Still she stands on the wet sea-sands:
The morning breaks above her,

And the corpse of a sailor gleams on the rocks-
What if it were her lover?

Exercises.

Ex. I. Copy these stanzas and underscore each suggestive word, that is, each word that has more than a mere fact or dictionary meaning. What details are made use of? What tells the time of year? What kind of night has it been? How do you know? What are the bristling lances?

How long has she stood on the shore? Is wet sea-sands better than shore? Why? Is the last stanza in harmony with or in contrast with the first two? For whom is it that the night drags? Substitute for drags a literal word. Why is the figure of speech better? Substitute for each of the figurative words a literal word and note the loss of power. Substitute prose words for the words that are suggestive in themselves. What difference does it make? With closed eyes try to see distinctly each of the eight or ten pictures in the poem.

What associations cluster about drags, die, ragged, stealthy, straggles, bristling, and breaks? About each of the words suggestive in themselves?

In about as many

Ex. II. In the poem quoted are 74 words. words describe the earth and the air after an April shower, an autumn pour, or a winter storm. Use as many suggestive details as possible, and as many suggestive words, both literal and figurative. Work at this description for several days, trying to make each word the very best possible.

91. THE POET'S SONG.

The following stanzas by Lord Tennyson give a poet's feeling about the power of poetry. Read them at least twice carefully, trying to understand the meaning, before you refer to the exercise:

The rain had fallen, the Poet arose,

He passed by the town, and out of the street,
A light wind blew from the gates of the sun,
And waves of shadow went over the wheat,
And he sat him down in a lonely place,

And chanted a melody loud and sweet,
That made the wild swan pause in her cloud,
And the lark drop down at his feet.

'The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee,

The snake slipt under a spray,

The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak,

And stared, with his foot on the prey,

And the nightingale thought, "I have sung many songs,
But never a one so gay,

For he sings of what the world will be

When the years have died away."

Exercise.

Why did the poet leave the town and street? What tells the direction from which the wind is blowing? What makes us see the effect of the wind? What is the most suggestive word in the fifth line? How many different results of the poet's song are definitely mentioned? How does the swallow hunt the bee? Have you ever seen it? What two suggestions make us see the hawk? What is the down? What is your idea of the meaning of the nightingale's thought? What words in the poem are suggestive as figures of speech? What other words are suggestive? What suggestive details are in the poem?

Are the facts told in these stanzas the literal truth? If not, why did Lord Tennyson make the statements?

92. PERSUASIVE WRITING.

You wish your father or another person to give you something or to permit you to go somewhere or to do a certain thing.

You determine to put into writing your reasons for feeling that your wish should be granted. You first make a list of these reasons. Then you remember that your father will have reasons why your wish should not be granted. You think out all the reasons he will advance, make a list of them, and determine an answer for each.

Now you are ready to write. You first make a brief opening paragraph. Then you give a paragraph to each of the main reasons why your wish should be granted, and a paragraph to each of your answers to possible objections. This constitutes the body of your paper. In a brief concluding paragraph you sum up your reasons, and close with a request that your desire be granted.

This kind of composition, whether oral or written, is called persuasion or argumentation.

Exercise.

You wish your cousin or friend to spend the holidays at your home. Make a list of three or four reasons why he should come and one or two answers to possible objections. After making this brief outline write a letter to him. Use a brief opening paragraph, then a separate paragraph for each reason and answer, add the short concluding paragraph, and sign as usual. Be easy and natural, and write as you would talk if your cousin were present.

In the same way write a letter to your father to persuade him to let you spend the summer on your uncle's farm, at your aunt's city home, at Chautauqua Lake, or at the ocean.

Write a similar letter to a friend who is talking of leaving school, endeavoring to persuade him that it will be better for him to remain in school for at least another year.

Write a letter to a friend urging him to go to the woods with you on Saturday instead of taking a bicycle ride.

Write a letter to your grandmother urging her to come to visit you. Write a letter to your father in order to persuade him to buy you a bicycle or anything else that you especially wish.

Write a letter to your father, endeavoring to persuade him to let you go through high school after you have completed the grammar school course.

Write a reply to any of the above letters, refusing the thing asked and giving reasons for the refusal.

93. THE GLADIATOR CONDEMNED.

After the Painting by Gérome.

Ex. I. In what city may we imagine this scene is taking place? In what building? How long has the present series of contests been in progress? Why your answer? How many bodies are on the sand of the arena? Which ones are bodies of dead men?

With whom has the standing gladiator just been fighting? With what have they been fighting? Where are the conqueror's feet? Why is he looking up? (When his opponent was defeated it was customary for a gladiator to look to the spectators - usually to the group of spotless vestal virgins - to learn whether he should kill his fallen foe or grant him life.) To which special group is this conqueror looking? Is it a group of men or women? How are they dressed? Do the spectators wish him to spare his foe or kill him?

What is the position of their bodies? Why are they leaning forward? Why are their arms extended? What is the position of their thumbs? What does this mean? (Reversed thumbs demanded the death of the conquered.) Will the gladiator be compelled to kill his foe?

What is the position of the head of the conquered? Why is his mouth open? Where is the conqueror's foot? What is the position of the conquered's right arm? Toward whom is it extended? Why? Where is his left hand? Why? What is the position of his feet? Why is his right foot and leg raised ?

Toward what point are all the spectators looking? How important a moment in the sport is this? How much pity do you find in the faces or attitudes of the spectators? How is the conquered dressed? Was he better prepared for the contest than his foe? What is on his left arm? On his right arm? On his head? Legs? Had the conquered a shield? How did he use the net and the trident on the sand at his right? Did the short sword at the left of the picture probably belong to him or to the man near whom it lies?