THE KNIGHTS' CHORUS
From "Idylls of the King"
Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May; Blow trumpet, the long night hath roll'd away! Blow thro' the living world—Let the King reign.
Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur's realm? Flash brand and lance, fall battleaxe upon helm,5 Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.
Strike for the King and live! his knights have heard That God hath told the King a secret word. Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.
Blow trumpet! he will lift us from the dust!10 Blow trumpet! live the strength, and die the lust! Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.
Strike for the King and die! and if thou diest, The King is King, and ever wills the highest. Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the king reign.15
Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May! Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day! Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.
The King will follow Christ, and we the King In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing.20 Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.
—Alfred Tennyson
How do you describe this poem from the standpoint of; (1) the amount of energy, (2) excitement or nervous tension? With what Force and in what Pitch should it be read? (Introduction, pp. [22] and [25].)
Account for the Time in which it is read. (Introduction, p. [13].)
What is the purpose of the question in stanza ii? How is this purpose indicated by the Inflection? (Introduction, p. [19].)
THE NORTHERN STAR
A Tynemouth Ship
The Northern Star Sail'd over the bar Bound to the Baltic Sea; In the morning gray She stretched away:5 'Twas a weary day to me!
For many an hour In sleet and shower By the lighthouse rock I stray; And watch till dark10 For the wingéd bark Of him that is far away.
The castle's bound I wander round Amidst the grassy graves:15 But all I hear Is the north-wind drear, And all I see are the waves.
The Northern Star Is set afar!20 Set in the Baltic Sea: And the waves have spread The sandy bed That holds my Love from me.
—Unknown
Preparatory.—Tell the story of the poem, making as vivid as possible the scenes depicted. Compare Kingsley's Three Fishers, and Lucy Larcom's Hannah binding Shoes.
Compare this poem with The Knights' Chorus from the standpoint of the amount of energy. How is the difference between the two indicated vocally by the Force? (Introduction, p. [26].)
What is the difference in nervous tension between the last stanza and the preceding ones? What difference in Pitch? (Introduction, p. [23].)
Account for the Time in which it is read. (Introduction, p. [14].)
11. Wingéd, with sails
15. Tynemouth Castle used as a graveyard.
THE INDIGO BIRD
When I see, High on the tip-top twig of a tree, Something blue by the breezes stirred, But so far up that the blue is blurred, So far up no green leaf flies.5 Twixt its blue and the blue of the skies, Then I know, ere a note be heard, That is naught but the Indigo bird.
Blue on the branch and blue in the sky, And naught between but the breezes high,10 And naught so blue by the breezes stirred As the deep, deep blue of the Indigo bird.
When I hear A song like a bird laugh, blithe and clear, As though of some airy jest he had heard15 The last and the most delightful word, A laugh as fresh in the August haze As it was in the full-voiced April days, Then I know that my heart is stirred By the laugh-like song of the Indigo bird.20
Joy in the branch and joy in the sky, And naught between but the breezes high; And naught so glad on the breezes heard As the gay, gay note of the Indigo bird.
—Ethelwyn Wetherald (By permission)
Preparatory.—Suggest a picture which would serve as an illustration for this poem.
How does the Imaging affect the Pitch in the first two stanzas?
What feelings does the poem arouse? Where do these feelings reach a Climax? What is the effect on the Pitch?
What other Climax is found in the poem besides the Climax of feeling?
FAR, LAUGH, BRANCH, GLAD. (Appendix [A, 1.])
BREEZES STIRRED. (Appendix [A, 6.])
What is the Inflection on ll. 1-6 of stanza i and iii? (Introduction, p. [17].) How does the Pitch of these lines differ from that of ll. 7 and 8 of these stanzas? Account for the change. (Introduction, p. [23].)
What are the contrasting words in l. 6, stanza i?
Note the Grouping and Pause in ll. 3 and 4, stanza iii.
THE PASTURE FIELD
When spring has burned The ragged robe of winter, stitch by stitch, And deftly turned To moving melody the wayside ditch, The pale-green pasture field behind the bars5 Is goldened o'er with dandelion stars. When summer keeps Quick pace with sinewy white-shirted arms, And daily steeps In sunny splendour all her spreading farms,10 The pasture field is flooded foamy white With daisy faces looking at the light.
When autumn lays Her golden wealth upon the forest floor, And all the days15 Look backward at the days that went before, A pensive company, the asters, stand, Their blue eyes brightening the pasture land.
When winter lifts A sounding trumpet to his strenuous lips,20 And shapes the drifts To curves of transient loveliness, he slips Upon the pasture's ineffectual brown A swan-soft vestment delicate as down.
—Ethelwyn Wetherald (By permission)
Preparatory.—Select the phrases which call into play the Imaging process.
Describe four typical Canadian scenes suggested by this poem.
Distinguish the sound of a in PASTURE, RAGGED, BARS, etc. (Appendix [A, 1].)
What words express the central ideas in each stanza, and at the same time form a contrast with one another?
What Inflection is used in the first four lines of each stanza? (Introduction, p. [16].)
How does the Shading of these lines compare with that of the last two of each stanza? (Introduction, p. [33].)