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No, Dan'l he just farmed it — licked along through thick and thin

Quittin' late and startin' early, meetin' trouble with a grin;

He did n't leave no millions, but again I wish to state That, in my opinion, Dan'l should be numbered with the great.

He never done no fightin' on the land nor on the sea;
He was n't no Napoleon, nor a Grant, nor yet a Lee;
No doubt this Pierpont Morgan could have skinned him
in a trade,

And as far as eddycation is concerned, why, I'm afraid

That Dan'l wasn't hardly what you'd call A number one, For he got his schoolin' mostly out beneath the shinin'

sun;

The papers never bothered over Dan'l Gregg's affairs, But a great man had departed when he clum the golden stairs.

He never wrote no poems, nor got up inventions, so The world would move on swifter than the good Lord made it go;

He could n't preach a sermon nor ekspound the law to you,

But he raised two boys, by golly, that were decent thru and thru.

He taught 'em to be honest, and he taught 'em to be true; He taught 'em to be manly, and that there's a lot to do. He raised his boys to honor him, and so I wish to state That, in my opinion, Dan'l should be numbered with the great.

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SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES

1. In what sense is Dan'l Gregg entitled to be called great? 2. How does his greatness differ from that of Grant, Lee, or

Napoleon?

3. Why was Dan'l Gregg "never heard of"?

THE GREATNESS OF "DAN'L GREGG" 105

4. What commendable things are mentioned that he did not do? 5. What was the important work he did do?

6. What were the qualities that made the boys "decent thru and thru"?

7. To what extent did the father possess these same qualities? 8. Explain the editorial statement in the Atlanta Georgian. 9. What seems to be the highest duty a father can render society and the state?

10. In what way can his boys assist him in doing that duty?

REFERENCES

RILEY: The Old Man and Jim.

HUNT: Abou Ben Adhem.

HAY: Little Breeches.

HOLLAND: Daniel Gray.

PERCY ADAMS HUTCHINSON: Methinks the Measure of a Man.

BURNS: A Man's a Man for a' That.

ROBERT NICOLL: The Hero.

ALBERT GORDON GREENE: Old Grimes.

JOHN WHITE CHADWICK: The Making of Men.

HARTE: John Burns of Gettysburg.

HAY: Jim Bludso.

LOWELL: The Heritage.

ALEXANDER POPE: The Quiet Life.

SIR WILLIAM JONES: What Constitutes a State?

HOME THEY BROUGHT HER

WARRIOR DEAD

ALFRED TENNYSON

HE pale, tearless face of a grief-stricken woman as

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she beholds her loved hero dead tells of unutterable agony and of burning tears trickling down within the soul. Her watchers see that relief must come, or grief will consume her being - the relief of tears. The poem sets forth delicately the three experiments which sought to reach the tender well-spring of the sufferer's tears. Generous praise of her hero by his comrades left her silent and motionless. The sight of his face heroic and beautiful in death did not move her. But the warm touch of his little child awakened the impulses of her mother-soul, and through a tempest of tears came relief in the high resolve, "Sweet my child, I live for thee."

HOME THEY BROUGHT HER WARRIOR DEAD

Home they brought her warrior dead;

She nor swoon'd nor utter'd cry;

All her maidens, watching, said,
"She must weep or she will die."

Then they praised him, soft and low,
Call'd him worthy to be loved,
Truest friend and noblest foe;
Yet she neither spoke nor moved.

Stole a maiden from her place,
Lightly to the warrior stept,
Took the face-cloth from the face;
Yet she neither moved nor wept.

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Like summer tempest came her tears
"Sweet my child, I live for thee."

SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES

1. Read the poem aloud slowly and notice the harmony of movement and sentiment.

2. What clear picture is given in the first stanza?

3. Why could she not weep nor utter cry?

4. What was first done to bring relief? With what result? 5. Why do you think the second attempt at relief failed? 6. Why should a "nurse of ninety years" have keener sympathy than the maiden or even the dead warrior's comrades?

7. How does the nurse seek to give relief? With what result? 8. What has proved the most effective force in reaching the fountain of her tears?

9. How do you account for such subtle power of a little child? 10. For what message do we most cherish the poem?

REFERENCES

Isaiah 11:6.

READ: The Brave at Home.

FINCH: The Blue and the Gray.

CUTLER: The Volunteer.

O'HARA: The Bivouac of the Dead.

LONGFELLOW: Killed at the Ford.

TENNYSON: Charge of the Light Brigade.
RILEY: Leonanie.

ELIZA COOK: Hang up his Harp.

INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP

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ROBERT BROWNING

HIS poem is founded on an incident in the siege of Ratisbon, an ancient city of Bavaria. Since the tenth century the famous city has endured no fewer than seventeen sieges, the last of which took place in 1809 when the great Emperor Napoleon stormed the citadel which was obstinately defended by the Austrians. Standing on a little mound a mile away, the fiery chief watched anxiously as if to read the outcome of the fierce conflict. Just as the thought of possible defeat flashed across his mind, he sees a rider dashing toward him through the thick battery smoke. The Emperor watches the swift-moving messenger shoot like an arrow across the open tract, until he dismounts, holds himself erect by his horse's mane, and with a smile of joy announces the victory won. The chief's eye flashed, but presently saddened as he looked on the heroic lad who at fearful cost had placed the eagle standard of his Emperor above the proud citadel. "You are wounded," said Napoleon, as he saw the tell-tale blood forcing its way between the compressed lips of the young hero. The boy's soldier-pride was touched to the quick, and he replied, "Nay, I'm killed, Sire," as he fell dead at the feet of his chief whose dauntless spirit he had caught.

In this incident, Browning makes us feel the intense glow of enthusiasm for a great leader an enthusiasm which flames into just such individual acts of heroism

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