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B1 - Mary Artemisia Lathbury

Below is a B1 level English reading task about the American poet Mary Artemisia Lathbury. Good luck and enjoy! 

Mart Artemisia Lathbury - Dec 14 2025 - Image 1.webp

Mary Artemisia Lathbury was an American poet, artist, and hymn writer known for her religious works. She lived from 1841 to 1913 and became famous for hymns used in Christian services.

 

Early Life

Mary Artemisia Lathbury was born on August 10, 1841, in Manchester, New York, to a Methodist minister father and two brothers who also became ministers. As a child, she loved reading, writing poems, and drawing illustrations for them.
She studied art in Worcester, Massachusetts, and taught art and French in schools in Vermont and New York.​

 

Career

Lathbury started as an artist and writer for magazines like St. Nicholas and Harper's Young People. She wrote children's books such as Fleda and the Voice and Seven Little Maids.
Later, she focused on religious work, editing Methodist Sunday School materials and contributing to the Chautauqua Movement, earning the title "Poet Laureate of Chautauqua."

 

Famous Hymns

Her most popular hymns are "Day is Dying in the West" (written in 1877 for Chautauqua vespers) and "Break Thou the Bread of Life" (1880).
"Day is Dying in the West" captures evening prayer: "Day is dying in the west; Heaven is touching earth with rest..."​
"Break Thou the Bread of Life" seeks spiritual nourishment: "Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea..."

 

Legacy

Lathbury died on October 20, 1913, in East Orange, New Jersey. Her hymns remain in many hymnals and are sung at Chautauqua services today.

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Famous Quotes from Lathbury 

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The Twilight Zone Episode - "No Time like the Past" ​

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Incident on a July afternoon, 1881. A man named Driscoll who came and went and, in the process, learned a simple lesson, perhaps best said by a poet named Lathbury, who wrote, 'Children of yesterday, heirs of tomorrow, what are you weaving? Labor and sorrow? Look to your looms again, faster and faster fly the great shuttles prepared by the master. Life's in the loom, room for it. Room.'[1] Tonight's tale of clocks and calendars in the Twilight Zone.

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Additional Information

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Daughter of a Methodist minister, Lathbury co-authored Woman and Temperance; or, the Work and Workers of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union with Frances Elizabeth Willard in 1883. She was associated with the Chautauqua Movement near Chautauqua, New York, and was known as the “poet laureate of Chautauqua.” Regarding her gift for art and verse, she said that one day she heard a voice she believed was God, saying:

Remember, my child, that you have a gift of weaving fancies into verse and a gift with the pencil of producing visions that come to your heart; consecrate these to Me as thoroughly as you do your inmost spirit.

Hymns:

  1. Arise, All Souls, Arise

  2. Break Thou the Bread of Life

  3. Day Is Dying in the West

  4. Lift Up, Lift Up Thy Voice

  5. O Wondrous World Within a World

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Quiz

Mary Artemisia Lathbury B2 Quiz
For ESL Students (CEFR B2 Level)

Directions:
Read the biography summary about Mary Artemisia Lathbury. Then choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) for each question. Circle your answer or highlight it. This quiz has 10 questions on her life, career, hymns, and legacy. Good luck!

 

Questions:

  1. When and where was Mary Artemisia Lathbury born?
    A. 1841, Manchester, New York
    B. 1850, Boston, Massachusetts
    C. 1830, London, England
    D. 1860, East Orange, New Jersey​

  2. What was her father's profession?
    A. Artist
    B. Teacher
    C. Methodist minister
    D. Poet

  3. What did Lathbury study and teach early in her career?
    A. Music and singing
    B. Art and French
    C. Literature and writing
    D. Religion and hymns​

  4. For which magazines did she write as an artist and author?
    A. Time and Newsweek
    B. St. Nicholas and Harper's Young People
    C. National Geographic
    D. The New Yorker

  5. What title did she earn at Chautauqua?
    A. Queen of Hymns
    B. Poet Laureate of Chautauqua
    C. Best Artist Award
    D. Sunday School Leader

  6. Which hymn did she write in 1877 for Chautauqua vespers?
    A. Amazing Grace
    B. Break Thou the Bread of Life
    C. Day is Dying in the West
    D. Holy Holy Holy

  7. When was "Break Thou the Bread of Life" written?
    A. 1877
    B. 1880
    C. 1900
    D. 1913

  8. Where did Lathbury teach art and French?
    A. Only in New York
    B. Schools in Vermont and New York
    C. Only in Massachusetts
    D. Chautauqua only​

  9. What types of books did she write for children?
    A. Horror stories
    B. Science fiction
    C. Fleda and the Voice, Seven Little Maids
    D. Cookbooks​

  10. Where and when did Mary Lathbury die?
    A. Manchester, New York, 1841
    B. Chautauqua, 1913
    C. East Orange, New Jersey, 1913
    D. Boston, 1920​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer Key (For Teachers):

  1. A​

  2. C

  3. B​

  4. B

  5. B

  6. C

  7. B

  8. B​

  9. C​

  10. C​

External Links:

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- https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/bios/bio_l_a_lathbury_ma.cfm

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- https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/a/ 

 

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