1. The Falls of Lodore, in the Lake District, England, consist of a series of cascades in which a small stream rushes over a great rock about 200 feet high.
2. Read this poem aloud and notice how the sound fits the sense. Does it give you an idea of the sound of the waterfall? Why do you think the poet uses first two, then three, and then four, participles to a line? Other poems in which this method of creating an impression of sound and motion is used are Poe's "The Bells" and parts of Browning's "How We Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" and "The Pied Piper." Words like _bubble_ and _gurgle_ imitate sounds. Look for such words in this poem and elsewhere.
3. Compare this poem with Lowell's "The Fountain," Tennyson's "The Brook," and Lanier's "Song of the Chattahoochee." Decide which you like best, and why.
_If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his own deception and ignorance._
[Illustration: AN ADVENTURE IN BROTHERHOOD
In an ancient city of the East there were seven brothers who were constantly quarreling among themselves. They fell out about the way their father divided his property among them; they argued about the number of camels each had a right to; they disagreed over the management 5 of their business; and altogether they behaved so rudely to each other that their acquaintances came to speak of them as the "unbrotherly brothers."
Their father was much grieved over the actions of his sons, and he pondered long what means to take to teach them 10 a lasting lesson. At length he called them together in his own house and spoke to them in this manner:
"As you know, I still have much wealth of my own. The whole of this I shall bequeath to that son of mine who can perform a task I have to set. Should two or more succeed, 15 the property will be divided equally among the winners. But before any of you can take part in this contest, each must pledge himself to live up fully to any lesson he may have exemplified here this day. Are you willing to make me this promise?" 20
Each stepped forth in turn and gave a solemn assurance to his father that come what might he would be true in spirit and in deed to any lesson that the test might bring forth.