McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XXVIII · Part 4: Lost Lucy, the Town Pump and the bobolink

34. The Reaper and the Flowers, by Longfellow

Goal: Your child reads Longfellow's gentle poem about death and children, and explains its comparison.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pencil

What's in the book

A short poem picturing Death as a reaper who gathers flowers as well as grain, and a mother who gives them up trusting they will bloom in heaven. A note about Longfellow comes first; definitions follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, and taught modern languages at Bowdoin and then at Harvard. He translated Dante. The book says:

    His poetry is always chaste and elegant, showing traces of careful scholarship in every line.

  2. Words and meanings

    Read the definitions:

    Sheaves, bundles of grain.

    Token, a souvenir, that which is to recall some person, thing, or event.

    Transplanted, removed and planted in another place.

  3. Read aloud

    Read it quietly and slowly.

    There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,

    And, with his sickle keen,

    He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho is the Reaper? What are the bearded grain, and what are the flowers?

    SayWhy does the Reaper say, "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay"?

    SayHow does the mother feel? What comforts her?

    SayIs this a frightening poem or a comforting one?

  5. Memorize

    Learn the first stanza, which begins:

    There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,

  6. Write (optional)

    Explain in a few sentences the comparison the poet makes.

Tip

This poem is about the death of children. Read it first and choose a gentle moment for it.

@teddyrookbook GitHub