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19

"If I come drest like a village maid,

I am but as my fortunes are; I am a beggar born," she said, "And not the Lady Clare."

"Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald,
"For I am yours in word and in deed;
Play me no tricks," said Lord Ronald,

"Your riddle is hard to read."

O and proudly stood she up!

Her heart within her did not fail;

She looked into Lord Ronald's eyes,
And told him all her nurse's tale.

He laughed a laugh of merry scorn;

He turned and kissed her where she stood.

"If you are not the heiress born,

And I," said he, "the next in blood,—

If you are not the heiress born,

And I," said he, "the lawful heir,
We two will wed tomorrow morn,
And you shall still be Lady Clare."

III.

IV.

At what time of year does the poem open? Prove

your answer.

What is a doe? What does trow mean?

V. Prepare a list of questions whose answers shall tell

the story of the poem.

CRITICISMS.

I.

1. Alfred Tennyson is the greatest of modern poets.Stedman.

2. Tennyson's poetry is pure, true, ennobling. No blot, no stain mars its beauty. His verse is the most faultless in our language, both as regards the music of its flow, and the art displayed in the choice of words. As a painter no modern poet has equaled him. His portraits and ideas of women are the most delicate in the whole range of English poetry. His language, although containing a great number of strong and pithy Saxon words, is yet the very perfection of all that is elegant and musical in the art of versification. The pleasure which his poetry. gives springs largely from the cordial interest he displays in the life and pursuits of men, in his capacity for apprehending their higher and more spiritual aspirations, and in a certain purity and strength of personal feeling.Blaisdell American and British Authors.

REFERENCES.

Tennyson's Complete Poems; Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a Memoir, by His Son; Home Life of Great Authors.— Griswold.

QUESTIONS ON TENNYSON.

I. Sketch Tennyson's life.

2. Name five poems. Quote three memory gems.

3.

4.

Which of his poems do you like best? Why? What do you know of The Idylls of the King? Describe the following poems: The Lady of Shalott, The Miller's Daughter, Dora, Maud, Enoch Arden. 6. What is said of Tennyson's style? Of his influence?

5.

"A thousand things which we should have never noticed, in which we should never have read God's autographs of beauty and of blessing, have been shown us by the poets."'

Blessings be with them, and eternal praise
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares,
The poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight, by heavenly lays.

-Wordsworth.