34. All hands ... sails. What change in Pitch and Force? (Introduction, pp. [22] and [26].)
40. What is the Shading? (Introduction, p. [33].)
Compare the mental state of the captain with that of the first mate. How is the difference indicated in the Pitch of their respective speeches? (Introduction, p. [22].)
Connect stanzas vii and viii with the last two lines of the poem. What background of thought is suggested? How is the rate of reading affected by the thoughts suggested? (Introduction, p. [14].)
THE EVENING WIND
Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thou That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day, Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow: Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, Riding all day the wild blue waves till now,5 Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray, And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee To the scorched land, thou wanderer of the sea!
Nor I alone;—a thousand bosoms round Inhale thee in the fulness of delight;10 And languid forms rise up, and pulses bound Livelier at coming of the wind of night; And, languishing to hear thy grateful sound, Lies the vast inland stretched beyond the sight. Go forth into the gathering shade; go forth,15 God's blessing breathed upon the fainting earth!
Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest, Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse The wide old wood from his majestic rest, Summoning from the innumerable boughs20 The strange deep harmonies that haunt his breast: Pleasant shall be thy way, where meekly bows The shutting flower and darkling waters pass, And where the o'ershadowing branches sweep the grass.
The faint old man shall lean his silver head25 To feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, And dry the moistened curls that overspread His temples, while his breathing grows more deep; And they who stand about the sick man's bed Shall joy to listen to thy distant sweep,30 And softly part his curtains to allow Thy visit, grateful to his burning brow.
Go,—but the circle of eternal change, Which is the life of nature, shall restore, With sounds and scents from all thy mighty range,35 Thee to thy birthplace of the deep once more; Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange, Shall tell the home-sick manner of the shore; And, listening to thy murmur, he shall dream He hears the rustling leaf and running stream.40
—William Cullen Bryant
Preparatory.—Describe fully the picture suggested by (a) the first three lines of stanza i, (b) the last four lines of stanza i, (c) stanza ii. Give to each a suitable title.
1, 2, and 6. (Appendix [A, 3], [4], and [8].)
1. THOU. What is the Inflection?