Bobolink shall play the violin, Great applause to win; Lonely, sweet, and sad, the meadow-lark Plays the oboe. Hark! Yellow-bird the clarionet shall play, Blithe, and clear, and gay. Purple-finch what instrument will suit? He can play the flute. Fire-winged blackbirds sound the merry fife, Soldiers without strife; And the robins wind the mellow horn Loudly, eve and morn. Who shall clash the cymbals? Jay and crow, That is all they know; And, to roll the deep melodious drum, Lo! the bull-frogs come. Then the splendid chorus! Who shall sing Of so fine a thing? Who the names of the performers call Truly, one and all?
=Discussion.= 1. What instruments compose the birds’ orchestra? 2. Why does the poet say the jay and crow are assigned to the cymbals? 3. Explain: “fire-winged” blackbirds. 4. What leads you to think that the author knew those birds intimately? 5. Do you think the chorus would be pleasing? 6. What assignments do you think are particularly apt?
soldiers without strife, 52, 10 wind the mellow horn, 52, 11 clash the cymbals, 52, 13 roll the deep melodious drum, 52, 15
Thou blossom, bright with autumn dew, And colored with the heaven’s own blue, That openest when the quiet light Succeeds the keen and frosty night;
Thou comest not when violets lean O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen, Or columbines, in purple dressed, Nod o’er the ground bird’s hidden nest.
Thou waitest late, and com’st alone, When woods are bare and birds are flown, And frosts and shortening days portend The aged year is near his end.
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye Look through its fringes to the sky, Blue—blue—as if that sky let fall A flower from its cerulean wall.
I would that thus, when I shall see The hour of death draw near to me, Hope, blossoming within my heart, May look to heaven as I depart.
=Discussion.= 1. To whom is this poem addressed? 2. What words tell you the time of year that the fringed gentian blooms? 3. What words does the poet use to tell the color of the gentian? 4. When does it open? 5. What words does Bryant use to mean early morning? 6. When do violets come and in what kind of soil do they grow? 7. What words in the poem tell you this? 8. What does the poet tell you about the violets when he says they “lean,” and about the columbine when he says it “nods”? 9. What signs of approaching winter does the poet mention? 10. Why does the poet repeat “blue” in the third line of stanza 4? 11. Of what is this color a symbol? 12. To what in his life does Bryant compare the end of the year? 13. In this comparison what does the little flower represent?