Four American Poets ~ Free eBook

Four American Poets by Sherwin Cody explores the lives of Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, and Holmes.

Four American Poets is part of “The Four Great Americans” series edited by James Baldwin in the late 1800s. The series included biographical stories of “Great Americans for Young Americans.”

In this book, these four poets’ lives and works are examined in an interesting and broad way:

Childhood.
Occupations.
Life and times.
Works.
Friends.
Death.

A reminder: this old book uses a term or two we would not be comfortable using today. We always used these opportunities to explain why.

Really a fascinating look at four famous poets — and free!

Free eBook

Suggestions

There are 51 chapters. You could take two chapters each week for a full year of lessons with some wiggle room. Or you could cover two poets each year for two years.

Have your students do one or more of the following:

Create a notebook (either for each poet or for the project).
Provide an oral (or written) narration for each chapter.
Copy a favorite poem (or stanza or two) when provided in the chapter.
Many names are provided in each chapter. For example, Chapter VIII dealing with Bryant talks about his stint as editor of the Evening Post. Horace Greeley is mentioned as a contemporary. These can provide more areas of investigation.
Each chapter is full of interesting information and rabbit trails to follow. Choose a path to explore.
Create a timeline of the poet’s life to add to your notebook.
Include a copy of the illustration of the poet in your notebook.
Compare/contrast the four poets.
Write a character study for our favorite poet.

Additional Resources

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Poetry
Students can use these resources to try their hand!

Online Poetry Anthology
A collection of friendly poems that can be used for copywork, narration, dictation, memorization, development of language skills, and appreciation of art. Selections from the four authors include:

Bryant: “Robert of Lincoln”
Bryant: “To a Waterfowl”

Longfellow: “Pegasus in Pound”
Longfellow: “The Arrow and the Song”
Longfellow: “The Children’s Hour”
Longfellow: “The Lighthouse”
Longfellow: “The Village Blacksmith”

Whittier, John Greenleaf: “The Barefoot Boy”
Whittier, John Greenleaf: “Poor Voter on Election Day”

Holmes, Oliver Wendell: “The Chambered Nautilus”