There is no Frigate like a Book

A Book

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take       

Without oppress of toll; 

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

The poet we have been studying this term is Emily Dickinson.  The poem of hers that we decided to memorize was this one.  I love this poem!  It is so true.  Each book we read is like an adventure that takes us to places that we have never imagined before we enter it’s pages.

We just finished our second term for the year and have had some wonderful adventures that have just come to an end.  Today I thought I would share a few of our favorite excursions.  Isaac and I read a couple of books that we both loved.  The first one was The Little Duke.  It was based on the life of Duke Richard of Normandy, who became the Duke at the age of eight, when his Father was cruelly murdered.  It was a fun and exciting story, but also taught beautifully the virtues of courage and mercy.  We were sad to see it end.  We also read The Wind in the Willows this term and it has to be one of my favorite books of all time.  Kenneth Graham has such a magical way with words!  He has the ability to express things in a way that often left me wanting to reread the phrase again and again to soak in the beauty of the words and the scene he had created with them.  Here are a few of my favorites, although almost any sentence he wrote could qualify.

“ Never in his life had he seen a river before -- this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver -- glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble.  The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated.”

“It was a cold still afternoon with a hard steely sky overhead, when he slipped out of the warm parlour into the open air. The country lay bare and entirely leafless around him, and he thought that he had never seen so far and so intimately into the insides of things as on that winter day when Nature was deep in her annual slumber and seemed to have kicked the clothes off. Copses, dells, quarries and all hidden places, which had been mysterious mines for exploration in leafy summer, now exposed themselves and their secrets pathetically, and seemed to ask him to overlook their shabby poverty for a while, till they could riot in rich masquerade as before, and trick and entice him with the old deceptions. “

My favorite chapter was #7 “The Pipers at the Gates of Dawn”.  It was a beautiful chapter that pulled at my heart. 

“Slowly, but with no doubt or hesitation whatever, and in something of a solemn expectancy, the two animals passed through the broken tumultuous water and moored their boat at the flowery margin of the island. In silence they landed, and pushed through the blossom and scented herbage and undergrowth that led up to the level ground, till they stood on a little lawn of a marvellous green, set round with Nature's own orchard-trees -- crab-apple, wild cherry, and sloe.  ‘This is the place of my song-dream, the place the music played to me,' whispered the Rat, as if in a trance. `Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!'

   Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror -- indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy -- but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near.”

Isaac loved the book too, but he was more partial to the adventurous chapters.  Especially the exploits of Mr. Toad.  I am sad to have ended the book, but look forward to reading it again with Grant in two years.

Harrison had longer books this term, so his are still being continued into next term, but we did finnish our second Shakespeare play, Measure for Measure.  We liked it, but I think it is a play that is better suited for an older audience.  I had to use some very guarded explanations of what was going on.  We enjoyed last terms play, Twelfth Night, much more.   It has been exciting to see Harrison begin to understand more and more of the Shakespearean language.  There is still a lot I have to explain to him, but I’m surprised he is getting as much as he is at age 9...

There are many more books we are still in the process of reading, and loving.  All of the wonderful books we get to read, and great ideas we are able to discuss because of them, is one of my favorite things about homeschooling.  When I was in school I didn’t get to read any of the amazing classics I am reading with my kids and I am so grateful I have this opportunity to experience them even though I am not so young any more.  There is nothing like sharing the new worlds and ideas found in a book with your young and eager children.  These are memories I will cherish forever.