McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson X · Part 2: Lessons I-XII: Storms, dawns and old tales
16. Pictures of Memory (Alice Cary)
Goal: Your student reads a tender poem with feeling and explains the memory at its center.
You'll need
- The book, or the scan beside this guide
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
A poem about the dearest of the speaker's memories: a dim old forest where she played with her little brother, who died there. An author note comes first.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: gnarled, olden, mistletoe, saint-like.
About the author
The book says Alice Cary (1820-1871) was born near Cincinnati, published poems with her sister Phoebe in 1849, moved to New York in 1850, and wrote eleven volumes. Her poetry is called sweet and pathetic (full of feeling), and her prose, especially Clovernook Children, much admired.
Read it aloud
Read the opening together:
Among the beautiful pictures
That hang on Memory's wall,
Your student reads the poem aloud slowly. The ending:
He fell, in his saint-like beauty,
Asleep by the gates of light.
Talk about it
SayWhy is the forest the best of all the "pictures" on Memory's wall? Not, the poem says, for its oaks or flowers. Then why?
SayWhat do we learn about the little brother?
SayWhat do "the arrows of sunset" and "the gates of light" mean?
SayHow should the last stanza be read aloud?
Tell it back
Your student tells what the poem describes, stanza by stanza, in plain words.
Copywork and memory
Copy and learn the last stanza, beginning:
And when the arrows of sunset
Lodged in the tree-tops bright,
Write (optional)
Describe one "picture of memory" of your own in a paragraph.
Tip
This poem is about a child's death. Read it ahead and judge whether it suits your student today.