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Robert Browning (1812-1889), the author of stirring lyric matic poems, was born at Camberwell, a suburb of London. poet of great originality and force. He loved to write of the trials and growth of human souls. This song of the little silk weaver, Pippa, is a message which she unconsciously conveys to two sinful souls as she passes their house. See also:

Halleck's New English Literature, pp. 540-553, 585.
Chesterton's Robert Browning.

THE year's at the spring

And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven :

The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn:

God's in his Heaven

All's right with the world!

STUDY HINTS

After reading these lyrics twice aloud to yourself, study them so as to be able to read them more intelligently to some of your friends. If you read them well, see if your friends do not say that they would like to hear more as good. Memorize the stanzas that you like best.

When you read Stevenson's poem, remember that not only children but the grown Greeks and Romans personified the winds. Homer and Vergil tell how Ulysses and Æneas suffered from hostile winds. One of the greatest lyrics of the English poet, Shelley (1792–1822), begins: "O wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn's being."

The Evening Wind is one of the fine lyrics of the American poet Bryant (1794-1878). Stevenson's poem is the simplest of them all and perhaps the most widely read.

After the second reading of The Grass, tell in prose what the grass does, then reread the verse and notice how much more enjoyable it is. Is this poem as simple as The Wind? Is there any hint of humor in either poem?

What is the central idea in The Brook? Who sends the message? How does he make sure that it will not be forgotten? Will this poem increase our pleasure in listening to the music of an actual brook? Is this poem as simple as the two preceding ones?

In reading Wordsworth's Written in March, we should remember that the English spring comes early. After the two readings aloud, try to tell what Wordsworth saw and heard. Of all the things mentioned, which appeal to you most? Which of these poems is the easiest to understand?

Note that each line in Browning's Song from Pippa Passes is a complete sentence and that the verb in each line is "is" (abbreviated to 's). The existence of such beautiful things proves to the poet that God is in heaven and consequently that "All's right with the world." To Browning these lines were probably as self-evident and as simple as any in the preceding poems. Are they so to you? Which of these five poems do you prefer to-day, even if you change your mind when you feel differently?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS

Windy Nights (from A Child's Garden of Verse). Robert Louis Stevenson.

Who Robbed the Woods? Emily Dickinson.

The Wind in the Chimney. Bret Harte.
The Evening Wind. William Cullen Bryant.
The Wind of Spring. Madison Cawein.

For the teacher to read to the class:

Ode to the West Wind. Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The Voice of the Grass. Sarah Roberts Boyle.
A Song of Clover. Helen Hunt Jackson.

Before the Rain. Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

A Child said, What is the Grass? (from a Song of Myself, Section VI). Walt Whitman.

The Brook. Alfred Tennyson.

Clear and Cool (from Water Babies). Charles Kingsley.

The Fountain. James Russell Lowell.

The Waterfall. Frank Dempster Sherman.

Arethusa. Percy Bysshe Shelley.

March. William Cullen Bryant.

Spring. William Blake.

Spring. Celia Thaxter.

Spring Song. Bliss Carman.

How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix. Robert Browning.

Boot and Saddle. Robert Browning.

Muléykeh. Robert Browning.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Robert Browning.

HOW MR. RABBIT WAS TOO SHARP FOR

MR. FOX1

JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS

Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) was born in Georgia. He lived on a plantation and heard from early childhood the stories told by the negroes. Later in life, realizing that they were a part of the folklore that the negro brought from Africa, he collected these stories. The collection, of which the chief narrator is "Uncle Remus," holds a unique place in American literature, and possesses a perennial interest for old and young. See also:

Halleck's History of American Literature, pp. 320-323, 338, 340.

Introduction to Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, by Joel Chandler Harris.

[Brer Fox had made a Tar-Baby on purpose to excite Brer Rabbit's curiosity and trap him. Brer Rabbit had attacked Tar-Baby because he would not answer Brer Rabbit's questions. The result was he was stuck fast to Tar-Baby. The story opens at this point.]

"UNCLE REMUS," said the little boy one evening, when he had found the old man with little or nothing to do, "did the fox kill and eat the rabbit when he caught him with the Tar-Baby?"

"Law, honey, ain't I tell you 'bout dat?" replied the old darky, chuckling slyly. "I 'clar ter grashus I ought er tole you dat, but old man Nod wuz ridin' on my eyeleds 'twel a leetle mo'n I'd a dis'member'd my own name, en den on to dat, here come yo' mammy hollerin' atter you.

1 Copyright, 1880, 1908, by D. Appleton and Company. This selection and its illus trations are used in this volume by special arrangement with the publishers.

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"W'at I tell you w'en I fus begin? I tole you Brer Rabbit wuz a monstus soon' creetur; leas'ways dat's w'at I laid out fer ter tell you. Well, den, honey, don't you go en make no udder calkalashuns, kase in dem days Brer Rabbit en his fambly wuz at de head er de gang w'en enny racket wuz on han', en dar dey stayed. 'Fo you begins fer ter wipe yo' eyes 'bout Brer Rabbit, you wait en see whar'bouts Brer Rabbit gwineter fetch up at. But dat's needer yer ner dar. "W'en Brer Fox fine Brer Rabbit mixt up wid de TarBaby, he feel mighty good, en he roll on de groun' en laff.

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enn' er de row. You bin cuttin' up yo' capers en bouncin' 'roun in dis neighborhood ontwel2 you come ter b'leeve yo'se'f de boss er de whole gang. En den youer allers some'rs whar you got no bizness,' sez Brer Fox, sezee. 'Who ax you fer ter come en strike up a 'quaintance wid dish yer Tar-Baby? En who stuck you up dar whar you is? Nobody in de roun' worril. You des tuck en jam yo'se'f on dat TarBaby widout waitin' fer enny invite,' sez Brer Fox, sezee, en dar you is, en dar you'll stay twel I fixes up a bresh-pile and fires her up, kase I'm gwineter bobbycue 3 you dis day, sho,' sez Brer Fox, sezee.

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1 Quick-witted.

? I.e. until.

3 Barbecue, roast-whole.

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