The Courtship of Miles Standish:: With Suggestions for Study and NotesLongfellow, Henry Wadsworth
History
The Courtship of Miles Standish:: With Suggestions for Study and Notes
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
Massachusetts -- History -- New Plymouth, 1620-1691 -- Poetry; Standish, Myles, 1584?-1656 -- Poetry
Did Priscilla belong to those Puritans that had lived for some years
in Holland (269)? What suggestions have we regarding Priscilla before
lines 223-238? In the description (223-238) what traits are made most
prominent? Explain in what respect her disposition seems to be in
sharp contrast to that of Alden (293-338). At what point and under what
conditions does Priscilla’s influence show itself most powerful? What
do we learn of her from her words in 667-680? At what point in the
story and in what way is her character most exquisitely drawn? Which of
the three characters had passed through the saddest experiences since
the landing at Plymouth?
THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH.
I.
MILES STANDISH.
In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrims,
To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling,
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather,
Strode, with martial air, Miles Standish the Puritan Captain.
Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, and
pausing 5
Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons of warfare,
Hanging in shining array along the walls of his chamber,--
Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of Damascus,
Curved at the point and inscribed with its mystical Arabic sentence,
While underneath, in a corner, were fowling-piece, musket and
matchlock. 10
Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic,
Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with muscles and sinews of iron;
Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was already
Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in November.
Near him was seated John Alden, his friend and household companion, 15
Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine by the window;
Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion,
Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty thereof, as the captives
Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, “Not Angles but Angels.”
Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower. 20
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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