LESSON VII.

FEMALE FRIENDSHIP.

BY WILLIAM SHAKSPERE.

(Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III., Scene 2)

Is all the counsel that we two have shared,

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The sisters' vows, the hours that we have spent,

When we have chid the hasty-footed Time

For parting us: Oh, and is all forgot?

All schooldays' friendship, childhood innocence?
We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,
Created with our needles both one flower,
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion;
Both warbling of one song, both in one key;
As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds,
Had been incorporate. So we grew together,
Like a double cherry, seeming parted,

But yet a union in partition;

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Two lovely berries moulded on one stem;

So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart:

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Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,

Due but to one, and crowned with the crest.
And will you rend our ancient love asunder,
To join with men in scorning your poor friend?
It is not friendly, 'tis not maidenly;
Our sex, as well as I, may chide you
for it,
Though I alone do feel the injury.

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1. What is the precise meaning of the word sel"? (Line 1.)

2. In what cases are the words "sisters" and "schooldays"? (Lines 2, 5.)

3. What part of speech is the word "childhood" in line 5?

4. What is the meaning of "artificial gods"? (Line 6.)

5. Why is the word "warbling" used here (Line 9) instead of "singing"? What image does the word usually call up, and what does it mean here?

6. Explain the antecedent in each of these words, "hands,' 99 66 sides," "voices," "minds"? (Line 10.) 7. What is the meaning of the word " incorporate"? (Line 11.)

8. Give another word for "hasty-footed." (Line 3.) 9. How many comparisons are given of the two girls' friendship?

10. Describe the first comparison, and explain the expression "union in partition."

11. In what line is the first comparison applied to the maidens ?

12. What is heraldry?

13. What do coats mean in line 16?

14. Describe the second comparison.

15. What meaning has the word like in "like coats in heraldry"?

16. What reasons are given why the two friends should not quarrel?

LESSON VIII.

LIFE.

BY WILLIAM SHAKSPERE.

(Macbeth, Act V., Scene 5.)

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

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The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! 5
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

1. What force has the word in in line 2? 2. Give other words for "petty" and pace." 2.) What exact meaning has petty?

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(Line

3. What is the meaning of "recorded time"? and to what has the word syllable special reference? (Line 3.) 4. What time is meant in line 3? Past, present, or future?

5. What time does "all our yesterdays" refer to? (Line 4.)

6. Explain the line

"Have lighted fools the way to dusty death." Why dusty?

7. What is meant by the expression "out, out, brief candle"? (Line 5.)

8. What are the three comparisons in the passage? 9. Carefully explain each comparison and the meaning of it.

LESSON IX.

USEFULNESS.

BY W. SHAKSPERE.

(Measure for Measure, Act I., Scene 1.)

Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do,

Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike

As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched
But to fine issues: nor Nature never lends

The smallest scruple of her excellence,
But like a thrifty goddess she determines
Herself the glory of a creator,

Both thanks and use.

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1. Describe and explain the first comparison in the

passage.

2. Explain the sentence:

""Twere all alike as if we had them not."

For what is 'twere an abbreviation?

3. Paraphrase the line:

"Spirits are not finely touch'd, but to fine issues."

4. What meanings has the word scruple, and what does it mean in line 6?

5. Explain the word thrifty (Line 7), and say why it is applied to Nature ?

6. What is the meaning of the word "determine" in line 7?

7. Explain the figure in the lines beginning "Nature never lends" and ending " use."

LESSON X.

OF TRUTH.

BY LORD BACON.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

1. This greatest of English philosophers was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Keeper of the Great Seal in the reign of Elizabeth, and was born in 1561. He was educated in Cambridge, and while still in college conceived the idea of a philosophy which should supersede that of Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, who was studied in all the schools. After leaving college he travelled abroad for four years, and on the death of his father came back to England, and studied law.

2. Bacon's ambition was to be a statesman, and to this he was helped by his friend the unfortunate Earl of Essex. His own talents speedily brought him into note, but at the very outset of his career, he misused them by doing all in his power to aid and abet the downfall of the unhappy Essex whose story is so well

known.

3. Bacon afterwards became Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, and Chancellor of England, to which he added the titles of Baron Verulam and Viscount St. Albans. As Chancellor, splendid as were his talents, grave doubts rest on his character as an honest man. In consequence of the discoveries made of bribery and corruption and other bad practices, he was disgraced by James I.'s Parliament in 1621, degraded from his high position, and condemned to a severe punishment, which was afterwards, however, almost wholly remitted. He lived for five years after his disgrace, and died, April 9th, 1626, of a chill caught while engaged on a scientific experiment.