Poems Every Child Should Know

Poems Every Child Should Know by Unknown

By: Unknown

A treasure trove of more than two hundred poems, this gem of an anthology compiled
by Mary E Burt is indeed a most valuable set of poems to read or listen to.

Published in 1904, Poems Every Child Should Know contains some well-loved verses
like Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Lewis Carroll's
delightful parody Father William, Felicia Hemans' deeply-moving Casablanca and
other favorites. It also has lesser-known but equally beautiful pieces like Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow's The Arrow and The Song, Robert Browning's The Incident of
the French Camp, Eugene Field's nonsense lyrics Wynken, Blynken and Nod and a host
of other wonderful verses.

For modern day children, unaccustomed to reading and memorizing poetry, the book is
a throwback to the days when this was the norm in most classrooms and homes.
Fragments from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in which Mark Antony pays tribute to
the dead Brutus, Polonius' advice to his son Laertes from Hamlet with the stirring
lines, “This above all: to thine own self be true...” are some of the masterpieces
contained here.

Poems Every Child Should Know also contained some of the most famous poems in
English by poets like Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning and Milton. American
poets like Walt Whitman are featured here with their immortal lines in poems like
Song of Myself. Another famous American poet found here is Edgar Allan Poe with his
iconic The Raven.

The book is divided into six parts, with a very interesting and self explanatory
preface by the author. She begins with something that readers would say when they
first encounter a poetry anthology: “Is this another collection of stupid poems
that children cannot use?” and goes on to explain how she selected the ones
included here. Most of them were picked because they were short enough for a child
to memorize. This is a now forgotten activity that can give hours of pleasure as
you recall the lines long after you've put away the book. Others were chosen for
the heroic and patriotic sentiments, like The Star Spangled Banner, Lord Ullin's
Daughter, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Horatius at the Bridge and a host of
other inspiring poems.

Mary Elizabeth Burt was a gifted teacher who believed that poetry had the power to
inspire, educate and mold young minds so that they could mature into valuable and
useful citizens of the country. For modern day readers, this is indeed a delightful
collection, which offers endless hours of pleasure as you thumb through
rediscovering old favorites, and enjoying new ones.

A treasure trove of more than two hundred poems, this gem of an anthology compiled
by Mary E Burt is indeed a most valuable set of poems to read or listen to.

Published in 1904, Poems Every Child Should Know contains some well-loved verses
like Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Lewis Carroll's
delightful parody Father William, Felicia Hemans' deeply-moving Casablanca and
other favorites. It also has lesser-known but equally beautiful pieces like Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow's The Arrow and The Song, Robert Browning's The Incident of
the French Camp, Eugene Field's nonsense lyrics Wynken, Blynken and Nod and a host
of other wonderful verses.

For modern day children, unaccustomed to reading and memorizing poetry, the book is
a throwback to the days when this was the norm in most classrooms and homes.
Fragments from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in which Mark Antony pays tribute to
the dead Brutus, Polonius' advice to his son Laertes from Hamlet with the stirring
lines, “This above all: to thine own self be true...” are some of the masterpieces
contained here.

Poems Every Child Should Know also contained some of the most famous poems in
English by poets like Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Browning and Milton. American
poets like Walt Whitman are featured here with their immortal lines in poems like
Song of Myself. Another famous American poet found here is Edgar Allan Poe with his
iconic The Raven.

The book is divided into six parts, with a very interesting and self explanatory
preface by the author. She begins with something that readers would say when they
first encounter a poetry anthology: “Is this another collection of stupid poems
that children cannot use?” and goes on to explain how she selected the ones
included here. Most of them were picked because they were short enough for a child
to memorize. This is a now forgotten activity that can give hours of pleasure as
you recall the lines long after you've put away the book. Others were chosen for
the heroic and patriotic sentiments, like The Star Spangled Banner, Lord Ullin's
Daughter, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Horatius at the Bridge and a host of
other inspiring poems.

Mary Elizabeth Burt was a gifted teacher who believed that poetry had the power to
inspire, educate and mold young minds so that they could mature into valuable and
useful citizens of the country. For modern day readers, this is indeed a delightful
collection, which offers endless hours of pleasure as you thumb through
rediscovering old favorites, and enjoying new ones.

Sonnets from the Heart

By Ode Clement Igoni

A collection of sonnet poems with a related theme around Love and life.

Poems form the book:

HIGHER

I'll climb the Everest to show you my Love

Jump from the mountain to win your heart
Many obstacles are trying to keep us apart
I'll go higher, leap over all and keep us close

From the top of Eiffel tower I'll sing a song

So you can hear my voice from far away
I'll sing into the air and the wind amplifies
It will reach to you no matter where you are

My heart keeps beating, just for you alone

I'm only flesh, you're my rock and my bone
With you I'm willing to ascend any throne
Cause together we'll achieve greater heights

Ever since you came into my life

I only think of ways to go higher

“Two Tents”

(available in episode 40 and on YouTube)

We all went camping,
as a group of good friends.
It seemed a great way
for the Summer to end.
We found a nice spot
where we couldn’t be seen,
and made a camp fire
for our big pot of beans.

The upset all started

when pitching our tents.
Ours was all tiny,
and yours was immense.
Whereas ours was the size
of two sleeping bags,
yours had two bedrooms,
a washroom, and flags.
Ours was all grassy,
and soon filled with bugs,
whereas yours had nice cushions
and some comfortable rugs.
We hung a small lamp
with its pitiful light,
while a generator powered
your tent all the night.

Eventually, I screamed,
but, in my defense,
the passions ran high
when us friends got too tense.