McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson C · Part 10: Elephants, the sea and a happy life
106. Burial of Sir John Moore (Charles Wolfe)
Goal: Your child reads a famous poem with a slow, solemn voice and explains who Sir John Moore was and how he was buried.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook or lined paper and a pencil
What's in the book
Charles Wolfe's eight-stanza poem about the hasty night burial of the British general Sir John Moore, without coffin, drum or farewell shot. Definitions and a note about Moore follow on the next page.
The lesson, step by step
About the author
The book says Charles Wolfe (b. 1791, d. 1823) was an Irish clergyman born in Dublin. The poem first appeared in a newspaper with his initials, without his knowledge. The book also quotes Lord Byron, who said he "would rather be the author of it than of any one ever written."
Who was Sir John Moore?
Read the Note first. It says Sir John Moore (b. 1761, d. 1809) commanded the British forces in Spain in the war against Napoleon and fell at the battle of Corunna. The French commander, Marshal Soult, put up a monument to his memory.
Words and meanings
The words and meanings are printed at the end of the lesson. Read a few together before the reading, so they don't trip your child up:
Martial, military.
Upbraid, to charge with something wrong or disgraceful, to reproach.
Reck, to take heed, to care.
Random, without fixed aim or purpose, left to chance.
Your child reads each meaning aloud, then uses the word in a sentence of their own.
Read aloud
Read the poem slowly, like a drumbeat at a funeral. It begins:
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero was buried.
Talk about it
SayWhy was the burial so hurried and secret? What were the soldiers afraid of?
SayThe poem begins with "Not a drum ... not a ..." What is missing from this funeral, and why does the poet list it?
SayThe poem says they left no stone. How has the poem itself become his monument?
Memorize
Learn the first two stanzas by heart over the week. Here is the second:
We buried him darkly, at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning,
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light,
And the lantern dimly burning.