McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CXXXVI · Part 13: Washington, Wordsworth and Mont Blanc
142. A Common Thought (Henry Timrod)
Goal: Your student can explain the 'common thought' of the poem.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
A short poem by Henry Timrod, at the bottom of the page after a long author note.
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.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
The book says Timrod was born in 1829 in Charleston, South Carolina. Poverty and ill health made him leave the University of Georgia without a degree. He studied law, then taught in families for about ten years. In the war he was a newspaper correspondent and editor. He was left in poverty and died in 1867. His first poems appeared in 1860.
Read aloud
Read the poem slowly and quietly.
Listen for these lines:
Somewhere on this earthly planet
In the dust of flowers that be,
Talk about it
SayWhat is the 'common thought' the poem is about?
SayWhere does the poet imagine it happening?
SayHow does the poem end? How did it make you feel?
SayWhy might Timrod, who knew illness, write about this?
Narration
Your student explains the poem's thought in two sentences.
Writing (optional)
Write a short poem or paragraph about a thought that everyone has had.