LESSON 1
THE SHEPHERD BOY

WORD LIST

either trickle fancied murmur reflected

glossy entered shepherd chestnuts command

1. Little Roy led his sheep down to pasture,

And his cows, by the side of the brook;

But his cows never drank any water,

And his sheep never needed a crook.

2. For the pasture was gay as a garden,

And it glowed with a flowery red;

But the meadows had never a grass blade,

And the brooklet—it slept in its bed:

3. And it lay without sparkle or murmur,

Nor reflected the blue of the skies;

But the music was made by the shepherd,

And the sparkle was all in his eyes.

4. Oh, he sang like a bird in the summer!

And, if sometimes you fancied a bleat,

That, too, was the voice of the shepherd,

And not of the lambs at his feet.

5. And the glossy brown cows were so gentle

That they moved at the touch of his hand

O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow,

And they stood at the word of command.

6. So he led all his sheep to the pasture,

And his cows, by the side of the brook;

Though it rained, yet the rain never pattered

O'er the beautiful way that they took.

7. And it wasn't in Fairyland either,

But a house in the midst of the town,

Where Roy, as he looked from the window,

Saw the silvery drops trickle down.

8. For his pasture was only a table,

With its cover so flowery fair,

And his brooklet was just a green ribbon,

That his sister had lost from her hair.

9. And his cows were but glossy horse-chestnuts,

That had grown on his grandfather's tree;

And his sheep only snowy-white pebbles,

He had brought from the shore of the sea.

10. And at length when the shepherd was weary,

And had taken his milk and his bread,

And his mother had kissed him and tucked him,

And had bid him “good night” in his bed;

11. Then there entered his big brother Walter,

While the shepherd was soundly asleep,

And he cut up the cows into baskets,

And to jackstones turned all of the sheep.

(Emily S. Oakey)

STUDY GUIDE

A. Vocabulary matching—Match the word from the poem in A with the meaning in B.

A

either

glossy

murmur

command

trickle

enter

chestnut

fancy

shepherd

reflect

B

give an order or instructions

produce or show an image

to want or desire

a soft voice

one or the other of two

a person who cares for sheep

go or come into a place

a large nut you can eat

shiny and smooth

flow in a thin stream

B. Discussion questions—Talk about the following questions.

1. Which animals are mentioned in the poem?

2. What is the shepherd's name?

3. Is the shepherd an only child? How do you know?

4. How old do you think the shepherd is? Why do you think so?

5. Would you like to be a shepherd? Why or why not?

6. When you were a young child, what did you like to pretend to be?

C. True or False—Read each sentence and write T (true) or F (false). Write a sentence to explain your answer.

_____1. Roy lives on a farm.

_____2. Walter is older than Roy.

_____3. Roy has seen the ocean.

_____4. Roy's sheep are made of wood.

_____5. A bleat is a sound that a cow makes.

_____6. Roy became very tired.