73 Clears the entry like a hound, Keeps the passage, as its inch of way were the wide sea's profound! See, safe thro' shoal and rock, How they follow in a flock, Not a ship that misbehaves, not a keel that grates the ground, Not a spar that comes to grief! The peril, see, is past. 80 All are harbored to the last, 85 90 95 100 And just as Hervé Riel hollas "Anchor!" sure as fate, So, the storm subsides to calm: They see the green trees wave On the heights o'erlooking Grève. Hearts that bled are stanched with balm. "Just our rapture to enhance, Let the English rake the bay, Gnash their teeth and glare askance As they cannonade away! 'Neath rampired Solidor pleasant riding on the Rance!" How hope succeeds despair on each captain's countenance! Out burst all with one accord, "This is paradise for hell! Let France, let France's king, Thank the man that did the thing!" What a shout, and all one word, "Hervé Riel !" As he stepped in front once more; In the frank blue Breton eyes,- Then said Damfreville, "My friend, 105 Though I find the speaking hard; Ask to heart's content, and have! or my name's not Damfreville." Then a beam of fun outbroke On the bearded mouth that spoke, 115 As the honest heart laughed through Those frank eyes of Breton blue:— "Since I needs must say my say, Since on board the duty's done, And from Malo Roads to Croisic Point, what is it but a run! 120 Since 'tis ask and have, I may Since the others go ashore Come! A good whole holiday! Leave to go and see my wife, whom I call the Belle Aurore!" 125 Name and deed alike are lost: Not a pillar nor a post In his Croisic keeps alive the feat as it befell; Not a head in white and black On a single fishing-smack, 130 In memory of the man but for whom had gone to wrack 135 All that France saved from the fight whence England bore the bell. Go to Paris: rank on rank Search the heroes flung pell-mell On the Louvre, face and flank! You shall look long enough ere you come to Hervé Riel. So, for better and for worse, Hervé Riel, accept my verse! In my verse, Hervé Riel, do thou once more Save the squadron, honor France, love thy wife the Belle Aurore! HELPS TO STUDY Notes and Questions Find on your map: Saint Malo, le What forfeit did Hervé Riel propose in case he failed to pilot the ships safely in? 5 THE BUGLE SONG (From "The Princess") ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON The splendor falls on castle walls Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying; O, hark! O, hear! how thin and clear, 10 15 O, sweet and far from cliff and scar, O, love, they die in yon rich sky; They faint on hill or field or river. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying; HELPS TO STUDY Notes and Questions Why does the poet use "splendor" | Line 16-They "die" and "faint’’ instead of "sun-set,'' and ''summits" instead of "mountains''? Line 2-What is meant by "old in story''? Line 3-Why does the poet use "'shakes''? Line 13-To what does "they" relate? Line 15-Explain. Line 15-Why does the poet use "'roll''? while "our echoes" "roll" and "grow." Note that "grow" is the important word. Note the refrain and the changes in its use; in the first stanzathe bugle; in the second-the echo; in the third-the spiritual echo. Point out lines that have rhyme within themselves. By thirty hills I hurry down, Till last by Philip's farm I flow I chatter over stony ways, With many a curve my banks I fret With willow-weed and mallow. I chatter, chatter, as I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, I wind about, and in and out, And here and there a foamy flake With many a silvery water-break And draw them all along, and flow |