QUESTIONS FOR STUDY Line 12. Why does the poet repeat happy twice? Name the passions roused in Alexander by music, in the order of the poem. Is this a natural order? Line 42. Note how smooth this passage is. What has the poet done to give this effect? Suppose you were a foreigner and did not know the meaning of the words, would their sound give you a sense of sadness? Line 53. See again the change to softer measures. Do you think that having unaccented syllables ending the lines produces this effect? Compare with the passage below, beginning, "Now strike the golden lyre again" (line 95). Line 60. What effect is produced by the repetition of fallen? Explain "awful state," line 3; "radiant spires," line 25; assumes the god," line 32; "The various turns of Chance below," line 69; "the vocal frame," line 130; lines 137, 138. Find and tell the story of Helen of Troy, line 122. DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTİ (1828-1882) An Englishman, but the son of an Italian painter and scholar, Rossetti was both a poet and a painter of note. He was the founder of school of art which is known as the PreRaphaelite School. His work, both in painting and in poetry, and that of his followers, also, was a protest against some of the generally accepted rules followed by most artists of his day. It is impossible to say how great an influence he exerted, but doubtless the Pre Raphaelite movement has to some extent affected modern poetry, and especially modern painting. THE WHITE SHIP King Henry I of England had a son on whom he doted, who was heir to the throne. The prince, however, was a wild and dissipated youth unworthy of his father's devotion. On his return from a visit to France the prince and a large company were in a separate vessel. 25TH NOVEMBER, 1120 By none but me can the tale be told, (Lands are swayed by a king on a throne.) 'Twas a royal train put forth to sea, King Henry held it as life's whole gain 'Twas so in my youth I heard men say, And my old age calls it back to-day. King Henry of England's realm was he, 1 The earlier kings of England had large possessions in France and claimed kingship over both lands. Normandy was a dukedom in France, settled originally by Norsemen and named from them. One of its dukes was William the Conqueror," who invaded England. 66 5 10 The times had changed when on either coast "Clerkly Harry" was all his boast. 1 15 Of ruthless strokes full many an one And when to the chase his court would crowd, 20 And shrieked: "Our cry is from King to God!" But all the chiefs of the English land And next with his son he sailed to France 25 And every baron in Normandy Had taken the oath of fealty. 'Twas sworn and sealed and the day had come When the king and the prince might journey home. Stout Fitz-Stephen came to the king, 30 A pilot famous in seafaring; And he held to the king, in all men's sight, 1 Clerkly, scholarly, or pious. "Liege Lord! my father guided the ship From whose boat your father's foot did slip When he caught the English soil in his grip, "And cried, 'By this clasp I claim command, O'er every rood of English land!' "He was borne to the realm you rule o'er now In that ship with the archer carved at her prow: "And thither I'll bear, an' it be my due, Your father's son and his grandson, too. "The famed White Ship is mine in the bay; From Harfleur's harbor she sails today, "With masts fair pennoned as Norman spears And with fifty well tried mariners." Quoth the king: "My ships are chosen each one, 1 "My son and daughter and fellowship 1 The king set sail with the eve's south wind, The prince and all his, a princely show, 1 Fellowship, companions. |