I pulled an old book off the shelf last week, one I hadn't looked at in a long while. But to me this
isn't just any old book. It may be my favorite book ever. It's green and dog-eared.....Beacon Lights
of Literature, Book Seven, compiled by Rudolph W. Chamberlain. I remember when I was about
seven or eight years old, my mother brought home a cardboard box full of discarded books. I have
no memory or idea of where she got them. I also have no memory of any of the other books, only
this one. It contains 96 literary selections. "A year's good reading" the intro states. I am aware,
from some searching on the internet, that Beacon Lights came in several publications - as evidenced
by the fact that mine is Book Seven. It was intended to be used as a school book, as there's a
teacher's guide at the front. It was recommended by the National Council of Teachers of
English. I didn't notice any of that when I was seven or eight. But for some reason I fell in love
with this book and at the risk of sounding a little silly, this book may have somewhat formed my
life and the interests I've enjoyed and pursued.
I realized about that time in my life that I really loved to read and I spent a lot of time honing this
skill with this very book. At first I'm sure I stumbled through a lot of it, but over time, I learned much of the book by heart by reading and re-reading the various essays.
I immediately loved "Paul Revere's Ride" and "The Courtship of Miles Standish", both by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Another favorite was "Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle" by Oliver Wendell Holmes. This book brought my first introduction to Charles Dickens in "Christmas With The Cratchits" from "A Christmas Carol". Has anyone ever heard of the non-sensical poem, "Godfrey
Gordon Gustavus Gore" by William Brighty Rands? "Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore -- no doubt
you have heard his name before -- was a boy who never would shut the door! The wind might
whistle, the wind might roar, and teeth be aching and throats be sore. But still he never wold shut
the door!"
There are so many selections in this book that I love, but I think that my very favorite would be
"A Song of Sherwood" by poet Alfred Noyes. I would read it and re-read it throughout my childhood. It always brought me a magical feeling and a sense of delightful mystery. It still does to this day.....
"Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake? Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the
break; Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn, dreaming of a shadowy man that winds
a shadowy horn.
Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves - answer as the bugle note shivers through the leaves;
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away. In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day."
Now I will reveal myself a bit further and tell you that I was not satisfied to just read the poetry and
stories in this book. Nothing would do but that I would read them aloud - at the top of my lungs
usually. I would stand in my front yard - on top of an old metal lawn chair and orate from this
book! I believe that my mother thought this was a bit strange, but that didn't stop me. I would read
to the old "haunted" house across the street as if a host of spirits were listening! Maybe they were,
especially when I read to them about Robin Hood!
This past weekend when our house was delightfully full of wonderful young men from the up-and-
coming musical group 'High South', my son spied this book on my desk and brought it into the room
where we all were. "Beacon Lights of Literature," he said. "I remember this." And he began reciting
the lines of "A Song of Sherwood". I guess I had read it to him too. (smile) A proud moment.
I know many people love reading from their electronic devices and that's great. But for me, I have
to be able to hold it, feel it, smell it and pull it from the shelf from time to time. I love being able
to recall the finding of this book and the 'falling in love' with it. Can anyone relate? I hope so.
I'll close with this verse from "Paul Revere's Ride".....
"So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight-message of Paul Revere."
These words speak to us still.
Thanks, my friends, for indulging me - yet again.
I will not loan my Beacon Lights but I will pull it from the shelf and enjoy it with you - on the
porch! But let's wait till the monsoons stop, ok with you?
****
Postscript:
Thank you, Josh, Phoenix, Kevin, Mike and my Jamey of High South for sharing the wonderful
weekend with us! We're so proud of you all!
