BOSTON BOYS

What! you want to hear a story all about that old-time glory,
When your grandsires fought for freedom against the British crown;
When King George's red-coats mustered all their forces, to be flustered
By our Yankee raw recruits, from each village and each town;
And the very boys protested, when they thought their rights molested.
My father used to tell us how the British General stared
With a curious, dazed expression when the youngsters in procession
Filed before him in a column, not a whit put out or scared.

Then the leader told his story,

told the haughty, handsome Tory How his troops there, on the mall there (what you call "the Common," dears),

All the winter through had vexed them, meddled with them, and perplexed them,

Flinging back to their remonstrance, only laughter, threats and sneers. "What!" the General cried in wonder,·

and his tones were tones of

"Are these rebel lessons that your fathers taught you, pray? Did they send such lads as you here, to make such bold ado here, And flout King George's officers upon the King's highway?”

Up the little leader started, while heat lightning flashed and darted From his blue eyes, as he answered, stout of voice, with all his might: "No one taught us, let me say, sir, no one sent us here to-day, sir; But we're Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, and we know that we are right!

"And your soldiers, at the first, sir, on the mall there, did their worst, sir;

Pulled our snow hills down we'd built there, broke the ice upon our pond.

'Help it, help if it you can, then!' back they answered every man then, When we asked them, sir, to quit it; and we said, 'This goes beyond ""Soldiers' rights or soldiers' orders, for we 've kept within our borders To the south'ard of the mall there, where we've always had our play!'" "Where you always shall hereafter, undisturbed by threats or laughter From my officers or soldiers. Go, my brave boys, from this day Troops of mine shall never harm you, never trouble or alarm you," Suddenly the British Gen'ral, moved with admiration, cried. In a minute caps were swinging, five and twenty voices ringing In a shout and cheer that summoned every neighbor far and wide. And these neighbors told the story how the haughty, handsome Tory, Bowing, smiling, hat in hand there, faced the little rebel band; How he said, just then and after, half in earnest, half in laughter: "So it seems the very children strike for freedom in this land!"

So I tell you now the story all about that old-time glory,

As my father's father told it long and long ago to me;

How they met and had it out there, what he called their bloodless bout

there;

"What! was he there, then?" Why, the leader,

How he felt · that was he!

Nora Perry

SPRING'S IMMORTALITY

The buds awake at touch of Spring
From Winter's joyless dream;
From many a stone the ouzels sing
By yonder mossy stream.

The cuckoo's voice, from copse and vale,
Lingers, as if to meet

The music of the nightingale
Across the rising wheat

The bird whom ancient Solitude
Hath kept forever young,
Unaltered since in studious mood
Calm Milton mused and sung.
Ah, long ago new leaves and flowers
Bloomed when the south wind came;
While hands of Spring caressed the bowers,
The throstle sang the same.

Unchanged, unchanged the throstle's song,
Unchanged Spring's answering breath,
Unchanged, though cruel Time was strong,
And stilled our love in death.

Mackenzie Bell

II

IDEAS AND RESPONSIVE CONDITIONS

VII. IMPRESSIONS AND BODY

Hark! Hark! hear the joyous robin!

He is calling from the trees,

"Come, O Sunshine! Come, O Breeze!

It is time to wake the daisies

And the bees."

Observe that even in the simplest process of thinking and expression, one full of gentleness and tenderness, there is a responsive effect upon the body. This effect is the first part of the response to thinking. What you think or feel moves you. The tones of the voice receive their fine changes from these quick, responsive actions in the body.

Imagine some extreme surprise, such as an explosion, and observe another effect of this upon the body. Such excitement tends to lift us from the earth, to bring us upon one foot, to move us upon the feet. The same is true of patriotism or aspiration.

There are Tom, John, Harry and Isadore,
Jessie and Jane, and a dozen more —
Tasks all done away we run

And, of all forms of frolic and fun,

There's nothing like skating, under the sun.

Then away, away, o'er the crystal floor;

Away, away, from the reedy shore,
Out of sight, like the flashing light,
Curving neither to left nor right —
Away, on our trusty steel so bright.

Here's the good old moon, with a kindly smile;
Bless her round face, so friendly the while!
We bravely dare the frosty air,

And, so glad and gay, we glide away
Over the floor of the beautiful bay,
Far from the shore away, away.

Luella Clark

Again, imagine yourself skating, full of joy and fun. As you fly over the ice, you peal out "Hurrah!" with great glee. You will observe the thrill of emotion that goes all over the body. You are expanded and full of life and vigor. Exclaim "Hurrah!" many times and feel the action; then read this poem, feeling exultation all over you.

THE GIANT

There came a Giant to my door,
A Giant fierce and strong;

His step was heavy on the floor,

His arms were ten yards long.

He scowled and frowned; he shook the ground;

I trembled through and through;

At length I looked him in the face
And cried, "Who cares for you?"

The mighty Giant, as I spoke,
Grew pale and thin and small,

And through his body, as 't were smoke,
I saw the sunshine fall.

His blood-red eyes turned blue as skies:
"Is this," I cried, with growing pride,

"Is this the mighty foe?"

He sank before my earnest face,

He vanished quite away,

And left no shadow in his place

Between me and the day.

Such giants come to strike us dumb,

But, weak in every part,

They melt before the strong man's eyes,
And fly the true of heart.

Charles Mackay

Observe as you read "The Giant" that all through the first six lines you feel fear and trembling, and your body seems weak. But when you take courage and look him in the face, your chest lifts and you grow taller. Courage is one of the noble emotions. Notice that the word "" pride" in the second stanza is used as courage, faith, or confidence in truth. Render the whole passage with feeling. Be

convinced that there is no more important duty than that of showing courage and the looking of every gloomy and dark thought in the face.

Hurrah for the flag, the Red, White and Blue!
Hurrah for the colors that ever are true!
The blood of our veins, the blue of the sky,
Are blended with snow in the banner we fly.
The emblem of courage of purity — truth,
The pride of our age, the joy of our youth,
Wherever it floats, on land or on sea,
Hurrah for the flag, the flag of the free!

Author not known

Of all the emotions that thrill the whole body, patriotism is one of the most stirring. It does not excite us as do some others, but it seems to go through us with greater force. We ought to expand freely when we give this "Hurrah for the flag."

From these selections and from observation of ourselves in expressing any intense excitement or in receiving some extreme and sudden surprise we shall discover that the whole body responds to the mind.

As we come to study the voice we shall find how important this is. There is a certain sympathetic expansion all through the body, and especially through the chest, which is a part of the fundamental condition of good tone production. If the body is cramped, the tone cannot be free and easy; hence we should not neglect the first steps, but should endeavor to make the whole body respond to our idea. We should seem to think and feel all over, though without much motion. Jerky movements are not expressive. The sympathetic response of the body as a whole is the true test of imagination and feeling.

VIII. IMPRESSIONS AND VOICE

Hark to the wind among the swaying trees.
Hark! that far, deep roar of rolling seas.

If you express extreme surprise, such as the shouting of "Fire," or the word "Hark" from the preceding, with genuine, imaginative realization of the situation, you will