Wondering thereat, the preacher spake again,
"God give thee happy life." The old man smiled,
"I never am unhappy."

Tauler laid

His hand upon the stranger's coarse gray sleeve:
“Tell me, O father, what thy strange words mean.
Surely man's days are evil, and his life

Sad as the grave it leads to." "Nay, my son,
Our times are in God's hands, and all our days
Are as our needs; for shadow as for sun,
For cold as heat, for want as wealth, alike
Our thanks are due, since that is best which is ;
And that which is not, sharing not his life,

Is evil only as devoid of good.

And for the happiness of which I spake,

I find it in submission to his will,

And calm trust in the holy Trinity

Of Knowledge, Goodness, and Almighty Power."
Silently wondering, for a little space,

Stood the great preacher, then he spake as one

Who, suddenly grappling with a haunting thought
Which long has followed, whispering through the dark
Strange terrors, drags it, shrieking, into light;
"What if God's will consign thee hence to Hell ?"

"Then," said the stranger cheerily, "be it so.
What Hell may be I know not; this I know, -
I cannot lose the presence of the Lord:

One arm, Humility, takes hold upon
His dear Humanity; the other, Love,
Clasps his Divinity. So where I go

He goes; and better fire-walled Hell with Him
Than golden-gated Paradise without."

Tears sprang in Tauler's eyes. A sudden light,
Like the first ray which fell on chaos, clove
Apart the shadow wherein he had walked
Darkly at noon. And, as the strange old man
Went his slow way, until his silver hair

Set like the white moon where the hills of vine Slope to the Rhine, he bowed his head and said: "My prayer is answered. God hath sent the man Long sought, to teach me, by his simple trust, Wisdom the weary schoolmen never knew.”

So, entering with a changed and cheerful step
The city gates, he saw, far down the street,
A mighty shadow break the light of noon,
Which tracing backward till its airy lines
Hardened to stony plinths, he raised his eyes
O'er broad façade and lofty pediment,3

O'er architrave and frieze and sainted niche,
Up the stone lace-work chiselled by the wise
Erwin of Steinbach,5 dizzily up to where

In the noon-brightness the great Minster's tower,"
Jewelled with sunbeams on its mural crown,
Rose like a visible prayer. "Behold!" he said,
"The stranger's faith made plain before mine eyes.
As yonder tower outstretches to the earth
The dark triangle of its shade alone
When the clear day is shining on its top,
So, darkness in the pathway of Man's life
Is but the shadow of God's providence,
By the great Sun of Wisdom cast thereon;
And what is dark below is light in Heaven."

NOTES TO WHITTIER.

FOR a general introduction to the selections, see the sketch of Whittier.

MEMORIES.

There is great tenderness in this poem. It points to a romance that left a tinge of sadness on the poet's life.

1. This sentence is neither felicitous nor clear. The poet was encumbered by the difficulties of his metre and rhyme. "Leaf after leaf," etc., describes the manner in which the mind unfolded "like a morning flower."

2. The Genevan is John Calvin. His theological system is known as Calvinism. Its distinguishing features are: 1. Original sin, or total depravity; 2. Predestination; 3. Particular redemption; 4. Effectual calling; and 5. Perseverance of the saints. To the Quaker poet several of these doctrines appeared "stern."

3. The Derby dalesman is George Fox (born in England in 1624), the founder of the sect of Friends, or Quakers. The most distinctive point of doctrine is their belief in the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit in worship and all other religious acts.

THE SHIP-Builders.

This poem is one of the "Songs of Labor." The object of these songs, as stated in the dedication, is to show:

"The unsung beauty hid life's common things below."

They were intended to reflect the life of New England, but they are equally applicable to the same labors in all parts of our country.

1. Smithy the shop of a smith. This suggests Longfellow's lines:

"Under a spreading chestnut-tree

The village smithy stands."

2. Scourge and forge will serve to illustrate Whittier's defective rhyme. There are several other instances in this poem; point them out.

3. Explain the phrase island barges.

4. Define Art as here used.

5. Treenail= → a long wooden pin used in fastening the planks of a ship

to the timbers.

6. Spars is a general term for mast, yard, boom, and gaff.

7. This adjective is not well chosen. "Enjoying the benefit of the Gulf Stream, the climate of the Hebrides is peculiarly mild. Snow seldom lies long on the sea-shores or low grounds, and in sheltered spots tender plants are not nipped by winter frosts."

8. In this stanza we discern the uncompromising moralist, who condemns everything that debases society, the slave-trade, the opium traffic, and the liquor curse.

BARCLAY OF URY.

In reference to this poem, Whittier has the following note: "Among the earliest converts to the doctrines of Friends in Scotland was Barclay of Ury, an old and distinguished soldier, who had fought under Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. As a Quaker, he became the object of persecution and abuse at the hands of the magistrates and the populace. None bore the indignities of the mob with greater patience and nobleness of soul than this once proud gentleman and soldier. One of his friends, on an occasion of uncommon rudeness, lamented that he should be treated so harshly in his old age who had been so honored before. I find more satisfaction,' said Barclay, 'as well as honor, in being thus insulted for my religious principles, than when, a few years ago, it was usual for the magistrates, as I passed the city of Aberdeen, to meet me on the road and conduct me to public entertainment in their hall, and then escort me out again, to gain my favor.'"

1. Aberdeen is the chief city and seaport in the north of Scotland, at the mouth of the river Dee. It is the seat of Marischal College, referred to in the next line. In 1860 this college, united with King's College, became the University of Aberdeen.

2. Carlin a stout old woman; a Scottish word.

3. Lützen is a small town in Saxony. At this point a great battle was fought in 1632 between Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein. Victory finally remained with the Swedes.

4. Tilly was one of the greatest generals of the seventeenth century. During the Thirty Years' War he was victor in thirty-six battles; but finally he met Gustavus Adolphus, by whom he was defeated.

5. The Walloons are descendants of the old Gallic Belgæ, "who held their ground among the Ardennes Mountains when the rest of Gaul was overrun by the German conquerors." They number about two millions in Belgium and Holland.

6. Reeve = an officer, steward.

A. S. gerefa, steward. Obsolete except

in compounds; as, shire-reeve, now written sheriff.

7. Snooded wearing a snood; that is, a band which binds the hair of a young, unmarried woman. (Scot.)

MAUD MULLER.

This is, perhaps, the most popular of Whittier's poems. It is remarkably clear throughout. It illustrates the thoughtful moral tone of the poet; and the last stanzas, with their touching sadness, seem to have sprung from his own experience. This fact gives them an additional interest. The poet has been mildly criticised for calling the heroine, a plain New England country girl, by the name of Maud; but it is not easy to think of any other name that would have suited better.

=

1. Spinnet a musical instrument resembling the harpsichord, but of smaller size and lighter tone.

2. Astral astral lamp; a lamp with a ring-shaped reservoir so placed that its shadow does not fall directly below the flame,

TAULER.

"The religious element in Whittier's poems," says Underwood, "is something vital and inseparable. The supremacy of moral ideas is indeed inculcated by almost all great poets, and at no time more than in the present. And in almost all modern verse the filial relation of man to his Creator, and the immanence of the Spirit in the human heart, are at least tacitly recognized. 'The leading poets of America are, one and all, reverent in feeling and tone. But it is quite evident that Whittier alone is religious in a high and inward sense." His deep religious feeling is exhibited in this poem.

1. John Tauler (1290–1361) was born at Strasburg, where he spent most of his life. He was one of the most prominent representatives of mediaval German mysticism, and one of the greatest preachers of his time. His words "came home to the heart of both high and low, spreading light everywhere, and justly procuring for him the title of doctor illuminatus.”

2. Plinth = "the square member at the bottom of the base of a column. Also the plain projecting band forming a base of a wall."- CHAMBERS. 3. Pediment the triangular ornamental space over a portico, or over doors, windows, and gates.

4. Architrave the part of an entablature that rests immediately on the column. Above the architrave is the frieze. See Dictionary for illustration. 5. Erwin of Steinbach was one of the architects of the Strasburg Cathedral, which was four centuries in building.

6. This tower reaches to a height of 465 feet.