McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XII · Part 2: Lessons I-XII: Storms, dawns and old tales

18. Short Selections in Poetry

Goal: Your student reads several short poems aloud and compares their ideas.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

Five short poems: The Cloud (John Wilson), My Mind (the book gives William Byrd), A Good Name (Shakespeare, from Othello), Sunrise (James Thomson) and Old Age and Death (Edmund Waller), with a note on Waller.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book's note on Edmund Waller (1605-1687) says he was an English poet, educated at Eton and Cambridge, who sat in Parliament, took part in the civil war, lived in exile in France, and was in favor at court after the Restoration.

  2. Read it aloud

    Read the first lines of each, then the whole poems:

    A cloud lay cradled near the setting sun,

    My mind to me a kingdom is;

    Good name, in man or woman, dear my lord,

    Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

    But yonder comes the powerful king of day,

    The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;

  3. Talk about it

    SayIn "A Good Name," why is a good name worth more than money?

    SayWhat does "My mind to me a kingdom is" mean?

    SayWaller compares old age to a calm sea. What is the comparison?

    SayWhich of the five poems did you like best, and why?

  4. Tell it back

    Your student chooses two of the poems and explains each one in plain prose.

  5. Copywork and memory

    Copy and learn:

    Good name, in man or woman, dear my lord,

    Is the immediate jewel of their souls.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a short paragraph on which matters more, wealth or a good name.

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