It is unfortunately true that the terms education and culture are not synonymous. Too often we find that the children in our public schools, while possessed of the one, are signally lacking in the other. This is a state of things that cannot be remedied by teaching mere facts. The Greeks, many years ago, found the true method of imparting the latter grace and we shall probably not be able to discover a better one to-day. Their youths learned Homer and the other great poets as a part of their daily tasks, and by thus constantly dwelling upon and storing in their minds the noblest and most beautifully expressed thought in their literature, their own mental life became at once refined and strong.

The basis of all culture lies in a pure and elevated moral nature, and so noted an authority as President Eliot, of Harvard University, has said that the short memory gems which he learned as a boy in school, have done him more good in the hour of temptation than all the sermons he ever heard preached. A fine thought or beautiful image, once stored in the mind, even if at first it is received indifferently and with little understanding, is bound to recur again and again, and its companionship will have a sure, if unconscious, influence. The mind that has been filled in youth with many such thoughts and images will surely bear fruit in fine and gracious actions.

To the teachers who are persuaded of this truth, the present collection of poems has much to recommend it. The selections have been chosen both for their moral influence and for their permanent value as literature. They have been carefully graded to suit the needs of every class from the primary to the high school. Either the whole poem or a sufficiently long quotation has been inserted to give the child a complete mental picture.

The teacher will thus escape the difficulty of choosing among a too great abundance of riches, or the still greater one of finding for herself, with few resources, what serves her purpose. This volume has a further advantage over other books of selections. It is so moderate in price that it will be possible to place it in the hands of the children themselves.

The compilers desire to thank Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Charles Scribner’s Sons, Bowen, Merrill & Co., Whittaker & Ray Co., and Doubleday & McClure Co., for their kindness in permitting the use of copyrighted material.

S. D. WATERMAN.

CONTENTS.

[FIRST GRADE.]
[The Baby ] George Macdonald [7]
[The Little Plant ] Anon. [8]
[Sleep, Baby, Sleep ] E. Prentiss [9]
[One, Two, Three ] Margaret Johnson [9]
[Three Little Bugs in a Basket ] Alice Cary [10]
[Whenever a Little Child is Born ] Agnes L. Carter [11]
[Sweet and Low ] Alfred Tennyson [12]
[The Ferry for Shadowtown ] Anon. [13]
[My Shadow ] R. L. Stevenson [14]
[Quite Like a Stocking ] Anon. [15]
[The Owl and the Pussy-Cat ] Edward Lear [16]
[Forget-me-not ] Anon. [17]
[Who Stole the Bird’s Nest? ] Anon. [18]
[Two Little Hands ] Anon. [20]
[The Dandelion ] Anon. [21]
[A Million Little Diamonds ] M. Butts [21]
[Daisy Nurses ] Anon. [22]
[At Little Virgil’s Window ] Edwin Markham [23]
[Dandelions ] Anon. [23]
[Memory Gems ] Selected [24]
[SECOND GRADE.]
[Seven Times One ] Jean Ingelow [25]
[Christmas Eve ] Anon. [26]
[Morning Song ] Alfred Tennyson [27]
[Suppose, My Little Lady ] Phœbe Cary [28]
[The Day’s Eye ] Anon. [29]
[The Night Wind ] Eugene Field [30]
[The Blue-bird’s Song ] Anon. [31]
[Suppose ] Anon. [32]
[Autumn Leaves ] Anon. [33]
[If I Were a Sunbeam ] Lucy Larcom [34]
[Meadow Talk ] Caroline Leslie [35]
[The Old Love ] Charles Kingsley [36]
[Bed in Summer ] R. L. Stevenson [36]
[Three Companions ] Dinah M. Craik [37]
[The Wind ] R. L. Stevenson [38]
[The Minuet ] Mary Mapes Dodge [39]
[Wynken, Blynken and Nod ] Eugene Field [40]
[Pretty Is That Pretty Does ] Alice Cary [42]
[Lullaby ] J. G. Holland [43]
[THIRD GRADE.]
[Discontent ] Sarah O. Jewett [45]
[Our Flag ] Anon. [46]
[Song from “Pippa Passes” ] Robert Browning [47]
[Little Brown Hands ] M. H. Krout [48]
[Winter and Summer ] Anon. [49]
[The Brook ] Alfred Tennyson [50]
[The Wonderful World ] W. B. Rands [52]
[Don’t Give Up ] Phœbe Cary [53]
[We Are Seven ] Wordsworth [54]
[The Land of Counterpane ] R. L. Stevenson [57]
[The Brown Thrush ] Lucy Larcom [58]
[The Silver Boat ] Anon. [59]
[The Dandelion ] Anon. [60]
[Afternoon in February ] Longfellow [61]
[Nikolina ] Celia Thaxter [62]
[Lost ] Celia Thaxter [63]
[Robin or I? ] Sarah E. Sprague [65]
[FOURTH GRADE.]
[Psalm XXIII ] Bible [67]
[The Mountain and the Squirrel ] Ralph W. Emerson [68]
[Abou Ben Adhem ] Leigh Hunt [69]
[Bugle Song ] Alfred Tennyson [70]
[Little Boy Blue ] Eugene Field [71]
[Pittypat and Tippytoe ] Eugene Field [72]
[Red Riding Hood ] Whittier [75]
[The Sandpiper and I ] Celia Thaxter [77]
[In School Days ] Whittier [78]
[Take Care ] Alice Cary [80]
[A Life Lesson ] James W. Riley [82]
[FIFTH GRADE.]
[The Village Blacksmith ] Longfellow [83]
[Love of Country ] Scott [85]
[The Daffodils ] Wordsworth [86]
[A Child’s Thought of God ] Mrs. Browning [87]
[From My Arm-chair ] Longfellow [88]
[A Song of Easter ] Celia Thaxter [90]
[The Joy of the Hills ] Edwin Markham [92]
[In Blossom Time ] Ina Coolbrith [93]
[The Stars and the Flowers ] Longfellow [95]
[Meadow Larks ] Ina Coolbrith [98]
[The Arrow and the Song ] Longfellow [99]
[The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz ] Longfellow [100]
[SIXTH GRADE.]
[Break, Break, Break ] Alfred Tennyson [103]
[Columbus—Westward ] Joaquin Miller [104]
[The Day is Done ] Longfellow [106]
[The Landing of the Pilgrims ] Mrs. Hemans [108]
[He Prayeth Best ] Coleridge [109]
[Each and All ] Emerson [110]
[Paul Revere’s Ride ] Longfellow [112]
[Battle Hymn of the Republic ] Julia Ward Howe [116]
[The Barefoot Boy ] Whittier [118]
[Lincoln, the Great Commoner ] Edwin Markham [120]
[Opportunity ] Edward R. Sill [122]
[A Song ] James W. Riley [123]
[To a Friend ] Halleck [124]
[SEVENTH GRADE.]
[Psalm CXXI ] Bible [125]
[Rain in Summer ] Longfellow [126]
[A Psalm of Life ] Longfellow [130]
[Hymn on the Fight at Concord ] R. W. Emerson [131]
[To a Water-fowl ] William C. Bryant [132]
[The Heritage ] James R. Lowell [134]
[Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard] Thomas Gray [136]
[Gradatim ] J. G. Holland [143]
[God Save the Flag ] O. W. Holmes [145]
[Life ] Edward R. Sill [146]
[EIGHTH GRADE.]
[Hymn to the Night ] Longfellow [147]
[The Builders ] Longfellow [148]
[Polonius’ Advice to Laertes ] Shakespeare [150]
[Thanatopsis ] W. C. Bryant [151]
[The American Flag ] Jos. R. Drake [155]
[Speech at the Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg] Abraham Lincoln [157]
[To a Skylark ] Shelley [159]
[The Launching of the Ship ] Longfellow [164]
[Recessional ] Rudyard Kipling [166]
[The Ladder of St. Augustine ] Longfellow [168]
[The Chambered Nautilus ] O. W. Holmes [170]
[To the Young People of Oakland, Cal.] William McKinley [172]
[BRIEF MEMORY GEMS AND PROVERBS.]
[First and Second Grades] [173]
[Third and Fourth Grades] [176]
[Fifth and Sixth Grades] [180]
[Seventh and Eighth Grades] [184]
[Poor Richard’s Sayings] [187]

GRADED
Memory Selections