13 For, O my brother, so far away, From the Biographical Edition of the Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley, Copyright 1913. Used by special permission of the Publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Whom must we imagine to be writing this story? To stanza 5? What did Aunt Mary give them to eat? whom is he writing? How 4. Explain the words, "in our glad unrest." old are the brothers now? writing about? Tell what 7. In stanza 11 what three things do the waters do? 8. Tell whether you ever went on such a visit to your grandmother or an aunt like Old Aunt Mary, and, if So, what happened during your visit. he is writing by reading aloud the story. Try to see all the pictures of what the boys did just as if you were the brother who is writing, and read it to the class as if you were actually telling the story to them. 3. What do the boys do in stanza 1? In stanza 2? In stanza 3? In stanza 10. 4? What do they see in 9. What is the meaning of "Memory now is on her knees "? What caused the brother to write the letter? 5 11. What was the most im- 12. portant message in the brother's letter? What did Aunt Mary whisper as she was dying? James Whitcomb Riley, the beloved American poet, was born at Greenfield, Indiana, in 1853. As a boy he cared little for the study of books, but his mind absorbed nature and the life around him as a basis for the future poems that have made his name a household word in America. Mr. Riley wrote many volumes of poems. His poems are held in the memories of millions of Americans. He had a great love for children, and wrote many sweet poems about them and for them. He died at Indianapolis in 1916. Where is the heart that doth not keep, Within its inmost core, Some fond remembrance hidden deep, Of days that are no more? ELLEN C. HOWARTH When time who steals our years away The mem'ry of the past will stay And half our joys renew. THOMAS MOORE Oh, how cruelly sweet are the echoes that start ELIZA COOK WHEN THE COWS COME HOME AGNES E. MITCHELL If you have ever heard the "ko-kling, ko-klang, kokli lingle" of cowbells as "the cows are coming home," you surely enjoy this fine poem. Agnes E. Mitchell, who wrote this poem, tries to make words sound exactly like the sound of the cowbells as the cow coming home from the pasture at milking time. If you try, can tell from the sound of the bells when the cows stop by the of the path to get one more bite of tender grass. Now try to hear the cowbells. Read the first stanza sile and very slowly. Can you hear the cowbells? They are faint, for the cows are now in a little ravine or "dingle," and sound is shut out from us. Can you hear their "ko-kling, klang, koklinglelingle "? Now the cows come up on the hill, and the sound is cle The bells go,-"ko-kling, ko-klang, koklinglelingle." When you grow older, you will know how the sound of the bells brings back childhood days as told in the last four lines of first stanza. Now read each stanza in its turn silently and slowly, stop and shutting your eyes and trying to hear the bells and to whether they sound like the words. Can you see the cows hear the bells now? If not, you are not reading the story; you only seeing the print. 54 Can you see the color of the air as the poet describes it? Can you see the maples? The sinking sun? Watch the cows as they come on in stanza 4, and be sure to see what is described in each line. Read slowly. See each cow as she is named. among the lilies of the stream. Note how they step so lazily Think hard to find the meanings of the last four lines of each stanza. Can you hear the cows loo-oo, and moo-oo in stanza 5? Can you hear the whip-poor-will? Can you see the evening star above the poplars and the silent mill? Now you let down the bars and let the cows go into the barnyard, one by one, their hoofs clicking against the lowest bar. Can you hear them? But the last four lines of the last stanza mean also the letting down of other bars than those of the barnyard. Can we, when far away, let down Memory's bars, and let into our minds the memory of the cowbells, the coming home of the cows, and the dear old times? Are you not doing this as you bring back to memory, while you are reading this, the sound of cowbells that you have heard and the cows that you have seen coming home"? Study carefully the meanings of the following words before you read the poem : dingle: a small hidden ravine. chimings: the soft mellow sound of church bells ringing a simple tune. wordless psalm: the cowbells' joyous jingle likened to a song of praise without words. periwinkle : a small trailing plant with single blue or white the new moon. |