to the northern bank of the Penobscot. There was now no road further, the river being the only highway, and but half a dozen log-huts, confined to its banks, to be met with for thirty miles. On either hand, and beyond, was a wholly uninhabited wilderness stretching to Canada. The evergreen woods had a sweet and bracing fragrance; the air was a sort of diet-drink, and we walked on buoyantly in Indian file, stretching our legs. Occasionally there was a small opening on the bank, made for the purpose of log-rolling, where we got a sight of the river,always a rocky and rippling stream. The roar of the rapids, the note of a whistler-duck on the river, of the jay and chickadee around us, and of the pigeon-woodpecker in the openings, were the sounds that we heard. -Henry Thoreau. "In the Maine Woods." By permission of the publishers, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. EXERCISE. (i) Outline this description. (ii) Point out the various scenes of this description. (iii) Point out the passages uniting these by means of the traveller's point of view. Principles Style-Clearness-2. Ambiguous Words. -Many words have double meanings. Such words must be used only where they convey the meaning intended. 3. Ambiguous References.-The proper placing of modifying words is essential to clearness. They must stand near the words they modify (see p. 129). Pronouns must stand near and clearly refer to the nouns they represent. EXERCISE. Remove the ambiguity of the following: -(1) He wished for nothing more than a dictionary. (2) I cannot find one of my books. (3) We have discovered certain indications of the presence of Indians. (4) Common sense, Mr. Chairman, is what I want. (5) Brethren, we are met here for no earthly purpose. (6) The lad cannot leave his father, for if he leave him. he will die. (7) Out of knowledge comes wisdom; we should therefore pursue it diligently. (8) There was an inn in the neighboring village, which they reached at ten o'clock. (9) He promised his father never to sell his estate. (10) Old English poetry was very different from what it now is. (11) The officer told the soldier that it would be worse for him if he did not keep his post, no matter what happened to him. (12) Any dog, found without his master, who, on being asked his name, refuses to give it, will be shot. IV. Composition.-1. Describe (1) a wood or park familiar to you. (2) The Woods on the Farm. (3) A Walk Through the Avenue. (4) A Cedar Swamp. (5) Timber Limit. (6) An Orchard. (7) A Ride Through the Forest. (8) A Forest Clearing. (9) The Dismal Swamp. (10) The Sequoias of the Mariposa Grove. (11) The Woods on Fire. (12) The Marshes. (13) Burnt Lands. (14) A Potato Field. (15) A Vineyard. (16) An Apple Harvest. 2. Describe this scene: A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke, And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke, They saw the gleaming river seaward flow Stood sunset-flush'd: and, dew'd with showery drops, 3. Describe the scene in this picture. 4. Describe, using the traveller's point of view, any great river: (1) The Hudson (or the Charles, or Delaware, or Susquehanna, etc.). (2) A Trolley-ride or Drive by the Niagara River. (3) The St. Lawrence from an R. and O. Steamer. (4) A Canoe Trip from to CHAPTER V.-NATURE AND NATU RAL PHENOMENA.1 LESSON XLIX. I. Memorize:-FROM "THE TASK: THE WINTER EVENING." Now stir the fire and close the shutters fast,— -William Cowper. II. Theme:-WINTER LANDSCAPE. The wind has gently murmured through the blinds, or puffed with feathery softness against the windows, and occasionally sighed like a summer zephyr lifting the leaves along, the livelong night. But while the earth has slumbered all the air has been alive with 1 REFERENCES FOR READING. Suggestive readings will be found in the works of John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine, Locust and Wild Honey, Birds and Poets, Pepacton, Wake Robin; Henry Thoreau, Walden, Essays, etc.; Rudyard Kipling, Jungle Books, and Just So Stories; Ernest Ingersoll, Wild Neighbors, Country Cousins; Bradford Torrey, Birds in the Bush; C. C. Abbott, Ernest Thompson-Seton, Olive Thorne Miller, Mabel Osgood Wright, and others. feathery flakes descending, as if some northern Ceres reigned, showering her silver grain over all the fields. We sleep, and at length awake to the still reality of a winter morning. The snow lies warm as cotton or down upon the window-sill; the broadened sash and frosted panes admit a dim and private light, which enhances the snug cheer within. The stillness of the morning is impressive. The floor creaks under our feet as we move toward the window to look abroad through some clear space over the fields. We see the roofs stand under their snow burden. From the eaves and fences hang stalactites of snow, and in the yard stand stalag'mites covering some concealed core. The trees and shrubs rear white arms to the sky on every side; and where were walls and fences, we see fantastic forms stretching in frolic gambols across the dusky landscape, as if Nature had strewn her fresh designs over the fields by night as models for man's art. -Henry Thoreau. From "A Winter's Walk." By permission of the publishers, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. EXERCISE.-I. Draw up a formal outline of the preceding description. 2. This description impresses (i) the silence of the snow-fall and of the winter morning, (ii) the abundance, and (iii) varied forms of the snow. Write out in classes the expressions that convey one or other of these impressions. 3. Show that the point of view in this description is fixed, and that all details of the scene are brought forward from one fixed point. |