=Biography.= Hannah F. Gould (1789-1865) was an American poet, born at Lancaster, Mass. At the age of eleven she removed with her parents to Newburyport, Mass., where she lived the rest of her life. A collection of her poems, entitled _Hymns and Poems for Children_, contains many beautiful selections. =Discussion.= 1. Why does the poet personify “The Frost”? 2. What pictures do the following give you: “powdered its crest”; “their boughs he dressed”? 3. What picture of the window pane does stanza 3 give you? 4. Which line tells you on what kind of night to expect frost? =Phrases= blustering train, 75, 5 in vain, 75, 7 hung on its margin, 75, 15 burst in three, 76, 3 THE FROST SPIRIT JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER He comes—he comes—the Frost Spirit comes! You may trace his footsteps now On the naked woods and the blasted fields and the brown hill’s withered brow. He has smitten the leaves of the gray old trees where their pleasant green came forth, And the winds, which follow wherever he goes, have shaken them down to earth. He comes—he comes—the Frost Spirit comes!—from the frozen Labrador— From the icy bridge of the Northern seas, which the white bear wanders o’er— Where the fisherman’s sail is stiff with ice, and the luckless forms below In the sunless cold of the lingering night into marble statues grow! He comes—he comes—the Frost Spirit comes!—on the rushing Northern blast, And the dark Norwegian pines have bowed as his fearful breath went past. With an unscorched wing he has hurried on, where the fires of Hecla glow On the darkly beautiful sky above and the ancient ice below. He comes—he comes—the Frost Spirit comes!—and the quiet lake shall feel The torpid touch of his glazing breath, and ring to the skater’s heel; And the streams which danced on the broken rocks, or sang to the leaning grass, Shall bow again to their winter chain, and in mournful silence pass. He comes—he comes—the Frost Spirit comes!—let us meet him as we may, And turn with the light of the parlor-fire his evil power away; And gather closer the circle round, when that fire-light dances high, And laugh at the shriek of the baffled Fiend as his sounding wing goes by! NOTES AND QUESTIONS For Biography, see page 60. =Discussion.= 1. Why does the poet personify “The Frost Spirit”? 2. Why is “Fiend” personified? 3. How can one “trace his footsteps” on woods and fields? 4. Locate on a map Labrador, the pine region of Norway, and the volcano of Hecla. 5. What is “the icy bridge of the northern seas”? 6. What are “the luckless forms below”? 7. Why does the poet say “In the sunless cold of the lingering night”? 8. What does the poet mean by “the shriek of the baffled Fiend”? =Phrases=