UC-NRLF The Blodgett Fifth Reader. &••>: GINN AND COMPANY <•> GIFT OF | THE BLODGETT READERS A FIFTH READER BY* FRANCES E. BLODGETT AND ANDREW B. BLODGETT Superintendent of Schools, Syracuse, N.Y. GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO . LONDON &&-rlsi^rLS £Ujl IchUl^ Copyright, 1910, by Frances E. Blodgett and Andrew B. Blodgett ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Wbt gtfrenaum jgregg GINN AND COMPANY • PRO- PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. PREFACE The chief aim in preparing this basal reader for use in the upper grades of grammar schools has been to make a collection of stand- ard literature which shall appeal to the interest of the pupils. Oral reading, to be most effective, should have this constant stimulus. A large proportion, therefore, of the selections included in this volume have that dramatic or narrative quality which best holds the atten- tion of boys and girls. On the other hand, there are certain masterpieces of literary art which, while they may arouse no immediate response from young people, ought to be familiar to them. A judicious selection of such pieces will be found in the following pages. An effort has also been made to present typical extracts from the work of foreign writers, and to establish the proper perspective in regard to literature in general. History, biography, essays, travels, and scientific works, as well as poetry and fiction, have all been drawn upon for suitable material. The range of authorship here represented will inevitably broaden and educate the perception of literary values. It has been deemed wise, especially in the earlier pages of the book, to introduce occasionally lessons which offer few difficulties of any kind. These are not to be regarded as below grade, but as the natural resting places of a long ascent — legitimate relaxation after effort. The selections from Thomas Bailey Aldrich, John Burroughs, Margaret Deland, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Bussell Lowell, George Herbert Palmer, Edward Kowland Sill, Henry D. Thoreau, and John Greenleaf Whittier are iii 445471 IV used by the kind permission of, and by special arrangement with, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin Company, the publishers of the writings of these authors. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to the publishing houses named below for the use of the following copyright material : " The Typhoon," by Joseph Conrad, " The Way to Wealth/' by Benjamin Franklin, "A Japanese Village," by Isabella L. Bird, "The Beginnings of Tennessee " and " The Surprise of Kaskaskia," by Theodore Boosevelt (G. P. Putnam's Sons) ; " In the Ice Pack," by Norman Duncan (Doubleday, Page & Co.) ; " The Growth of a Nation," by John Fiske, " Comets," by Sir Robert Stawell Ball, " Lost in the Storm," "The Old Wolf's Challenge," and a full-page cut from Northern Trails, by William J. Long (Ginn and Company) ; " Life's Torch" from Admirals All, by Henry Newbolt (John Lane Com- pany) ; " Ribaut's First Expedition," by Francis Parkman, and " The Flag," by Denis A. McCarthy (Little, Brown & Co.) ; " The Way to Arcady," by Henry C. Bunner, " The Robin," by Sidney Lanier, " The Lantern Bearers," " The Castaway," and " A Night among the Pines," by Robert Louis Stevenson (Charles Scribner's Sons) ; " A Dream of the South Wind," by Paul Hamilton Hayne (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.) ; " The Doors of Opportunity," by Hamilton Wright Mabie (Hall & Locke Company, publishers of The Young Folks' Library) ; " Hatto the Hermit," by Selma Lagerlof (Ess Ess Publishing Company) ; " The Things that Count," by Clar- ence Urmy (The Outlook Company) ; " The Price of War " from The Human Harvest, by David Starr Jordan (American Unitarian Association) ; and " The Parting of the Ways," by Joseph B. Gilder (Harper & Bros.). THE AUTHORS FUNDAMENTALS OF READING There are two phases to be considered in oral reading : first, the mechanical phase, which consists of correct pronunciation and clear enunciation, and second, the artistic or interpretative side of such reading. In the first place it must be insisted upon that the reader shall speak slowly, clearly, and distinctly, giving each vowel and conso- nant its correct value. Careful attention to these details, together with continued prac- tice, will soon develop good pronunciation. Then the child is ready for the second phase, the proper interpretation, which means some- thing more than merely saying words. It means the bringing out of the real meaning behind the printed words. The image, the idea, or the emotion contained in the sentence to be read must be absorbed and fully measured by the reader before it can be given orally for the entertainment or instruction of those who hear. For the benefit of teachers it is well to consider briefly a few of the technical principles to be relied upon in teaching reading. Emphasis may be defined as the particular stress of voice placed upon one or more of the words of a sentence, and is the main prin- ciple used to bring out the proper expression in oral reading ; but to secure this no formal rule can be given. It must come from the effort of the reader to make the meaning clear to his hearers. For example, the first sentence in this book (page 1) will be read cor- rectly thus : The bishop of D was a man of such saintly life and self-sacrificing charity that he became known as Monseigneur Bienvemij or Welcome. Inflection is the upward or downward slide of the voice. It is of two kinds, rising and falling. These may be illustrated by VI carrying the hand through the air as the words are spoken, or by writing sentences on the blackboard in a form that will indicate the inflection, as follows : Did you see a boy pass this tV&J e# ] ie wen t down this 9/ If insufficient attention is given to the matter of inflection, the voice becomes monotonous and oral reading exceedingly tiresome. An exaggerated inflection, on the other hand, tends to artificiality and affectation. Great pains should be taken to secure natural expression. Accent means the special stress given to a certain syllable of a word, as pres' ent, pre sent', pres en ta' tion. Quality has to do with the kind of tone used in speaking or reading. The three principal tones used are pure, orotund, and aspirated. Others sometimes mentioned are the guttural, a deep throat tone, and the tremor, a tremulous quality of the voice. Pure tone is used in ordinary conversation and is clear and smooth. The orotund is a magnified or intensified pure tone. It is used to bring out some special oratorical effect, or in reading verse of great dig- nity and majesty. The aspirated is a forcible whisper expressing fear, horror, or wonder. Force is the degree of loudness used in reading ; the voice is loud, moderate, or gentle, according to the requirements of the selection to be read. Pitch means the general tone of the voice in reading ; it is medium, high, or low as the selection may demand. (Distinguish between pitch and tone.) Rate refers to the rapidity of speech in oral reading, and is moderate, rapid, or slow as the selection may demand. CONTENTS The Bishop and the Convict — I. Victor Hugo The Bishop and the Convict — II Song of the River. Charles Kingsley . Tom and the Lobster. Charles Kingsley The Succory. Margaret Deland Maggie Tulliver. George Eliot . Before the Rain. Thomas Bailey A Id rich Lost in the Storm. WiUiam J. Long . The Snowstorm. John Townsend Trowbridge The Dancing Dogs. Hector Malot The Typhoon. Joseph Conrad Life's Torch. Henry Xewbolt Robinson Crusoe's Boat. Daniel Defoe The Poet's Vision. John Keats The Loon. Henry D. Thoreau A Dream of the South Wind. Paul Hamilton Hayne The Snow Image — I. Nathaniel Hawthorne The Snow Image — II .... The Robin. Sidney Lanier Governor Manco and the Soldier — I. Washington Governor Manco and the Soldier — II . Washington Irving. William Makepeace Thackeray Henry Hudson's Last Voyage. Henry van Dyke Plain Living. Ralph Waldo Emerson The Way to Arcady. Henry C. Banner Silas Wegg and Mr. Bofein. Charles Dickens The Honeybee. John Burroughs . The Humblebee. Ralph Waldo Emerson The Lantern Bearers. Robert Louis Stevenson vii Irving PAGE 1 9 14 16 20 21 28 29 37 40 50 55 56 62 63 66 68 75 85 86 94 104 108 115 117 119 127 132 134 vm Daffodils. William Wordsworth . . . A Thing of Beauty. John Keats .... A Memory of my Childhood. Pierre Loti . The Night before Thanksgiving — I. Sarah Ome Jcwett The Night before Thanksgiving — II At Table — I. Francois Coppe'e .... At Table — II . . . ' . At Table — III The Things that Count. Clarence Urmy . The Old Wolf's Challenge. William J. Long . Along the Docks. George William Curtis My Lost Youth. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Castaway. Robert Louis Stevenson . The Stormy Petrel. Barry Cornwall . A Highland Adventure. Dinah Mulock Craik . The Bell Buoy. Rudyard Kipling At Sea. James Russell Lowell .... June. James Russell Lowell ..... The Homeward Run. Rudyard Kipling The Forsaken Merman. Matthew Arnold . Colonel Newcome and his Son. William Makepeace America the Beautiful. Katharine Lee Bates The Rescue of the Sheep. Richard D. Blackmore The Hunting of the Cheviot .... Across the Desert. Alexander W. Kinglake Snow-Bound. John Greenleaf Whittier . Poetry. Oliver Wendell Holmes . . . The Poets. Arthur 0' Shaughnessy . . The Chambered Nautilus. Oliver Wendell Holmes A Night among the Pines. Robert Louis Stevenson A Forest Hymn. William Cullen Bryant A Tragedy in the Desert — I. Honore de Balzac A Tragedy in the Desert — II .... Psalm VIII . Psalm XIX . . . . . God's Presence in Nature. Thomas Moore Thackeray Croly IX RUHNING the Gauntlet. James Fenimore Cooper Excalibur. Alfred Tennyson ..... The Doors oe Opportunity. Hamilton Wright Maine Opportunity. Edward Rowland Sill The Way to Wealth. Benjamin Franklin . Catiline's Speech on his Banishment. George Clouds. Edward Rowland Sill The Fencing Match. Edmond Rostand The Cat by the Fire. Leigh Hunt The Purloined Letter — I. Edgar Allan Poe The Purloined Letter — II To Helen. Edgar Allan Poe .... Hatto the Hermit. Selma Lagerlbf The Kearsarge. James Jeffrey Roche . Traveling in England in 1685. Thomas Babington Macaulay From Westminster Bridge. William Wordsworth London. William Wordsworth ..... Selling his Ancestors. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Venice. John Raskin ...... Venice. Lord Byron Each and All. Ralph Waldo Emerson . The Battle of Bannockburn. John Richard Green The March to Bannockburn. Robert Burns Scotia. Robert Burns ...... Robert Burns. Thomas Carlyle .... The Pilgrim Fathers. John Boyle O'Reilly . Elizabeth's Visit to Kenilworth. Walter Scott Ozymandias of Egypt. Percy Bysshe Shelley The Qdarrel. William Shakespeare In the Ice Pack — I. Norman Duncan . In the Ice Pack — II ...... A Lost Revenge. Walter Scott .... Hector and Andromache. Translated from Homer Cullen Bryant ....... The Departure of Telemachus. Retold from Homer To a Skylark. William Wordsworth by William 261 267 275 278 279 284 286 288 295 300 307 315 316 321 326 330 331 332 339 342 345 346 349 350 351 353 357 365 366 373 377 382 391 396 400 PAGE The Beginnings of Tennessee. Theodore Roosevelt . . . 401 The Surprise of Kaskaskia. Theodore Roosevelt . . . 406 The Sirens. Translated from Homer by George Herbert Palmer .' 410 The Flag. Denis A. McCarthy 413 A Japanese Village. Isabella L. Bird ..... 414 The Burial of Sir John Moore. Charles Wolfe . . .419 Phoenicia. William Winwood Reade . . . . . .421 Samson. John Milton 426 Comets. Robert Staivell Ball . 430 Hymn to Mont Blanc. Samuel Taylor Coleridge .... 442 Ribaut's First Expedition. Francis Parkman .... 447 A Night Piece. William Wordsworth . . . • . . . 452 The Growth of a Nation. John Fiske 453 Home Thoughts from Abroad. Robert Browning . . . 457 John Milton and the Puritans. John Richard Green . . 458 The House Beautiful. John Bunyan ...... 403 Elegy written in a Country Churchyard. Thomas Gray . 407 The Secret of Success. Andrew D. White ..... 473 To Autumn. John Keats 476 The Price of War. David Starr Jordan 478 The Parting of the Ways. Joseph B. Gilder . . . .481 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AUTHORS PAGE Aldrich, Thomas Bulky ... 28 Arnold, Matthew 199 Ball, Robert Stawell . . . 430 Balzac, Honors de 244 Bates, Katharine Lee .... 207 Bible 258 Bird, Isabella L 414 Blackmore, Richard D. . . . 209 Browning, Robert 457 Bryant, William Cullen 240, 391 Burner, Henry C 117 Bun y an. John 463 Burns, Robert 349, 350 Burroughs, John . . . . . . 127 Byron, George Gordon, Lord . 342 Carlyle, Thomas 351 Coleridge. Samuel Taylor . . 442 Conrad, Joseph 50 Cooper, James Fenimore . . . 261 Coppee, Francois ...... 148 Cornwall, Barry 180 Craik. Dinah Mulock .... 182 Croly, George 284 Curtis, George William . . . 161 Defoe, Daniel 56 Deland. Margaret 20 Dickens. Charles 119 Duncan, Norman 373 Eliot, George 21 Emerson, Ralph W. . 115. 132, 345 Fiskk. John 453 Franklin. Benjamin 279 Gilder. Joseph B 481 PAGE Gray, Thomas T 467 Green, John Richard . . 346, 458 Hawthorne, Nathaniel . . 68 Hayne, Paul Hamilton ... 66 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 230, 234 Homer 391, 396, 410 Hugo, Victor 1 Hunt, Leigh 295 Irving. Washington 86 Jewett, Sarah Orne 142 Jordan, David Starr .... 478 Keats, John 62, 138, 476 Kinglake. Alexander W. . . 221 Kim.slev, Charles . . . . 14, 16 Kipling, Rudyard .... 186, 194 Lagerlof, Selma 316 Lanier, Sidney 85 Long, William J. . . . . .29, 155 Longfellow, Henry W. . . . 166 Loti, Pierre 139 Lowell. James Russell . 190, 193 Marie, Hamilton Wright . . 275 McCarthy, Denis A 413 Macaulay, Thomas Babington 326 Ma lot, Hector 40 Milton, John 426 Moore, Thomas 260 Newbolt, Henry' 55 O'Reilly, John Boyle .... 353 (►"Shaughnessy, Arthur . . . 233 Palmer, George Herbert . . 410 Parkman. Francis 447 Poe, Edgar Allan . . . . 300,315 Xll Reade, William Winwooi Roche, James Jeffrey Roosevelt, Theodore Rostand, Edmond . . Ruskin, John .... Scott, Walter . . . Shakespeare, William Shelley, Percy Bysshe Sheridan, Richard Brinsle Sill, Edward Rowland Stevenson, Robert Louis 134, PAGE PAOK . . 421 Tennyson, Alfred 2