See, safe through shoal and rock, How they follow in a flock. Not a ship that misbehaves, not a keel that grates the ground, Not a spar that comes to grief ! 80 The peril, see, is past, All are harbored to the last; And just as Hervé Riel hollas "Anchor!" as fate, Up the English come-too late. So, the storm subsides to calm: 85 They see the green trees wave On the heights o'erlooking Grève. Hearts that bled are stanched with balm. "Just our rapture to enhance, Let the English rake the bay, 90 Gnash their teeth and glare askance As they cannonade away! 95 sure 'Neath rampired Solidor pleasant riding on the Rance !1" How hope succeeds despair on each captain's countenance! Out burst all with one accord, "This is paradise for Hell! Let France, let France's king Thank the man that did the thing!" What a shout, and all one word, "Hervé Riel!" 1 Rance, a river of France. As he stepped in front once more, Then said Damfreville, "My friend, Though I find the speaking hard. You must name your own reward. France remains your debtor still. Ask to heart's content, and have! or my name's not Damfreville." Then a beam of fun outbroke Since on board the duty's done, And from Malo Roads to Croisic Point, what is it but a run? Since 'tis ask and have, I may Since the others go ashore, Come! A good whole holiday! Leave to go and see my wife, whom I call the Belle Aurore!" 100 105 110 115 120 125 That he asked, and that he got, nothing more. Name and deed alike are lost; Not a pillar nor a post In his Croisic keeps alive the feat as it befell; Not a head in white and black 130 On a single fishing smack, In memory of the man but for whom had gone to wrack All that France saved from the fight whence England bore the bell. Go to Paris; rank on rank Search the heroes flung pellmell 135 On the Louvre,1 face and flank ! You shall look long enough ere you come to So, for better and for worse, Hervé Riel, accept my verse! In my verse, Hervé Riel, do thou once more 140 Save the squadron, honor France, love thy wife the Belle Aurore. ROBERT BROWNING. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY What was the occasion of the alarm of the French? What did the fleet signal to the town? (Lines 12-14.) 1 Louvre, a famous palace in Paris, especially noted for its art gallery. What did the pilots say? (Lines 16-25.) What did he advise? (Lines 45-65.) (Lines 67 and 68.) What was the reply? What reward did he get? Why did he not ask for more? What characteristics do you find admirable in Hervé Riel? How many lines are there in a stanza? How many rhymes? Which lines rhyme? Does the verse help or hinder the movement of the story? HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817-1862) Thoreau is one of the notable figures in American literature.. A unique character, the intimate friend of a group of emi nent writers who gave America its greatest literature, in particular of Emerson, though writing but few books, he has left an indelible mark upon the literature of the country. He was really more a naturalist than a writer, his writings being largely confined to describing what he saw in the fields of nature, in this resembling his present day successor, John Burroughs. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817, |