McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LVIII · Part 6: Liberty and the voices of birds

64. The Blue and the Gray, by F. M. Finch

Goal: Your child reads Finch's Civil War poem with its refrains and explains its message of reconciliation.

⏱ About 30 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

Finch's poem about the soldiers of the North (the Blue) and the South (the Gray) buried side by side, honored with flowers alike. A note tells how the poem was inspired.

The lesson, step by step

  1. The story behind it

    Read the note after the poem. It says the poem first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in September 1867, and honors the women of Columbus, Mississippi, who decorated the graves of both Confederate and National (Union) soldiers.

  2. Read aloud

    Read it slowly and solemnly.

    By the flow of the inland river,

    Whence the fleets of iron have fled,

    Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,

    Asleep are the ranks of the dead;

  3. The refrain

    Each stanza ends with a pair of lines that changes a little each time:

    Under the laurel, the Blue;

    Under the willow, the Gray.

    SayFind the other pairs. What changes, and what stays the same?

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho are the Blue and the Gray?

    SayWhy does the poet treat both sides the same?

    SayWhat are the soldiers waiting for, according to the poem?

    SayWhy would this poem matter to people only two years after the war?

  5. Memorize

    Learn the first stanza, which begins:

    By the flow of the inland river,

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a few sentences about why it is good to honor people even on the other side.

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