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"What a beautiful city!" said Belle the next morning as they were walking to the Longfellow house.

"Yes," replied Uncle Jack. "Portland, Maine, is one of the most attractive of American cities. There is another Portland in Oregon, where the roses bloom all the year around, although there is very little difference in the latitude of the two cities, the Portland in Oregon being actually farther north."

You can see from the above photograph of Longfellow's house that roses could not bloom all the year round in Portland, Maine.

"Here we are at Congress street, Uncle Jack," said Ben.

"And here is the house. It is set back from the street, as you see. Longfellow was not born in this house, but he passed his youth in it. His birthplace is near the Grand Trunk station. There is one poem in which Longfellow commemorates Portland, and I think we should take time to listen to it here in the house where the poet lived so long." And Uncle Jack repeated from memory:

MY LOST YOUTH

Often I think of the beautiful town

That is seated by the sea;

Often in thought go up and down

The pleasant streets of that dear old town,

And my youth comes back to me,

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And a verse of a Lapland song

Is haunting my memory still:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far-surrounding seas,
And the islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.

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And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

I remember the black wharves and the slips,

And the sea-tides tossing free;

And the Spanish sailors with bearded lips,
And the beauty and mystery of the ships,
And the magic of the sea.

And the voice of that wayward song

Is singing and saying still:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

I remember the bulwarks by the shore,

And the fort upon the hill;

The sunrise gun, with its hollow roar,
The drum-beat repeated o'er and o'er,
And the bugle wild and shrill.

And the music of that old song
Throbs in my memory still:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.'

I remember the sea fight far away,*

How it thundered o'er the tide!

*This was the engagement between the Enterprise and Boxer, off the harbor of Portland, in which both captains were slain. They were buried side by side, in the cemetery on Mountjoy.

And the dead captains, as they lay

In their graves, o'erlooking the tranquil bay,
Where they in battle died.

And the sound of that mournful song

Goes through me with a thrill:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts '

Strange to me now are the forms I meet

When I visit the dear old town;

But the native air is pure and sweet,

And the trees that o'ershadow each well-known street,

As they balance up and down,

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Are singing the beautiful song,

Are sighing and whispering still:

"A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

- Longfellow

""The sea fight far away' brings to my mind another sea fight on the coast of Maine in the early days of the Revolution. In fact, it was the first sea fight of that war, and it took place not far from here," said Uncle Jack, as they were returning to the hotel. "Suppose I tell you about it some day?" he added.

"Oh, do tell us, to-day, after luncheon!" cried May.

"I'm afraid that I shall not be free to do so until to-morrow, as I have some letters to write this afternoon," said Uncle Jack. "But let us agree, now, to meet in the sitting room after luncheon, to-morrow," he added, as they reached the hotel.

TO THE PUPIL:

1. Copy and memorize the first stanza of “My Lost Youth."

2. Write two sentences of the b type, and two of the c type. Put a single horizontal line underneath the subject, and double horizontal lines underneath the predicate.

TO THE TEACHER:

Test the pupils' knowledge of the memory gem.
Collect, correct, and return Exercise 2.

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