this lyric?" The pupils are required to give particular lines in support of their answers. The main theme, it is concluded, is the effect produced on a lover and his mistress by the echoing sounds of a bugle; the poem may be classed as a love lyric.

"In order that we may understand this more clearly," continues the teacher, "we shall read the poem again." The explanations that have just been given are such as will concentrate the pupils' attention, in this re-reading, upon the essential subject-matter of the poem.

The pupils now proceed, under the teacher's guidance, to trace in detail, verse by verse, the development of the main idea. The poem is written in three verses. The first conveys to us ideas of the place and time that are involved. The imagery of the first part of the verse is expressed in terms of the sense of sight. The last lines sound the main theme of the poem. In the second verse this keynote is further elaborated. Here the imagery is expressed in terms of the sense of hearing. The verse expresses the sound-effects of the echoes as they gradually recede, until at length, coming faintly from afar, they are like thin clear notes blown from fairy bugles. In the third verse the poet passes from the effects produced upon the outer senses, and suggests the more intimate feelings of the two listeners; the echoes faint and die, but always soul will speak to soul.

The poem having been thus read and explained verse by verse, it is re-read as a whole, after which the teacher may ask the pupils to supply such epithets as seem to them to describe appropriately the mood in

which it is written-adjectives such as "tender" and "dreamy" and "fanciful" suggest themselves. The attention of the class is then directed to the more formal aspects of the poem. Its movement is light and easy, and the music is characterised by grace and delicacy. Alliteration occurs in "snowy summits," "the long light shakes across the lakes," &c. The metre is chiefly iambic, but there is a variation in the last two lines of each stanza. What is the effect produced by this variation? Are there any imitative sounds in the poem? Show how the formal characteristics that have been mentioned are in harmony with, and aid in the expression of, the main theme and the mood of the lyric.

To illustrate further the application of this method to longer and more complex varieties of lyric poetry, let us now suppose a class to be studying Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington. Here, as before, the teacher's first object is to secure that the pupils should discover for themselves the main theme. The poem is therefore read as a whole (either at home or in class) and the subject is briefly stated.

The mode in which the general theme is developed through all the particular details has next to be studied. The subject may be said to unfold itself in two main aspects. In the first place, there is a gradual evolution of the theme from the standpoint of "local colour"-the categories of "here" and "now"; there runs throughout the poem a vein of sensuous imagery suggestive of place and time—the thronged streets of London, the booming of the cannon, the wail of the organ, the tears of the crowd, the last rites. In the

second place, there is a gradual evolution of the theme regarded from a less sensuous and more purely intellectual standpoint; the poet celebrates the Duke's achievements as a military leader, his high character as a patriot and a man, and the greatness of his soul. The poem may be divided structurally into four sections, each of which marks a development in these two aspects of its main theme. Stanzas 1 to 4 suggest to the reader the funeral procession passing through the crowded streets, and refer in general terms to the Duke's high character and great deeds. Stanza 5 suggests the arrival of the procession at St Paul's, "under the cross of gold that shines over city and river," and introduces the subject of Wellington's greatness as a soldier. Stanzas 6 to 8 suggest (by allusion only) the interior of the Cathedral, and elaborate the previously introduced theme of Wellington's military genius. The last stanza suggests the closing scene: "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and concludes with a reference to a life beyond.

After the first general reading and statement of the subject-matter, the poem will be re-read in sections as above, a pause being made at the end of each section to enable the pupils to trace in it the development of the theme in its two aspects. The attention of the class will be called specially to certain passages in which the two threads that run through the poem are seen to be connected with one another, as to the lines— And the volleying cannon thunder his loss. He knew their voices of old,

where, by a natural transition, the poet passes from the present place and time to the celebration of the

Duke's great achievements on the battlefield. Again, in stanza 6, the allusive manner in which the interior of the Cathedral is suggested is worthy of note.

When, by such help as is above indicated, the structure of the Ode has taken shape, and its content has been enriched to fulness in the pupils' minds, the poem will then be treated from the formal point of view; and here considerable use may be made of the comparative method. If the "Bugle Song" has been read immediately before the Ode the teacher may ask for a comparison between the moods in which the two poems respectively are written. While the mood of the former was characterized as "tender" and dreamy,” that of the latter might be described as earnest," "exalted," and "spiritual"; and, corresponding with this difference in mood, there are differences in the metrical features of the poems. The metre of the ode is more complex and irregular than that of the song. Its movement is not "light" and "graceful," but" dignified" and "solemn." The frequent recurrence of long vowels, the use of assonance, the repetition of words and phrases will also be noted: and it will be shown how these characteristics are in harmony with the main theme and the mood of the poem; here, as always in the study of poetry, such formal or metrical characteristics will be studied not as being in abstract separation from, but as being vitally connected with, the main subject-matter that is expressed.

CHAPTER VI.

THE STUDY OF DRAMA.

IN the preceding chapters most of the particular methods that may be effectively applied in the teaching of English literature have been described and illustrated. These methods may be used with equal effect in the study of drama, and they need not be illustrated further with any detail. There are certain features, however, characteristic of the drama as a special form of art, which it is necessary that the teacher should consider. In order that he may guide his pupils aright, and know at what stage of the curriculum the study of drama may suitably be begun, he should have formed previously some idea of the essential nature of drama and dramatic effect.

The most important element in the drama is the plot or story. This truth was established, in relation to tragedy, as long ago as the time of Aristotle, who, in the Poetics, showed how, while the element of character is important in tragedy, it is yet subsidiary to the plot. "Most important of all," he says, "is the structure of the incidents. For Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life....Dramatic