58. This reference to Bryant's profession is noteworthy. His ambition for a thorough literary training was abandoned on account of poverty. He then took up the study of law and practiced it in Great Barrington, Mass., for nine years. His dislike of this profession is here very plainly shown. He abandoned it entirely in 1824 and gave himself to literature. "I Broke the Spell That Held Me Long" also throws a light on his choice of a life work. THE WEST WIND With this may be compared with profit Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and Kingsley's "Ode to the Northeast Wind." State the contrast between the ideas of the west wind held by Shelley and by Bryant. A FOREST HYMN 2. architrave: the beam resting on the top of the column and supporting the frieze. 5. From these details can you form a picture of this temple in its exterior and interior? Is it like a modern church? darkling: dimly seen; a poetic word. Do you find any other adjectives in this poem which are poetic words? 23. Why is the poem divided here? Is the thought divided? Connected? Can you account in the same way for the divisions at lines 68 and 89? 34. vaults: arched ceilings. 44. instinct: alive, animated by. 66. emanation: that which proceeds from a source, as fragrance is an emanation from flowers. 89. This idea that death is the source of other life everywhere in nature is a favorite one with Bryant. It is the fundamental thought in his first poem, "Thanatopsis" (A View of Death), which may be read in connection with "The Forest Hymn." 96. Emerson discusses this question in "The Problem," See selections from Emerson. THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS 26. Bryant's favorite sister, Mrs. Sarah Bryant Shaw, died shortly after her marriage, of tuberculosis. This poem alludes to her and is in its early lines the saddest poem Bryant ever wrote. Notice the change of tone near the end. 29. unmeet: unsuitable. THE GLADNESS OF NATURE b. hang-bird: the American oriole, which hangs its nest from a branch. 8. wilding: the wild bee which belongs to no hive. To THE FRINGED GENTIAN No description of this flower can give an adequate idea of its beauty. The following account, from Reed's "Flower Guide, East of the Rockies," expresses the charm of the flower well: "Fringed Gentian because of its exquisite beauty and comparative rarity is one of the most highly prized of our wild flowers." "During September and October we may find these blossoms fully expanded, delicate, vase-shaped creations with four spreading deeply fringed lobes bearing no resemblance in shape or form to any other American species. The color is a violet-blue, the color that is most attractive to bumblebees, and it is to these insects that the flower is indebted for the setting of its seed.... The flowers are wide open only during sunshine, furling in their peculiar twisted manner on cloudy days and at night. In moist woods from Maine to Minnesota and southwards."