5 10 Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, Empire unsceptered! what foe shall assail thee, Lord of the Universe! shield us and guide us, Keep us, O keep us the MANY IN ONE! - OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. blaʼzoned, ornamented, made beautiful; il lu'mined, made bright; em'blems, signs-the flag is a sign of the nation, it stands for it; fir'ma ment, sky; con stel la'tion, group of stars; un scep'tered, without a scepter (the staff borne by a king), — that is, without a king; van, front; blight'ed, withered. 1. Read the poem through. What does the poet tell us about the flag in the first and second stanzas? 2. What heroes are meant (first line)? 3. What songs do you know that "blazon" the flag? Tell some story that you have read about the flag. 4. What is a constellation? What is meant by "the full constellation" in the second stanza? 5. What does "Empire unsceptered" mean? To what empire does it refer? Name an empire that is sceptered. 6. What is the "birthright of man"? 7. To whom does thou refer in the fourth stanza. 8. What is meant by shadow in the last stanza? By sun? 10. Why does the poet call our country the 66 many in one"? Pronouns. Select all pronouns in the following sentences: 1. Lord of the Universe! shield us and guide us! 2. Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee. 3. Up with our banner bright! 4. Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? 5. Amidst the storm they sang. 6. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. 7. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. 8 We should be as careful of our words as of our actions 9. The year is going; let him go. 10. Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just. 11. Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and low. 12. She loved each living thing. 13. They toil not, neither do they spin. 14. Here hath been dawning Another blue day: Think, wilt thou let it Slip useless away? Written Exercise. sentences. Make also a list of the nouns in these 74 THE BLUE AND THE GRAY By the flow of the inland river, Whence the fleets of iron have fled, Asleep are the ranks of the dead: Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the judgment day; Under the one, the Blue, Under the other, the Gray. 5 5 10 15 20 25 These in the robings of glory, In the dusk of eternity meet: Waiting the judgment day; Under the willow, the Gray. From the silence of sorrowful hours The desolate mourners go, Lovingly laden with flowers Alike for the friend and the foe: Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the judgment day; So with an equal splendor So, when the summer calleth, With an equal murmur falleth The cooling drip of the rain: Waiting the judgment day; Sadly, but not with upbraiding, In the storm of years that are fading 10 No braver battle was won: No more shall the war cry sever, Or the winding rivers be red; They banish our anger forever When they laurel the graves of our dead: Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the judgment day; Love and tears for the Blue, Tears and love for the Gray. -FRANCIS MILES FINCH. go'ry, bloody; des 'o late, lonely; im par'tial ly, equally, justly; up braid'ing, reproof; sev'er, divide. 1. Why is this poem called The Blue and the Gray? Which soldiers wore the blue? Which the gray? 2. What is meant by 15 20 the "fleets of iron" in the first stanza? by the "inland river"? 3. To which soldiers does these refer in the first line of the second stanza? Which soldiers suffered the "gloom of defeat"? 4. Why was the laurel over the blue and the willow over the gray? 5. Explain the first four lines of the fourth stanza. 6. What generous deed is meant in the sixth stanza? 7. What battle is meant in this stanza. 8. Explain the fourth line of the last stanza. 9. On what day do we decorate the graves of our soldiers? 10. What does the word sever mean? In what way did the war sever? What war was this? 10 75 A VISIT TO A REINDEER CAMP It is one of the first days of December. Our watches and a faint streak of light in the south tell us that it is near noon, but the sun is seen no more. It has set for good this year, and some six or seven weeks are to pass 5 before we shall see it again. In front of the sheriff's residence eight harnessed reindeer are waiting to take us to a reindeer camp about twenty miles off. Although always impatient, the splendid animals seem more so when on the point of traveling. The sleigh, or pulk as it is called, seems from its construction to be better adapted to water than land traveling. Cut a low boat in halves, take the stem part and close it behind with a perpendicular sheet of wood, and you have a pulk. It is about the length of a man, with15 out any covering whatever, and completely empty, the |