McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XCIV · Part 9: Soldiers, birds, seeds and society

100. Rock Me to Sleep (Mrs. E. A. Allen)

Goal: Your child reads a gentle poem with a soft, even rhythm and explains what the grown-up speaker longs for.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 5 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A poem by Elizabeth Akers Allen. A tired grown woman asks Time to turn backward and make her a child again for one night, so her mother could rock her to sleep. A note says five different people claimed to have written it.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says Elizabeth Akers Allen (b. 1832) was born in Strong, Maine. Her mother died when she was young. She first wrote under the name "Florence Percy," published verses at twelve, and was assistant editor of the "Portland Transcript."

  2. Read aloud

    Read the poem aloud, softly, like a lullaby. It begins:

    Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,

    Make me a child again, just for to-night!

    Mother, come back from the echoless shore,

    Take me again to your heart as of yore;

    Listen for the line that repeats:

    Rock me to sleep, mother, — rock me to sleep!

  3. Talk about it

    SayIs the speaker a child or a grown-up? How do you know?

    SayWhat is the "echoless shore"? Why can't her mother come back?

    SayWhy does the poet repeat "Rock me to sleep" so many times?

  4. The note

    Read the Note together: five different people claimed to have written this poem. Ask your child why someone would want to claim a poem that was not theirs, and why that is wrong.

  5. Memorize

    Learn the first four lines (above) by heart. Say them slowly, with a rocking rhythm.

Tip

This poem is about a mother who has died. If that is close to home for your child, keep the talk gentle and short.

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