McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LIII · Part 6: Liberty and the voices of birds
59. The Hour of Prayer, by Mrs. F. D. Hemans
Goal: Your child reads Hemans's poem addressing different people at evening and notices its pattern.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
A poem in which each stanza calls a different person (a child, a mother, a father, travelers, mourners, warriors) to prayer as evening falls. A note about Felicia Hemans comes first.
The lesson, step by step
About the author
The book says Felicia Dorothea Hemans was born in Liverpool, England, and spent her childhood in Wales. She published poems young, married Captain Hemans in 1812, later lived with her five sons at her mother's home in North Wales, and kept writing. The book praises her smooth, graceful verse and her skill at description.
Read aloud
Read the poem through, then take turns by stanza.
Child, amid the flowers at play,
While the red light fades away;
Mother, with thine earnest eye,
Ever following silently;
Find the pattern
SayWho is spoken to in each stanza? Make a list.
SayWhat does each stanza end with?
SayWhy do you think the poet chose evening for this poem?
Talk about it
SayWhich person in the poem do you think needs the hour of prayer most? Why?
SayHow should this poem be read: fast or slow, loud or soft?
Memorize
Learn the first stanza, which begins:
Child, amid the flowers at play,
Write (optional)
Write one more stanza in the same pattern, speaking to someone new.