McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXXVII · Part 13: Washington, Wordsworth and Mont Blanc
133. Lines to a Water-fowl (William Cullen Bryant)
Goal: Your student can explain the comfort Bryant finds in the bird's flight and learn the last stanza.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Bryant's poem To a Waterfowl, at the top of the page: watching a lone bird fly at sunset, the poet thinks of the Power that guides it, and him.
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.
'Whither' means to where. 'Thy certain flight' means your sure, unerring flight.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
Bryant was met in Lesson LXXV (Thanatopsis).
Read aloud
Read it slowly, picturing the bird against the sunset.
Listen for these lines:
Whither 'midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way?
Talk about it
SayWhere is the bird going? Does the poet know?
SayWhat dangers could the bird face? Who keeps it safe?
SayWhat lesson does the poet take for himself at the end?
SayCompare this poem with Thanatopsis. How are they alike?
Narration
Your student explains the poem's movement: what he sees, what he asks, what he learns.
Memorize or copy
Learn the last lines of the poem:
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.
Writing (optional)
Watch birds or clouds at sunset and write four lines about what you see and think.