TREATMENT
The teacher should read the poem aloud, to awaken respect for the deep humility, complete open-mindedness, and growing faith of the poet.
What may this poem be called? A prayer for guidance.
Stanza I
What are the poet's feelings? He feels very much depressed in spirit, as a traveller would who was far from home and alone in the gathering darkness.
Whom does he address as "Kindly Light"? Why does he use the term "Light"? He may remember that our Saviour called Himself "the Light of the world", and it is as his "Light" or Guide that the traveller feels his need of Him. He may be thinking of the Pillar of Fire and the Pillar of Cloud.
What image is suggested by the words "Lead, kindly Light"? It suggests something that has life (moves on before), and sheds a beneficent light on the travellers' path.
What is meant by the "gloom"? It means the condition of his mind. He is seeking Truth and feels that he cannot rely on reason alone to guide him.
What do the last two lines show about him? They show that he is humble and is content to be guided through the darkness "one step" at a time.
Stanza II
What more do we learn about his life in the second stanza? In what language is his former "pride" contrasted with his present humility? What is the meaning of "garish"? What part of his life is called "the garish day"? Why is it so called?
Note.—"Garish" means dazzling, and by "garish day" is meant the earlier care-free years when life seemed all brightness and the author felt perfectly certain of his ability to take care of himself.
What at times disturbed his life, even in those "past years"? What made him hide these fears? What is meant by saying "Pride ruled my will"? What now is his prayer concerning these years? Why does he want them put out of remembrance?
What is the relation of the second stanza to the first one? It contrasts the author's earlier attitude of mind toward God with what it is in later years, thus emphasizing the great change that has taken place in his life.
Compare the dependence depicted in the first stanza with the strength described in the second. In which case is the man really the stronger? Account for the fact that when he was strong, but not in his own strength, he really felt his weakness more than when he was weak.
Note.—The higher his ideal, the smaller he sees himself; and the lower his ideal, the larger he sees himself. Observe also how the prayer to be led "on" reveals the man's progressive spirit. The unprogressive man would pray simply for safety and protection.
Stanza III
What lesson does the poet learn from the "past years"? What confidence does this lesson give him for the future? What phases of experiences of life are suggested by "moor", "fen", "crag", and "torrent"?
Note.—To answer this, there should be an effort to image a moor, a fen, a crag, or a torrent clearly. Then when the pupil sees the desolate, lonesome moor; the miry, almost impassable fen; the sharp, out-jutting crag which makes the ascent more forbidding and difficult; and the rushing, unbridged torrent which must be forded or breasted, even though it threatens destruction; it should be easy to relate these to the experiences in life which they typify, or represent.
How long does the poet believe this guidance will last? In what words does he say that it will last as long as it will be needed? What does he mean by "the night"? Beyond "the night", what vision does he see? Whose are "those angel faces"?
What is the relation of the third stanza to the second? It shows how the author's confidence in the Divine guidance to be granted him during future years is strengthened by the lessons learned in former years.
The teacher should again read the poem aloud. This will impress upon the pupils, not only the truth and beauty of the poem, but also furnish an ideal to stimulate them in their preparation for the reading lesson which is to follow.