"I wooed the blue-eyed maid, Our vows were plighted. "Bright in her father's hall When of old Hildebrand I asked his daughter's hand, "While the brown ale he quaffed, The sea foam brightly, "She was a Prince's child, I but a Viking wild, And though she blushed and smiled I was discarded! Should not the dove so white Why did they leave that night "Scarce had I put to sea, Bearing the maid with me, Among the Norsemen ! Saw we old Hildebrand, With twenty horsemen. "Then launched they to the blast, Bent like a reed each mast, Yet we were gaining fast, "And as to catch the gale Death! was the helmsman's hail, Death without quarter! Midships with iron keel Struck we her ribs of steel; Down her black hulk did reel "As with his wings aslant, 1 Cape on northwest coast of Denmark. "Three weeks we westward bore, Stands looking seaward. "There lived we many years; Time dried the maiden's tears; She had forgot her fears, She was a mother; Death closed her mild blue eyes, Ne'er shall the sun arise On such another! "Still grew my bosom then, Still as a stagnant fen! Hateful to me were men, The sunlight hateful! In the vast forest here, Clad in my warlike gear, Fell I upon my spear, O, death was grateful! "Thus, seamed with many scars, Bursting these prison bars, Up to its native stars My soul ascended! There from the flowing bowl Deep drinks the warrior's soul, Skoal! to the Northland! skoal!" 1 1 In Scandinavia, the customary salutation in drinking a health. STUDY HINTS How many fine comparisons (i.e. similes) can you find in this poem? Has the poet made you feel the fierce, reckless character of the old Viking? Where does he show that he was capable of very tender feeling? What was his fate? Is this not a stirring ballad? Read it aloud and see if the swing of the verse adds to the effect. favorite stanzas, if not the entire poem. Memorize two SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS The Discoverer of the North Cape. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A Sea Song. Allan Cunningham. For the teacher to read to the class: Selections from Longfellow's The Building of the Ship. THE PINE-TREE SHILLINGS1 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was born in Salem, Massachusetts. He was from early childhood fond of solitude, and of brooding upon tales of witchcraft and legends of the colonial days. Possibly young people know best his A Wonder Book, Tanglewood Tales, and Twice-Told Tales. His greatest romances are The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, and The Marble Faun. Many consider Hawthorne America's greatest prose writer. The moral truth and beauty of his stories stamp him as a writer of lofty ideals. See also: Halleck's History of American Literature, pp. 204-221, 283. Julian Hawthorne's Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife. George Woodberry's Nathaniel Hawthorne. Bridge's Personal Recollections of Nathaniel Hawthorne. CAPTAIN JOHN HULL was the mintmaster of Massachusetts, and coined all the money that was made there. This was a new line of business: for, in the earlier days of the colony, the current coinage consisted of gold and silver money of England, Portugal, and Spain. These coins being scarce, the people were often forced to barter their commodities instead of selling them. For instance, if a man wanted to buy a coat, he perhaps exchanged a bearskin for it. If he wished for a barrel of molasses, he might purchase it with a pile of pine boards. Musket bullets were used instead of farthings. The Indians had a sort of money, called wampum, which was made of clamshells; and this strange sort of specie was likewise taken 1 From Grandfather's Chair (1841). Used by permission of, and by arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of Hawthorne's works. |