I don’t know where you live, but in the part of New York State where I live, the April 2024 Solar Eclipse path will be overhead. And the hype is real. Rumors suggest that hotels in our area have been fully booked for months. And the local historical museum started sending out information about programs that they are running in early December. So how do we as high school English teachers harness that energy? Solar Eclipse Poetry, of course?
Solar Eclipse Poetry and Poems for the Sun for the Win
Surprisingly there is more solar eclipse poetry out there than you would expect. But I didn’t want to limit my list because this is one of those “once in a decade” kind of events. As teachers, we need things that we can use year after year. So how about a whole poetry mini unit featuring poems for the sun? This is an excellent spring unit for people who live in the northern hemisphere who begin craving the sun after all of those long winter months without it.
Solar Eclipse Poetry
- “A Solar Eclipse” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: focus on personification of both the moon and the sun. (Grab a ready to use lesson.)
- “Seeing the Eclipse in Maine” by Robert Bly: focus on the narrative aspects of the poem.
- “The Eclipse” by Deborah Trustman: focus on the imagery she uses to paint the solar eclipse.
Not actually a solar eclipse poem, but I like the imagery of the eclipse in this one: “Crossings” by Ravi Shakur: focus on the contrast between forest and field, light and dark.
Poems About the Sun
- “Ode to the Sun” by Eloise Bibb Thompson: focus on syntax and repetition
- “In Between the Sun and the Moon” by Pádraig Ó Tuama: focus the meaning of the title and the contrasts between sun and moon
- “Sunflakes” by Frank Asch: focus on repetition
Poems about the Sunrise
- “Prayer at Sunrise” by James Weldon Johnson: focus on the tone of the poem, especially the shift between the stanzas
- “Among the Hills” by Luis G. Dato: focus on the imagery
- “Sunrise at Santa Barbara” by Pauline B. Barrington: focus on the use of color
Poems for the Sun: a mini unit
If you want to build a mini poetry unit from these poems, I would start by brainstorming ideas about the sun: what it looks like, what it represents, etc.
Perhaps begin with the sunrise. Use the three poems about sunrise to focus on imagery and its connection to tone. This would be a perfect place for I do; we do; you do. Begin by modeling how the imagery in the poems connects to tone. You may wish to use this tone activity to help the students focus on how they identify the tones and shifts in tone throughout the poems.
Next, move into the poems about the sun itself and focus on the use of repetition and syntax. Use collaborative annotations to have the students note both the use of syntax and repetition. Be sure they are not only naming what they see but then consider why the poet made that choice
Finally, I would move into the solar eclipse poetry. These three might work well together as a station activity. Set up each station for groups to focus on skills with each poem. I like to set students up to work on one poem per station which means I actually set up two rotations of three for larger classes. I did something similar with this New Year’s Poetry Mini Unit.
Solar Eclipse Poetry and More
Whether you live in the path of the total eclipse or are just looking to jump into the hype, try adding a poem or two to your spring unit. But don’t forget that poems about the sun are always a hit, even when there isn’t a solar eclipse in the works.
Related Resources
Tone for Literature: How to Teach it in High School ELA
Collaborative Annotations for High School English
Poetry Ideas for Each Day of National Poetry Month (Smith Teaches 9 to 12)
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