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19. Explain fully her "I hold thee as my worst and most deadly

enemy."

20. Explain "She is indeed resolute."

21. Why did the crowd greet the "champion" so eagerly?

22. Why did not Bois-Guilbert desire to fight with the young knight?

23. What taunt does Ivanhoe utter?

24. What threat declared by Bois-Guilbert?

25. Explain Ivanhoe's "it is the judgment of God."

26. Why was Rebecca loath to accept Ivanhoe as her champion? 27. Describe briefly the combat.

28. Explain “he had died a victim of his own contending passions."

29. In what sense was this "the judgment of God"?

30. What shows that the Grand Master acquiesced in the decision? 31. Explain "God's arm, no human hand, hath this day struck him down."

32. What was the final verdict of the Grand Master?

33. What are the strongest points in the character of Rebecca? In the character of Ivanhoe?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

SCOTT: Ivanhoe. Kenilworth. The Talisman.

ROLFE: Tales of Chivalry and the Olden Times.

READE: Cloister and Hearth.

BROWNING: Count Gismond. Hervé Riel.

PORTER: Scottish Chiefs.

GILDER: The Parting of the Ways.

LOWELL: Vision of Sir Launfal.

TENNYSON: Sir Galahad. The Lady of Shalott. Idylls of the

King. Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead.

BROWNING: Incident of a French Camp.

HALLECK: Marco Bozzaris.

WILSON: Such is the Death the Soldier Dies.

HUNT: The Glove and the Lions.

E. S. BROOKS: Chivalric Days.

CHURCH: Heroes of Chivalry and Romance.

LANIER: The Boys' King Arthur.

THE PARTING OF THE WAYS

NATIONS, like individuals, have to work out their larger destinies. Every individual has a special work to do and so with every nation. All nations have tried to solve their problems, and in most instances have failed because of narrow vision or because of selfishness.

In this poem the author looks upon America as the great Giant of the West unhindered by past mistakes, blessed with heaven's mercies and free to work out its larger destiny. He imagines that the nation is like a young Hercules coming to its age of responsibility where the paths divide. One path leads to heights sublime, and the other leads downward where only wrecks may be found. The nation must choose what path it shall follow; whether to oppress or to befriend the weak, whether to seek empty honor merely, or whether to work out its larger mission of service to mankind. The prayer of the poet is that this nation may choose the nobler part, and that it may work out its destiny by being "godlike in the will to serve." This poem was written just at the time when the United States was hesitating whether or not to push out on a larger policy of territorial expansion. The poet seems

to feel that true national greatness lies not merely in extent of territory, but in the spirit in which our country performs its work among the nations of earth.

THE PARTING OF THE WAYS*

Untrammeled Giant of the West,
With all of Nature's gifts endowed,
With all of Heaven's mercies blessed,
Nor of thy power unduly proud—
Peerless in courage, force, and skill,
And godlike in thy strength of will,—

Before thy feet the ways divide:

One path leads up to heights sublime;
Downward the other slopes, where bide
The refuse and the wrecks of Time.
Choose, then, nor falter at the start,
O choose the nobler path and part!

Be thou the guardian of the weak,
Of the unfriended, thou the friend;

No guerdon for thy valor seek,

No end beyond the avowed end.
Wouldst thou thy godlike power preserve,

Be godlike in the will to serve!

-Joseph B. Gilder.

*Used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, the authorized publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company.

NOTES

1. Look up the life of Joseph B. Gilder.

2. Look up the history of this government at the time of the war with Spain.

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4. Read carefully "The Choice of Hercules."

5. Look up the meanings of the following words and expressions: untrammeled, endowed, unduly proud, peerless, sublime, refuse, falter, guardian, guerdon, valor, avowed.

EXERCISES

1. With what thought in mind did the poet write this poem? 2. Why does he speak of the country as the "Giant of the West"? 3. Why untrammeled?

4. How endowed with all of nature's gifts?

5. How blessed with all of heaven's mercies?

6. What is the best thing he says about the country in the first stanza?

7. How does he show that the country has reached a crisis in its progress?

8. What two paths opened before it?

9. How does the poet desire the country to choose?

10. Explain "No guerdon for thy valor seek."

11. What is the "avowéd end"?

12. How can the country preserve its godlike power? 13. Explain fully the meaning of the last line.

ADDITIONAL READINGS

KIPLING: The Recessional.

The Choice of Hercules.

SILL: Opportunity.

INGALLS: Opportunity.

If-.

WHITTIER: The Lost Occasion. Centennial Hymn.

RUSKIN: The Dawn of Peace.

HOLMES: The Chambered Nautilus.

LONGFELLOW: Excelsior.

ARNOLD: Self-Dependence.

OH, WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF

MORTAL BE PROUD?

THIS poem has been cherished by many be

cause it was the favorite poem of Abraham Lincoln. It is said that he recited it to members of his cabinet in the darkest days of the Civil War. He was heard many times to quote from the poem or to refer to it. It seemed to be a part of him. When one studies the poem, he does not wonder that so serious-minded a man as Lincoln loved it. A strain of lofty seriousness pervades the poem, and "we, things that are now" are called from pride to humility of spirit. Some have thought the poem to be especially sad because it tells of the many who "Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust" and reminds us that the life of each is fleeting the mere "wink of an eye."

Those who knew Lincoln best felt that, underneath the strain of sadness, he caught one clear note of joy in the thought that even a brief life could be lived seriously and filled with deeds of unselfish service.

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