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At what season of the year did this event occur? What difference in emotion is expressed in stanzas 3 and 5? Find a picture of an antique vase in a history of Greece or Rome, or look at a piece of old Wedgwood pottery. You will then understand stanza 3 better. What makes the skipper seem so glum? Was he moved by his disgrace? Why? Who were the first to suggest that he be set free? Would you have set him free? Can you find any reason for the changes in the refrain?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS

Mabel Martin. John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Barefoot Boy. John Greenleaf Whittier.
Maud Muller. John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Inchcape Rock. Robert Southey.

The Wreck of the Hesperus. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alec Yeaton's Son. Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

Goody Blake and Harry Gill. William Wordsworth.

THE TWO MATCHES 1

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. From early boyhood he was so interested in learning to write that he carried two books in his pocket, one to read, the other for writing. This strong love for writing forced him to drop all other forms of work and to adopt the profession of letters. After seeking health in many places he settled in Samoa, where his talent won from the natives the name Tusitala, "teller of tales." The road to his home was constructed by the natives, who, to show their love for him, named it, "The Road of the Loving Heart." He died in Samoa and lies buried on the top of a mountain in the village of Apia. No one who reads his books, Treasure Island, for example, would think that the author had to struggle against illness every day for fourteen years. His writings are full of courage and joyousness. See also:

Halleck's New English Literature, pp. 516-523, 583.

Balfour's The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson.

ONE day there was a traveler in the woods in California, in the dry season, when the trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a long way, and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his horse to smoke a pipe. But when he felt in his pocket, he found but two matches. He struck the first, and it would not light.

"Here is a pretty state of things," said the traveler. "Dying for a smoke; only one match left; and that certain to miss fire! Was there ever a creature so unfortunate? And yet," thought the traveler, "suppose I light this match, and smoke my pipe, and shake out the dottle here in the grass

the grass might catch on fire, for it is dry like tinder; and while I snatch out the flames in front, they might evade

1 From Fables (1887).

and run behind me, and seize upon yon bush of poison oak; before I could reach it, that would have blazed up; over the bush I see a pine tree hung with moss; that too would fly in fire upon the instant to its topmost bough; and the flame of that long torch - how would the trade wind take and brandish that through the inflammable forest! I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration chase and outflank me through the hills; I see this pleasant forest burn for days, and the cattle roasted, and the springs dried up, and the farmer ruined, and his children cast upon the world. What a world hangs upon this moment!"

With that he struck the match, and it missed fire.

"Thank God," said the traveler, and put his pipe in his pocket.

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What is the situation at the opening of this story? Could a single match have started all the trouble that the traveler feared? What was certain to result if he did not try to strike the match? Was he too much exercised over the matter?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN ENGLISH
THEME SUBJECTS

The Two Matches is a fable. Look up "fable" in a dictionary and see if you can understand why this is one. Read one of Æsop's fables, and tell it to the class. Explain the difference between a fable and other short stories. Write a fable on a subject of your own selection, or on one of these:

No Cloud Without a Silver Lining.

All is Not Gold That Glisters.
Nothing Venture, Nothing Have.
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

H. & B. READINGS-8

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THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN 1

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the same year as Abraham Lincoln. He belonged to the group of writers known as the New England Group, which included Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Whittier, and Lowell. He wrote novels, essays, and poems, all of which show a delightful vein of humor. In his poetry the humor is particularly rollicking, as is plainly shown in the selection given below. See also:

Halleck's History of American Literature, pp. 258-265, 284.
Morse's Life and Letters of Oliver Wendell Holmes.

It was a tall young oysterman lived by the riverside,
His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide;
The daughter of a fisherman, that was so straight and slim,
Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him.

It was the pensive oysterman that saw a lovely maid,
Upon a moonlight evening, a-sitting in the shade;

He saw her wave a handkerchief, as much as if to say,
"I'm wide awake, young oysterman, and all the folks away.

Then up rose the oysterman, and to himself said he,

"I guess I'll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should

see;

I read it in the story book, that, for to kiss his dear,
Leander swam the Hellespont 2- and I will swim this here."

1 This poem is used by permission of, and by arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of Holmes's works.

2 Leander loved Hero, and visited her every night by swimming across the Hellespont. He was drowned in a storm, and Hero, in her grief, flung herself into the water.

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