The justice of these opinions should be tested by each student from his own experience.

A FABLE FOR CRITICS

36. ignified: melted.

40. An example of Lowell's puns, which are generally critcized as belonging to a low order of humor.

41. Parnassus: a mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and hence the domain of the arts in general.

49. inter nos: between us.

bl. ices. Isis was the Egyptian goddess of the arts and of agriculture.

60. bemummying: a word coined by Lowell to mean causing one to dry up like a mummy.

68.. Pythoness: woman with power of prophecy.

69. tripod: a bronze altar over which the Pythoness at Delphi uttered her oracles.

"Most of his judgments are, however, those of posterity though often, as in the case of Hawthorns, he was characterizing writers who had not done their best work." —CAIRNS.

92. scathe: injury.

93. rathe: early in the season.

96. John Bunyan Fouque is an extraordinary combination of names as of characteristics. Bunyan is known everywhere for his devotion to truth as he saw it; the oak in character. Friederich Heinrich Karl, Baron de Lamotte-Fouque, was a German soldier, but is better known as a romantic writer. His best-known work is "Undine," the anemone in daintiness of fancy and delicacy of expression.

A Puritan Tieck is another anomaly. From the early poems in this anthology the Puritan type is evident; Tieck was a German writer who revolted against the sternness of life and believed in beauty and romance.

110. In 1821 Scott published The Pilot, a novel of the sea, which was very popular. Cooper, however, thought he could improve upon it and so in 1823 he published "The Pilot," hoping to show his superiority.

112. The bay was used for a garland of honor to a poet.

124. Nathaniel Bumpo was "Leatherstocking," who gave his name to the series of Cooper s novels.

126. Long Tom Coffin was the hero in The Pilot.

130. derniere chemise. A pun upon the word "shift," which here means stratagem.

148. Parson Adams is one of the most delightful of all notion characters. Fielding pictures him in his novel Joseph Andrews in such a manner that you always sympathize with him even if you must laugh at his simplicity.

Dr. Primrose in Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield is a direct literary descendant of Parson Adams. He is one of the best-known characters in English fiction. To be classed with these two men is high praise for Natty Bumpo.

161. Barnaby Rudge, the hero of Dickens's novel of that name, kept a tame raven.

162. fudge: nonsense, rubbish.

180. Collins and Gray: English poets. William Collins, an English lyric poet (1721-1759) was a friend of Dr. Johnson. Thomas Gray (1716-1771) is best known by his "Elegy in a Country Churchyard."

182. Theocritus, a Greek poet of the third century B.C., was the founder of pastoral poetry. Since his idea was the original one, his judgment of his followers would be better than that of any one else.

190. Irving had been so long a resident in Europe that America almost despaired of reclaiming him. He did return, however, in 1832, after making himself an authority on Spanish affairs.

196. Cervantes: the author of Don Quixote, and the most famous of all Spanish authors. He died on the same day as Shakespeare, April 23, 1616.

200. Addison and Steele together wrote the Spectator Papers (1711-1712), which had a great influence on the English reading public. The Sir Roger de Coverley papers are the most widely read of these essays at the present time.

224. New Timon, published in 1846; a satire in which Tennyson among others was severely lampooned.

237. The comparison suggests Bunyan's journey with his bundle of sin.

252. no clipper and meter: no person who could cut short or measure the moods of the poet.

271. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice may be found in any Greek mythology.



OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809-1894)

[In 1830] most of our writers were sentimental; a few were profound; and the nation at large began to be deeply agitated over social reforms and political problems. The man who in such a period showed the possibilities of humor, and whose humor was invariably tempered by culture and flavored with kindness, did a service to our literature that can hardly be overestimated."

—WILLIAM J. LONG

Born at Cambridge, Mass., he was brought up under the sternest type of New England theology. He graduated from Harvard College in 1829 after writing much college verse. It was Lowell who stimulated him to his best work. He himself says, "Remembering some crude contributions of mine to an old magazine, it occurred to me that their title might serve for some fresh papers, and so I sat down and wrote off what came into my head under the title, 'The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.'" He practiced medicine in Boston and taught Anatomy and Physiology in Harvard until 1882. The latter years of his life were spent happily in Boston, where he died.

The poems by Holmes are used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of his works.

OLD IRONSIDES

The frigate Constitution was popularly known as "Old Ironsides" and this poem was written when the naval authorities proposed to break it up as unfit for service.

THE LAST LEAF

Holmes says this poem was suggested by the appearance in Boston of an old man said to be a Revolutionary soldier.

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS

14. irised: having colors like those in a rainbow.

14. crypt: secret recess.

CONTENTMENT

3. In 1857-1858, when this poem was written, the ideal of elegance in eastern cities of America was a "brown stone front" house. The possession of such a mansion indicated large wealth. In the light of this fact the humor of the verse is evident. The same principle is used throughout.

22. The position of Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of St. James— England—was considered the highest diplomatic position in the disposal of the United States. How would such a position compare with filling the governor's chair of any state?

35. marrowy: rich.

48. The paintings of Raphael and Titian are beyond purchase price now. Most of them belong to the great galleries of Europe. Turner is a modern painter whose work is greatly admired and held almost above price.

64. vellum: fine parchment made of the skin of calves and used for manuscripts. It turns cream-color with age.

59. Stradivarius: a violin made by Antonio Stradivari, who lived (1644- 1737) in Cremona, Italy. These instruments created a standard so that they are now the most highly prized violins in existence.

64. buhl: brass, white metal, or tortoise shell inlaid in patterns is the wood of furniture. So named from the French woodworker who perfected it.

THE DEACON'S MASTERPIECE

10. Georgius Secundus: King George II of England. He was the son of George I, who was elector of Hanover, as well as king of England.

20, felloe: a part of the rim of a wooden wheel in which the spokes are inserted.

92. encore: we can say the same thing about their strength.

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ (1822-1872)

Born in Pennsylvania, he was early apprenticed to a tailor. He drifted until at last he made his way to Italy, where he studied and painted for several years. Later he made Rome his permanent residence, and died there. He was known as a clever artist and sculptor, but his best work is the two poem; here quoted.

The poems by Read are used by special permission of J. B. Lippincott Company, the authorized publishers of the poems.

STORM ON ST. BERNARD

Storm on St. Bernard may be compared with Excelsior in general subject matter. Do they affect you in the same way? Are they alike in purpose? Which seems most real to you? Why is "Excelsior" the more familiar?

DRIFTING

Read was essentially an artist, and in this poem he expressed his artistic soul more truly than in anything else he ever did.

19. Ischia: an island in the bay of Naples.

22. Capri: an island in the Mediterranean, best known for the Blue Grotto.



WALT WHITMAN (1819-1891)

"Walt Whitman...the chanter of adhesiveness, of the love of man for man, may not be attractive to some of us... But Walt Whitman the tender nurse, the cheerer of hospitals, the saver of soldier lives, is much more than attractive he is inspiring." —W. P. TRENT.

Born on Long Island, he entered a printer's office when he was thirteen. By the time he was twenty, he was editing his own paper, but he soon gave it up for work on a New York newspaper. When he was thirty, he traveled through the west; in "Pioneers" we have a part of the result. During

the Civil War he gave himself up to nursing as long as his strength lasted. From 1873 to the time of his death he was a great invalid and poor, but every trial was nobly borne.

The selections from Walt Whitman are included by special permission of Mitchell Kennerley, the publisher of the complete authorized editions of Walt Whitman's Works.

PIONEERS! O PIONEERS

18. debouch: go out into.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

Written to express the grief of the nation over the death of Abraham Lincoln at the time when the joy over the saving of the union was most intense.

THE END