an?
Doth he not claim a broader span
For the soul's love of home than this?
Oh, yes! his fatherland must be
As the blue heaven wide and free!

Where'er a human heart doth wear
Joy's myrtle wreath or sorrow's gyves,
Where'er a human spirit strives
After a life more true and fair,
There is the true man's birthplace grand,
His is a world-wide fatherland!

Where'er a single slave doth pine,
Where'er one man may help another,--
Thank God for such a birthright, brother,--
That spot of earth is thine and mine!
There is the true man's birthplace grand,
His is a world-wide fatherland!

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 43: By James Russell Lowell.]

V. HOME[44]

But where to find that happiest spot below,
Who can direct when all pretend to know?
The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own--
Extols the treasures of his stormy seas,
And his long nights of revelry and ease;
The naked negro, panting at the line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine,
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave,
And thanks his gods for all the good they gave.
Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam,
His first, best country, ever is at home.
And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare,
And estimate the blessings which they share,
Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find
An equal portion dealt to all mankind;
As different good, by art or nature given,
To different nations makes their blessing even.

FOOTNOTE:

[Footnote 44: By Oliver Goldsmith.]

EXPRESSION: Read all of these poems silently with a view towards
sympathizing with the feelings which they express. Now read each
one separately, and compare them, one with another. What is the
leading sentiment inculcated by each? Which poem appeals the most
strongly to your own emotions?

WORD STUDY: _Caledonia_, _shamrock_, _brake_, _Erin_, _gyves_,
_yearning_, _frigid_, _tepid_, _patriot_.

THE AGE OF COAL[45]

Come with me, in fancy, back to those early ages of the world,
thousands, yes millions, of years ago. Stand with me on some low ancient
hill, which overlooks the flat and swampy lands that are to become the
American continent.

Few heights are yet in sight. The future Rocky Mountains lie still
beneath the surface of the sea. The Alleghanies are not yet heaved up