Читать книгу The Ontario High School Reader - Aletta E. Marty - Страница 10

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A well there is in the west country, And a clearer one never was seen; There is not a wife in the west country But has heard of the well of St. Keyne.

An oak and an elm-tree stand beside,5 And behind doth an ash-tree grow, And a willow from the bank above Droops to the water below.

A traveller came to the well of St. Keyne; Joyfully he drew nigh,10 For from cock-crow he had been travelling, And there was not a cloud in the sky.

He drank of the water so cool and clear, For thirsty and hot was he; And he sat down upon the bank,15 Under the willow-tree. There came a man from the house hard by, At the well to fill his pail; On the well-side he rested it, And he bade the stranger hail.20

"Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?" quoth he; "For, an if thou hast a wife, The happiest draught thou hast drank this day That ever thou didst in thy life.

"Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast,25 Ever here in Cornwall been? For, an if she have, I'll venture my life She has drank of the well of St. Keyne."

"I have left a good woman who never was here," The stranger he made reply;30 "But that my draught should be the better for that, I pray you answer me why."

"St. Keyne," quoth the Cornish-man, many a time Drank of this crystal well; And before the angel summoned her,35 She laid on the water a spell—

"If the husband of this gifted well Shall drink before his wife, A happy man thenceforth is he, For he shall be master for life;40 "But, if the wife should drink of it first, God help the husband then!"— The stranger stooped to the well of St. Keyne, And drank of the water again.

"You drank of the well, I warrant, betimes?"45 He to the Cornish-man said; But the Cornish-man smiled as the stranger spake, And sheepishly shook his head:—

"I hastened, as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch;50 But i' faith she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church."

—Robert Southey

Preparatory.—Select the lines that (a) describe the scene, (b) indicate the action, (c) give the dialogue.

Show by recasting this ballad into dramatic form that it is a miniature drama.

Give examples of Pause springing from (a) Visualization, in ll. 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 17, 19, (b) narrative which interrupts direct discourse, in ll. 21, 29, 33, 45.

Which are the emphatic words in ll. 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 21, 29, 31, 38, 45, 46? Give your reasons and show how they are made emphatic. (Introduction, p. 30.)

l. 3. What is the Inflection on 'country,' l. 3? (Introduction, p. 17.)

ll. 37–38. Note the Grouping and Pause. (Introduction, p. 12.)