state of mind did he return home? Why was he willing to let THE SHANDON BELLS FRANCIS SYLVESTER MAHONY With deep affection And recollection I often think of Those Shandon bells, And thus grow fonder, Sweet Cork, of thee; The pleasant waters Of the river Lee. I've heard bells chiming Cathedral shrine, While at a glibe rate Brass tongues would vibrate- Spoke naught like thine; For memory dwelling Its bold notes free, Made the bells of Shandon Of the river Lee. 25 80 I've heard bells tolling From the Vatican, But thy sounds were sweeter Pealing solemnly; O! the bells of Shandon Of the river Lee. There's a bell in Moscow; While on tower and kiosk O! In Saint Sophia The Turkman gets, And loud in air Calls men to prayer, Of tall minarets. But there is an anthem More dear to me,— That sound so grand on Of the river Lee. GLOSSARY. Shandon; Cork; shrine; Adrian's Mole; Vatican; Nôtre Dame; Peter; Tiber; Moscow; kiosk; Saint Sophia; minarets; phantom. STUDY. When did the writer first grow acquainted with the bells of Shandon? What other famous bells did he afterwards hear? How did they impress him in comparison? Do you think the old saying, "First impressions are lasting," gives some clew to the explanation? (The very music of the bells is suggested in the rhythm and may be brought out in the reading.) THE SMUDGE HENRY VAN DYKE To what it owes its English name I do not know; but its French name means simply a thick, nauseating, intolerable smoke. The smudge is called into being for the express purpose of creating a smoke of this kind, which is as disagreeable to the mosquito, the black-fly, and the midge as it is to the man whom they are devouring. But the man survives the smoke, while the insects succumb to it, being destroyed or driven away. Therefore the smudge, dark and bitter in itself, frequently 10 becomes, like adversity, sweet in its uses. It must be regarded as a form of fire with which man has made friends under the pressure of a cruel necessity. It would seem as if it ought to be the simplest 18 affair in the world to light up a smudge. And so it is-if you are not trying. An attempt to produce almost any other kind of a fire will bring forth smoke abundantly. But when you deliberately undertake to create a smudge, 20 flames break from the wettest timber, and green moss blazes with a furious heat. You hastily gather handfuls of seemingly incombustible material and throw it on the fire, but the conflagration increases. Grass and green leaves hesitate for an instant and 25 then flash up like tinder. The more you put on, the more your smudge rebels against its proper task of smudging. It makes a pleasant warmth, to encourage the black-flies; and bright light to attract and cheer the mosquitoes. Your effort is a brilliant failure. 30 The proper way to make a smudge is this. Begin with a very little, lowly fire. Let it be bright, but not ambitious. Don't try to make a smoke yet. Then gather a good supply of stuff which seems likely to suppress fire without smothering it. Moss 35 of a certain kind will do, but not the soft, feathery moss that grows so deep among the spruce trees. Half-decayed wood is good; spongy, moist, unpleasant stuff, a vegetable wet blanket. The bark of dead evergreen trees, hemlock, spruce, or balsam, is better 40 still. Gather a plentiful store of it. But don't try to make a smoke yet. Let your fire burn a while longer; cheer it up a little. Get some clear, resolute, unquenchable coals aglow in the heart of it. Don't try to make a smoke yet. |