Then a beam of fun outbroke On the bearded mouth that spoke, As the honest heart laughed through Those frank eyes of Breton blue:-- "Since I needs must say my say, 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!" 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 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 pell-mell On the Louvre, face and flank! You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Riel. So, for better and for worse, Hervé Riel, accept my verse! In my verse, Hervé Riel, do thou once more Save the squadron, honor France, love thy wife the Belle Aurore! HELPS TO STUDY. Notes and Questions. Find on your map: Saint Malo, le Croisic (St. Croisic), Plymouth Sound, Paris. What forfeit did Hervé Riel propose in case he failed to pilot the ships safely in? What ships were seeking harbor? Who were the "porpoises" and who the "sharks"? What reward did he claim? What comparison is found in the first stanza? What do stanzas three and four tell? In what way is the hero's memory perpetuated? The rhythm gives spirit to the poem. Which lines or stanzas are most spirited? What line gives the key-note to Hervé Riel's character? Contrast Hervé Riel with the local pilots. Saint Malo--noted for its high tides. Rance--name of a river. The Hogue--a cape on the French coast. Malouins--residents of Saint Malo. Tourville--the French admiral. Grève--name given the beach. Solidor--the old fortress. Belle Aurore--the dawn. Croisickese--inhabitants of Croisie. Words and Phrases for Discussion. "Worse than fifty Hogues" "Clears the entry like a hound" "Just the same man as before" "He is Admiral, in brief" "Keeps the passage as its inch of way were the wide sea's profound" "Search the heroes flung pell-mell on the Louvre, face and flank" "pressed" "disembogues" "rampired" "bore the bell" * * * * * THE BUGLE SONG (From "The Princess") ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON The splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits, old in story; The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying; Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.