QUESTIONS FOR STUDY What did the Scotchmen do? (Lines 24-50.) Why is this poem a "good yarn"? How many accented syllables are there in a line? Which are they? Does this arrangement affect the "movement" of the poem? WILLIAM HAMILTON HAYNE (1856- ) A poet and the son of a poet, William H. Hayne, lives in Augusta, Georgia, admired and beloved both for his poetic gifts and for his personal charm. His especial poetic quality is lyrical, as was his father's. In his lyrics he shows both inherited powers and perfected art. THE SCREECH-OWL I He loves the dark, he shuns the light, When the sun's latest glow has fled, 1 As though to chant, in language fell,1 II He seeks the dark, he shuns the light, 1 Fell, gloomy. 10 15 He loves to think man's breath must pass And oft the bitterest blows of Fate, Ah! once he knew in realms below And in his somber wings are furled QUESTIONS FOR STUDY What are the habits of the owl ? W. H. HAYNE. Did you ever hear an owl hooting at night? (Line 5.) Did it sound to you as the author here describes it? Does this poem remind you at all of Poe's "Raven"? (Page 347.) A CYCLONE AT SEA A throat of thunder, a tameless heart, 1 Eerie, wild, weird. He sprang from the womb of some wild cloud, To soar like a million hawks set free, He has scourged the Sea 'til her mighty breast And has torn brave souls from their bodies frail Possessed by a demon's lust of life, W. H. HAYNE. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY Why does the poet call a cyclone an Arab? (Line 4.) What else does he call it? (Line 15.) Why does he call it "dark Bedouin "? How has it "scourged the sea"? (Line 9.) Which of these poems do you like the better? Why ? 1 Allah, the Arab's name for God. 5 10 15 WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) Irving was the first American to win recognition in England as a writer. He was a native of New York and spent most of his life in New York City, work of note was his humorous and somewhat satirical history of New York. His essays, including such charming and well known bits as Rip Van Winkle |
