XXIV.—ADDRESS TO A MUMMY. HORACE SMITH. 1. And thou hast walked about (how strange a story!) In Thebes's streets, three thousand years ago, When the Memnonium was in all its glory, And time had not begun to overthrow Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, Of which the very ruins are tremendous! 2. Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy ; Not like thin ghosts or disembodied creatures, 3. Tell us for doubtless thou canst recollect— To whom should we assign the Sphinx's fame? Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect Of either pyramid that bears his name? Is Pompey's pillar really a misnomer? Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer? 4. Perhaps thou wert a mason, and forbidden By oath to tell the secrets of thy trade; Then say, what secret melody was hidden In Memnon's statue, which at sunrise played? Perhaps thou wert a priest-if so, my struggles Are vain, for priestcraft never owns its juggles. 5. Perchance that very hand, now pinioned flat, Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass; Or dropped a halfpenny in Homer's hat, Or doffed thine own to let Queen Dido pass, Or held, by Solomon's own invitation, A torch at the great temple's dedication. 6. I need not ask thee if that hand, when armed, Has any Roman soldier mauled and knuckled, Ere Romulus and Remus had been suckled: Long after thy primeval race was run. 7. Since first thy form was in this box extended, We have, above ground, seen some strange mutations: The Roman empire has begun and ended; New worlds have risen; we have lost old nations, 8. Didst thou not hear the pother o'er thy head, And shook the Pyramids with fear and wonder, 9. If the tomb's secrets may not be confessed, A heart has throbbed beneath that leathern breast, 10. Statue of flesh ! immortal of the dead! Imperishable type of evanescence ! Posthumous man, who quitt'st thy narrow bed, 11. Why should this worthless tegument endure, O, let us keep the soul embalmed and pure ANALYSIS OF SELECTION XXIV. What kind of composition is this? Show the difference. between prose and poetry. [For the answer to this question, study carefully the first paragraph of the analysis of Exercise V.] What kind of poetry is this? Are any parts of it in any degree sublime? What stanzas are most so? Are the thoughts in this piece highly poetical? With what tones. should it be read? What rate of speed does it require? What pitch? First Stanza. Why should the first line begin with "and"? What is the "strange story" referred to? Where was Thebes? What is said of it in the Note? To whom are these words addressed? Why is Thebes spoken of? What is said, in the Note, of the "Memnonium "? How does "time overthrow temples," &c.? What structures are here meant? What is the effect of the word "very" in the last line? What other word might have been used to convey the same thought? Would one expect the "ruins" or the original structures to be the more tremendous "? Give the etymology and meaning of story, streets, glory, temples, palaces, stupendous, ruins, tremendous. Where is the first positive statement? Inflection of the voice upon the word story? ago? glory? tremendous? Is tremendous the greatest thing suggested here? What inflection must the word have, therefore? Second Stanza. What is it to "act dummy"? Who has been acting dummy? How long? What reasons arc given why the mummy" should " speak"? What is a mummy? Are these good reasons for his speaking? What is usually done with people when they cease speaking, or die? Is this stanza serious or humorous? What is meant by "glimpses of the moon"? Why are "ghosts" mentioned? meant by their being "thin"? What is Give the etymology and meaning of mummy, revisiting, disembodied, creatures, features. Where is the first falling inflection in this stanza? What inflection upon dummy? [Let great care be taken to determine the most natural way of saying what is contained in this stanza, as well as every other. In this way let the emphasis and inflection be determined.] Third Stanza. 66 Why is it supposed that the mummy can "recollect" the events here named? What was the Sphinx"? How many "pyramids are mentioned in the third and fourth lines? What is "a misnomer"? Give the meaning of the fifth line. Meaning of the clause "sung by Homer"? Give the etymology of doubtless, recollect, assign, fame, architect, pyramid, really, misnomer. Where should the first falling inflection be used? Is the question in the second line positive or negative in its essential character? [See Introduction, Inflections, VI.] Is the question in the third and fourth lines of the same character? What inflection does the word fame require, therefore? The word name? the word misnomer? Homer? What words require emphasis here, and why? What tones are required in this stanza? What pitch? force? speed? Fourth Stanza. "be here sug Why should the idea of being "a mason gested? What sort of things were the inquiries of the fourth stanza about? What is a mason, as the word is here used? What custom is referred to in the first and second lines? What is said in the Note about Memnon? What is the force of the word "then," as used in the third line? course did the Egyptian priests pursue in reference to disclosing their secrets? What "struggles are vain"? What Give the etymology and meaning of mason, mysteries, melody, statue, secret, priest, struggles. What inflection is required on the word mason? trade? played? What kind of question ends with the last word? Determine carefully the remaining inflections, and also the emphasis. Fifth Stanza. What is meant by "pinioned flat"? by "hob-a-nobbed "? What fact about Homer is suggested in the third line? To what country did the mummy belong? Did Homer belong to the same country? Did Dido? Give an account of Dido. What "temple" is meant in the last line? Were there Egyptians at the dedication of it? Give the meaning and etymology of pinioned, perchance, doffed, invitation, dedication. What inflection upon hand? flat? Pharaoh? glass at the end of the line? [Let the emphases be determined as before. The words or groups of words that express the important or new thoughts in a sentence are to be made emphatic, that is, to be read with more force than other words.] Questions on the remaining Stanzas. Why is it not necessary to ask what is suggested in the sixth stanza? Explain clearly the two last lines of the sixth stanza. Why should the author say "above ground" in the second line of the seventh stanza? What is meant by "new worlds have risen"? What "old nations" have been "lost"? How did Cambyses treat the Egyptian deities? What event is referred to in the last line of the eighth stanza? What is the meaning of each of the four designations applied to the mummy in the first three lines of the tenth stanza? What "tegument" is meant in the first line of the eleventh stanza? Does the author seem to think that there are things of greater importance than the art of embalming? What are they? State them in your own words. Give the etymology and meaning of armed, soldier, buried, embalmed, antiquity, appears, primeval, extended, mutations, empire, nations, humbled, fragment, conquerors, marched, tomb, pyramids, gigantic, asunder, secrets, confessed, nature, private, unfold, station, age, race, statue, immortal, imperishable, evanescence, posthumous, undecayed, presence, judgment, tegument, endure, virtue, corruption, consume, immortal, spirit. [This selection, if properly used, will afford much mental |