92. The Inchcape Rock, by Southey

The lesson, step by step

1. Words and meanings

   The new words are at the end of the lesson, under Definitions. The small number in front of each word is the paragraph or verse where it is used. Read them together before the lesson. A few of them:

   Buoy, a floating mark to point out the position of rocks, etc., beneath the water.

   Surge, a large wave.

   Methinks, it seems to me.

   Knell, the stroke of a bell rung at a funeral or at the death of a person.

   The book's Note also says the Inchcape Rock is at the entrance of the Frith of Tay, Scotland, about fifteen miles from shore.

2. About the author

   The book's note says Robert Southey was a celebrated English poet, born in 1774, who once held the honorable position of poet laureate. A note at the end says the poem was written at Bristol, England, in 1802, and recounts an old tradition.

3. Read it aloud

   Read the poem aloud to your child first; it has a strong, rocking rhythm. Then let your child read it. It begins in a calm:

   No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,

   Then have your child read it a second time, more smoothly: the first reading is for the meaning, the second for the sound and rhythm.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhy did the Abbot put a bell on the rock? What did the sailors do when they heard it?

   SayWhy did Sir Ralph cut off the bell?

   SayWhat happened when Sir Ralph came back, rich from his plundering?

   SayWhat sound did he hear as the ship sank? Why is that fitting?

   Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

5. Tell it back

   Your child tells the story of the ballad in prose, from the Abbot's bell to Sir Ralph's end.

6. Copywork

   Your child copies these lines as verse:

   The mariners heard the warning bell;

   And then they knew the perilous Rock,

   And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

7. Words to learn

   Learn: keel, buoy, surge, joyance, scoured, methinks, knell. Spell each aloud, then write it with its meaning.