McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXIII · Part 8: Webster, Evangeline and the poets of death and toil
79. Song of the Shirt (Thomas Hood)
Goal: Your student can describe the life of the poor sewing woman in the poem and explain why Hood wrote it.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
Thomas Hood's poem about a poor seamstress who sews from dawn to midnight for very little pay. It begins in the middle of the page, after the notes on Evangeline.
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.
Hood repeats a few words over and over (stitch, work, seam, gusset and band). Ask your student to find out what a gusset is: it helps picture the woman's work.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
The book says Hood was born in London in 1798 and died in 1845, the son of a London bookseller. He trained as an engraver, left it for literature, and in 1821 became sub-editor of the London Magazine. His last years were marked by poverty and ill health. The book says he is best known as a joker, but also wrote serious and tender poems, and that this one first appeared in Punch.
Read aloud
Read the poem aloud together. Let your student read the repeated lines (Work! work! work! and Stitch! stitch! stitch!) like the beat of a needle: steady and tired.
Talk about it
SayDescribe the woman in the first stanza. What do her fingers and eyes tell you?
SayWhy does the poem keep repeating the same few words? How does that make you feel?
SayWhat does she wish for? Find a line about the outdoors or about rest.
SayThe book says Hood was best known as a joker. Why might a funny writer write a poem this sad?
Narration
Your student explains in their own words what the poem is about and what Hood wanted his readers to feel and do.
Memorize or copy
Choose the first stanza of the poem and copy it exactly, then read it aloud from your copy.
Writing (optional)
Write a short paragraph about a kind of hard work you have seen or read about, and what would make it easier.
Tip
Hood's poem is often credited with stirring people to care about poor working women. You don't need to say more than the book does; let the poem do its work.