McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXV · Part 8: Webster, Evangeline and the poets of death and toil

81. Thanatopsis (William Cullen Bryant)

Goal: Your student can explain what Thanatopsis means and what comfort Bryant offers about death, and has begun to learn its famous ending.

⏱ About 45 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

Bryant's poem Thanatopsis begins near the bottom of the page after the notes to the Laboulaye story. Notes at the end explain the title and two place names.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Read the notes printed at the end of the lesson together before reading. The book explains, among others:

    Thanatopsis: a view of death, or reflections on death (from two Greek words, death and a view)

    Barca: a region in northeastern Africa, much of it barren desert

    Oregon: the old name of the Columbia River, which flows into the Pacific

    Ask your student to find two other hard words in the lesson, guess their meaning from the sentence, then check a dictionary.

  2. About the author

    This lesson has no new author note on Bryant; the book introduces him earlier. Tell your student only that the poem is by the American poet William Cullen Bryant.

  3. Read aloud

    Read the poem aloud slowly. It has no rhyme (it is blank verse), so pause at the punctuation, not at the end of every line.

    Listen for these lines:

    To him who in the love of Nature holds

    Communion with her visible forms, she speaks

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho speaks to us in this poem? What does Nature say to someone who is sad about death?

    SayBryant says the dead are not alone: who shares their 'couch'? Find the list of kings and wise men.

    SayWhy does the poem mention Barca's desert and the Oregon river? What do far-off places add?

    SayHow does the poem tell us to live, in its last lines?

  5. Narration

    Your student explains the poem's three big ideas in order: Nature speaks to us; all people share the same end; so live and die with an unfaltering trust.

  6. Memorize or copy

    Begin learning the closing lines of the poem (the passage that starts So live). For today, learn this line:

    By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave

  7. Writing (optional)

    Write a paragraph: Do you find this poem comforting or sad? Use one line from it to explain why.

Afterwards

Add two more lines of the ending each day until your student can say the whole closing passage.

Tip

Death can be a tender subject. Let your student lead the conversation, and keep it to what the poem says.

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