1. Reading Lesson

Hunting Song

Waken, lords and ladies gay, On the mountain dawns the day; All the jolly chase is here With hawk and horse and hunting-spear; Hounds are in their couples yelling, Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling, Merrily, merrily mingle they, "Waken, lords and ladies gay."

Waken, lords and ladies gay, The mist has left the mountain gray, Springlets in the dawn are steaming, Diamonds in the brake are gleaming, And foresters have busy been To track the buck in thicket green; Now we come to chant our lay "Waken, lords and ladies gay."

Waken, lords and ladies gay, To the greenwood haste away; We can show you where he lies, Fleet of foot and tall of size; We can show the marks he made When 'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd; You shall see him brought to bay; Waken, lords and ladies gay.

Louder, louder chant the lay,

Waken, lords and ladies gay!

Tell them youth and mirth and glee

Run a course as well as we;

Time, stern huntsman! who can balk,

Stanch as hound and fleet as hawk;

Think of this and rise with day,

Gentle lords and ladies gay!

- Sir Walter Scott.

2. Study

Answer these questions as you study the poem:

Stanza 1. Who seems to be speaking? At what time must the party start? What preparations have been made? Does it sound as if the hunters will have a jolly time?

Hawks were trained, long ago, to help in the hunt.

Stanza 2. What things make the day beautiful? What are the diamonds?

What further preparations are mentioned here? Who are the foresters?

Stanza 3. What pictures of the hunt do you find? To what does the third line refer?

Stanza 4. What do you think the third and fourth lines mean? Do they make you think of a common saying of two words?

Who is the huntsman mentioned in the fifth line? Balk means to hinder or stop. The line means, Who can balk Time, the stern huntsman? Do you know of any one who can?

What is Time said to be like in the sixth line? In what way is Time like a huntsman?

What is the warning in the seventh line?

3. Word Studies

1. Think of other words that mean about the same as these: couples.

mirth.

huntsman.

antlers.

stern.

gleaming.

fleet.

thicket.

knelling.

Write sentences containing these words; then rewrite the sentences using the words you have thought of instead. Write them in this way:

The deer's antlers were large. The deer's horns were large.

2. Write other expressions that explain these: dawns the day jolly chase chant the lay haste away.

rise with day brought to bay track the buck fleet of foot.

3. Why are these words called contractions?

fray'd 'gainst

4. Memory Work

Write a stanza of the poem from memory.

5. Oral Or Written Composition

A plan for an outing that would make me willing to be wakened at dawn.