Golden youth is fleeting by, Summer hours depart. Learn to make the most of life, Lose no happy day, Time will never bring thee back Leave no tender word unsaid, Love while love shall last"The mill cannot grind With the water that is past." Work while yet the daylight shines, Wait not till to-morrow's sun Beams upon thy way, All that thou canst call thine own Power, and intellect, and health May not always last "The mill cannot grind With the water that is past." Oh, the wasted hours of life That have drifted by! Oh, the good that might have been, Lost, without a sigh! Love that we might once have saved By a single word, Thoughts conceived, but never penned, Take the proverb to thine heart, Take, and hold it fast "The mill cannot grind With the water that is past." Lăn'guid ly, feebly, lazily; prov'erb, an old saying in common use; spell, charm, magic power; con ceived' (kon sevd'), existing in the mind. STUDY HELPS Mention all the sounds you can hear in stanza 1. How can a proverb "haunt" the mind? What are you told about the leaves, and the corn, and the streamlet, in stanza 2? What lesson are you asked to take to yourself in stanza 3? What lines tell you why it is important to learn this lesson? What "may not always last"? Read the lines in the last stanza that tell the things that have been lost by not paying attention to the truth in the proverb. Repeat the proverb from memory. SEVEN TIMES ONE JEAN INGELOW There's no dew left on the daisies and clover, I've said my "seven times" over and over, I am old, so old I can write a letter; The lambs play always, they know no better; O moon! in the night I have seen you sailing And shining so round and low; You were bright! ah, bright! but your light is failing,You are nothing now but a bow. You moon, have you done something wrong in heaven I hope if you have you will soon be forgiven O velvet bee, you 're a dusty fellow; O columbine, open your folded wrapper, And show me your nest, with the young ones in it,— I am old! you may trust me, linnet, linnet, I am seven times one to-day. Brave, showy; märsk'ma'ry, the marsh marigold, a golden flowered plant growing in moist places; col'um bine (kŏl'um bin), a garden plant with a flower like clustered pigeons; cuck'oo pint' (kook'oo pint'), a common European flower, called also "lords-and-ladies"; lin'nět, a very common small song bird. STUDY HELPS This is a birthday poem. How old is the speaker? What can you tell of the time of day from the opening lines? What does she say about the moon? What question does she ask the moon, and what hope does she express? Can you tell from stanzas 5 and 6 whether the speaker is having a good time? Why can the linnet safely show her the "nest with the young ones in it"? Choose a stanza that you like. THE GOLDEN GOOSE THE BROTHERS GRIMM There was a man who had three sons. The youngest was called Dummling, and was on all occasions despised and ill-treated by the whole family. It happened that the eldest took it into his head one day to go into the wood to cut fuel; and his mother gave him a delicious pasty and a bottle of wine to take with him, that he might refresh himself at his work. As he went into the wood, a little old man bade him good day, and said, "Give me a little piece of meat from your plate, and a little wine out of your bottle; I am very hungry and thirsty." But this clever young man said, "Give you my meat and wine! No, I thank you; I should not have enough left for myself": and away he went. He soon began to cut down a tree; but he had not worked long before he missed his stroke, and cut himself, and was obliged to go home to have the wound dressed. Now it was the little old man that caused him this mischief. and his mother And the same Next went out the second son to work; gave him too a pasty and a bottle of wine. little old man met him also, and asked him for something to eat and drink. But he too thought himself vastly clever, and said, "Whatever you get, I shall lose; so go your way!" The little man took care that he should have his reward; and the second stroke that he aimed against a tree, hit him on the leg; so that he too was forced to go home. Then Dummling said, "Father, I should like to go and cut wood too." But his father answered, "Your brothers have both lamed themselves; you had better stay at home, for you know nothing of the business." But Dummling was very pressing; and at last his father said, "Go your way; you will be wiser when you have suffered for your folly." And his mother gave him only some dry bread, and a bottle of sour beer; but when he went into the wood, he met the little old man, who said, "Give me some meat |