Seek'st thou the plashy brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast- Lone wandering, but not lost. All day thy wings have fanned, And soon that toil shall end; Thou'rt gone! the abyss of heaven Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart. He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright. SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. Who is speaking in stanza 1? From what position? 2. How does the poet tell you the time of day? How could the heavens "glow with the last steps of day"? 3. Explain "rosy depths," "falling dew," " "solitary way." 4. Explain "painted on the crimson sky." 5. Where does he cause us to think of the many possible destinies of the fowl? 6. Explain "plashy brink," "marge," "rocking billows," "chafed ocean side." 7. What is "that pathless coast" mentioned in line 14? 8. Why is the bird "not lost"? 9. What does the poet think accounts for its not stooping to land? 10. What feeling is created by stanza 6? 11. Would "the abyss of heaven" have "swallowed up" its form had its course been less certain? 12. What lesson did the poet learn from this incident? REFERENCES BURNS: To a Mountain Daisy. EMERSON: Rhodora. SILL: Spring Twilight. DANA: The Little Beach Bird. THAXTER: The Sandpiper. SYMONDS: The Nightingale. HOGG: A Skylark. SHELLEY: Ode to the Skylark. STEVENSON: A Visit from the Sea. ALL THINGS WAIT UPON THEE Innocent eyes not ours Are made to look on flowers, The sweet rose on her thorn Opens her bosom to them all. The last and least of things That soar on quivering wings, Or crawl among the grass blades out of sight, Have just as clear a right To their appointed portion of delight As queens or kings. WHE A LAWYER'S WILL WHEN a man dies, many are interested in knowing just how he disposed of his property. His friends and relatives are anxious to know the contents of his will. Who are to become the owners of his money, lands, houses, or other property, is a matter of great concern. Realizing this fact, many wealthy men protect their heirs by making wills in which they bequeath their belongings to those who, as they think, should possess them. It is natural that a lawyer should be particularly careful in drawing up his will. Here is a lawyer, however, who caught a larger vision of life's true possessions. In his will he passes lightly the disposition of his interests "known in law and recognized in sheep-bound volumes as my property," and gives his entire attention to those things which he feels the race has a right to inherit. In this unique last will and testament, the maker has shown true wealth of soul, and a close sympathy with every phase of life. A LAWYER'S WILL I, CHARLES LOUNSBERRY, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and publish this, my last will and testament, in order, as justly as may be, to distribute my interest in the world among succeeding men. That part of my interest, which is known in law and recognized in the sheep-bound volumes as my property, being inconsiderable and of none account, I make no disposition of in this, my will. My right to live, being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but these things excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath. Item: I give to good fathers and mothers, in trust for their children, all good little words of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments, and I charge said parents to use them justly, but generously, as the needs of their children shall require. Item: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their childhood, all and every, the flowers of the fields, and the blossoms of the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the customs of children, warning them at the same time against thistles and thorns. And I devise to children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, and the odors of the willows that dip therein and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I leave to children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the night, and the moon, and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at but subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers. Item: I devise to boys, jointly, all the useful, idle fields and commons where ball may be played; all pleasant waters where one may swim; all snowclad hills where one may coast; and all streams and ponds where one may fish, or where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to have and to hold these same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof; the woods with their appurtenances, the squirrels and the birds and echoes and strange noises, and all distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures there found. And I give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night, with all the pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to enjoy without let or hindrance, and without any encumbrance of care. Item: To lovers, I devise their imaginary world with whatever they may need, as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall, the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet strains of music, and aught else they may desire to figure to each other the lastingness and beauty of their love. Item: To young men, jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous, inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude, I leave to them the power to make lasting friendships, and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively, I give all merry songs and brave choruses to sing with lusty voices. Item: And to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I leave memory, and I bequeath to them the volumes of the poems of Burns and Shakespeare and of other poems, if there be others, to the end that they may live the old days over again, freely and fully without title or diminution. Item: To our loved ones with snowy crowns, I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep. NOTES 1. Find from any lawyer the usual form of a will. 2. Find reasons why many wills are contested. 3. Find what becomes of real and personal property when one who owns such property dies without a will. 4. Be prepared to give meanings of the following words and expressions as here used: sound and disposing mind, testament, sheep-bound volumes, inconsiderable, in trust, quaint, endearments, inclusively, devise, Milky Way, appurtenances, without let or hindrance, encumbrance, undaunted confidence, lusty voices without title or diminution, snowy crowns. SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. What is the purpose of a last will and testament? 2. Why should a lawyer be particular about the disposition of his property? 3. What disposition does Charles Lounsberry make of his "property"? |