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

68. How Sleep the Brave, by William Collins

Goal: Your child reads and memorizes Collins's short ode to fallen soldiers.

⏱ About 20 minutes · 5 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 ode honoring soldiers who died for their country, whose graves are decked by spring and visited by Honor and Freedom. A note about William Collins comes first.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says William Collins was born in Chichester, England, studied at Winchester and Oxford, and went to London to write, where Dr. Johnson thought well of him. His "Odes" were not popular in his lifetime. He became ill in mind in his last years, and his sister cared for him at Chichester.

  2. Read aloud

    Read it slowly, with reverence.

    How sleep the brave who sink to rest

    By all their country's wishes blessed!

    When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,

    Returns to deck their hallowed mold;

  3. Talk about it

    SayWho are "the brave"?

    SaySpring has "dewy fingers." What is the poet doing when he gives spring fingers?

    SayWho else comes to the graves in the poem?

    SayHow does the poem make you feel?

  4. Memorize

    This short poem is a good one to learn whole. Begin with the first four lines today.

  5. Write (optional)

    Write a few lines in honor of someone who served others.

Tip

This lesson and the next are both short poems on the same page. You can teach them together.

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