THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 219 THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly stream ing: And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream. 'Tis the star-spangled banner, oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, No refuge could save the hireling and slave Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. Give the story of the circumstances under which this poem was written. 2. Why did the sight of the flag mean so much to the author? 3. Explain "the foe's haughty host," "on that shore dimly seen." 4. What proved that these freemen were not hirelings or slaves? 5. What prophecy and pledge are contained in the last stanza? 6. What then is necessary to preserve the lofty influence of our Star-Spangled Banner? 7. Of what is this banner a perpetual symbol? 8. Have the school sing this song, entering fully into its loftier spirit. REFERENCES DRAKE: The American Flag. DWIGHT: Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean. WHITTIER: Barbara Frietchie. BENNETT: The Flag Goes By. BRADLEY: The Tribute. HOPKINSON: Hail, Columbia ! B. F. TAYLOR: God Bless Our Stars Forever. RILEY: Old Glory. SWEET AND LOW ALFRED TENNYSON HIS sweet little "Song of the Mother" breathes TH forth "all the wealth of mother-love in numbers so sweet and low" that one is "carried back to his infancy, to eventide and to lullabies from lips that have long since ceased to sing," and to days when a faithful, patient mother awaited a father's return to home and love. Great artists have glorified motherhood and childhood in their "Madonnas," but this beautiful little song equally exalts fatherhood. The cradle motion of the song but lends an added touch of exquisite beauty and charm. When the song is set to appropriate music, it seems that music, motion, and message blend into the sweet restful quiet of an evening prayer. SWEET AND LOW Sweet and low, sweet and low, Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow, Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow him again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps. Sleep and rest, sleep and rest, Father will come to thee soon; Rest, rest, on mother's breast, Father will come to his babe in the nest, Under the silver moon: Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep. SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. What tells the time of day? 2. How is the cradle-motion brought out in the poem? 3. What vivid picture does this poem recall to each of us? 4. What effect do the first words of the song produce upon us? 5. What is the central figure in this little family group? 6. What passages prompt us to idealize motherhood? works of art suggest the same idea? 7. What passages equally exalt fatherhood? 8. What gives this little gem its charm? REFERENCES What FIELD: Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Old English Lullaby. Norse Lullaby. Japanese Lullaby. SCOTT: Lullaby of an Indian Chief. KIPLING: Lines to the Seal. RANKIN: The Babie. GEORGE MACDONALD: Baby. HOLLAND: Lullaby. RILEY: Slumber Song. A THE TAPESTRY WEAVERS ANSON G. CHESTER MONG handcrafts, no work is more attractive or more highly prized than finely designed oriental tapestries. Moreover, weaving is one of the most primitive and most fundamental of the handcrafts, and in some form or other is familiar to every one. The poets of all ages have, therefore, readily seized upon weaving as a symbol of life, for example "God's ways are dark, but soon or late We weave with colors all our own.' In the following poem the author has based his symbol-interpretation of life on "the ways of the tapestry weavers." The finest quality of tapestry was woven on high-warp vertical looms. The long warpthreads were hung on movable cylinder rollers supported by uprights of wood or iron. The weaver worked at the back of the loom where he first sketched the design on the warp-threads, then with painstaking care wrought out the woven design. The complete pattern in colors, or cartoon, as it was called, was placed above or immediately behind the workman so that he might refer to it in order to weave the design with perfectly matched and harmoniously blended colors. If he wished to see his real work, he had to step to the front of the loom, or wait until the web was "loosed and turned." The poet has seen in the patient, plodding weaver the symbol of |