16. Is the poet's most cherished wish in harmony with what you know of his character?

17. Give a character sketch of the village preacher.

18. What is the poet's ideal of a useful, happy life?

19. After reading the account of "Paddy" Byrne in Irving's Life of Goldsmith, see if you can find any evidence that the poet had a model in mind when he described the schoolmaster.

20. Describe the village inn.

21. Contrast the simple, natural pleasures of country life with those of luxury and wealth.

22. What, according to the poet, is the ultimate result of fashionable splendor?

23. Is the appeal to statesmen consistent with the progress of civilization?

24. Is the description of the poor man's fruitless efforts to find a place for himself overdrawn?

25. What experiences of the poet would justify his picture of the evils of city life?

26. Is his picture of the desolate lot of the emigrant overdrawn? 27. What has luxury displaced?

28. In the poet's mind, what conditions are essential for the Genius of true poetry?

29. What appeal does he make to poetry?

30. What do you consider the most beautiful passages in the poem? Are they beautiful because of beauty of sentiment? Choice of words? Figurative language? Rhythm?

SUBJECTS FOR PARAGRAPHS
AND COMPOSITIONS

NARRATION

1. Auburn Tells the Story of her Desolation.

2. The Broken Soldier's Story.

3. The Auburn Emigrant's Account of his Wanderings. 4. Goldsmith and the Tulip Bulbs.

5. Goldsmith and his Fiddle on the Continent. 6. Goldsmith's Experiences as a Doctor.

7. The Selling of The Vicar of Wakefield.

8. Goldsmith and the Jessamy Bride.

DESCRIPTION

1. Auburn, a Happy Country Village.

2. Auburn, a Desolated Village. 3. England in Happy Times.

4. The Village Preacher.

5. An Eighteenth-century Pedagogue.

6. An Eighteenth-century Village Inn.

7. A Survey of Holland by Goldsmith.

8. The Wanderer Viewing the World from the Alps.

1. Rural Sports.

EXPOSITION

2. The Happiness of Village Life.

3. Education in an Eighteenth-century English Village.

4. The Importance of the Village Inn of the Eighteenth Century. 5. Goldsmith's Opinion of the Evil Results of Luxury.

6. Goldsmith's Ideal of Happiness.

7. Conditions in Italy as Seen by Goldsmith.

8. A Characterization of the English People by Goldsmith.

ARGUMENTATION

1. Wealth has Many Evil Results.

2. The Poor cannot be Happy in the City.

3. The Rich are not so Happy as the Poor.

4. Goldsmith Reveals himself in his Writings.

5. The Literary Club was an Important Factor in Eighteenthcentury Literature.

6. The Friendship of Sir Joshua Reynolds was Helpful to Goldsmith.

7. Goldsmith was More of a Romanticist than a Classicist. 8. Goldsmith Wrote like a Journalist.

QUOTATIONS

SELECTED FOR BEAUTY OF THOUGHT AND GRACE OF EXPRESSION

THE TRAVELLER

"Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see,
My heart untravelled fondly turns to thee;
Still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain,
And drags at each remove a lengthening chain."

"My fortune leads to traverse realms alone,
And find no spot of all the world my own."

"Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam;
His first, best country ever is at home."

"Nature, a mother kind alike to all,

Still grants her bliss at labor's earnest call;

"Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails,
And honor sinks when commerce long prevails."

"The sports of children satisfy the child;"

"But winter lingering chills the lap of May;"

"At night returning, every labor sped,

He sits him down the monarch of a shed;
Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys
His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze;
While his loved partner, boastful of her hoard,
Displays her cleanly platter on the board:

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And haply too some pilgrim, thither led,
With many a tale repays the nightly bed."

"If few their wants, their pleasures are but few."

"They please, are pleased, they give to get esteem, Till seeming blessed, they grow to what they seem."

"For praise too dearly loved, or warmly sought, Enfeebles all internal strength of thought."

"And industry begets a love of gain."

"At gold's superior charms all freedom flies; The needy sell it, and the rich man buys:

"Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the laws."

"Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centres in the mind."

THE DESERTED VILLAGE

"Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade:
A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."

"His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth."

"Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray."

"Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace
The day's disasters in his morning's face;
Full well they laughed, with counterfeited glee,

At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned,
Yet he was kind, or, if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault,
The village all declared how much he knew;
'Twas certain he could write and cipher too!
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
And even the story ran that he could gauge;
In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill,
For, even though vanquished, he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thundering sound
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around;
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew."

"Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain,
These simple blessings of the lowly train;
To me more dear, congenial to my heart,
One native charm, than all the gloss of art."

"And even while fashion's brightest arts decoy, The heart distrusting asks if this be joy."

"Her modest looks the cottage might adorn,
Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn."

"And slighted truth with thy persuasive strain,
Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain;
Teach him, that states of native strength possessed,
Though very poor, may still be very blessed."