McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXXV · Part 12: Herculaneum, Waterloo and A Psalm of Life
131. A Psalm of Life (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Goal: Your student can explain the poem's message and recite at least two stanzas.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Longfellow's famous poem A Psalm of Life. The heading is in the upper part of the page, after the end of the Yosemite lesson.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.
A psalm is a song of praise or faith. 'Mournful numbers' means sad verses.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
Longfellow was introduced in Lesson LXXII.
Read aloud
Read it aloud with energy; it is a call to action.
Listen for these lines:
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
Life is real! Life is earnest!
Talk about it
SayWhat does the poet argue against at the beginning?
SayWhat does he say we should do with our lives?
SayWhat are the 'footprints on the sands of time'? Who might see them?
SayWhat does 'learn to labor and to wait' ask of us? Which is harder?
Narration
Your student tells the poem's message in their own words in three sentences.
Memorize or copy
Memorize this stanza (and the whole poem, if you can):
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Writing (optional)
Whose 'footprints' have helped you? Write a paragraph about one person.
Afterwards
Add one stanza a day until your student can say the whole poem.