_simple subjects_, and their treatment
orally or in writing, are valuable exercises, and should be assigned to
pupils as frequently as possible during the whole of their school life.

* * * * *

LESSON XLVIII.

mel'o dy, _sounds pleasant to the ear_.

chant'ed, _sung in a simple melody_.

witch, _a person supposed to deal with evil spirits_.

trump'et, _a hollow piece of metal used to make music_.

har'mo ny, _the effect produced by uniting two or
more different parts in music_.

* * * * *

WHAT THE CHIMNEY SANG.

Over the chimney the night-wind sang
And chanted a melody no one knew;
And the Woman stopped, as her babe she tossed,
And thought of the one she had long since lost:
And said, as her tear-drop back she forced,
"I hate the wind in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang
And chanted a melody no one knew;
And the Children said, as they closer drew,
"'Tis some witch that is cleaving the black night through--
'Tis a fairy trumpet that just then blew,
And we fear the wind in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang
And chanted a melody no one knew;
And the Man, as he sat on his hearth below,
Said to himself, "It will surely snow,
And fuel is dear and wages low,
And I'll stop the leak in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang
And chanted a melody no one knew;
But the Poet listened and smiled, for he
Was Man, and Woman, and Child--all three,
And said, "It is God's own harmony,
This wind we hear in the chimney."

* * * * *

Directions for Reading.--The first two lines of each stanza may be read
more slowly and with a fuller tone of voice than the rest of the
stanza.

Notice that the words of special _emphasis_ throughout the poem begin
with capital letters.

Mark _inflections_ in the last four lines of the first and last
stanzas.

* * * * *

LESSON XLIX.

sel'dom, _not often; rarely_.

jun'gles, _places covered with trees and brushwood_.

tough (tuf), _not easily separated_.

ap par'ent ly, _seemingly; in appearance_.

a cute', _quick in action; sharp_.

charg'es, _rushes forward_.

gram'p us, _a kind of fish_.

re sumed', _started again; took up again_.

hid'e ous, _horrid to look at_.

de struc'tion, _death; entire loss_.

re