 | An Ancient Spell |  |
1
An Ancient Spell.
There they stood, like young globe-batters, with no salary enriched.
Waiting for the words momentous that the dextrous teacher pitched;
And he hurled the first one at them, like a nicely twisted ball,
While the catcher just behind them was the horny-handed wall;
And the first boy struck and missed it, and his face was deeply vexed,
As the teacher scowled a cyclone, and vociferated “next.”
Waiting for the words momentous that the dextrous teacher pitched;
And he hurled the first one at them, like a nicely twisted ball,
While the catcher just behind them was the horny-handed wall;
And the first boy struck and missed it, and his face was deeply vexed,
As the teacher scowled a cyclone, and vociferated “next.”
2
Then a curly-headed maiden-waist diminuendo-size—
And large consonants and vowels softly nestling in her eyes.
Saw the word and tried to strike it, with some sympathetic aid,
And avoiding certain blunders that her predecessor made;
But she happened, too, to wander from the orthographic text,
And the teacher smiled in pity, as he softly murmured “next!”
And large consonants and vowels softly nestling in her eyes.
Saw the word and tried to strike it, with some sympathetic aid,
And avoiding certain blunders that her predecessor made;
But she happened, too, to wander from the orthographic text,
And the teacher smiled in pity, as he softly murmured “next!”
Then a cross-eyed boy struck at it, who to this day spells by ear.
And a red-haired girl attacked it with her pale eyes full of fear;
And the word flew on. Till one boy, very ignorant, but sharp-eyed,
Spelled it by the only method that had not as yet been tried:
And the teacher smiled approval, and with satisfaction said,
“That is right, my studious scholar, you can go up to the head.”
And a red-haired girl attacked it with her pale eyes full of fear;
And the word flew on. Till one boy, very ignorant, but sharp-eyed,
Spelled it by the only method that had not as yet been tried:
And the teacher smiled approval, and with satisfaction said,
“That is right, my studious scholar, you can go up to the head.”
3
And the shrewd-eyed boy marched proudly to the ever-longed-for place.
With a cunning smile just under his devout and freckled face;
For he'd found, that calmly watching what around him came to pass,
Would discount the hardest study, in that long old spelling-class;
And he knew by observation, how the “premium” record said,
That of all the “leaving-off-marks,” he was several lengths ahead.
With a cunning smile just under his devout and freckled face;
For he'd found, that calmly watching what around him came to pass,
Would discount the hardest study, in that long old spelling-class;
And he knew by observation, how the “premium” record said,
That of all the “leaving-off-marks,” he was several lengths ahead.
And in spelling-school, that urchin quite a reputation got,
Just from spelling words by methods that the other ones did not;
But the boy is now in business; and his letters are a sight!
He dispenses with a “W” when he “sets him down to ‘rite’,”
And when he “recieves a letter” he discourages the “e,”
And he wrote one day to Jackson, and began it with a “G”.
Just from spelling words by methods that the other ones did not;
But the boy is now in business; and his letters are a sight!
He dispenses with a “W” when he “sets him down to ‘rite’,”
And when he “recieves a letter” he discourages the “e,”
And he wrote one day to Jackson, and began it with a “G”.
4
Now the old school house is banished, like so many of its race,
To the elements that wrought it—and a new one holds its place;
And the spellers write their words down, with a chance their parents lacked,
For as Bacon hints, 'tis writing
That must make a man exact;
And the curly-haired sweet maiden, and the teacher, it is said,
Are a class of two together, with the former at the head.
To the elements that wrought it—and a new one holds its place;
And the spellers write their words down, with a chance their parents lacked,
For as Bacon hints, 'tis writing
That must make a man exact;
And the curly-haired sweet maiden, and the teacher, it is said,
Are a class of two together, with the former at the head.
| An Ancient Spell | |