36. Study of a Poem
Reading edition
You remember, of course, that the house of snow in which Eskimos live has only one window. But this is only a hole in the wall, covered with a thin skin. There is no glass in it. So the little Eskimo boys and girls do not know the wonderful things that Jack Frost sometimes pencils on the windowpanes when children are asleep. The Eskimo children could not understand the poem below. But you have seen these sights on your own windows—castles, high and rocky places, knights with waving plumes, and trees and fruits and flowers. You will learn from the poem how Jack Frost paints them there.[9]
JACK FROST
The door was shut, as doors should be, Before you went to bed last night; Yet Jack Frost did get in, you see, And left your window silver white. He must have waited till you slept; And not a single word he spoke, But pencilled on the panes, and crept Away again before you woke. And now you cannot see the hills Nor fields that stretch beyond the lane; But there are fairer things than those His fingers traced on every pane. Rocks and castles towering high; Hills and dales and streams and fields; And knights in armor riding by, With nodding plumes and shining shields. And here are little boats, and there Big ships with sails spread to the breeze; And yonder, palm trees waving fair On islands set in silver seas. And butterflies with gauzy wings; And herds of cows and flocks of sheep; And fruits and flowers and all the things You see when you are sound asleep. For creeping softly underneath The door when all the lights are out, Jack Frost takes every breath you breathe, And knows the things you think about. He paints them on the windowpane In fairy lines with frozen steam; And when you wake you see again The lovely things you saw in dream. Gabriel Setoun
Oral Exercise. 1. How did Jack Frost get into the house? Has he visited your house this winter? Did he pencil, or trace, on your windows some of the pictures of which the poem speaks? Which ones?
2. What is a castle? What is a knight? What is a knight's armor? What is a knight's plume? Can you draw a picture of it on the board for those who do not know how it looks? Why did knights have shields? Draw a picture of a shield on the board.
3. Can you draw on the board a picture of a palm tree? Draw an oak or an apple tree beside it, so that every one will see how a palm tree is different. Explain your drawings.
4. Which part, or stanza, of the poem do you like best? Read it so that your classmates may see why you like it.
5. Play that you are Jack Frost. Show the class how you tiptoed into the room and out again without waking any one. Think of the following questions, and tell the class what you did last night when all children were sound asleep:
1. Did you visit more than one home?
2. What did you paint on the windowpanes?
3. Did you paint the same pictures in all houses?
Memory Exercise. When you understand every stanza in this poem, read the whole poem aloud several times. Perhaps the teacher will read with you, so that you may be sure to read correctly. After a few readings you will find that you can say the poem without looking at the book. It will be fun to see which pupils will know it first. But which pupils can recite it best?[47]