McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XCII · Part 9: Soldiers, birds, seeds and society

98. Spring Again (Celia Thaxter)

Goal: Your child reads a seaside poem about the end of winter and picks out the words that show spring coming.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A poem by Celia Thaxter. From a height by the sea, the poet sees still boats, lingering snow and ice, and long shadows, but the sun and soft air promise that spring will return, and the poem ends with Summer's triumph over the cold.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says Celia Thaxter (born Laighton) was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and spent much of her early life on White Island, one of the Isles of Shoals, about ten miles from shore, where she lived in the lighthouse cottage. Her poems appear in the volume "Drift Weed."

  2. Read aloud

    Read the poem aloud together. It begins:

    I stood on the height in the stillness

    And the planet's outline scanned,

    And half was drawn with the line of sea

    And half with the far blue land.

  3. Talk about it

    SayWhat signs of winter does the poet still see? What signs of spring?

    SayFind the stanza that lists what spring will bring. Which item would you most look forward to?

    SayShe calls the earth "the planet." How does that make the view feel big?

  4. Spring words

    Your child lists every spring word in the stanza that begins:

    Soft rain and flowers and sunshine,

    Sweet winds and brooding skies,

    Quick-flitting birds to fill the air

    With clear delicious cries;

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me what the poet sees from the height, and what she hopes for.

    A few sentences are enough.

  6. Memorize

    Learn the first stanza (above) or the "Soft rain" stanza by heart.

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