gazing at the show) half to himself, still looking at the
marble sails: "How quietly they do their work!"

--_Two Years Before the Mast._

1. This is a painting in words. From what position
did Mr. Dana view the scene? What impressed him
most?

A WINTER RIDE

BY AMY LOWELL

Who shall declare the joy of the running!
Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight!
Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather,
Sweeping, wide winged, through the blue dome of light.
Everything mortal has moments immortal, 5
Swift and God-gifted, immeasurably bright.

So with the stretch of the white road before me,
Shining snow crystals rainbowed by the sun,
Fields that are white, stained with long, cool, blue shadows,
Strong with the strength of my horse as we run. 10
Joy in the touch of the wind and the sunlight!
Joy! With the vigorous earth I am one.

1. What was the author doing? How did the ride
affect her? What does she mean in line 5? In line
12? If you have ever coasted or had a swift sleigh
ride tell the thrills you experienced.

THE SNOWSTORM

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The following selection is an artistic description
of a winter storm. Read it carefully to get the
successive pictures that are presented. Try to
determine, as you read, when the snow fell, whether
the scenes are in the country or in town; if the
author was an actual observer of the storm or if he
wrote the poem out of imagination.

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight; the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end. 5
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, inclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry! 10
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree,