GLOSSARY. Remoter; profane; plot; imperial; sordid. STUDY. In this address to the dead heroes what argument does the poet seem to be answering? Notice that his defense of heroes is in a line four times repeated. Of what value are those heroic deeds for those of us who are engaged in ordinary, everyday affairs? (Study the third stanza for an answer.) Discuss the meaning of line 23; and line 27. BOUNDING THE UNITED STATES Among the legends of our late Civil War there is a story of a dinner party, given by the Americans residing in Paris, at which were propounded sundry toasts, concerning not so much the past and present as the expected glories of the great American nation. In the general character of these toasts, geographical considerations were very prominent, and the principal fact which seemed to occupy the minds of the speakers was the unprecedented bigness of our country. 5 "Here's to the United States!" said the first 10 speaker,-"bounded on the north by British America, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean!" "But," said the second speaker, "this is far too limited a view of the subject, and, in assigning our 15 boundaries, we must look to the great and glorious future, which is prescribed for us by the manifest destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race. Here's to the United States!-bounded on the north by the North 20 Pole, on the south by the South Pole, on the east by the rising, and on the west by the setting, sun!" Emphatic applause greeted the aspiring prophecy. But here arose the third speaker, a very serious gentleman from the Far West. "If we are going,' said 25 this truly patriotic American, "to lessen the historic past and present, and take our manifest destiny into account, why restrict ourselves within the narrow limits assigned by our fellow-countryman who has just sat down? I give you the United States!30 bounded on the north by the Aurora Borealis, on the south by the precession of the equinoxes, on the east by the primeval chaos, and on the west by the Day of Judgment!" GLOSSARY. Propounded; sundry; unprecedented; prescribed; manifest destiny; Anglo-Saxon; precession of the Equinoxes; primeval chaos; Day of Judgment. STUDY. What was the general character of all the toasts proposed? Point out the steps in the climax reached by the third speaker. Is there any point to the joke of giving the last speech to "a very serious gentleman, from the Far West"? How do these toasts differ in nature from those on p. 46? ARMAGEDDON (A War Song of the Future) SIR EDWIN ARNOLD Marching down to Armageddon- Faint we by the weary road, Or fall we in the rout, Dirge or Pæan, Death or Triumph!— We are they who scorn the scorners— Love the lovers-hate None within the world's four corners All must share one fate; We are they whose common banner Save the Light which dyes it white The Hope that makes it shine. We are they whose bugle rings, That all the wars may cease; We are they will pay the Kings 10 16 20 We are they whose steadfast watchword "Each man for his Brother firstAnd Heaven, then, for each." We are they who will not falter- Till we make this Earth the altar We are they who will not take From palace, priest, or code, A meaner Law than "Brotherhood"- Marching down to Armageddon- God will tell us when our spirits And help Him, helping Man! Shall we even curse the madness, Let us slay in perfect pity Those that must not live; We are they whose unpaid legions, Never once were stayed: We are they whose torn battalions, Make our agonies a triumph,— Therefore, down to Armageddon- Cheer the glorious way we tread on Let the armies of the old Flags March in silent dread! Death and Life are one to us, Who fight for Quick and Dead! GLOSSARY. Armageddon; dirge; pæan; code; legions; quick. STUDY. Is this great battle of the future to be fought for the same motives that have often caused battles in the past? Point out the qualities that belong to this new army of fighters. Name the purposes that control them. (Keep in mind that you are a member of this army, and answer the above by quoting from your song, as the poet has written it for you.) Do you feel that it is a duty and an honor to have a part in this great fight? Explain the last four lines and see if you can find any connection between their meaning and that of "The Ballad of Heroes." THE SARDINIAN DRUMMER BOY EDMONDO DE AMICIS (Translated from the Italian by Sophie Jewett) 5 During the first day of the battle of Custozza, the twenty-fourth of July, 1848, some sixty soldiers of a regiment of infantry, sent to occupy a lonely house on a hill, found themselves suddenly attacked by two Austrian companies. The Austrians, storming them with shot from different directions, scarcely gave them time to take refuge in the house and to barricade the doors. Several dead and wounded were left in the fields. Then the doors were barred, our soldiers ran madly to the windows of the ground 10 floor and the floor above, and began to send a thick |