What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my sun to dare, Ye have but my sands to travel. Go forth, for it is there !"The West Wind called: " In squadrons the thoughtlessgalleons fly
That bear the wheat and cattle lest street-bred people die,They make my might their porter, they make my house their path,Till I loose my neck from their rudder and whelm them all in my wrath.
"I draw the gliding fog-bank as a snake is drawn from the hole.
They bellow one to the other, the frighted ship-bells toll,For day is a drifting terror, till I raise the shroud with my breath,And they see strange bows above them, and the two go locked to death.
"But, whether in calm or wrack-wreath, whether by dark or day,I heave them whole to the conger, or rip their plates away, First of the scattered legions, under a shrieking sky, Dipping between the rollers, the English Flag goes by.
"The dead, dumb fog hath wrapped it, the frozen dews have kissed,The naked stars have seen it, a fellow-star in the mist.
What is the Flag of England? Ye have but my breath to dare,Ye have but my waves to conquer. Go forth, for it is there!"Abridged from the poem by Rudyard Kipling,
in Barrack Room Ballads
Author.-Rudyard Kipling, English author, (1865-1936). He travelled China, Japan, America, Africa, and Australasia. The most famous of his numerous publications are Barrack Room Ballads, The Seven Seas (verse), The Jungle Book (prose), Stalky and Co. (prose), Kim (prose), Just So Stories (prose), Puck of Peek" s Hill (prose), and Rewards and Fairies (prose).
General Notes.-The English Flag, or Union Jack, shows the three crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, in combination, denoting the union of England, Scotland, and Ireland; displayed on a blue field for the navy and a red field for the army. Look up Bergen, in Norway. The Discoe Floe is in Davis Strait, west of Greenland; The Dogger Bank is a fishing ground in the North Sea. Are the " gates ofiron" the ice, and is the " flame" the Aurora Borealis? Find the Virgins in the British West Indies Keys are low islands or reefs off the southern coast of Florida. Find halliard in the dictionary, and connect it with haul. A praya is a raised drive or promenade along a shore or river bank. Look up Horn; Lizard; Kuriles (north of Japan); Kowloon (near Hong Kent); Singapore; Hoogli. Comment on the phrase " on the bones of the English the English Flag is stayed." The conger is a large sea-eel, sometimes 8 feet long. Pick out your favourite line-the most graphic, the most forcible. Make a list of the countries to which Mr. Kipling refers in his poem. What human qualities have helped to build up the greatness of the British Empire? Illustrate with examples.
LESSON 34
THE mAN FROm SNOWy RIVER
There was movement at the station, for the word had passed aroundThat the colt from old Regret had got away,
And had joined the wild bush horses-he was worth a thousand pound,So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far Had mustered at the homestead overnight,For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,And the stock-horse snuffs the battle with delight.
There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup,The old man with his hair as white as snow;
But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up-He would go wherever horse and man could go.
Then Clancy of The Overflow came down to lend a hand,No better horseman ever held the reins;
For never horse could throw him while the saddle-girthswould stand-
He learned to ride while droving on the plains.
And one was there, a stripling, on a small and weedy beast; He was something like a racehorse undersized,With a touch of Timor pony-three parts thoroughbred at least-And such as are by mountain horsemen prized.
He was hard and tough and wiry-just the sort that won"t say die-There was courage in his quick, impatient tread;And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fieryeye
And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.
But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay,And the old man said, "That horse will never doFor a long and tiring gallop-lad, you"d better stop away, Those hills are far too rough for such as you."So he waited, sad and wistful-only Clancy stood his friend- "I think we ought to let him come," he said;"" I warrant he"ll be with us when he"s wanted at the end, For both his horse and he are mountain bred.
"He hails from Snowy River, up by Koseiusko"s side,Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough;Where a horse"s hoofs strike firelight from the flint stonesevery stride,
The man that holds his own is good enough.
And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,Where the river runs those giant hills between;I have seen full many horsemen since I first commencedto roam,
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen."
So he went; they found the horses by the big mimosa clump, They raced away towards the mountain"s brow,And the old man gave his orders, "Boys, go at them from the jump,No use to try for fancy riding now.
And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right.
Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills,
For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight If once they gain the shelter of those hills."So Clancy rode to wheel them-he was racing on the wing Where the best and boldest riders take their place;And he raced his stock-horse past them, and he made the ranges ringWith the stockwhip, as he met them face to face.
Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash,But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view,And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash,And off into the mountain scrub they flew.
Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and blackResounded to the thunder of their tread,
And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered backFrom cliffs and crags that beetled overhead.