Page images
PDF
EPUB

II. Unaccented a verging to short e.

In words like the following, -age and -ate = ej and et.

dăm ́age lug'gage

till'age
vil lage

sĕn'ate ǎg'ate

af fee'tion ate il lit'er ate

III. Short a unaccented.

In the first syllable of words like the following, a has the sound of short a, or a as in ask, verging to short u, sometimes called ob

[blocks in formation]

IV. Sound of a verging to short u.

In words like the following, the sound of short u, as in up, is slightly observed.

[blocks in formation]

V.

Words having e and o silent before h and 1.

There is a large class of words like the following, that have e or o silent before n or 1, as: heaven

[blocks in formation]

=

heavn, reckon

= reckn.

[blocks in formation]

Require each pupil to bring into the class a list of ten additional words.

VI. Sound of unaccented u.

In words of two syllables, the suffix -ure is sounded like -yer, or yoor, as: creat'ure

ereat'ure eŭlt'ure

=

creat'yer, or creatʼyoor.

verd ́ure
pást'ure

feature

measure

struet'ure

pleas ́ure

[graphic][merged small]

1. John Milton was born in London in 1608, and died in 1674. His father gave him a special preparation for a literary career. After graduating at the University of Cambridge, he took up his residence in his father's country seat, where he lived five years, devoting his time most assiduously to classical literature, making the well-known remark, that he "cared not how late he came into life, only that he came fit."

2. At this time he wrote "Il Penseroso," and "L'Allegro." At the age of twenty-one he wrote his grand poem, "Christ's Nativity."

3. After the restoration of Charles the Second, he led a secluded life, occupied in the composition of

"Paradise Lost," believing that he might "leave something so written to after-times as they should not willingly let it die." The first edition was sold by him for five pounds.

4. The subject of this poem is so grand and awful,—the action moving among celestial and infernal personages and scenes, that the mind is fatigued with the effort to accompany the poet in his sublime flights; and it is only a reader familiar with classical and biblical literature that can fully appreciate the poet's allusions.

5. Yet every one perhaps can feel the grandeur of his comparisons and the beauty of such passages as "The Morning Hymn," "Evening in Paradise," and "Eve's Lament on Leaving Paradise."

39. INVOCATION OF MIRTH [L’ALLEGRO].

This poem should be read with joyous animation and quick, lively movement.

Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles,
Nods, and becks, and wreathéd smiles,
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport, that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it as ye go

On the light fantastic toe;

And in thy right hand lead with thee,
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty;
And, if I give thee honor due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew,

To live with her, and live with thee,

In unreprovéd pleasures free;
To hear the lark begin his flight,
And, singing, startle the dull Night
From his watch-tower in the skies,
Till the dappled dawn doth rise;
Then to come, in spite of sorrow,
And at my window bid good-morrow,
Through the sweet-brier, or the vine,
Or the twisted eglantine,

While the plowman near at hand
Whistles o'er the furrowed land,
And the milkmaid singeth blithe,
And the mower whets his scythe,
And every shepherd tells his tale,
Under the hawthorn in the dale.

Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures,

While the landscape round it measures

Russet lawns and fallows gray,

Where the nibbling flocks do stray,

Meadows trim with daisies pied,
Shallow brooks and rivers wide.
Sometimes with secure delight
The upland hamlets will invite,
When the merry bells ring round,
And the jocund rebecs sound

To many a youth and many a maid,
Dancing in the checkered shade;

And young and old come forth to play
On a sunshine holiday,

Till the livelong daylight fail.

JOHN MILTON.

He'be, the goddess of youth.

DEFINITIONS.

"tells his tale," counts his flock. re'bec, a peculiar kind of violin.

quip, a smart, sarcastic turn.

DEFINING REVIEW. Let the pupils choose sides. Dictate words from all previous defining and dictionary lessons in Part II.

40. MORNING HYMN.

Mark this extract for rhetorical pauses.

These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty! Thine this universal fràme,

Thus wondrous fàir; thyself how wondrous then,
Unspeakable! who sitt'st above these heavens,
To us invisible, or dimly seen

In these thy lowest works; yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thoùght, and power divine.
Speak, ye who best can tell, ye sons of light,
Angels; for ye behold him, and with songs
And choral symphonies, day without night,
Circle his throne rejoicing; ye in Heaven,
On earth, join all ye creatures to extol

Him first, him lást, him midst, and without end.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,

If better thou belong not to the dawn,

Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling mórn
With thy bright círclet, praise him in thy sphére,
While day arises, that sweet hour of prìme.
Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
Acknowledge him thy greater, sound his praise
In thy etérnal course, both when thou clímb'st,
And when high nóon hast gained, and when thou fàll'st.
Moon, that now meet'st the orient sún, now fli'st,
With the fixed stàrs, fixed in their orb that flies;
And ye five other wand'ring fires, that move
In mystic dánce, not without sóng, resound
His praise, who out of darkness called up light.
Air, and ye èlements, the eldest birth

Of nature's wòmb, that in quaternion run
Perpetual circle, múltiform, and mix,

And nourish all things, let your ceaseless change
Vary to our great Máker still new pràise.

« PreviousContinue »