=Biography.= Thomas Hardy (1840-⸺) was born in Dorsetshire, England. He was educated at local schools and by private tutors. At the early age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an architect of Worcester, in which line of work he made sufficient success to win a prize for design from the Architectural Association. At the same time he was writing some verse and an occasional short story, and was at a loss to know which kind of work to follow for a profession. However, after 1870 he spent most of his time in writing. He excels as a short story writer, his “The Three Strangers” appearing in a number of lists of the one hundred best short stories. Among his other works, _Laughing Stock and Other Verses_, _Under the Greenwood Tree_, and _A Pair of Blue Eyes_ are widely known. Mr. Hardy was given the Order of Merit in 1910. The Poem “Men Who March Away,” from _Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy_, was written at the time the English soldiers were entering the World War. =Discussion.= 1. What “faith and fire” must the soldier have who freely enlists in the service of his country in war? 2. Whom does the poet address in the second stanza? 3. Use other words instead of “purblind prank.” 4. Explain the meaning of the fourth and fifth lines of the third stanza. 5. Why does the poet say the soldiers march away to war ungrieving? 6. What reason is given for the “faith and fire” of the soldiers? 7. In the fourth stanza, with what belief does the author accredit us? 8. What effect does the poet create by repeating the first stanza in closing the poem? =Phrases= the faith and fire within us, 343, 1 purblind prank, 343, 8 friend with the musing eye, 343, 9 dalliers as they be, 343, 17 bite the dust, 343, 25 to the field ungrieving, 343, 26 EARLY AMERICAN SPIRIT OF FREEDOM [Illustration] GRANDFATHER’S CHAIR NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE HOW NEW ENGLAND WAS GOVERNED The children had now learned to look upon the chair with an interest which was almost the same as if it were a conscious being and could remember the many famous people whom it had held within its arms. Even Charley, lawless as he was, seemed to feel that this venerable chair must not be clambered upon or overturned, although he had no scruple in taking such liberties with every other chair in the house. Clara treated it with still greater reverence, often taking occasion to smooth its cushion and to brush the dust from the carved flowers and grotesque figures of its oaken back and arms. Laurence would sometimes sit a whole hour, especially at twilight, gazing at the chair and by the spell of his imagination summoning up its ancient occupants to appear in it again.