How sweet thy scenes on every hand!

How fair thy covering skies! But not for this, oh, not for these,

I love thy fields to roam,— Thou hast a dearer spell to me,Thou art my native home!

The rivers roll their liquid wealth,
Unequaled to the sea,-

Thy hills and valleys bloom with health,
And green with verdure be,-
But, not for thy proud ocean streams,
Not for thine azure dome,—
Sweet, sunny South!-I cling to thee,-
Thou art my native home!

I've stood beneath Italia's clime,
Beloved of tale and song,—
On Helvyn's hills, proud and sublime,
Where nature's wonders throng;
By Tempe's classic sunlit streams,
Where gods of old did roam,-
But ne'er have found so fair a land
As thou-my native home!

And thou hast prouder glories, too,
Than nature ever gave,—

Peace sheds o'er thee her genial dew,
And Freedom's pinions wave,—
Fair Science flings her pearls around,
Religion lifts her dome,-

These, these endear thee to my heart,My own, loved native home!

And "heaven's best gift to man" is thine,—
God bless thy rosy girls!-

Like sylvan flowers, they sweetly shine,-
Their hearts are pure as pearls!
And grace and goodness circle them,
Where'er their footsteps roam-
How can I then, whilst loving them,
Not love my native home!

Land of the South-imperial land!—
Then here's a health to thee,-
Long as thy mountain barriers stand,
May'st thou be blest and free!-
May dark dissension's banner ne'er
Wave o'er thy fertile loam,

But should it come, there's one will die,
To save his native home!

O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was born in Long Island, May 31, 1819. He was a journalist and publisher in New York for some years, during which time he wrote a number of poems. He did not attain financial success, however, and died in extreme poverty in 1892.

This poem was written upon the occasion of the death of Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1865, just as his great task of piloting the Ship of State through the storms of the rebellion seemed to be finished. It is full of the emotion of deepest grief and would best be read from manuscript. Read it with all the genuine emotional power you have, but be careful not to fall into melodrama or bathos. A certain subdued and tense tone is appropriate at places. The time is slow, the pitch predominately low.

O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we

sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim

and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

Oh, the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead!

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;

For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding;

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces

turning;

Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor

will:

This ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip the victor ship, comes in with object won:

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Recessional

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling was born at Bombay, India, in 1865. He was sent to England to receive his education, but later returned to India and engaged in journalism. In 1880 he became an editor of the Civil and Military Gazette, making his contributions both in prose and verse. Later these were published in book form under the title of "Departmental Ditties," "Plain Tales from the Hills," and "Soldiers Three." For some time he made his home in the United States, but has since lived in England. Besides his many books of poetry and short stories, for which he is most famous, he has written a number of novels, among which may be mentioned, "Kim," and "The Light That Failed."

The occasion of this poem was the celebration in England of the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign, known as the "Diamond Jubilee." Representatives from all parts of the British Empire assembled at London in 1897 to do honor to the occasion. David Starr Jordan calls this poem "the noblest hymn of the century." As a general rule-exceptions being found in stanzas 2 and 3-the rising inflection should be maintained in each stanza until the prayer, or the direct invocation, is reached in the last two lines. The falling inflection should be used on "yet" (for the purpose of emphasis), also on "forget" in each instance. Try the effect of placing very strong emphasis on the first "forget," and then making the clause that follows an echo of the first, with less pronounced emphasis on any one word. Note that special emphasis is required on "Thee," in stanzas 4 and 5. The "reeking tube and iron shard" (line 2, stanza 5) refer to cannon and battleships, the latter being much in evidence upon the occasion which inspired this poem.

GOD of our fathers, known of old-
Lord of our far-flung battle line-
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine-
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget-lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies-
The Captains and the Kings depart―
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,