MAUD MULLER This is, perhaps, the most popular of Whittier's poems. It is remarkably clear throughout. It illustrates the thoughtful moral tone of the poet; and the last stanzas, with their touching sadness, seem to have sprung from his own experience. This fact gives them an additional interest. The poet has been mildly criticised for calling the heroine, a plain New England country girl, by the name of Maud; but it is not easy to think of any other name that would have suited better. 1. Spinnet = a musical instrument resembling the harpsichord, but of smaller size and lighter tone. 2. Astral = astral lamp; a lamp with a ring-shaped reservoir so placed that its shadow does not fall directly below the flame. TAULER "The religious element in Whittier's poems," says Underwood, "is something vital and inseparable. The supremacy of moral ideas is indeed inculcated by almost all great poets, and at no time more than in the present. And in almost all modern verse the filial relation of man to his Creator, and the immanence of the Spirit in the human heart, are at least tacitly recognized. The leading poets of America are, one and all, reverent in feeling and tone. But it is quite evident that Whittier alone is religious in a high and inward sense." His deep religious feeling is exhibited in this poem. 1. John Tauler (1290-1361) was born at Strasburg, where he spent most of his life. He was one of the most prominent representatives of mediæval German mysticism, and one of the greatest preachers of his time. His words came home to the heart of both high and low, spreading light everywhere, and justly procuring for him the title of doctor illuminatus." 2. Plinth = = "the square member at the bottom of the base of a column. Also the plain projecting band forming a base of a wall." - CHAMBERS. 3. Pediment the triangular ornamental space over a portico, or over doors, windows, and gates. 4. Architrave the part of an entablature that rests immediately on the column. Above the architrave is the frieze. See Dictionary for illustration. 5. Erwin of Steinbach was one of the architects of the Strasburg Cathedral, which was four centuries in building. = 6. This tower reaches to a height of 465 feet. XVI SELECTIONS FROM HOLMES OLD IRONSIDES Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! The meteor of the ocean air Shall sweep the clouds no more! Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, No more shall feel the victor's tread, O better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail, And give her to the god of storms,3 The lightning and the gale. THE LAST LEAF I SAW him once before, As he passed by the door, The pavement stones resound, As he totters o'er the ground They say that in his prime, Not a better man was found But now he walks the streets, And he shakes his feeble head, The mossy marbles rest On the lips that he has prest In their bloom, And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb. My grandmamma has said Poor old lady, she is dead Long ago That he had a Roman nose, And his cheek was like a rose In the snow. But now his nose is thin, And it rests upon his chin Like a staff, He took the paper, and I watched, He read the next; the grin grew broad, And shot from ear to ear; He read the third; a chuckling noise I now began to hear. The fourth; he broke into a roar; Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye, And since, I never dare to write As funny as I can. THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS THIS is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings And coral reefs lie bare, Where the cold sea-maids 2 rise to sun their streaming hair. Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; 3 Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell, Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! |