=Discussion.= 1. Who is addressed in the first stanza? 2. What comparison do you find in this stanza? 3. Tell the story in your own words. 4. Where was the treasure secured? 5. What marks of the ballad do you find in this poem? 6. What do you particularly like in this poem? 7. Pronounce the following: quagmires; palm. =Phrases= gray forgotten years, 184, 2 bringing weary thought, 184, 3 sunburn on our breasts, 185, 2 rich as Lima Town, 185, 6 in the crude and fashioned, 185, 11 laid aboard the ship, 185, 15 KILMENY (A SONG OF THE TRAWLERS) ALFRED NOYES Dark, dark lay the drifters, against the red west, As they shot their long meshes of steel overside; And the oily green waters were rocking to rest When _Kilmeny_ went out, at the turn of the tide. And nobody knew where that lassie would roam, For the magic that called her was tapping unseen. It was well nigh a week ere _Kilmeny_ came home, And nobody knew where _Kilmeny_ had been. She’d a gun at her bow that was Newcastle’s best, And a gun at her stern that was fresh from the Clyde, And a secret her skipper had never confessed, Not even at dawn, to his newly wed bride; And a wireless that whispered above like a gnome, The laughter of London, the boasts of Berlin. O it may have been mermaids that lured her from home, But nobody knew where _Kilmeny_ had been. It was dark when _Kilmeny_ came home from her quest, With her bridge dabbled red where her skipper had died; But she moved like a bride with a rose at her breast; And “Well done, _Kilmeny_!” the admiral cried. Now at sixty-four fathom a conger may come, And nose at the bones of a drowned submarine; But late in the evening _Kilmeny_ came home, And nobody knew where _Kilmeny_ had been. There’s a wandering shadow that stares at the foam, Though they sing all the night to old England, their queen, Late, late in the evening _Kilmeny_ came home, And nobody knew where _Kilmeny_ had been. NOTES AND QUESTIONS =Biography.= Alfred Noyes (1880-⸺), an English poet, lives in London. He was educated at Oxford, where for three years he rowed on the college crew. As soon as his college days were over he devoted himself to literature, contributing to many English magazines. During the World War he wrote many stirring poems, of which “Kilmeny” is among the best. In 1918-1919 Mr. Noyes was professor of literature in Princeton University. =Discussion.= 1. What picture does the first stanza give you? 2. What suggests to you the work in which the trawler was engaged? 3. Which stanza suggests the result of _Kilmeny’s_ trip? 4. What was the magic that called _Kilmeny_ to the quest? 5. What other poems of the sea have you read in this book? 6. Tell what you know about the author. =Phrases=