CHAPTER VI.-BUILDINGS. LESSON LI. 1. Memorize:-FROM "IN SCHOOL-DAYS." Still sits the school-house by the road, And blackberry vines are running. Within, the master's desk is seen, The charcoal frescoes on its wall; The feet that, creeping slow to school, Went storming out to playing. -John Greenleaf Whittier. By permission of the publishers, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. II. Theme: THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES. There it rose, a little withdrawn from the line of the street, but in pride, not modesty. Its whole visible exterior was ornamented with quaint figures, conceived in the grotesqueness of a Gothic fancy, and drawn or stamped in the glittering plaster, composed of lime, pebbles, and bits of glass, with which the wood-work of the walls was overspread. On every side, the seven gables pointed sharply toward the sky, and presented the aspect of a whole sisterhood of edifices, breathing through the spiracles of one great chimney. The many lattices, with their small, diamond-shaped panes, admitted the sunlight into hall and chamber, while, nevertheless, the second story, projecting far over the base, and itself retiring beneath the third, threw a shadowy and thoughtful gloom into the lower rooms. globes of wood were affixed under the jutting stories. Little spiral rods of iron beautified each of the seven peaks. On the triangular portion of the gable, that fronted next the street, was a dial. The principal entrance, which had almost the breadth of a church-door, was in the angle between the two front gables, and was covered by an open porch, with benches beneath its shelter. Carved The deep projection of the second story gave the house such a meditative look, that you could not pass it without the idea that it had secrets to keep, and an eventful history to moralize upon. In front, just on the edge of the unpaved sidewalk, grew the Pyncheon Elm, which, in reference to such trees as one usually meets with, might well be termed gigantic. It had been planted by a great-grandson of the first Pyncheon, and, though now fourscore years of age, or perhaps nearer a hundred, was still in its strong and broad maturity, throwing its shadow from side to side of the street, overtopping the seven gables, and sweeping the whole black roof with its pendant foliage. It gave beauty to the old edifice, and seemed to make it a part of nature. -Nathaniel Hawthorne. From "The House of the Seven Gables." III. Principles-Description. EXERCISE I. Discuss the plan of the description: Theme. The House of the Seven Gables. General Introduction. Situation, general aspect. Descriptive Details. Exterior walls. Roof and chimney. Windows. Construction of stories and effect. Spiral ornaments. Entrance Suggestions of general mystery. Surroundings-elm-tree. Conclusion. Unity of the house with the landscape. 2. Examine the passage for the principles of description: (i) the statement of the theme, (ii) the general introduction, (iii) the coherence of the details, (iv) the selection of a few salient characteristic details, (v) the conclusion. 3. Point out the phrases or sentences in this description that appeal to the imagination. IV. Composition-1. Describe, following Hawthorne, the House of the Seven Gables. 2. Draw to a set scale a plan of the house or flat in which you live. Write a plain, accurate description of the house, following this outline: Introduction stating the situation and setting of the object. General outline of the whole-likeness or unlikeness to dwellings in general, your interest in it. Exterior-walls, roof, entrance. Interiorrooms, furniture, decorations. General comment on its comfort, ugliness or beauty. 3. Draw a plan of the school that you attend, to a set scale; write a plain description of it. 4. Taking Whittier's lines, quoted above, as the suggestion, describe a school-house in the country. 5. Describe a Village Blacksmith's Shop, as in the picture below. 6. Describe an apartment house in a city. 7. Describe, adding what suggestions you can of natural beauty and human associations, the Mill-stream, Mill-dam and Flour-mill at ; or, The Mill-pond and Saw-mill at; or, The Church and Churchyard at 8. Describe the situation and construction of any wild creature's building-a Kingfisher's Nest, an Oriole's Nest, a Honey-bee's Hive, a Spider's Web, a Beaver Dam. 9. Describe any mysterious house you may have noticed. LESSON LII. I. Memorize:-FROM " ENOCH ARDEN." Long lines of cliff breaking have left a chasm; -Alfred Tennyson. 1 Ancient grave mounds. II. Theme: A FARMHOUSE (DUTCH STYLE). It was one of those spacious farmhouses, with highridged but lowly-sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front, capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were built along the sides for summer use; and a great spinningwheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. From this piazza was entered the hall, which formed the centre of the mansion and the place of usual residence. Here, rows of resplendent pewter, ranged |