And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;

His brow is wet with honest sweat,

He earns whate'er he can,

And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;

You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,

Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;

He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,

Singing in the village choir,

And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice, Singing in Paradise!

He needs must think of her once more,

How in the grave she lies;

And with his hard, rough hand he wipes A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begun,
Each evening sees its close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped

Each burning deed and thought! *

1 Observe the simple rime scheme used in this poem: long, tan, sweat, can, face, man; or adbded. See whether you can find another poem in your reading books which has the same rime scheme.

2 Shut your eyes and try to reproduce mentally every word picture in this poem.

3 Decide whether any word in the poem fails to give you a clear idea, as, for example, the word sinewy. If so, observe the hands of some strong and hard-working man.

4 Decide which thoughts in this poem give your own mind the most pleasure; that is, which you consider most beautiful.

5 Try to decide whether Longfellow wished in this poem chiefly to give pleasure or to instruct.

6 Search each stanza carefully in order to see every hint teaching a lesson of wisdom.

7 Try to decide for yourself whether painting a beautiful word picture of a good and honest life would have been worth the poet's while, even if he had not read himself a lesson at the last.

8 Try to decide whether there is any line in the poem, * Reprinted by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Company, authorized publishers of Longfellow's works.

before the last stanza, which teaches a great lesson without appearing to teach. Then decide whether you think this is a pleasant way to be taught.

II Oral: Class discussion of each item in Exercise I.

III Suggested Written: What are the advantages and what the disadvantages of a blacksmith's life? Keep these distinct in thought and separated in your paper. Let the vocabulary used show that you are familiar with the details of your subject.

IV Suggested Mental: (1) The word mother means a maternal parent. Does this definition of mother mean more or less to you than the word, mother? (2) Can the most exact definitions of words include the associations, or habits, of those words? (3) Will the study of definitions of words or the careful reading of well-written books be the best way to learn word-use? (4) (a) Does the word home imply because of its associations, that is, connote, to every happy person much that is loveliest and dearest in life? (b) Is this in part due to its free use for many centuries in songs and in poems? (5) What does the word machine at once call up in the mind of the seamstress? of the bicycle rider? of the politician? of the miller? of the man mowing a lawn? of the stenographer? of the pilot, or the steersman? (6) Which word in each of the following pairs do you consider the more suited for use in poetry, because of its habits or associations?—

(7) Are there pleasant or unpleasant associations with each of the following words?-murder, peace, war, love, hatred, mercy, insanity, gentleness, scrub, fight, dismal, stench, fragrance, deli

cious, smile, scowl. (8) Are there many everyday words which are perhaps most useful of all, yet which are plain and matter-offact, carrying no associations either of pleasure or of pain? (9) If it is not a more difficult thing to do, should we aim to choose words whose associations are pleasant? (10) Do you see that the charm and the force of your writing may depend largely upon the suggestions carried by your words? (11) Do you now understand what is meant by the following statement: The connotation of a word means all that it implies because of its associations of any and every sort?

Mountain gorses, ever golden!

Cankered not the whole year long!
Do you teach us to be strong,
Howsoever pricked and holden
Like your thorny blooms, and so
Trodden on by rain and snow

Up the hillside of this life, as bleak as where ye grow?

Mountain blossoms, shining blossoms!

Do ye teach us to be glad

When no summer can be had,

Blooming in our inward bosoms?

Ye, whom God preserveth still,
Set as lights upon a hill,

Tokens to the wintry earth that beauty liveth still!

Mountain gorses, do ye teach us

From that academic chair

Canopied with azure air,

That the wisest word man reaches

Is the humblest he can speak?

Ye, who live on mountain peak,

Yet live low along the ground, beside the grasses meek!

From "Less ns from the Gorse," by Elizabeth Bar

rett Browning.

CHAPTER XI

SYNONYMS: OR THE HABITS OF WORDS

Our beautiful English language is especially rich because of its countless synonyms. By synonyms we mean words alike in meaning, or so nearly alike that one may be used in place of the other. Some words are perfect synonyms. Each and every, till and until, begin and commence, are examples. Here we have synonyms so exact that your use of one rather than of the other will be a matter of accident, or of habit, or of mere ease in pronunciation. A wide knowledge of words and of their uses will lead you sometimes to pick your way among certain groups of synonyms as cautiously as if walking among rolling eggs.

In gaining a knowledge of synonyms, the mere definitions of words will not help you much, altho many good old-fashioned schoolmasters of fifty years ago strongly believed that it would do so. You may be very glad that you have wiser teachers today who know better. These tell us that the best way to gain the allimportant command of language is by observing the use of words in

sentences.

For this reason, you should at once begin the practice of studying words with regard to the company they keep and the habits they have. Yes, I mean just that. Words get into habits just as you and I do. They seem to feel out of place in some surroundings and perfectly at home in others. Even if you try to drive them into new stopping-places, they are often so ill at ease that they refuse to remain except so long as you keep a finger upon them. And if you interfere with their lifelong habits, they may even refuse to work for you. Happily, words are not all alike in