“The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed.”
“The blue deep thou wingest.”
5. Personification. In this poem the poet personifies the lark, beginning with “Blithe spirit, bird thou never wert,” in the first stanza and closing with “Teach me half the gladness that thy brain must know,” in the last stanza.
6. Apostrophe. Most odes have in them something of the nature of an apostrophe. The Ode to a Skylark begins
“Hail to thee, blithe spirit!”
Further along in the lyric we find the line,
“Teach us, bird or sprite.”
Young children will not appreciate the ode as it deserves; accordingly it will be better to use simpler poems for the first lessons. The obvious figures may well be shown first, leaving the more finished and brilliant ones till the minds of the children become more mature. For instance, as the simile is the most obvious of figures and may be found in nearly every poem of any length, it is the best with which to begin. Notice what a number can be found in A Visit from Saint Nicholas (Volume II, page 202). Explain those that are used in the description of Saint Nicholas:
“And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.”