THE LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND (Beehive)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cary sisters, American poets whose work was both moralistic and idealistic. Alice Cary (b. April 26, 1820, mount healthy, near Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.—d. February 12, 1871, New York, New York) and Phoebe Cary (b. September 4, 1824, mount healthy, near Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.—d. July 31, 1871.Newport, Rhode island) were also noted for their involvement in Women’s liberation movement. Alice’s first published poem appeared in the sentinel, a Cincinnati universalist newspaper, when she was 18; for 10 years thereafter she continued to contribute poems and prose sketches to various periodicals with no remuneration. Phoebe began to write under Alice’s guidance and had her first poem published in a Boston newspaper about the time of Alice’s first. Some two-thirds of the poetry was the work of Alice. Their book’s modest success encouraged the sisters to move to New York city.

A ballad is a song narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballads are a part of folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next. ‘A Legend of the Northland’ is a ballad.

Away, away in the Northland,

Where the hours of the day are few,

And the nights are so long in winter

That they cannot sleep them through;

 

Where they harness the swift reindeer

To the sledges, when it snows;

And the children look like bear’s cubs

In their funny, furry clothes:

 

They tell them a curious story —

I don’t believe ’tis true;

And yet you may learn a lesson

If I tell the tale to you.

 

Once, when the good Saint Peter

Lived in the world below,

And walked about it, preaching,

Just as he did, you know,

 

He came to the door of a cottage,

In travelling round the earth,

Where a little woman was making cakes,

And baking them on the hearth;

 

And being faint with fasting,

For the day was almost done,

He asked her, from her store of cakes,

To give him a single one.

 

So she made a very little cake,

But as it baking lay,

She looked at it, and thought it seemed

Too large to give away.

 

Therefore she kneaded another,

And still a smaller one;

But it looked, when she turned it over,

As large as the first had done.

 

Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,

And rolled and rolled it flat;

And baked it thin as a wafer —

But she couldn’t part with that.

 

For she said, “My cakes that seem too small

When I eat of them myself

Are yet too large to give away.”

So she put them on the shelf.

 

Then good Saint Peter grew angry,

For he was hungry and faint;

And surely such a woman

Was enough to provoke a saint.

 

And he said, “You are far too selfish

To dwell in a human form,

To have both food and shelter,

And fire to keep you warm.

 

Now, you shall build as the birds do,

And shall get your scanty food

By boring, and boring, and boring,

All day in the hard, dry wood.”

 

Then up she went through the chimney,

Never speaking a word,

And out of the top flew a woodpecker,

For she was changed to a bird.

 

She had a scarlet cap on her head,

And that was left the same;

But all the rest of her clothes were burned

Black as a coal in the flame.

 

And every country schoolboy

Has seen her in the wood,

Where she lives in the trees till this very day,

Boring and boring for food.

1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?

“The Northland” could refer to any extremely cold country in the Earth's north polar region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia, Canada, Norway etc.

2. Why are hours of day few and nights long?

It is winter season and northland is an extremely cold place. People are unable to sleep because they cannot bare the cold.

3. Why do children look like bear cubs? What are the children compared to and why?

North land is a cold place where children have to wear furry clothes to protect themselves from cold. These dresses make them look like bear cubs.

4. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?

Saint Peter asked the lady to give him a piece of cake as he saw the old lady baking cakes, Saint peter was hungry since he was fasting for the day, in the evening he met the lady and asked her for a piece of cake. The lady behaved miserly and kept decreasing the size of the cake, at last she did not give him anything to eat.

5.  How did he punish her?

He said that that she was too selfish to live in a human form and to have food and shelter. Therefore he punished her and changed her into a bird. She became an wood pecker.

6.  How does the woodpecker get her food?

The woodpecker gets her food by boring holes into trees. They can then take the insect to eat.

7.  Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?

No, the old lady would not have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was. Instead, she would have welcomed him in her house happily and given him several large cakes to please him and get his blessings.

8. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?

This is not a true story this is a legend. The poet wants to tell a 'curious' story. The poet himself doesn't believe in the truth of the story. But still he is compelled to tell this story simply for one reason. The story gives a moral lesson.

9.  What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?

A 'legend' is a popular story from the past which is believed by many but one cannot prove whether it is true or not. It usually contains a message or a moral and is narrated to children. This poem is called a 'legend' because it preaches generosity towards fellow beings.

10.  What did the old lady feel about the cake to be given to Saint Peter.

The old lady feels that the size of the cakes was too big to give to saint peter.