Page:Southern Life in Southern Literature.djvu/539

Rh 3. Interpret the meaning of the second joust. 4. What application does this part of the poem have to conditions after the war? 5. Note the poet s emphasis on the need of the world of love as a vital element.

SONG OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE (PAGE 419)

This poem was first published in Scotfs Magazine, Atlanta, Georgia, from which it is here taken. The Chattahoochee is a river in Georgia that rises in the mountains of that state, passes in its upper course through the counties of Hall and Habersham, and flows through the lowlands into the Gulf of Mexico.

QUESTIONS, i. What reason does the river assign for resisting all

temptations to stay in its onward course? 2. Apply this to life. 3. Is the rippling and animated movement of the poem appropriate to the song of a mountain stream?

THE CRYSTAL (PAGE 421)

QUESTIONS, i. Under what conditions did the poet begin his mus

ings? 2. What conclusion did he reach in regard to great mankind? 3. In what way is Christ different from these so far as stainlessness of character is concerned?

SUNRISE (PAGE 422)

This is Lanier s last completed poem. It was first published in The Independent, December 14, 1882, from which it is here taken. In the words of Mrs. Lanier, it was written "while the sun of life seemed fairly at the setting, and the hand which first penciled its lines had not strength to carry nourishment to the lips." The poet is supposed to be standing where he can look out over the salt marshes of Glynn County, Georgia. gospeling glooms: glooms that teach high truths. purfling: em broidering. menstruum: a solvent. Olympian leisure: the leisure of the deities of Olympus. Explain the force of " dateless " in this con nection. born in the purple: of imperial rank, purple being the official color of the Roman emperors. innermost Guest At the marriage of elements: an allusion to the chemical action of the sun in the world of matter. fellow of publicans: one who associates with everybody. The publicans, or tax collectors, of the Roman Empire were a despised class among the Jews and other Roman dependents.