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Hung the sword in the ball, the spear on the wall,

And plowed the willing lands;

And sang: "Hurrah for Tubal Cain!

Our stanch good friend is he;

And for the plowshare and the plow

To him our praise shall be.
But while oppression lifts its head,

Or a tyrant would be lord,

Though we may thank him for the plow,
We'll not forget the sword."

CHARLES MACKAY.

The Bible mentions Tubal Cain (Genesis iv. 22) as the first to work in metals. brawn'y, strong; lust, strong desire; car'nage, bloodshed; stanch, firm; op pres'sion, the laying of heavy burdens, cruelty; ty'rant, a cruel king or master.

1. Read the whole poem through. What do you like about it? 2. What is there about it that gives the impression of strength? 3. Which was the better worth doing his earlier work or his later? Why? 4. What colors are mentioned in the first stanza? Read those lines, omitting the color words, and see how much less clear a picture it makes. 5. What does "spoils of the forest free" mean? 6. Express the fourth line of the second stanza in your own words. 7. Why "willing lands" (last stanza)?

For each word in the first column find one in the second or third that means about the same. Arrange the words in pairs.

41

THE INCHCAPE ROCK

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion;
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The Abbot of Aberbrothok

5

Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

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When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous rock

And blessed the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

The sun in heaven was shining gay;

All things were joyful on that day;

The sea birds screamed as they wheeled round,
And there was joyance in their sound.

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200

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen,
A dark spot on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck
And fixed his eye on the darker speck.

He felt the cheering power of Spring;
It made him whistle, it made him sing:
His heart was mirthful to excess,

But the Rover's mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape float.
Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,

And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”

The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;

Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound;

The bubbles rose and burst around.

Quoth Sir Ralph, "The next who comes to the Rock
Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok."

Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away;

He scoured the sea for many a day;

And now grown rich with plundered store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.

So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high:
The wind hath blown a gale all day;
At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the Rover takes his stand;
So dark it is they see no land.

Quoth Sir Ralph, "It will be brighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising moon."

"Canst hear," said one, "the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore."
"Now where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell."

They hear no sound; the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock:
"O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!"

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair;

He curst himself in his despair:
The waves rush in on every side;
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

But, even in his dying fear,

One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell
The Devil below was ringing his knell.

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10

15

20

1. Read the whole poem through. What kind of a day do the first and second stanzas picture? 2. Read the lines that make you feel the quiet of the day. 3. What do the third and fourth stanzas tell about? 4. What was Sir Ralph? Substitute another word for Rover. 5. Why is scoured a better word than "sailed" (eleventh stanza)? 6. Contrast the day of his return with the day he cut the rope. 7. What was his punishment for this deed?

Sentence Study. Write very briefly, in one paragraph, the story of The Inchcape Rock. When you have finished, read your story through aloud and see if you have expressed only one idea in every sentence. Then exchange papers and see if you can find in your classmate's work any failure to recognize and properly mark off the sentences.

Letters. A well-written, correctly spelled, carefully punctuated letter is far more apt to win a position for an applicant than a carelessly worded and poorly spelled one.

1. Copy the letter given below. 2. Write a letter, applying for a position in some store in your town.

127 MAIN ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA. June 28, 1904.

MR. JOHN CLARK,

524 MARKET ST.

DEAR SIR,

I understand that you want an errand boy in your store.

I wish to work during my vacation and should be glad if you would try me. I am thirteen years old and large for my age.

Dr. Nichols, 315 Main St., knows me, and has said that I might refer you to him if you wish to make inquiries about me.

Very respectfully,

HERBERT DOUGLAS