Page:Southern Life in Southern Literature.djvu/541

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QUESTIONS, i. What details of the evening scene are presented in

lines 1-32? 2. What aspects of the pines are presented in lines 33-48? 3. What elements has the poet emphasized in his description of the moonrise, lines 49-64?

THE LIGHT OOD FIRE (PAGE 434)

light ood: a dialectal term applied to very dry pitchy and pine wood used for making a fire quickly. Boreas: the north wind.

POE S COTTAGE AT FORDHAM (PAGE 435)

here unmated: the reference is to the death of Poe s wife. Apollo: the Greek god of wisdom and prophecy. Astarte: the Phoenician goddess of love. Dis: the lower regions. stranded: stringed a oold use of the term. Israf el: see Poe s poem with the title, page 227, and the notes thereon. cenotaphed: erected a monument, or cenotaph, to his fame.

QUESTION. Vhat thoughts arise in the poet s mind at the recol

lection of Poe s cottage? W T ILL HENRY THOMPSON

THE HIGH TIDE AT GETTYSBURG (PAGE 437)

It seems to be one of the laws of literature that the best poetry is not produced under the immediate stimulus of the event, but, as Wordsworth expressed it, originates "from emotion recollected in tranquillity." At any rate, this particular poem, written in 1888, has been regarded by many as the most notable achievement in the verse inspired by that great struggle. The battle of Gettysburg was a development of General Lee s push ing forward into Pennsylvania in 1863. At Gettysburg he met the Federal forces under General Meade, and after three days of fierce fighting (July i, 2, 3) he was forced to retreat southward. This battle has been regarded as the turning-point in the Civil War, the fortunes of the Confederacy steadily waning thereafter. Pickett: General George E. Pickett, who led the final charge of the Confederates in the battle. Shiloh s woods: an important battle of the war, fought near Shiloh Church near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, April 6 and 7, 1862. Chickamauga s solitudes: one of the most hotly contested battles of the war, fought September 19 and 20, 1863, near