamon, pă tăl' à mon

Aleut, å lōōt'

Zaharrof, zả hår' of

comber, a long curling wave

fathom, the space to which a man can extend his arms, 6 feet Island of Juan Fernandez (hwän fer nän' dath), west of South America danced the Fire Dance (page 16). What caused the streaks of light in the water?

rounded the Horn, a sailor's expression for "going around Cape Horn"

THE BAREFOOT BOY (Page 30)

This is one of the best-known and best-loved poems in our language. It gives a gay and vigorous picture of the Quaker poet's own boyhood. In it he describes the happiness of a country boy. At the close he expresses the wish that other boys may know and appreciate the joys of childhood, in these words:

"Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy

Ere it passes, barefoot boy!"

architectural plans of gray hornet artisans, referring to the wonderful way in which a hornet's nest is built. An "architect" is one who plans buildings An "artisan" is a skilled workman.

eschewing, avoiding

part and parcel of her joy, bound up with it

apples of Hesperides. According to Greek mythology, the Hesperides were three nymphs who guarded the golden apples belonging to Hera (Juno), wife of Zeus (Jupiter). To get some of these apples was one of the twelve tasks given to Hercules.

my horizon, all that he is able to see and understand

stubble-speared the new-mown sward. The new-mown fields were rough to his feet

Quick

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sands of sin. Quicksand is a kind of wet sand that catches and holds the feet of one who steps into it, until he sinks deeper and deeper and is lost.

Words and phrases for dictionary study: habitude of the tenants of the wood, regal, pied frog's orchestra, pomp, treacherous.

1. Why is June "boyhood's time"? 2. Explain what is meant by:

(1) "Nature answers all he asks;

Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks."

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3. Why does Whitter (in the first stanza) call the boy a prince and the grown man a republican?

4. Read the eight lines on page 33 which describe the outdoor dining room of which he was "monarch."

5. What fly lights "his lamp of fire" there?

6. What does the poet call shoes? (last stanza)

7. What does he hope will never happen to the bare feet? (last part of last stanza)

8. Give lines which show his acquaintance with nature.

9. What "knowledge never learned of schools" have you gained from your own outdoor life?

THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM (Page 34)

An old fable by Jane Taylor is here dramatized. In the spirited argument carried on by the parts of the clock, one of the great lessons of life is taught.

1. Give synonyms (one word which means the same thing) for: countenance, motionless, vastly, beseech, disgust, inquire, fatigue, hesitation, astonished, argument, exertion, execute.

2. What argument presented by the Dial convinced the Pendulum that he should go to work once more?

3. If the Dial and the Pendulum were people, what kind of people would they be?

4. What is the lesson taught by the fable?

CHIVALRY THROUGH THE AGES (Page 38)

Reread with this, and in the following order:

"King Arthur and the Round Table” — Kendall Fifth Reader, page 184

"Alfred the Great, the Good Saxon King," - Kendall Fifth Reader, page 113

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"A King's Lesson Kendall Fifth Reader, page 269

"The Landing of the Pilgrims " — Kendall Fifth Reader, page 280

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