Tuesday, 10/6/15: Arduous Adventures

* Open


arduous (adjective)
  • hard to accomplish, difficult to do
  • Latin  arduus "high, steep," 
    • also figuratively, "difficult" 

Examples
  • “In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”  -- Ghandi
  • “I attempt an arduous task, but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.” -- Ovid
  • “True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.”  -- Chesterton

After those excellent notes, create your own sentence that features an opening prepositional phrase.


* Work on Your Rough Draft

HW: Finish Your Rough Draft



Post Script:



"Consolation"

By Robert Louis Stevenson
Though he, that ever kind and true,
Kept stoutly step by step with you,
Your whole long, gusty lifetime through,
      Be gone a while before,
Be now a moment gone before,
Yet, doubt not, soon the seasons shall restore
      Your friend to you.


He has but turned the corner — still
He pushes on with right good will,
Through mire and marsh, by heugh and hill,
      That self-same arduous way —
That self-same upland, hopeful way,
That you and he through many a doubtful day
      Attempted still.


He is not dead, this friend — not dead,
But in the path we mortals tread
Got some few, trifling steps ahead
      And nearer to the end;
So that you too, once past the bend,
Shall meet again, as face to face, this friend
      You fancy dead.


Push gaily on, strong heart! The while
You travel forward mile by mile,
He loiters with a backward smile
      Till you can overtake,
And strains his eyes to search his wake,
Or whistling, as he sees you through the brake,
      Waits on a stile.

* brake: ferns and bushes and such
* stile: stone or wooden ladder or opening in a fence
* What double or triple meaning does "wake" bring to the concluding stanza? 

 

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