One of My Quirks

[forHISglory]

Remember this poem about spring? It's best said aloud, with a huge fake New "Yawk" accent!

"Da Spring has sprung
Da grass is riz
I wonder where dem boidies is.
Dem little boidie’s on da wing
But dat’s absoid.
I thought da wing was on da boid!"


I like to memorize poems and recite them (yeah, yeah, I'm the one who collects dictionaries, too.....). Anyway, I learned the above poem when I was a kid and used to walk around in the spring reciting this dramatically at the top of my lungs.

Well, I got over that phase, and moved on to Robert Frost. Now in the spring I say this poem (never got over loving to recite poems!):

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank in grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay."

It's that time of year when I look at the trees just waiting to burst into leaf, and it's that golden haze lingering over the branches. Nature's first green is gold. When I taught American Literature, I always used this poem on days like this when students could see this phase of spring and have a total understanding of the poem.

OK. I've confessed my little quirk: memorizing poems and saying them out loud. Are there poems about spring that you like? Are there poems that you have memorized and just like to say out loud because you like the way they sound?

I love Shel Silverstein poems; they aren't just for kids. Remember the one about Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who would not take the garbage out? That's another one I like to say out loud (and really good to recite to your kids!!).

Or how about "If" by Rudyard Kipling? I always loved the drama and dignity of the last line: "And what's more, you'll be a man, my son."

Your turn! What poems do you carry around in your head?

[JustMegan79]

I will forever carry that Robert Frost poem in my head. It was what I read at my best friends funeral. Wow I think I just feel like I got socked in the gut.

I love alot of Robert Frost. Many other also.

However my favorite of all time is Nikki Giovanni. Her poem, "Make Up" is wonderful. I read it in her Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day book many many years ago and love it still!!

[forHISglory]

JustMegan79, I read your post with surprise. This Frost poem is what I read at my mother in law's funeral. She was gold in my life, and like all other precious delicate things, she could not stay. Thanks for sharing your insight.

[shoiji]

Thanks for the poem. I had forgotten how much I enjoy poetry. You also remind me of an English teacher I had. She was the best!

[ktsmama]

I love Shel Silverstein poems; they aren't just for kids. Remember the one about Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who would not take the garbage out? That's another one I like to say out loud (and really good to recite to your kids!!).

Or how about "If" by Rudyard Kipling? I always loved the drama and dignity of the last line: "And what's more, you'll be a man, my son."

Your turn! What poems do you carry around in your head?

My DD (11) and I read Silversteing poems out loud very often. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout is one of our favorite characters!

I had to recite "If" in the 7th grade. I will never forget it.

[emily_hope]

We had to memorize a portion of a poem written by Grantland Rice when I attended the 7th grade. It's been in my head ever since.

"You'll find the road is long and rough, with soft spots far apart,
Where only those can make the grade who have the Uphill Heart.
And when they stop you with a thud or halt you with a crack,
Let Courage call the signals as you keep on coming back.

"Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine,
Let every game's end find you still upon the battling line;
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game."

[cab54]

I LOVED reading Shel Silverstein to my boys when they were younger!! We would all laugh so much!

I couldn't believe it when I read an article about how controversial his writing was among some groups! I think people take things much too seriously sometimes. Tsk. His stuff was just simple funny nonsense, much like Dr. Suess.

[forHISglory]

Cab 54, I agree. I guess many things can be taken more than one way, but I choose to just delight in Silverstein and his whimsical characters.

Emily Hope, I have heard of Rice, but am not familiar with this poem. Thank you for sharing. Probably the wisdom of the poem means more today than in 7th grade! Poetry is funny that way......