Poetry has become an appreciated part of our lives. I'm not a naturally creative person ~ I don't do art or music or poetry especially well ~ but I do enjoy these creative elements that others have so marvelously put to paper with ink.
My grandma gave me a book of poetry by Helen Steiner Rice when I was young. Not having a lot of books that were exclusively my own, I found it to be a treasure. I kept it in my drawer and kept it crisp and clean. It was refreshing and freeing to read beautiful words that spoke my thoughts and feelings in a way I could not articulate. Here is one poem from that book called "Somebody Cares" by Helen Steiner Rice:
Somebody cares and always will,
The world forgets but God loves you still,
You cannot go beyond His love
No matter what you're guilty of.
For God forgives until the end,
He is your faithful, loyal Friend,
And though you try to hide your face
There is no shelter anyplace
That can escape His watchful eye,
For on the earth and in the sky
He's ever present and always there
To take you in His tender care
And bind the wounds and mend the breaks
When all the world around forsakes.
Somebody cares and loves you still
And God is the Someone who always will.
There's also so much Fun poetry out there! I like giving the kids silly or light-hearted poems to memorize. "Eletelephony" by Laura Richards and "Wind on the Hill" by AA Milne are a couple we've used. Phillip's grandma has written some poetry, and this one called "What the Folk Don't Know" put a smile on my face:
I used to think that school was dull,
And so unnecessary.
Now the folk wonder why I love
Each subject that I carry.
They wonder why I dress so neat,
Why I want such pretty curls.
Why I do not care for boy friends
Like most of the other girls.
I used to never care a bit
If I disobeyed the rule.
But now I behave the nicest
Of most any girl in school.
I gaze into the teacher's face,
And cling to his every word.
But somehow when we take a test,
I forget the things I've heard.
But if you'll promise not to tell
Another single creature,
I'll tell you what the folk don't know:
I'm in love with the teacher.
by Phoebe Ferguson
5 comments:
I have come to appreciate poetry as an adult alongside my boys. I enjoyed reading your post this morning. :)
That's what I love about a Mason education. Finding new loves you never thought possible. :-)
Thanks for this post in the CM Carnival. We, too, have enjoyed poetry and have a family about the size and ages of yours. An author you may enjoy is Amy Carmichael. Her book, Mountain Breezes, is a compilation of all her poetry, culled from her many books. Not only for Mom, but she wrote many poems for the children in her orphanage which our children have thoroughly enjoyed.
Joy in Nepal
This is a lovely post -- thank you :)
It caught my eye on the Our Journey Westward blog carnival because I've recently begun reading poetry to my young children at lunch, and at a classics book club next week, we're attacking poetry. We'll all bring some to read, discuss, etc. It shall be a joy.
Thanks for sharing some of your favorites here :)
Rhyming poetry is so much fun to read aloud. I love getting rhyming books for my younger ones. The fun poems make some good lessons, don't they? There are lots of good things that can come from studying poetry.
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