By the road-side and the borders of the brook,
Nod gayly to each other; glossy leaves
Are twinkling in the sun, as if the dew
Were on them yet; and silver waters break
Into small waves and sparkle as he comes.
William Cullen Bryant.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. Who is the author of this piece? Did he not live in the city? Who describe country scenery best: those who live in the country constantly, or those who come from the city to visit the country? Compare this with Lesson XXXIX. in regard to season described, tone of sadness or of joy, and in regard to the images of nature called up.

II. Copy, with diacritical marks, the following words, dividing them into syllables, indicating the accent, and explaining peculiarities of spelling, as in Lesson XXXIV.: Māize (ai for ā), dăz'-zling (zz), hĕav'-en (hěv'n) (ea for ě), fiërçe (ie for ē), eÿe (î), breathe, chěstnut (silent t), ōak, boughs (bouz), měad' ōwş (ea for ě and ow for ō), scene (sc for 8), blŏs'-somş, gãy'-ly (written also gaily), sway'-ing (ay before i).

III. Explain the change from canopy to canopies;—the 's in gazer's ;— the s in waves ;-the hyphen in road-side, and not in waterfalls;-the meaning of un in unnumbered;-of ful in distressful.

IV. Define or give synonyms for potent, fervors (too potent fervors= too powerful heat), foliage, canopies, ether, radiance, languidly, voluble, blooms (blossoms), as they are used in the poem.

V. How do you distinguish poetry from prose? (By its rhythm, or regular succession of feet, each foot being composed of accented and unaccented syllables. "It is a sul-try day'; the sun' has drunk'," etc.: here there are five feet to each line, and each foot has two syllables, one accented and one unaccented.) Point out the feet of the third and fourth lines. (Besides the rhythm of a poem, there is also requisite a peculiar style of expression. Inanimate or lifeless things are conceived and described as living and acting like persons [personification]; and persons, on the other hand, are compared with things and natural forces [metaphor]; things are likewise compared with other things, as, in section 4, "bright clouds" are called "motionless pillars." Thus, the poet finds similarity or likeness of things to persons, and of things to things. He looks upon the world as filled with resemblances-one thing reflecting

Daniel Boone and his brother in their winter cottage.

("Daniel Boone," p. 165.)

another, somewhat as a mirror reflects the objects before it. But rhythm, or meter, and personification and metaphor, are only the materials out of which poetry is made, just as a temple is made of hewn stone. There is a central thought in a poem, and these materials are used for its expression, just as the hewn stone is used to fill up and make solid the outlines of the temple. The central thought or subject of this poem is the summer wind-the suffering condition of animals and plants without it, and the refreshment of all upon its arrival.) "The sun has drunk" (section 1)in what sense does the sun drink the dew? Point out the objects personified in sections 6 to 9, and name the words which indicate the personification (as "his," of pine, section 7; "voice" of waterfalls, section 8). Why "sick "flowers? (section 3.) Why "brazen" heavens? (section 4.)

Bryant's poetry is noted for the freshness and reality of its treatment of nature. Select the passage which you think to be most true to nature;— the passage which you think to be the best poetry.

LX.-DANIEL BOONE.

1. The most remarkable of all the attempts to people the Western country, during the period just preceding the Revolutionary War, was made by Colonel Daniel Boone, of North Carolina. He was a great hunter, and had rambled in the forests of the "mighty West" several years before he ventured, in defiance of wild beasts. and still wilder men, to take up his residence there.

2. He first left home, in company with six other adventurers, in 1769. Kentucky was found to be a fine place for hunting the buffalo. At length he and a companion of the name of Stuart were taken prisoners by the Indians. They escaped, and found their way back to their camp; but it had been plundered, and the rest of the company were dispersed.

3. Soon after this his brother and one other man joined him, so that the company was increased to four.

Stuart was soon after killed by the Indians, and the other man by wolves, so that Boone and his brother alone remained. They, however, built themselves a cottage of poles and bark, and wintered there.

4. In May, 1770, the brother of Boone returned to North Carolina, in order to procure a recruit of horses and ammunition, leaving him entirely alone, and, as he himself says, "without bread, salt, or sugar, or even a horse or a dog." The preceding winter, in one of his rambles, he narrowly escaped the savages. But he was one of those men who, like Washington, seem spared for special purposes.

5. His brother returned to him late in July, and they spent the rest of the year and the following winter there. During this time they discovered and gave names to the principal rivers of the country. The whole region seemed to them a paradise, and in March, 1771, they returned home to bring their families with them.

6. In September, 1773, they set out for Kentucky. Five other families had, by their representations, been induced to join them. Forty men also joined them at Powell's Ferry, on the road. Soon after this they were attacked by the Indians, and six of the party slain, among whom was Boone's eldest son. Their cattle also were scattered.

7. They retreated forty miles to a settlement on Clinch River, where they left their families. From this time, for nearly two years, Boone was employed in surveying the country, and in building roads and forts. Among the rest, they built a fort at a place which they called Boonesborough. He removed his family to the fort in June, 1775, about the time of the battle of Lexington.