poets ty . 2 rite ore Pek Sans eek as > =o y ane - : (SRC : : pe ear : = aCe ean 3 | | | “ : | : | Se Piva tawy : | | . ; a8 age er, ic) a Roe AO Cad aed ht ints Ys : , k ayer ag y oy fae, Go mnie ee ey otek ‘ ; of Sate 4 x £3 Ore ress » sat 0. WS Cys fied ie < eee ae te et Seo 2 oe # eet Siti =o tet ar) 7 Serres animes Ns yak Shae a ete sem BAG THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY OAK ST LIRBRARV ..Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. A charge is made on all overdue books. University of Illinois Library L161—H41 MASTER PIECES of MODERN VERSE COMPILED AND EDITED BY EDWIN DvuBOIS SHURTER Formerly Professor of Public Speaking in the University of Texas AND DWIGHT EVERETT WATKINS Associate Professor of Public Speaking tn the University of California NOBLE AND NOBLE, Publishers 76 FirrH Avenue - - New York ie By NOBLE AND NOBLE r Sefer a : 5 ‘ LAs : } 4 iS “Tar : J = ay ; —_ . Ba } ey ih Li } ie PREFACE Propie who are interested in public speaking are constantly looking for new poems that can be used for this purpose. Here you will find a wealth of just such material. Only modern poetry has been included, because most teachers and professors agree with us that contemporary poetry is more suited for class use in schools and colleges than the old, time- worn classics. The modern poets are closer to the hearts of the listeners, both in style and choice of subject matter. “A poem is not truly a poem,” says Professor Corson, “until it is voiced by an accomplished reader who has assimilated it.”” The selections in this book, therefore, have been carefully chosen for their value _ in oral delivery, and because they express the ten- ,~dencies of modern poetic thought with their love of nature, and their humanitarian impulses. Selections in dialect, or selections requiring con- siderable skill in impersonation, have purposely been avoided. On the other hand, the poems included vary greatly in content and structure, in order to stimulate the mental and spiritual life of the reader “by bringing him in contact with rich and varied ». experiences, and to provide him with the best ex- * amples of ideas, thoughts, and feelings. They will ™ show what new interpretations the modern poets are iii £36662 iv Masterpieces of Modern Verse giving to life, what new beauty they have found, what new art they have realized. This book fairly teems with this new and modern spirit. Each poem is preceded by a head-note containing a short, biographical sketch of the author and brief suggestions as to the best means of reading the poem forcefully and effectively. Long annotations are considered unnecessary as they usually tend to confuse the person attempting an oral delivery of the selection. While it was not possible for the compilers to include every masterpiece of contemporary verse, it is hoped that the student will find in this book a wealth of material for public speaking, for class work, and for platform reading. It is also hoped that during the reading of these selections, the stu- dent will form a desire to further reading of modern > verse that is worthwhile. TABLE OF CONTENTS NATURE Author Title Page Mackay, Constance D’Arcy ....A Ballad of the Road 3 Robinson, Corinne Roosevelt ..The Path that Leads to Nowhere ....... 4 Auslander, Joseph ............ I Come Singing ..... 6 SH Vers LCONOTA sy. fc dv cee shoe ss PRED ONO yee eo 7 Wat Liye (ELenry do. es socio os 6 a's An Angler’s Wish ... 8 PUM ek a leiey OUN SY ewe ds wee 6 The Chant of the GOlOTatOn ys sok sane II Masefield, John ....... Bee ana 5 DEE OUT Coie s van css 1%} Pavey) RICHOTC vine eae tos kena The Sea-Gypsy i... 14 Chittenden, William Lawrence..Neptune’s Steeds .... 15 WEA IV KG SLEULY. Carma ewer gy 0s Salute to the Trees .. 17 Faulks, Theodosia Garrison ....The Green Inn ...... 18 Untermeyer, Louis ......... Ss Ge vain cere sie ida 20 PLOStHNOUCIL Casas bcs cece ccn'e PCR Shout ewe Nowe 21 Visas RDAWD, COA WIR ose sce w voce ees The Joy of the Hills . 23 BePHIC Ys OCTLOlIC a). si5 5 n8 sive Sane CW rg Me AUR She AB AWS 8 25 MterMevyer, LOUIS acess eecc y's e Highmount ........-. 27 Le Gallienne, Richard ....... -May is Building Her PIOUS OM are ea trae 29 Conkling, Grace Hazard ....... Apter SUNSCE kos. © 30 Garland, Hamlin ..............4 DakotaWheat Field 31 Untermeyer, Louis ........ coe vLOMASCOPES scccceaee 33 Le Gallienne, Richard .......... Catalog of Lovely THINGS in sok reeks 35 Carman, Bliss ....... RAs The Winter Scene ... 37 323) sence noe The Caravels of Co= EuInNDUS Hoss wes be 74 Claitk: Badger re soy t aes s Pioneers” 356 Gae ee 76 Markham sicdwin 5,40 as, Lincoln, the Man of the Peoplens a wees 78 PHuhner Lean cece cls cee eke Theodore Roosevelt .. 80 Malloch; ‘Dotiglas 7..-ckn...5>s The Westiivecee tte 81 Chaprian’ “Asthur 7icvitiaas eres Out Where the West Begins (ins sen cae 82 THE HORROR OF WAR Scollard Clinton Ge. tus sc eae The Vale of Shadows 83 Young, Ruth Comfort Mitchell..He Went for a Sol- d6eF Gc Ries ee 86 Untermeyer, Louis ...........: The Laughers ...... 88 Seeger, Alan ...............-.:1 Have a Rendezvous with Death ........ 92 Service, Robert William ...... Fleurette <. chase gsine's 93 Hagedorn, Hermann .......... Dhé Pyros : coven cena 97 Wilson, Margaret Adelaide ....The Road to Babylon 100 Contents Vil REFLECTIVE AND INSPIRATIONAL Author Title Page O’Sheel, Shaemas <..2... 6.200 He Whom a Dream Hath Possessed .... 10% Markham, Edwine..............1n€ Man with The DOte aii ee 103 Masters, Edgar Lee ........... SUCKER eee vse viekiance d 105 Price: Cale) Young). c. . sss 6 lee DROM YSHE TI idee oaks ‘108 Wheelock, John Hall .......... BOrtice eee tien s oer I10 Ra ein MaAGiISOtiiis voy sacs ss ces The House of Life .. 113 Guiney, Louise Imogen......... THe ORAROS ee eke 114 Miprean, ATCC a soe cakes os cae-s TMG on Us Gs ieee os 116 Maorgar Ageless ke scce ov e'e' We OP Rites ad baa wan ce tre 118 Rear IMA eee yt a kn cohibeca sk The Weather-Vane .. 120 Cleghorn, Sarah Northcliffe ....Portrait of a ‘Lady .. 122 Guiney, Louise Imogen ........ The Wild Kide ov... 124 RICVEY OU RICNAIC Ns fee sins mciste ee At the Crossroads ... 126 SAIIET OVE Our G visions ce aa ccs es M OP a en ok oo ele 127 Benét, William BOSC hak oe als The Falconer of God 129 Bynner, Witter .....s.ceseseeee Grieve Not for Beauty 131 Crapsey, sdelaide' sae veces To the Dead in the Graveyard Under- neath My Window 134 Monroe, Harriet i yh ig hers haan Mother Earth ....... 136 Towne, Charles Hanson ...... Beyond the Stars .... 139 Coates, Florence Earle ........ The Unconquered Air 143 OLR TEVA RGSEM Ac, wins « ¥ibwem « I Shall not Pass This Way Again. scree 144 ESPECIALLY MUSICAL Bynner, Witter .......... Pat oels Apollo Troubadour .. 147 CCOOIOTItI Aas OMNIA sss eas « In Blossom Time .... 151 McCarthy, Denis Aloysius ....Tipperary im _ the ODTING Mala cfeas cores ale 152 Sutton, Edward Forrester ..... The DAM UR ven 154 Noyes, Alfred ..... Shin's sare i A Song of Sherwood 160 HEROIC Gilkey, John Augustus... ,,..... The Heroes of the Yukon @o02000000008800 163 INDEX OF TITLES PAGE Peeper UCL kesh eta e wh ae ks Grace Hazard Conkling 30 America the Beautiful ....... Kathertne Lee Bates .. 73 Angler’s Wish, An .......... Henry Van Dyke ..... 8 Apollo Troubadour ......... Witter Bynner ........ 147 PE SING (CrOSST AUS. dec. bw Richard Hovey ....... 126 TIRED ge By ea tian sted ce Jean Starr Untermeyer 66 Ballad of the Road, A ....... Constance D’Arcy RIGERAWS ca nd bxkon aee 3 Beyoud the: Slars*.31.0. sees: Charles Hanson Towne 139 SRICHOS SC Sh ee teks cece? ROGGE Hrost Soo oe ok oe 21 Caliban in the Coal Mines.... Louis Untermeyer .... 54 Caravels of Columbus, The.. Elias Lieberman ...... 74 Catalog of Lovely Things....Richard LeGallienne .. 35 Chant of the Colorado, The..Cale Young Rice ..... II CTVR ARE ti oo ha bakes Henry Cuyler Bunner . 71 Dakota Wheat Field, A ..... Hamlin Garland ...... 31 Ooh We Pepeaapeepantinge libel don a oped Madison Cawetn ...... 39 Down the Mississippi ....... John Gould Fletcher .. 40 BEGOT AISI Colac cease rs Edward Forrester Sut- ROM Gere. Aeik mo cas Gam eis 154 2 EAT Sia ea hea ia Cs John Hall Wheelock .. 110 bac fy igs gr Bg So eae na Mi fiend eae 19a Fiéien Favi ese tects 47 Falconer of God, The ....... William Rose Benét .. 129 PPULPTie ake ieee Makes ae ae a Robert William Service 93 Se SAN OTIN We won bebe Edna St. Vincent Mil- [fa Ball © CPV E CAP ae ie oe 46 SSEPOTE Nt ERY org oie dk wes Theodosia Garrison Paula i era elk oe 18 Grieve Not for Beauty ...... Witter Bynner ..... PANS AH Heroes of the Yukon, The...John Augustus Gilkey. 163 He went for a Soldier ....... Ruth Comfort Mitchell VON Gece kn ewe tke He Whom a Dream Hath {CC a Pe ee a Shaemas O’Sheel ..... 101 eeoceeoeereevee eve eee eee Highmount ELAS tes b Gas tie stuart enh ete House of Lite, The i... I Come Singing I Have a Rendezvous with Death In Blossom Time In Lady Street I Shall Not Pass This Way ASAlTTS Gane cua s sieges Aerie Joy of the Hills, The Kings, The eocoereeereese eee ecoeereeoseeeeves eeeceeesceerere eee eeee Landscapes Laroherss FG isa tate ase ve ore Lincoln, The Man of the People Man with the Hoe, The Martin May Is Building Her House Mother Earth Mystic, The ceecereeoeeeo eee eee eee eocecoreeeeeoecee eee ee eevee eee reeoeoesce eset eoeseees ee eevee ecereereseve ececeoroeeoceeos eee Neptune’s Steeds On a Subway Express Out Where the West Begins Path That Leads to No- where, The Piano eeroeevee eeoeoeoeereeereeeeaeoee eee eee eceeceoeoeerer eee ee eeoee Rebels ROOtse ype tye ee eee eececeeeeee Index of Titles PAGE Louis Untermeyer .... 27 Berton Braley ........ 25 Madison Cawein ...... 113 Joseph Auslander ..... 6 Alan Seeger nscciees 92 Ina Donna Coolbrith.. 151 John Drinkwater ..... 48 Eva Rose York ...... 144 Edwin Markham ..... 23 Louise Imogen Guiney 114 Louis Untermeyer .... 33 Louis Untermeyer .... 88 Edwin Markham ..... 78 Edwin Markham ..... 103 Joyce Kilmer ......0.. 127 Richard LeGallienne .. 29 Harriet Monroe ...... 136 Cale Young Rice ..... 108 William Lawrence Chit- tenden 2 ee 15 Chester Firkins ....... 59 Arthur Chapman ..... 82 Corinne Roosevelt Rob- WSON Ne eee 4 Davis Herbert Law- FENCE. ooh ee eee 65 Badger Glare vag 76 Sarah Northcliffe Cleghorn 5. oh tak 122 Hermann Hagedorn .. 97 Louis Untermeyer .... 20 Margaret Adelaide Walsons wang tee tee 100 Joyce Kilmer ........> 63 Leon Huhner ......... 80 Index of Titles xi PAGE Salute to the Trees .......... Henry Van Dyke ..... 17 CHEAT MEVEr. Hyudiss cx a bie dne on John Masefield ....... 13 Bite CAPPS et LGN Aes ros wile a's Richard Hovey ....... 14 PHRIGRICH AR ores ce eis Sea e ts Edgar Lee Masters .. 105 Song of Sherwood, A ....... Alfred Noyes ........ 160 Songs for My Mother ....... Anna Hempstead BTORTH PSE Bo renee: 60 PRIMAL ALL LC Woes & vie Sic wens oes Leonora Speyer ....... & pieam Shovel... Phe io... k. ss. Eunice Tietiens ...... SSPOTIO TL Ga aete cllits vecke ve Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Re Tipperary in the Spring ..... Dents Aloysius Mc- Carthy Oe ee 152 PRO PUR Ve Sakae Pence coe aiels ok Bae Angela Morgan ...... 116 To the Dead in the Grave- yard Underneath my Win- Gif pid dees Te iC Meee igs Plaats Se Adelaide Crapsey ..... 134 Howo Houses, The isi... : Thomas’ Hardy ....... 68 Unconquered Air, The ...... Florence Earl Coates.. 143 Magabond Song. -A. 6 Sys... Bliss Carman ......... 45 Vale of Shadows, The ...... Clinton Scollard ...... 83 Weather-Vane, The ......... Bliss Carman ......... 120 NOES UL ELE heen eh oon at, Douglas Malloch ..... SI WAR RIGe2 et NET crise ois ce Loutse Imogen Guiney 124 Winters Seene ENe+. Sones aa; Biss COPmaw owen. ae 37 WIE MEN nae se vices vcr. penne WOrgan oats. TIS INDEX OF AUTHORS Auslander, Joseph eeoeveeveeene Bates, Katherine Lee Benét, William Rose Braley, Berton Branch, Anna Hempstead . Bunner, Henry Cuyler Bynner, Witter eosre eer eeeos eeeeereee oe eee eee ere eeee cece ereeeoeee see Carman, Bliss eorreecee eevee ee oe Cawein, Madison Chapman, Arthur William Law- Chittenden, rence Clark, Badger Cleghorn, Sarah Northcliffe.. Coates, Florence Earle Conkling, Grace Hazard Coolbrith, Ina Donna Crapsey, Adelaide eo ee eee eee ee eo eee eeresee eoee eee ees ere ee eooeoeeseeoeresne Drinkwater, John Faulks, Theodosia Garrison... Firkins, Chester Fletcher, John Gould Frost, Robert Garland, Hamlin Gibson, Wilfrid Wilson Gilkey, John Augustus oe ee eee eee eee creer eee ooo ree eee eee eee oocoereree eee re eevee r ee eee ee esean Guiney, Louise Imogen eee eeoee PAGE I Come Singing ...... 6 America the Beautiful. 73 The Falconer of God. 129 PRE ALEUIS Noe vce ci 25 . Songs for My Mother. 60 The Chaperon ........ 7a Grieve Not For Beauty 131 Apollo Troubadour ... 147 A Vagabond Song .... 45 The Weather-Vane ... 120 The Winter Scene ... 37 LFESORT ER Ve ile ew Ae 39 The House of Life ... 113 Out Where the West BEMAG OS sree olan: 82 Neptune’s Steeds ..... 15 PsOneeee BLE Me eI oe 70 Portrait of a Lady ... 122 The Unconquered Air. 143 After Surtsel ree: 30 In Blossom Time .... 151 To the Dead in the Graveyard Under- neath My Window... 134 Se LAGVES EY eCt ee hia ven 48 The Green Inn ....... 18 On a Subway Express 59 Down the Mississippi. 40 PP CROS CE Sy Ceuta craaies 21 A Dakota Wheatfield.. 31 DAES FORGE ewe aatk sone 55 The Heroes of the VREON CAL SCN ee eas 163 TRE RSHIS OO ne ca nals 114 The Wild Ride......... 124 X1il xiv Index of Authors PAGE Hagedorn, Hermann ........ The PSres seen: ah ecuiete, Ch Mardy ic aomas ise sae cae ene The Two Houses .... 68 Hovey, Richard. o. .a seen. At the Crossroads .... 126 The Sea Gypsy ceceees 14 TPLOVE, GELCleN Mes steerer steue treo es PLUS IP OLR ACh caer ete 47 Hubner, Lect... arses weeeelheodore Roosevelt .. 80 Kerlmer al oycetica esercts cee NIGH Veh ec ee tee izZ7 OOPS. ce vie hs wen ay eae 63 Lawrence, ‘David. Herbert; Piano 5.05. 4 60 ee ee 65 LeGallienne, Richard ........ Catalog of Lovely A UGS S00 s secte clea 35 May is Building Her FH Ous2 beat en 29 Lieberman,” Eliasic) 3 vane cee s The Caravels of Co- LUM DILE 0), ols sean 74 McCarthy, Denis Aloysius.... Tipperary in the Spring Mackay, Constance D’Arcy...A Ballad of the Road. Malloch) ougine Sanaa. The lV (st A ee Warkham) ‘Ed withi) ss). 51 ose The Joy of the Hills.. Lincoln, The Man of the People. oo octeees The Man with the Hoe Maseheld, $ohttut\isoes eecrs Sede P ever va. oe chica Masters, Edgar Lee ......... SOME E ie ciate seeds ee Millay, Edna St., Vincent’... Gods) World). + .eaae Monroe, Hurritt? ec ois eons Mother Earth ......+- Morvan, Angela ans aise Cd O“DON GE. wha Mite ee WOTR ae Ua cee aaa Noyes, Alfredes (4 ..s.6 weeeeA Song of Sherwood.. O'Sheel -Sitaemasrn see. ce yee He Whom A Dream Hath Possessed .... Rice, Cale» Voune row aus The Chant of the Colo- FUG 8k Roos eas 1 ee PINS ss Ale es Robinson, Corinne Roosevelt. The Path That Leads to Nowhere ....0+.-. Scollard, .Clintonei ocean The Vale of Shadows. meever. Alana nic sae eee I Have A Rendezvous With Death .......5 Service, Robert William ..... Flewretie Sore eet opeyer, Leonora 3.5 sc6s sted PO CHOLLN umes yom Index of Authors XV Sutton, Edward Forrester . Tietjens, Eunice Towne, Charles Hanson .... Untermeyer, Jean Starr .... Untermeyer, Louis Wan Lire « Henri. uc'!. «6s Wheelock, John Hall Wilson, Margaret Adelaide York, Eva Rose Young, Ruth Comfort Mit- CNet tie leads ay alle ped we eee ee eee wwe .. Ihe Road to Babylon.. 100 SL Ae LPAI ad oy ae aig 154 The Steam Shovel .... 51 Beyond the Stars ..... 139 AUTUMN eo Ree 7, Caliban in the Coal tite See eit eee 5A Highmount .......000. 27 LORGSCOP GS Fhinctes wats 33 The Laughers ........ 88 Rebelswre eae re Saas are 20 An Angler's Wish .... 8 Salute to the Trees ... 17 PEGI Cech Giron one IIO I Shall Not Pass foe Wayr Agnes hile. He Went For A ty dier vere or oe ee eeere INDEX OF FIRST LINES PAGE A broken wagon wheel that rots away beside the EIGER NaS ene tin cee oe eR vig VHS MESO Te me ee Poe ue 76 Aman said unto his Angel. is. ves. s. esis au ee visas 114 Ah, sweet is Tipperary in the springtime of the year. 152 All gay long thei trattic: S069 454 chess. Say eee 48 Almost the body leads the laggard soul; bidding it see 131 Pau wile you, cut a stonemtoer Hits. 6 pee. ud se keen ons 55 Beneath my window in a city street ........0...0000. 51 Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans .......... 103 Bpcliemasses Of mense green (a0 023 we ilcs fea e ewleaus 40 Preaniuc fipure Of a mighty ager .is 2. cheese Ven cwes 80 we don t like fo complains. (uc se ewe Sone wee eS 54 EAHA HOSE VOUT NCAT Y BONE sata gyi) era ld ols re Ghee 110 Metin AO. the wie DOr easier Clave. wae eeda saas ane ce’ 15 He kept them pointed straight ahead ............... 74 He marched away with a blithe young score of him.. 86 He whom a dream hath possessed knoweth no more Se TALOU OES yo las bald ee ves A Pk ow ee SEE Ab bec IOI Her eyes are sunlit hazel Dre PC Agee olk Vie ly ad ek a 122 Hills, you have answered the craving .............6. 37 How can you lie so still? All day I watch ......... 134 BeOS FAL AS It COM ADVIOH nl wa ee « cede da nd Vieng ate aelee 100 mow memory icuisiaway the vyears acide ok ones 66 Pra revered: with) the) Siinset ei bed ee. ie ce eee 14 I come singing the keen sweet smell of grass ....... 6 I flung my soul to the air like a falcon flying ....... 129 I have an understanding with the hills ............. 30 shave a retidezvous with Death ....0. 03.566 Sides. us 92 I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea.. 105 I hear in my heart, I hear in its ominous pulses ..... 124 I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea SETAC AOS Pagel a a Ree an Oar Ag Yet Uo eS aM 13 I ride on the mountain-tops, I ride)... i... vea eee 23 Iesawia painted weathervan@ sisi. ckewesenteeah ows 120 PReNaUiNet PASS tas | WAY BOI si eat iree kas eens 144 BUSICKET OR, TOW S COMPANY) ava ls savas lade saabeea es 18 Bator AU VCCRaADerOn AO ME DIS¥) ce eiuo ee dain en's tes ot dwho have lost the stars; the sod ..i)..i0...0.0. 0% 59 I would make a list against the evil days ........... 35 In the heart of night ....... aisvaedes Wee he eh Pe 68 XVIii Index of First Lines PAGE it's.O my heart, my heart... eat cee eee eee I5I It sweeps gray-winged across the obliterated hills ... 7 Like liquid gold the wheat field lies ................ 31 Little park -thatcl ypass throngh 4-2 <-..es- es eee 47 Many a tree is found in the wood ................0. 17 May is building her house. With apple blooms ..... 29 Men look to the East for the dawning things, for the light) of; 2 rising sun) fo. eek oes sp vce he ee oe ee 8I My brother, man, shapes him a plan ................ II My mother’s hands are cool and fair ............... 60 QO beautiful for spacious ‘skies: .4..2..5. So/oe.ue enee 73 O World, I cannot hold thee close enough .......... 46 Oh, .a‘gratid old time has the ‘earth 222 9)..5..2. cece 136 Oh, a gypsy longing stirs your heart ..............00. 3 Others endure Man’s rule: he therefore deems ...... 143 Out where the handclasp’s a little stronger ......... 82 Partner,. remember the: hills’. /.s2:.5 24-0. eeee eee 25 Pyres: in. the: night, in the night(ou. 62.3.4 eee 07 Sherwood in the twilight! Is Robin Hood awake. .... 160 Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me ....... 65 Spring! And her hidden bugles up the street...... 88 Stiff in midsummer green, the stolid hillsides ........ 20 The old house leans upon a tree ........... fs. ee 39 The rain was over, and the brilliant air .............. The road is wide and the stars are out and the breath of the: night 45 ‘sweet. 205i ice es eet 2 eee 63 The rutted roads are all like iron; the skies ........ 37 The | Wounded..Canadian Speaks 4. 5..4.2 23. ee 93 There'is aquest that’ ¢alls qneiioc oes eee 108 There is a vale in the Flemish land ................ 83 There’s a rhythm down the road where the elms Overarchs. 3.505 tose te eo te ewe ee eee 154 There is something in the autumn that is native to my « blodd 4.04 35.5./4.0. Fasten ee eee a Le ee 45 There’s a path that leads to Nowhere .............. 4 They are the wise who look before ................. 113 Three days I heard them grieve when I lay dead .... 139 To be-alive in: suchian age ...22320 66 eo ee eee 116 When .a: wandering ‘Italtan ©, 5.0.0 2.5 0 c22 0s eee .s wee 147 When I..am. tired. of. earnest men. 4s 4.25% seeks een 127 When I see birches bend to left and right ........... 21 When the Norn Mother saw the Whirlwind Hour... 78 When tulips bloom in Union Square ............... 8 Word is flashed from the Arctic Sea (“Hurry’)..... 163 Work! Thank God for the might of it ............ 118 You to the left and I to the right .................. 126 A Ballad of the Road Constance D’Arcy Mackay Constance D’Arcy Mackay was born in St. Paul, Minn. She attended Boston University in 1903-1904, and began writing in New York in 1905. She is the author of a number of plays and historical pageants, and contributes plays, dramatic criticism and verse to magazines. She was director of the Department of Pageantry and Drama for the War Camp Community Service from 1918 to 1919. This is predominantly a lyric poem, and its musical nature should not be neglected in oral rendering, although it should not be delivered in a sing-song manner. A happy balance between an entirely lyric rendering and a strict prose interpretation should be sought. Render the last line somewhat slowly, giving full time to the word “all.” OH, a gypsy longing stirs your heart When Autumn’s sounding the rover’s call! “Oh, leave the city and leave the mart, Come out, come out where the red leaves fall, And asters flame by each stone wall! Have done with cares that fetter and goad, Heed ye and harken ye one and all, And know the joys of the winding road!” A veil of purple lies on the hills, Your step moves swift to some unknown air— Forgotten music of boughs and rills— The oaks are russet, the maples flare, The sumach’s splendor glows here and there, And your weary heart has slipped its load, 3 4 School Poetry for Oral Expression Oh, bright the sunlight as on you fare Tasting the joys of the winding road! Odors of earth when the wild winds blow, New views to greet you at each hill’s crest, Color and beauty where’er you go— These shall add to your journey’s zest. And when the daylight dies in the west A star-hung roof for your night’s abode, A bed of pine and a dreamless rest— These are the joys of the winding road. Oh, ye of the town who do not know How blithe and free is the rover’s code! Come out, come out where the glad winds blow! There’s joy for all on the winding road! Reprinted by permission of the author. The Path that Leads to Nowhere Corinne Roosevelt Robinson Corinne Roosevelt Robinson was born in New York City in 1861, and was educated at home. She is interested in literary, civic and philanthropic affairs. She has published three volumes of poetry: ‘‘The Call to Brotherhood and Other Poems,” “One Woman to Another and Other Poems,” and ‘Service and Sacrifice.”’ The poem below is slow in movement and its atmosphere is largely that of reverie. It has a certain softness, tinged with admiration and affection. The intervals of pitch are narrow, and a gently swelling force may well be employed. While this selection should not be delivered in a monotone, a good render- ing will show features of the monotone, in rather low pitch. Note that the ends of many of the lines should be passed without pausing. THERE'S a path that leads to Nowhere In a meadow that I know, School Poetry for Oral Expression Where an inland island rises And the stream is still and slow; There it wanders under willows And beneath the silver green Of the birches’ silent shadows Where the early violets lean. Other pathways lead to Somewhere; But the one I love so well Has no end and no beginning— Just the beauty of the dell, Just the wildflowers and the lilies Yellow striped as adder’s tongue, Seem to satisfy my pathway As it winds their sweets among. There I go to meet the Springtime, When the meadow is aglow,— Marigolds amid the marshes,— And the stream is still and slow. There I find my fair oasis, And with care-free feet I tread, For the pathway leads to Nowhere, And the blue is overhead! All the ways that lead to Somewhere Echo with the hurrying feet Of the Struggling and the Striving, But the way I find so sweet Bids me dream and bids me linger,— Joy and beauty are its goal! 6 School Poetry for Oral Expression On the path that leads to Nowhere I have sometimes found my soul! Reprinted by permission of the author and Charles Scribner’s Sons from The Poems of Corinne Roosevelt Robinson. Copyright, 1912, 1916, 1921, by Charles Scrib- ner’s Sons, I Come Singing © Joseph Auslander Joseph Auslander is an instructor in the Department of English, Harvard University. He writes poetry for The Atlantic Monthly and other magazines, Aim to voice the different emotions that respectively belong to the three seasons described in this exquisite poem. It will re- quire some skill to pass smoothly over the irregular line arrange- ment and maintain the thought-units. I coME singing the keen sweet smell of grass Cut after rain, And the cool ripple of drops that pass Over the grain, And the drenched light drifting across the plain. I come chanting the wild bloom of the fall, And the swallows Rallying in clans to the rapid call From the hollows, And the wet west wind swooping down on the swallows. I come shrilling the sharp white of December, The night like quick steel School Poetry for Oral Expression 7 Swung by a gust in its plunge through the pallid ember Of dusk, and the heel Of the fierce green dark grinding the stars like steel. Reprinted by permission of the author and The New Republic. The Squall Leonora Speyer Leonora von Stosch Speyer was born in Washington, D. C. In addition to writing poetry, she lectures on poetry and music. Before her marriage to Sir Edgar Speyer, she was a violinist of note. This ingenious, accurate, and vivid description challenges the skill of the reader. The irregular line arrangement, in the first place, must be smoothly passed over and phrased in thought- units. Then, too, the whole poem is full of quick changes, re- quiring great variety in rate and force. It is one of those poems that may well be tried over and over with varying experiments to secure the best vocal effects. IT sweeps gray-winged across the obliterated hills, And the startled lake seems to run before it: From the woods comes a clamor of leaves, Tugging at twigs, Pouring from the branches, And suddenly the birds are still. Thunder crumples the sky, Lightning tears it. And now the rain. The rain—thudding—implacable— The wind, revelling in the confusion of great pines! 8 School Poetry for Oral Expression And a silver sifting of light, A coolness: A sense of summer anger passing, Of summer gentleness creeping nearer— Penitent—tearful— Forgiven ! Reprinted by permission of Poetry, A Magazine of Verse, and by permission of, and special arrangement with, FE. P. Dutton and Company. An Angler’s Wish Henry Van Dyke Henry Van Dyke was born at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1852. Until recently he was active as Professor of English at Princeton University. In his lifetime he has attained success in many varied fields, having been successful as an author of poems, essays, and stories, and having been a minister, an educator, and a diplomatist. This poem is permeated with the breath of spring. It is bright, but there is a sort of lazy relaxation that qualifies the lightness. It is full of longing, too, but never petulant. Resignation and com- plete satisfaction characterize the last two stanzas, which may be de- livered very slowly, the vowels being prolonged and attenuated so as to bring out their full value. Be careful to end slowiy. I WHEN tulips bloom in Union Square, And timid breaths of vernal air Go wandering down the dusty town, Like children lost in Vanity Fair ; When every long, unlovely row Of westward houses stands aglow, And leads the eyes toward sunset skies Beyond the hills where green trees grow,— School Poetry for Oral Expression Then weary seems the street parade, And weary books, and weary trade: I’m only wishing to go a-fishing ; For this the month of May was made. 2 I guess the pussy willows now Are creeping out on every bough Along the brook; and robins look For early worms behind the plow. The thistle birds have changed their dun For yellow coats, to match the sun; And in the same array of flame The dandelion show’s begun. The flocks of young anemones Are dancing round the budding trees: Who can help wishing to go a-fishing In days as full of joy as these? a I think the meadow lark’s clear sound Leaks upward slowly from the ground, While on the wing the bluebirds ring Their wedding bells to woods around. The flirting chewink calls his dear Behind the bush; and very near, 10 School Poetry for Oral Expression Where water flows, where green grass grows, Song sparrows gently sing, “Good Cheer.” And, best of all, through twilight’s calm The hermit thrush repeats his psalm. How much I’m wishing to go a-fishing In days so sweet with music’s balm! 4 *Tis not a proud desire of mine; I ask for nothing superfine ; No heavy weight, no salmon great, To break the record—or my line: Only an idle little stream, Whose amber waters softly gleam, Where I may wade, through woodland shade, And cast the fly, and loaf, and dream: Only a trout or two, to dart From foaming pools, and try my art: . No more I’m wishing—old-fashioned fishing, And just a day on Nature’s heart. Reprinted by permission of the author, and by per- mission of, and by special arrangement with, Charles Scrib- ner’s Sons, the publishers of the author’s works. School Poetry for Oral Expression 11 The Chant of the Colorado (At the Grand Canyon) Cale Young Rice Cale Young Rice was born in Dixon, Ky., December 7th, 1872. He is a poet, dramatist, and short story writer, and was professor of English Literature in Cumberland University in 1896-1897. He has since devoted himself to the writing of poetry, poetic drama, and occasional prose. The majesty and beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado are well reflected in this poem. Be sure, by due emphasis, to bring out the antithesis implied in the first two lines of each stanza. The poem as a whole should be delivered firmly, with a touch of the heroic. Do not, however, neglect the few lyric lines that appear in each stanza. Deliver the poem slowly enough to bring out all the grandeur, and yet not too slowly to mar the value of the rhyme scheme, My brother, man, shapes him a plan And builds him a house in a day, But I have toiled through a million years For a home to last alway. I have flooded the sands and washed them down, I have cut through gneiss and granite. No toiler of earth has wrought as I, Since God’s first breath began it. High mountain buttes have I chiselled, to shade My wanderings to the sea. With the wind’s aid, and the cloud’s aid, Unweary and mighty and unafraid, I have bodied eternity. My brother, man, builds for a span: His life is a moment’s breath. But I have hewn for a million years, Nor a moment dreamt of death. 12 School Poetry for Oral Expression By moons and stars I have measured my task— And some from the skies have perished: But ever I cut and flashed and foamed, As ever my aim I cherished: My aim to quarry the heart of earth, Till, in rock’s red rise, Its age and birth, through an awful girth Of strata, should show the wonder-worth Of patience to all eyes. My brother, man, builds as he can, And beauty he adds for his joy, But all the hues of sublimity My pinnacled walls employ. Slow shadows iris them all day long, And silvery ceils, soul-stilling, The moon drops down their precipices, Soft with a spectral thrilling. For all immutable dreams that sway With beauty the earth and air, Are ever at play, by night and day, My house of eternity to array In visions ever fair. Reprinted by permission of Cale Young Rice and The Century Co., the publishers of Mr. Rice’s works, among which are “Sea Poems,’ “Shadowy Thresholds,’ “Songs to A. H. R.,” “Wraiths and Realities,” “Earth and New Earth,” and “Trails Sunward.” School Poetry for Oral Expression 13 Sea Fever John Masefield John Masefield was born in Shropshire, England, in 1874. He ran away from home at the age of 14 and joined the navy. The influence of his life at sea is marked in many of his writings. He has written a number of dramas and novels as well as a great deal of poetry. This “call of the running tide’? requires the use of the imagina- tion and a sympathetic response to the spirit of the poem. Gen- erally speaking, the semicolon marks the division of distinct thought- units in each stanza. The somewhat abrupt close of each stanza will be helped in the oral expression by pausing before the last word. I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a gray dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied ; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; 14 School Poetry for Oral Expression And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over. Reprinted by permission of, and by special arrangement with, The Macmillan Company. Copyrighted by The Mac- millan Company. The Sea Gypsy Richard Hovey Richard Hovey was born at Normal, Illinois, May 4, 1864. He was on the stage for a number of years and has written many poems and dramas. He died Feb. 26, 1900. This exquisite lyric should be delivered with fervor. Reveal the sense clearly, but do not neglect the musical rhythm. I am fevered with the sunset, I am fretful with the bay, For the wander-thirst is on me And my soul is in Cathay. There’s a schooner in the offing, With her topsails shot with fire, And my heart has gone aboard her For the Islands of Desire. I must forth again to-morrow! With the sunset I must be, Hull down on the trail of rapture In the wonder of the sea. Reprinted by permission of, and by special arrange- ment with, Small, Maynard Co. School Poetry for Oral Expression 15 Neptune’s Steeds William Lawrence Chittenden William Lawrence Chittenden was born at Montclair, N. J., March 23, 1862. He began life as reporter for a New York news- paper, but later went to Texas and engaged in the cattle business in which he has been very successful. He has contributed verse and other matter to various periodicals under the pen-name of “Larry Chittenden.” He is the author of ‘‘Ranch Verses,’ 1893, now in the fifteenth edition (Putnams—publishers), ‘“‘Bermuda Verses,” 1909, “‘Lafferty’s Letters,’ etc. The following verses from his book, “Ranch Verses,’ evaluated by Dr. Lyman Abbott as the best of the author’s poems, were written at his summer home, “Christmas Cove,” on the coast of Maine. Have you ever watched from the seashore during a storm the white-crested waves—‘‘the wild white steeds of Neptune’’—as with tumultuous on-rush and resistless power they approached the shore? This is the picture you must see and depict as you read this poem. Hark to the wild nor’easter! That long, long booming roar, When the Storm King breathes his thunder Along the shuddering shore. The shivering air re-echoes The ocean’s weird refrain, For the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again. No hand nor voice can check them, These stern steeds of the sea, They were not born for bondage, They are forever free. With arched crests proudly waving, Too strong for human rein, The wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again. 16 School Poetry for Oral Expression With rolling emerald chariots They charge the stalwart strand, They gallop o’er the ledges And leap along the land; With deep chests breathing thunder Across the quivering plain, The wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again. Not with the trill of bugles, But roar of muffled drums And shrouded sea-weed banners, That mighty army comes. The harbor bars are moaning A wail of death and pain, For the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again. Well may the sailor women Look out to scan the lee, And long for absent lovers, Their lovers on the sea. Well may the harbored seamen Neglect the sails and seine, When the wild white steeds of Neptune Are coming home again. How sad their mournful neighing, That wailing, haunting sound; It is the song of sorrow, A dirge for dead men drowned. Though we must all go seaward, School Poetry for Oral Expression 17 Though our watchers wait in vain, The wild white steeds of Neptune Will homeward come again. Reprinted by permission of the author, Salute to the Trees Henry Van Dyke For biographical note concerning the author, see “An Angler’s Wish,” page 8 This beautiful tribute to the trees will surely bring from every reader a Sympathetic response. Full, round, ringing tones are required for effective delivery. The meter is such that you will need to be on your guard against falling into a ‘‘sing-song.”’ Many atree is found in the wood And every tree for its use is good: Some for the strength of the gnarléd root, Some for the sweetness of flower or fruit; Some for shelter against the storm, And some to keep the hearth-stone warm; Some for the roof and some for the beam, And some for a boat to breast the stream ;— In the wealth of the wood since the world began The trees have offered their gifts to man. But the glory of trees is more than their gifts: *Tis a beautiful wonder of life that lifts, From a wrinkled seed in an earth-bound clod, A column, an arch in the temple of God, A pillar of power, a dome of delight, A shrine of song, and a joy of sight! Their roots are the nurses of rivers in birth; 18 School Poetry for Oral Expression Their leaves are alive with the breath of the earth; They shelter the dwellings of man; and they bend O’er his grave with the look of a loving friend. I have camped in the whispering forest of pines, I have slept in the shadow of olives and vines; In the knees of an oak, at the foot of a palm, I have found good rest and a slumber’s balm. And now, when the morning gilds the boughs Of the vaulted elm at the door of my house, I open the window and make salute: “God bless thy branches and feed thy root! Thou hast lived before, live after me, Thou ancient, friendly, faithful tree.” Reprinted by permission of the author and by special arrangement with, Charles Scribner’s Sons, the publishers of the author’s works. The Green Inn Theodosia Garrison Faulks Theodosia Garrison Faulks was born in Newark, N. J., in 1874, and was educated in private schools. She is the author of a number of poems, and contributes verse and stories to magazines. Where is the background of this poem, and why could it not be placed in our country at this time? In the delivery, watch especially for the proper placing of emphasis in order to express the thought. A slow rate, with expansion of the principal words, is required for the most effective reading of the last stanza, I stckEN of men’s company, The crowded tavern’s din, Where all day long with oath and song Sit they who entrance win, School Poetry for Oral Expression So come I out from noise and rout To rest in God’s Green Inn. Here none may mock an empty purse Or ragged coat and poor, But Silence waits within the gates And Peace beside the door; The weary guest is welcomest, The richest pays no score. The roof is high and arched and blue, The floor is spread with pine; On my four walls the sunlight falls In golden flecks and fine; And swift and fleet on noiseless feet The Four Winds bring me wine. Upon my board they set their store, Great drinks mixed cunningly, Wherein the scent of furze is blent With the odor of the sea; As from a cup I drink it up To thrill the veins of me. It’s I will sit in God’s Green Inn Unvexed by man or ghost, Yet ever fed and comforted, Companioned by my host, And watched by night by that white light High swung from coast to coast. O you who in the House of Strife Quarrel and game and sin, 19 20 School Poetry for Oral Expression Come out and see what cheer may be For starveling souls and thin Who come at last from drought and fast To sit in God’s Green Inn. Reprinted by permission of the author and Scribner's Magazine. Copyright, 1907, by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Rebels Louis Untermeyer For biographical note concerning the author, see “The Laughers,”’ Page 88. This unique fancy, built around a single phenomenon in nature, will appeal especially to residents of the northern sections, where the scene described is frequently observed. STIFF in midsummer green, the stolid hillsides March with their trees, dependable and staunch, Except where here and there a lawless maple Thrusts to the sky one red, rebellious branch. You see them standing out, these frank insurgents, With that defiant and arresting plume; Scattered, they toss this flame like some wild signal, Calling their comrades to a brilliant doom. What can it mean—this strange, untimely challenge; This proclamation of an early death? Are they so tired of earth they fly the banner Of dissolution and a bleeding faith? Or is it, rather than a brief defiance, An anxious welcome to a vivid strife? School Poetry for Oral Expression 21 A glow, a heart-beat, and a bright acceptance Of all the rich exuberance of life. Rebellious or resigned, they flaunt their color, A sudden torch, a burning battle-cry. “Light up the world,” they wave to all the others; “Swiftly we live and splendidly we die.” Reprinted by permission of the author and Henry Holt and Company. Birches Robert Frost Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1875, but was brought up in New England. Most of his poetry deals with life in the North Atlantic States. He is now professor of English in the University of Michigan. Among his books are “North of Boston,” “A Boy’s Will,’ and “Mountain Interval,’ all published by Henry Holt and Co., New York. This teasing sort of verse—more than half conversational—is difficult to render, but pleasing when it is rendered well. Bring out the picture in the early part of the poem, and the philosophy toward the end. WHEN I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy’s swinging them. But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay. Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust— 22 School Poetry for Oral Expression Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen. They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load, And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed So low for long, they never right themselves: You may see their trunks arching in the woods Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair Before them over their heads to dry in the sun. But I was going to say when Truth broke in With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm (Now am I free to be poetical?) I should prefer to have some boy bend them As he went out and in to fetch the cows— Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, Whose only play was what he found himself, Summer or winter, and could play alone. One by one he subdued his father’s trees By riding them down over and over again Until he took the stiffness out of them, And not one but hung limp, not one was left For him to conquer. He learned all there was To learn about not launching out too soon And so not carrying the tree away Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise To the top branches, climbing carefully With the same pains you use to fill a cup Up to the brim, and even above the brim. Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. School Poetry for Oral Expression 23 So was I once myself a swinger of birches. And so I dream of going back to be. It’s when I’m weary of considerations, And life is too much like a pathless wood Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs Broken across it, and one eye is weeping From a twig’s having lashed across it open. I'd like to get away from earth awhile And then come back to it and begin over. May no fate willfully misunderstand me And half grant what I wish and snatch me away Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better. I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree, And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, But dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company. The Joy of the Hills Edwin Markham For biographical note concerning the author, see “The Man with the Hoe,” page 103. There is joy and expansion in this poem. Deliver it with sweep and abandon. Because the scene changes so often, it is best to read this selection from the book. I r1DE on the mountain-tops, I ride; 1 have found my life and am satisfied. 24 School Poetry for Oral Expression Onward I ride in the blowing oats, Checking the field-lark’s rippling notes— Lightly I sweep From steep to steep: Over my head through the branches high Come glimpses of a rushing sky; The tall oats brush my horse’s flanks; Wild poppies crowd on the sunny banks; A bee booms out of the scented grass; A jay laughs with me as I pass. I ride on the hills, I forgive, I forget Life’s hoard of regret— All the terror and pain Of the chafing chain. Grind on, O cities, grind: I leave you a blur behind, I am lifted elate—the skies expand: Here the world’s heaped gold is a pile of sand. Let them weary and work in their narrow walls: I ride with the voices of waterfalls! I swing on as one in a dream—lI swing Down the airy hollows, I shout, I sing! | The world is gone like an empty word: | My body’s a bough in the wind, my heart a bird! Reprinted by permission of the author. Copyright by Edwin Markham. School Poetry for Oral Expression 25 The Hills Berton Braley Berton Braley was born in 1882. He is a newspaper man, a poet, and a novelist. During the war he was a special correspond- ent in northern Europe. Read this poem with a rugged grandeur akin to that of the mountains that are described. Note, however, the change in mood in the early part of the last stanza. PARTNER, remember the hills? The gray, barren, bleak old hills We knew so well— Not those gentle, placid slopes that swell In lazy undulations, lush and green. No; the real hills, the jagged crests, The sharp and sheer-cut pinnacles of earth That stand against the azure—gaunt, serene, Careless of all our little worsts and bests, Our sorrow and our mirth! Partner, remember the hills? Those snow-crowned, granite battlements of hills We loved of old. They stood so calm, inscrutable and cold, Somehow it never seemed they cared at all For you or me, our fortunes or our fall, And yet we felt their thrall; And ever and forever to the end We shall not cease, my friend, To hear their call. 26 School Poetry for Oral Expression Partner, remember the hills? The grim and massive majesty of hills That soared so far, Seeming, at night, to scrape against a star. Do you remember how we lay at night (When the great herd had settled down to sleep) And watched the moonshine—white Against the peaks all garlanded with snow, While soft and low The night wind murmured in our ears—and so We wrapped our blankets closer, looked again At those great shadowy mountain-tops, and then Sank gently to our deep And quiet sleep? Partner, remember the hills? The real hills, the true hills. Ah, I have tried To brush the memory of them aside; To learn to love Those fresh, green hills the poets carol of; But the old gray hills of barrenness still hold My heart so much in thrall That I forget the beauty all about, The grass and flowers and all; And just cry out To take again the faint and wind-swept trail, To see my naked mountains, shale and snow, To feel again the hill-wind and to know The spell that shall not fail. Reprinted by permission of, and special arrangement with, Geo. H. Doran Company, from Songs of the Workaday World. Copyright, 1915. School Poetry for Oral Expression 27 Highmount Louis Untermeyer For biographical note concerning the author, see “The Laughers,” page 88. This exquisite poem may well test the imagination of the reader. Bring out the contrast between the restless impatience of the sea and the calm solidity of the hills. Do not forget the rhyme. Hits, you have answered the craving That spurred me to come; You have opened your deep blue bosom And taken me home. The sea had filled me with the stress Of its own restlessness ; My voice was in that angry roll Of passion beating upon the world. The ground beneath me shifted; I was swirled In an implacable flood that howled to see Its breakers rising in me, A torrent rushing through my soul, And tearing things free. I could not control A monstrous impatience, a stubborn and vain Repetition of madness and longing, of question and pain, Driving me up to the brow of this hill— Calling and questioning still. And you—you smile In ordered calm; 28 School Poetry for Oral Expression You wrap yourself in cloudy contemplation while The winds go shouting their heroic psalm; The streams press lovingly about your feet And trees, like birds escaping from the heat, Sit in great flocks and fold their broad green wings. ... A cow bell rings Like a sound blurred by sleep, Giving the silence a rhythm That makes it twice as deep... Somewhere a farm-hand sings... And here you stand Breasting the elemental sea, And put forth an invisible hand To comfort me. Rooted in quiet confidence, you rise Above the frantic and assailing years; Your silent faith is louder than the cries; The shattering fears Break and subside when they encounter you. You know their doubts, the desperate questions— And the answers too. Hills, you are strong; and my burdens Are scattered like foam; You have opened your deep blue bosom And taken me home. Reprinted by permission of the author, and by permission of, and special arrangement with, Henry Holt and Company. School Poetry for Oral Expression 29 May is Building Her House Richard Le Gallienne Richard Le Gallienne was born in Liverpool, January 20, 1866. He is a journalist and man of letters. He was educated at Liver- pool College and has published numerous poems, sonnets, and essays. This beautiful fancy should be rendered with tenderness and delight. There is much music in the rhyme, which should be fully developed. Paint each picture as vividly as possible without de- stroying the onward flow of the verse. May is building her house. With apple blooms She is roofing over the glimmering rooms; Of the oak and the beech hath she builded its beams, And spinning all day at her secret looms, With arras of leaves each wind-swayed wall She pictureth over, and peopleth it all With echoes and dreams, And singing of streams. May is building her house. Of petal and blade, Of the roots of the oak, is the flooring made, With a carpet of mosses and lichen and clover, Each small miracle over and over, And tender, traveling green things strayed. Her windows, the morning and evening star, And her rustling doorways, ever ajar With the coming and going Of fair things blowing, The thresholds of the four winds are, 30 School Poetry for Oral Expression May is building her house. From the dust of things She is making the songs and the flowers and the Wings ; From October’s tossed and trodden gold She is making the young year out of the old; Yea: Out of winter’s flying sleet She is making all the summer sweet, And the brown leaves spurned of November’s feet She is changing back again into spring’s. Reprinted by permission of the author and Harper and Brothers, publishers of the author’s works. After Sunset Grace Hazard Conkling Grace Hazard Conkling was born in New York City. She entered Smith College in 1899 and later studied music and languages in Heidelberg and Paris. She married Roscoe Platt Conkling in r90s. She is teaching English in Smith College at the present time, and contributes poems to a number of the leading magazines of the country. An effective oral interpretation of this intimate study of one of Nature’s most impressive phenomena requires slow rate, with appropriate tone-color to depict the varying scenes and sentiments. I HAVE an understanding with the hills At evening, when the slanted radiance fills Their hollows, and the great winds let them be, And they are quiet and look down at me. Oh, then I see the patience in their eyes Out of the centuries that made them wise. They lend me hoarded memory, and I learn Their thoughts of granite and their whims of fern. School Poetry for Oral Expression 31 And why a dream of forests must endure Though every tree be slain; and how the pure, Invisible beauty has a word so brief A flower can say it, or a shaken leaf, But few may ever snare it in a song, Though for the quest a life is not too long. When the blue hills grow tender, when they pull The twilight close with gesture beautiful, And shadows are their garments, and the air Deepens, and the wild veery is at prayer, Their arms are strong around me; and I know That somehow I shall follow when they go To the still land beyond the evening star, Where everlasting hills and valleys are, And silence may not hurt us any more, And terror shall be past, and grief and war. Reprinted by permission of the author and Henry Holt and Company. A Dakota Wheat Field Hamlin Garland Hamlin Garland was born in West Salem, Wisconsin, on Septem- ber 16, 1860. He is a novelist and dramatist. As a boy he worked on a farm and went to school, and later taught school in Illinois. He began to write stories about 1893. Residents of states having expansive wheat fields will recognize how true to nature is the following beautiful description. The poem, especially in the second stanza, offers opportunity for the study of changes in rate to express changing scenes and emotions. LixeE liquid gold the wheat field lies, A marvel of yellow and russet and green, That ripples and runs, that floats and flies, 32 School Poetry for Oral Expression With the subtle shadows, the change, the sheen That play in the golden hair of a girl,— A ripple of amber—a flare Of light sweeping after—a curl In the hollows. Like swirling feet Of fairy waltzers, the colors run To the western sun Through the deeps of the ripening wheat. Broad as the fleckless, soaring sky, Mysterious, fair as the moon-led sea, The vast plain flames on the dazzled eye Under the fierce sun’s alchemy. The slow hawk stoops To his prey in the deeps; The sunflower droops To the lazy wave; the wind sleeps. Then all in dazzling links and loops, A riot of shadow and shine, A glory of olive and amber and wine, To the westering sun the colors run Through the deeps of the ripening wheat. O glorious land! My Western land, » Outspread beneath the setting sun! Once more amid your swells I stand, And cross your sod lands dry and dun. I hear the jocund calls of men Who sweep amid the ripened grain, With swift, stern reapers, once again. The evening splendor floods the plain: The crickets’ chime School Poetry for Oral Expression Makes pauseless rhyme, And toward the sun The splendid colors ramp and run Before the wind’s feet In the wheat! Reprinted by permission of the author. Landscapes Louis Untermeyer 33 For biographical note concerning the author, see ‘’The Laughers,” page 88. The varied scenes and objects so beautifully portrayed in this poem, together with the contrasting picture toward the close, should be clearly shown by due emphasis, while the rhythm of the whole should not be neglected. THE rain was over, and the brilliant air Made every little blade of grass appear Vivid and startling—everything was there With sharpened outlines, eloquently clear, As though one saw it in a crystal sphere. The rusty sumac with its struggling spires; The golden-rod with all its million fires; (A million torches swinging in the wind) A single poplar, marvelously thinned, Half like a naked body, half like a sword; Clouds, like the haughty banners of the Lord; A group of pansies with their shrewish faces, Little old ladies cackling over laces; The quaint, unhurried road that curved so well; The prim petunias with their rich, rank smell; 34 School Poetry for Oral Expression The lettuce-birds, the creepers in the field— How bountifully were they all revealed! How arrogantly each one seemed to thrive— So frank and strong, so radiantly alive! And over all the morning-minded earth There seemed to spread a sharp and kindling mirth, Piercing the stubborn stones until I saw The toad face heaven without shame or awe, The ant confront the stars, and every weed Grow proud as though it bore a royal seed; While all the things that die and decompose Sent forth their bloom as richly as the rose... . Oh, what a liberal power that made them thrive And keep the very dirt that died, alive! And now I saw the slender willow-tree, No longer calm or drooping listlessly, Letting its languid branches sway and fall As though it danced in some sad ritual; But rather like a young athletic girl, Fearless and gay, her hair all out of curl, And flying in the wind—her head thrown back, Her arms flung up, her garments flowing slack, And all her rushing spirits running over... . What made a sober tree seem stich a rover— Or made the staid and stalwart apple-trees, That stood for years knee-deep in velvet peace, Turn all their fruit to little worlds of flame, And burn the trembling orchard there below? What lit the heart of every golden-glow— Oh, why was nothing weary, dull, or tame? ... School Poetry for Oral Expression 35 Beauty it was, and keen, compassionate mirth That drives the vast and energetic earth. And, with abrupt and visionary eyes, I saw the huddled tenements arise. Here where the merry clover danced and shone Sprang agonies of iron and stone; There, where the green Silence laughed or stood enthralled, Cheap music blared and evil alleys sprawled. The roaring avenues, the shrieking mills; Brothels and prisons on those kindly hills— The menace of these things swept over me; A threatening, unconquerable sea... . A stirring landscape and a generous earth! Freshening courage and benevolent mirth— And then the city, like a hideous sore... . Good God, and what is all this beauty for? Reprinted by permission of the author and Henry Holt and Company. Catalog of Lovely Things Richard Le Gallienne For biographical mention of Richard Le Gallienne see ‘‘May is Building Her House,” page 29. Do you think that the author has omitted anything in this “Catalog of Lovely Things’? In any event, you will need to go slowly in rendering these lines, in order that the things successively mentioned may be duly appreciated and impressed. I woutp make a list against the evil days Of lovely things to hold in memory: 36 School Poetry for Oral Expression First, I set down my lady’s lovely face, For earth hath no such lovely thing as she; And next I add, to bear her company, The great-eyed virgin star that morning brings; Then the wild rose upon its little tree— So runs my catalog of lovely things. The enchanted dogwood, with its ivory trays; The water-lily in its sanctuary Of reeded pools; and dew-drenched lilac sprays: For these, of all fair flowers, the fairest be. Next write I down the great name of the sea, Lonely in greatness as the names of kings; Then the young moon that hath us all in fee— So runs my catalog of lovely things. Imperial sunsets that in crimson blaze Along the hills; and, fairer still to me, The fireflies dancing in a netted maze Woven of twilight and tranquillity ; Shakespeare and Virgil—their high poesy; And a great ship, splendid with snowy wings, Voyaging on into Eternity— So runs my catalog of lovely things. ENVOI Prince, not the gold bars of thy treasury, Not all thy jeweled scepters, crowns, and rings, Are worth the honeycomb of the wild bee— So runs my catalog of lovely things. Reprinted by permission of the author and Harper and Brothers, the publishers of the author’s works. School Poetry for Oral Expression 37 The Winter Scene Bliss Carman Bliss Carman was born at Fredericton, New Brunswick, April 15, 1861. He was educated at the University of New Brunswick, the University of Edinburgh, and Harvard. He studied law and was engaged in editorial work, but since 1894 has devoted himself entirely to literary pursuits. He is the author of many volumes of prose and verse. The following blank-verse description of a northern winter runs true to form, having a more expansive background than the more localized and specific descriptions found in Whittier’s “Snow Bound.” If the reader keenly visualizes the scenes described, the vocal rendition will offer no special difficulty. I THE rutted roads are all like iron; the skies Are keen and brilliant; only the oak-leaves cling In the bare woods, or hardy bitter-sweet ; Drivers have put their sheepskin jackets on; And all the ponds are sealed with sheeted ice That rings with stroke of skate and hockey-stick, Or in the twilight cracks with running whoop. Bring in the logs of oak and hickory, And make an ample blaze on the wide hearth. Now is the time, with winter o’er the world, For books and friends and yellow candle-light, And timeless lingering by the settling fire, While all the shuddering stars are keen and cold. 2 Out of the silent portal of the hours, When frosts are come and all the hosts put on Their burnished gear to march across the night And o’er a darkened earth in splendor whine, 38 School Poetry for Oral Expression Slowly above the world Orion wheels His glittering square, while on the shadowy hill And throbbing like a sea-light through the dusk, Great Sirius rises in his flashing blue. Lord of the winter night, august and pure, Returning year on year untouched by time, To kindle faith with thy immortal fire, There are no hurts that beauty cannot ease, No ills that love cannot at last repair, In the courageous progress of the soul 3 Russet and white and gray is the oak wood In the great snow. Still from the North it comes, Whispering, settling, sifting through the trees, O’erloading branch and twig. The road is lost. Clearing and meadow, stream and ice-bound pond Are made once more a trackless wilderness In the white hush where not a creature stirs; And the pale sun is blotted from the sky. In that strange twilight the lone traveller halts To listen while the stealthy snowflakes fall. And then far off toward the Stamford shore, Where through the storm the coastwise liners go, Faint and recurrent on the muddled air, A foghorn booming through the smother,—hark! 4 When the day changed and the mad wind died down, School Poetry for Oral Expression 39 The powdery drifts that all day long had blown Across the meadows and the open fields, Or whirled like diamond dust in the bright sun, Settled to rest, and for a tranquil hour The lengthening bluish shadows on the snow Stole down the orchard slope, and a rose light Flooded the earth with glory and with peace, Then in the west behind the cedars black The sinking sun made red the winter dusk With sudden flare along the snowy ridge,— Like a rare masterpiece by Hokusai, Where on a background gray, with flaming breath The crimson dragon dies in dusky gold. Reprinted by permission of the author. Deserted Madison Cawein Madison Cawein was born at Louisville, Kentucky in 1865, and died in 1915. He began writing at twenty-two years of age and continued until his death, He was preéminently a poet of Nature. Picture yourself abroad on such a night as the poet here describes. See the old, deserted house. Strive to reproduce in yourself the emotions you would feel when contemplating it. The pitch is low, the movement slow. THe old house leans upon a tree Like some old man upon a staff; The night wind in its ancient porch Sounds like a hollow laugh. The heaven is wrapped in flying clouds As grandeur cloaks itself in gray: 40 School Poetry for Oral Expression The starlight, fluttering in and out, Glints like a lanthorn ray. The dark is full of whispers. Now A fox-hound howls: and through the night, Like some old ghost from out its grave, The moon comes misty white. Reprinted by permission of, and special arrangement with, E. P. Dutton and Company. Down the Mississippi John Gould Fletcher John Gould Fletcher was born at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1886. He was educated at Harvard, but soon after went to England, where he has since spent most of his time. His early works were highly fanciful, but “‘Lincoln” and his later works are strong and moving. His works include “‘Goblins and Pagodas,’’ published by Houghton Mifflin and Co., ‘‘The Tree of Life,” published by Chatto and Windus, London, and ‘Breakers and Granite,” published by The Macmillan Company, New York. This composition might well be styled a “poem of pictures and moods.” The moods are the result of the pictures. Let the reader see the different scenes vividly and let them work their magic upon his “bodily texture.’’ Notice a certain unity, too, through the entire poem. Do not neglect the sublimity of the last lines. Embarkation DuLit masses of dense green, The forests range their sombre platforms. Between them silently, like a spirit, The river finds its own mysterious path. Loosely the river sways out, backward, forward, Always fretting the outer side; School Poetry for Oral Expression 41 Shunning the invisible focus of each crescent, Seeking to spread into shining loops over fields: Like an enormous serpent, dilating, uncoiling, Displaying a broad scaly back of earth-smeared gold; Swaying out sinuously between the dull motionless forests, As molten metal might glide down the lip of a vase of dark bronze. Heat As if the sun had trodden down the sky, Until no more it holds air for us, but only humid vapor, The heat, pressing upon earth with irresistible languor, Turns all the solid forest into half-liquid smudge. The heavy clouds, like cargo-boats, strain slowly up ’gainst its current ; And the flickering of the heat haze is like the churning of ten thousand paddles Against the heavy horizon, pale blue and utterly windless, Whereon the sun hangs motionless, a brassy disk of flame. Full Moon Flinging its arc of silver bubbles, quickly shifts the moon 42 School Poetry for Oral Expression From side to side of us as we go down its path; I sit on the deck at midnight, and watch it slipping and sliding, Under my tilted chair, like a thin film of spilt water. It is weaving a river of light to take the place of this river— A river where we shall drift all night, then come to rest in its shallows. And then I shall wake from my drowsiness and look down from some dim tree-top Over white lakes of cotton, like moon-fields on every side. The Moon’s Orchestra When the moon lights up Its dull red camp-fire through the trees; And floats out, like a white balloon, Into the blue cup of the night, borne by a casual breeze; The moon-orchestra then begins to stir: Jiggle of fiddles commence their crazy dance in the darkness ; Crickets churr Against the stark reiteration of the rusty flutes which frogs Puff at from rotted logs In the swamp. And the moon begins her dance of frozen pomp Over the lightly quivering floor of the flat and mournful river. School Poetry for Oral Expression 43 Her white feet slightly twist and swirl— She is a mad girl In an old unlit ball-room, Whose walls, half-guessed-at through the gloom, Are hung with the rusty crape of stark black cypresses, Which show, through gaps and tatters, red stains half hidden away. The Stevedores Frieze of warm bronze that glides with cat-like movements Over the gang-plank poised and yet awaiting— The sinewy thudding rhythms of forty shuffling feet ; Falling like muffled drum-beats on the stillness: Oh, roll the cotton down— Roll, roll, the cotton down! From the further side of Jordan, Oh, roll the cotton down! And the river waits, The river listens, Chuckling with little banjo-notes that break with a plop on the stillness. And by the low dark shed that holds the heavy freights, Two lonely cypress trees stand up and point with stiffened fingers Far southward where a single chimney stands aloof in the sky. 44 School Poetry for Oral Expression Night Landing After the whistle’s roar has bellowed and shuddered, Shaking the sleeping town and the somnolent river, The deep-toned floating of the pilot’s bell Suddenly warns the engines. They pause like heart-beats that abruptly stop: The shore glides to us, in a wide low curve. And then—supreme revelation of the river— The tackle is loosed, the long gang-plank swings outwards; And poised at the end of it, half naked beneath the searchlight, A blue-black negro with gleaming teeth waits for his chance to leap. The Silence There is a silence which I carry about with me always— A silence perpetual, for it is self-created; A silence of heat, of water, of unchecked fruit- fulness, Through which each year the heavy harvests bloom, and burst, and fall. Deep, matted green silence of my South, Often, within the push and the scorn of great cities, I have seen that mile-wide waste of water swaying out to you, And on its current glimmering I am going to the sea. School Poetry for Oral Expression 45 There is a silence I have achieved—I have walked beyond its threshold. I know it is without horizons, boundless, fathom- _less, perfect. And some day, maybe, far away, I shall curl up in it at last and sleep an endless sleep. Reprinted by permission of, and by special arrange- ment with, The Macmillan Company. Copyrighted by The Macmillan Company. A Vagabond Song Bliss Carman For biographical note concerning the author, see ‘‘The Winter Scene,” page 37. This is truly a song, but do not fail to reveal the emotions stirred by the flitting visions of autumn. THERE is something in the autumn that is native to my blood— Touch of manner, hint of mood; And my heart is like a rhyme, With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry Of bugles going by, And my lonely spirit thrills To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills. There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir ; 46 School Poetry for Oral Expression We must rise and follow her, When from every hill of flame She calls and calls each vagabond by name. Reprinted by permission of, and special arrangement with, Small, Maynard and Co. God’s World Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay was born at Camden, Maine, and was educated at Vassar College. Some of her published volumes are ‘Renascence and Other Poems,” ‘Second April,” both published by Mitchell Kennerley, New York, and “Some Figs from Thistles,” published by Frank Shay, New York. Seldom does such passion as this succeed in revealing itself in verse. Restraint must characterize any reading of this poem, but such a restraint as threatens every moment to break out of bounds. A holding back upon the beginning of the words, and an impas- sioned emphasis upon the latter parts of them may help the reader. O Wor tp, I cannot hold thee close enough! Thy winds, thy wide gray skies! Thy mists that roll and rise! Thy woods this autumn day, that ache and sag And all but cry with color! That gaunt crag To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff! World, World, I cannot get thee close enough! Long have I known a glory in it all, But never knew [I this; Here such a passion is As stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fear Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year; My soul is all but out of me,—let fall No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call. Reprinted by permission of Mitchell Kennerley. School Poetry for Oral Expression 47 Ellis Park Helen Hoyt Helen Hoyt (Mrs. W. W. Lyman) was born at Norwalk, Conn., and educated at Barnard College, where she was graduated in 1909. She taught for a while in the Middle West, later joining the staff of Poetry and becoming Associate Editor. She now resides at St. Helena, Calif. Let the tone of this poem be that of affection,—almost childish tenderness, LittLe park that I pass through, I carry off a piece of you Every morning hurrying down To my work-day in the town; Carry you for country there To make the city ways more fair. I take your trees, And your breeze, Your greenness, Your cleanness, Some of your shade, some of your sky, Some of your calm as I go by; Your flowers to trim The pavements grim; Your space for room in the jostled street, And grass for carpet to my feet. Your fountains take, and sweet bird calls, To sing me from my office walls; ‘All that I can see I carry off with me. But you never miss my theft, So much treasure you have left. As I find you, fresh at morning, So I find you, home returning— 48 School Poetry for Oral Expression Nothing lacking from your grace. All your riches wait in place For me to borrow On the morrow. Do you hear this praise of you, Little park that I pass through? Reprinted by permission of the author. In Lady Street John Drinkwater John Drinkwater, the author of the famous play Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1882. He has published essays, poems, and plays, and has been general manager of the Birmingham (England) Repertory Theatre. Most of his poems are meditative in mood. In reading this poem be sure to reveal the ugliness of the scene in the opening lines, and then transform that ugliness into beauty worthy of admiration. Low tones will mark the opening of the poem with traces of the guttural quality. Later the tone is higher and brighter, and abounds in waves of wonder and beauty. ALL day long the traffic goes In Lady Street by dingy rows Of sloven houses, tattered shops— Fried fish, old clothes and fortune-tellers— Tall trams on silver-shining rails, With grinding wheels and swaying tops, And lorries with their corded bales, And screeching cars. “Buy, buy!” the sellers Of rags and bones and sickening meat Cry all day long in Lady Street. And when the sunshine has its way In Lady Street, then all the gray School Poetry for Oral Expression Dull desolation grows in state More dull and gray and desolate, And the sun is a shamefast thing, A lord not comely-housed, a god Seeing what gods must blush to see, A song where it is ill to sing, And each gold ray despiteously Lies like a gold ironic rod. Yet one gray man in Lady Street Looks for the sun. He never bent Life to his will, his traveling feet Have scaled no cloudy continent, Nor has the sickle-hand been strong. He lies in Lady Street; a bed, Four cobwebbed walls. But all day long A tune is singing in his head Of youth in Gloucester lanes. He hears The wind among the barley-blades, The tapping of the woodpeckers On the smooth beeches, thistle-spades Slicing the sinewy roots; he sees The hooded filberts in the copse Beyond the loaded orchard trees, The netted avenues of hops; He smells the honeysuckle thrown Along the hedge. He lives alone, Alone—yet not alone, for sweet Are Gloucester lanes in Lady Street. Ay, Gloucester lanes. For down below The cobwebbed room this gray man plies 49 50 School Poetry for Oral Expression A trade, a colored trade. A show Of many-colored merchandise Is in his shop. Brown filberts there And apples red with Gloucester air, And cauliflowers he keeps, and round Smooth marrows grown on Gloucester ground, Fat cabbages and yellow plums, And gaudy brave chrysanthemums. And times a glossy pheasant lies Among his store, not Tyrian dyes More rich than are the neck-feathers; And times a prize of violets, Or dewy mushrooms satin-skinned, And times an unfamiliar wind Robbed of its woodland favor stirs Gay daffodils this gray man sets Among his treasure. All day long In Lady Street the traffic goes By dingy houses, desolate rows Of shops that stare like hopeless eyes. Day long the sellers cry their cries, The fortune-tellers tell no wrong Of lives that know not any right, And drift, that has not even the will To drift, toils through the day until The wage of sleep is won at night. But this gray man heeds not all The hell of Lady Street. His stall Of many~