_a. Unity._ The poem has one idea running through it from beginning to end, an idea that is nowhere lacking, though at first it is not seen. What is the one idea? Grief, but not bitterness nor anger. Each succeeding stanza is seen to add something to this idea, till all our sympathies are enlisted for the forsaken children, more than for the father who does all the talking. _b. Meter and Rhyme._ Both meter and rhyme are irregular, but that fact gives a pleasing variety to the poem and corresponds to the somewhat abrupt changes in the line of thought that at first make the poem rather hard to read. The children will be interested in comparing the lengths of lines in different stanzas and sometimes in different parts of the same stanza. It is easy to pick out the rhymes, to see how often rhymes are repeated in a stanza, and whether the lines are in couples or alternate. _c. Phrases._ The following lines are quoted as those perhaps best worth study and remembrance. Let the children determine why they were selected as beautiful lines; that is, determine in what respect the lines are beautiful: "Now the wild white horses play, Champ and chafe and toss in the spray." "The far-off sound of a silver bell." "Where the sea snakes toil and twine, Dry their mail and bask in the brine." "A long, long sigh For the cold, strange eyes of a little Mermaiden." "A ceiling of amber, A pavement of pearl." "Heaths starr'd with broom." _The Cloud_ (Volume VII, page 257) This lyric has wonderful beauty. It is one of the most musical of poems, the ideas are fine and the pictures of surpassing charm. If it lacks the high message it is still an inspiration, for beauty is always ennobling to the appreciative. The charm of _The Cloud_ will appeal to children but it may be intensified by judicious questioning and comment. As always in trying to give appreciation of real literature, the teacher in the home or at the school must be certain of his purpose and must never carry the instruction too far. He must understand the nature of the reader and shape his questions accordingly. It is impossible to print anything that will be helpful equally to all or that can be used in its entirety in any instance. Do not talk too much about what is evident, and stop at the first signs of a dawning distaste. _First Stanza._ It is the cloud that is speaking, and as every cloud is ever changing, the song of the cloud varies with its condition. It is now the cloud of the warm summer shower that piles up in snowy billows on the horizon and rolls over the laughing face of flowering nature.