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EMMA LAZARUS: The South.

RYAN: The Cause of the South.

ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON: Moods of the Soul. MARY ASHLEY TOWNSEND: A Georgia Volunteer. HENRY W. GRADY: The New South.

EMERSON: Boston Hymn.

DAFFODILS

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

10 observe what things in nature appeal to one is not only interesting but oftentimes enables us to understand their thoughts that otherwise would remain obscure. Sometimes such a knowledge of others helps us to measure their achievements. To one author, things of might alone appeal. To another, the insignificant, the apparently commonplace and trivial, brings inspiration and joy that must be told. Few indeed are oblivious to the wealth of beauty in nature. Sometimes genius itself may separate itself from the rest of mankind. Then it is that nature must minister to his finer feelings and solitude become his recourse and refuge.

The scene of the following poem is in Gowbarrow Park, Ullswater, where the daffodils were blooming on April 15, 1802. Dorothy Wordsworth, the poet's sister and companion, wrote of their visit to this beautiful

scene:

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"I never saw daffodils so beautiful. among the grassy stones, about and above them; some rested their heads upon these stones, as on a pillow for weariness; and the rest tossed and reeled and danced, and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew directly over the lake to them."

With such a picture "flashing" upon his "inward eye," he wrote this delicate response of a sensitive heart thrilled with delight at sight of Nature in robes of exquisite beauty.

DAFFODILS

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vale and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

În such a jocund company:

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I gazed and gazed- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch. I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES

1. Explain "lonely as a cloud."

2. Why first call the sight a crowd and then a host?

3. In what sense does a flower dance?

4. Why repeat "gazed"?

5. What wealth was brought to the poet by this sight? 6. What is the "inward eye" mentioned?

DAFFODILS

7. What is the antecedent of "which" in the last stanza? 8. What mood or spirit prevails throughout the poem? 9. Does he mention a joy you could feel?

10. Would you like to experience it?

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11. Mention the most beautiful thing you have seen in nature. 12. Find all the things Wordsworth mentions which he has observed in nature. Now tell what things appealed to him.

REFERENCES

WORDSWORTH: To the Daisy (In youth from rock to rock). To the Same Flower. To the Daisy (Bright Flower!). The Daisy Sleeps. The Primrose on the Rock. Nay, Traveller, Rest.

ROBERT HERRICK: To Daffodils.

KEATS: Sweet Peas.

GRAY: Elegy.

LARCOM: Calling the Violets.

LOWELL: The Shepherd of King Admetus.
FRENEAU: The Wild Honeysuckle.

TENNYSON: Flower in a Crannied Wall.
LONGFELLOW: Flowers. Flower-de-Luce.
MAURICE THOMPSON: To a Wild Flower.

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THE DESTRUCTION OF

SENNACHERIB

GEORGE GORDON BYRON

O Sennacherib, son of Sargon, must be accorded first place among the immortal names of the Assyrian Empire. He was to Assyria the great leader, organizer, and builder that Nebuchadnezzar was to Babylon. During his reign (757-781 B. C.) Hezekiah was king of Judah and the losses to Judah due to the relentless Assyrian invasion are best told in the words of Sennacherib in one of his royal inscriptions. He says:

"I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from these places I captured and carried off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young, male and female, together with horses, camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape." Quoted in Myers'

Ancient History, pp. 64-65.

The story then tells how Hezekiah gave up the palace and treasures of the temple and was even on the point of surrendering the city. While messengers from Sennacherib were boastingly demanding unconditional surrender, Hezekiah received a promise from God, saying of the Assyrian leader, "I will put my hook in thy

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