had, in 1283, conducted the war in South Wales; and after overthrowing the enemy near Llandulo Tawr had reënforced the King in the Northwest.' Hales. 28. Hoel, etc. Various unsuccessful attempts have been made to identify these bards. Perhaps it is sufficient to note that in most instances the names are Welsh. 55. Edward the Second, cruelly butchered in Berkley Castle.' Gray. This castle is near the Severn. 57. She-wolf of France, adulterous queen.' - Gray. Isabel of France, Edward the Second's Cf. Shakespeare's III Henry VI, I, iv. 60. Edward the Third, who successfully invaded France, but who afterwards died in 'Sorrow' and 'Solitude.' 67. ‘Edward, the Black Prince, died some time before his father.' - Gray. 71. 'Magnificence of Richard the Second's reign.' — Gray. 79. Richard II was believed to have been starved to death. 83. The wars between York and Lancaster. 6 87. Henry the Sixth, George, Duke of Clarence, Edward, the Fifth Richard, Duke of York, etc., believed to have been murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of this tower is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar.' - Gray. 89. Consort's faith. Margaret of Anjou was the wife of the Meek Usurper, Henry VI. She struggled hard to save her husband and his crown.' 6 93. The silver boar was the badge of Richard Third; whence he was usually known in his own time by the name of the Boar. — Gray. 99. half of thy heart. Eleanor, wife of Edward I, died suddenly in 1270, about five years after his conquest of Wales. 109-110. 'It was the common belief of the Welsh nation that King Arthur was still alive in Fairyland, and would return again to rule over Britain.' Gray. The Welsh regarded the prophecy as fulfilled by the accession of the Tudors to the throne of Britain. 115. form divine, Elizabeth. 128. buskin'd measures, Shakespeare's. 131. Milton. 133. The succession of poets after Milton's time.' - Gray. 137. What line from Lycidas is here recalled? Name some of the famous odes in English. What is the form of the Pindaric ode? See Johnson's Forms of English Poetry, Chapter IV. What are the advantages and what the disadvantages of the highly artificial stanza form of the ode? What is the effect of the varying length of the lines? What lines serve as a refrain? Are there any defective rhymes? What phrases show Gray as a close student of Milton? The poem met with a cold reception on account of its alleged obscurity. Is the charge just? WILLIAM COLLINS A Song from Shakespeare's Cymbeline. Cymbeline, IV, ii. This poem is based on Compare this with Shakespeare's Fear no more the Heat o' the Sun. What lines from the two poems express similar thoughts? Which poem shows the deeper feeling? What phrases from L'Allegro are here recalled? Have any of the words here employed now gone out of general poetic use? What is the effect of the peculiar metrical form employed? Would the poem have gained or lost had it been written in rhyme? Are the details well chosen to reflect the spirit of evening? Do they blend into a whole, or do they form a number of separate pictures? Point out the lines where the sound best reflects the sense. What echoes of Milton and of Gray do you note? Do any of the phrases seem artificial? Is the ending especially appropriate? OLIVER GOLDSMITH The Deserted Village. 1. Auburn. In writing this poem Goldsmith has undoubtedly drawn upon the experiences of his youth at Lissoy, Ireland. In the schoolmaster he has probably portrayed his old teacher, one Paddy Byrne. There is nothing, however, distinctly Irish about the village. 12. decent. Meaning? 28. smutted, by being induced to make signs on his face, while holding a saucer blackened on the under surface. This is an old English country trick. 122. vacant. Meaning? 141. Where else has Goldsmith portrayed the character of the village preacher? To what extent was Goldsmith indebted to Chaucer's picture of the poor parson? See The Prologue, 11. 225 ff. 181. With this compare the description of Sir Roger de Coverley at the close of the service. Which description is the kindlier? 193 ff. What different qualities in this description of the schoolmaster make it one of the best parts of the poem ? 209. tides. Meaning? 232. The twelve good rules. 1. Urge no healths; 2. Profane no divine ordinances; 3. Touch no state matters; 4. Reveal no secrets; 5. Pick no quarrels; 6. Make no comparisons; 7. Maintain no ill opinions; 8. Keep no bad company; 9. Encourage no vice; 10. Make no long meals; II. Repeat no grievances; 12. Lay no wagers.' 265. What do you think of Goldsmith's argument? Are such conditions as he describes the necessary outcome of manufacture and trade, with the consequent increase in wealth? 316. artist. Meaning? 344. Altama. The Altamaha in Georgia. Can you see any reason for Goldsmith's choosing this stream? 418. Torno's cliffs. There is a river Tornea flowing into the Gulf of Bothnia, and forming a part of the boundary between Sweden and Russia. There is also a Lake Tornea in the extreme northern part of Sweden. Pambamarca is said to be a mountain near Quito.'-— Rolfe. 427-430. These lines were added by Dr. Johnson. Do they make a good ending? What qualities combine to make Goldsmith easy reading? What are some of the most quotable couplets? What passages illustrate his ability to pass rapidly from one emotion to another? What lines show Goldsmith's keen observation of minute, but significant details? Discuss the statement made by Macaulay that the village is English in its prosperity and Irish in its adversity. What evidence exists in the poem that Goldsmith's knowledge of America was defective? Is the poem classic or romantic in the following respects: the meter; the diction; the attitude toward nature; the attitude toward society? Compare Goldsmith's attitude toward the poor with Gray's. Thackeray calls Goldsmith the best beloved of English writers. Why? When Lovely Woman stoops to Folly. Note the effect of the skillful combination of vowels and consonants, and of the alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes. What lines of the Deserted Village seem like an elaboration of the idea in this poem ? WILLIAM COWPER On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture out of Norfolk. Cowper's mother died in 1737, when he was six years old. Over fifty years, many of them clouded with insanity, had passed when Cowper wrote these lines. 1. Life has passed, etc. This passage gains much from what it suggests, but leaves unsaid. Can you point out other instances of repression? 88. Point out some other passages that seem trite or conventional. 108. Cowper was of gentle birth. Do you think the poem was carefully planned? Are any How does the poem, in its verse form, in diction, and in thought reflect the spirit of the age? What is meant by saying that Cowper is preeminently the poet of the middle classes? WILLIAM BLAKE To the Evening Star. What effective use of contrast is here introduced? What consonant sounds recur most frequently, and what is the effect? How does this poem differ in spirit from most of the work of the age? Mad Song. Express the thought of the poem in a single sentence. Line 7 is sometimes printed, And the rustling birds of morn Which is the better reading? What variations has Bláke employed in the metrical structure and rhyme scheme? What is the effect of these variations? Which should you call the most musical quatrain of the poem, and why? Songs of Innocence. Introduction. By what different means is the effect of simplicity here produced? This poem has been frequently set to music. Why does it make a good song? Does the touch of symbolism increase or lessen the beauty of the poem? What characteristics of the Elizabethan songs does this recall? ROBERT BURNS To a Mouse. 4. brattle, hurry. 6. pattle, stick for cleaning the plow. 15. daimen-icker, an occasional ear of corn; thrave is twenty-four sheaves. 17. lave, rest. 21. big, build. 24. snell, sharp. 34. But, without. 35. thole, bear. 36. cranreuch, hoarfrost. Is the poem the expression of genuine emotion? What lines are most often quoted? Is the poem well proportioned? How does the poem illustrate the breadth of Burns's sympathy? How does the personal note in the last stanza throw light upon the whole poem? The Cotter's Saturday Night. 1. friend, Robert Aiken. He was an accomplished reader, who, Burns declared, had 'read' the poet'into fame.' 10. sugh. Why did Burns use this word? What kind of word is it? 67. cracks. Meaning? Cf. ‘a crack player.' 72. lave, rest. 94. hallan, partition. 96. weel-hain'd kebbuck, fell, well-kept, tasty cheese. 99. A year old since flax was in bloom. 105. lyart haffets, gray hair upon the temples. 107. wales, chooses. 113. beets, feeds. What portions of the Bible are referred to in lines 118 ff.? 138. From Pope's Windsor Forest, II, 111-112. 143. society. Cf. Lycidas, I, 179. 158-159. Cf. Matt. vi. 28-29, and x. 29. 165. Cf. The Deserted Village, I, 53. 166. What is the source of the quotation? |