The Enchanted World of Poetry

Poetry is the journal of the sea animals living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are

made and why they go away.

 Carl Sandburg

Barbara Szuba

English 109

Spring 2010

DreamsBy Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is broken-winged bird

That cannot fly

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Kennedy, X., and Dorothy Kennedy. Knock at a star. Revised Edition. New York Boston: Little, Brown Young Readers, 1999. 192. Print.

Knock at a star is a classic anthology of poetry with a greatly expanded collection of poems with beautiful black-and-white pencil sketches. The book is intended for students in grades 3 to 7. I chose that book because it appealed to me, and it will as well, to a whole new generation of readers. Through the selection of poems in this collection, children will experience poetry as lighthearted, fun, and humorous.

Earth

By John Hall Wheelock

“A planet doesn’t explode of itself,” said dryly

the Martian astronomer, gazing off into the air-

“That they were able to do it is proof that highly

Intelligent begins must have been living there.”

Dunning, Stephen, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith. Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle. New York: HarperTeen, 1966. 144. Print.

Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle is another modern poem anthology for young readers. The book includes photographs which accent the contemporary tone of this collection. The collection is a deep and broad representation of some of the best poets of this era. For me, the book is a perfect blend of wonderful, American poetry.

A Jelly-Fish by Marianne Moore

Visible, invisible

a fluctuating charm

an amber-tinctured amethyst

inhabits it, your arm

approaches and it opens

and it closes: you had meant

to catch it and it quivers:

you abandon your intent…

Hollander, John, and Simona Mulazzani. Animal Poems. Sterling Pub Co Inc, 2004. Print.

Animal Poems is a thematic collection of poems about animals–big and small, wild and tame, and it is intended for children ages 9 –12. I like this book for its full-color illustrations without borders or white spaces; each poem is preceded by a short introduction commenting on the poet and the verse. The poems are also accompanied by brief notes defining difficult words and phrases which can be helpful for young readers.

Fly, Dragonfly

Water nymph, you have

climbed from the shallows to don

your dragon-colors.

Perched on a reed stem

all night, shedding skin, you dry

your wings in moonlight.

Night melts into day.

Swift birds wait to snap you up.

Fly, dragonfly! Fly!

Sidman, Joyce. Songs of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 32. Print

Another thematic collection I choose is Songs of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. This book with it’s science facts combines with vivid poems about pond life through the seasons bringing young readers delightful description of what to see, hear, and feel around a small pond. This book is a Caldecott winner, and I like it for it will fulfill intellectual curiosity as well as poetic leanings of young readers.

fulfills intellectual curiosity as well as poetic leanings.

AFTERNOON ON A HILL

I will be the gladdest thing Under the sun!I will touch a hundred flowers And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds With quiet eyes,Watch the wind bow down the grass, And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show Up from the town,I will mark which must be mine, And then start down!

Millay, Edna, and Frances Schoonmaker. Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Sterling Pub Co Inc, 1999. 48. Print

Edna St. Vincent Millay is a collection by one poet which introduces young people to the poetry of Edna St.Vincent Millay in a small volume. The book truly captures the spirit and mood evoked by the poet. I like this collection because, with the turn of each page, the readers are brought into various scenes and landscapes, introduced to the thoughts and passions of real, believable individuals. Although, Millay’s poems are complex enough for older readers, younger ones will enjoy hearing them read aloud and looking at the illustrations.

THE PASTURE

I’m going out to clean the pasture spring:

I’ll will only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may)

I sha’n’t be gone long.-You come too.

I’m going out to fetch the little calf

That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young

Is totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I aha’n’t be gone long.-You come too.

Schmidt, Gary, and Henri Sorensen. Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost. New York: Sterling Pub Co Inc, 2008. 48. Print.

This collection introduces young people to the poetry of Robert Frost. The selection is arranged in the seasons, and at the bottom of each page the editor provides a brief note on some of the possible ways to read the lines. The realistic watercolor illustrations capture the delicate beauty of New England through all four seasons. This book is quite well done, and gives a good representation of Frost’s work. This is a book that I would choose to have a collection of all works by one premier poet.

 

Bugs with pincers, claws, and hair

Bugs much fiercer than a bear,

Buggies in your underwear-

Tearing at you, BUGS!

Oh, in your clothes they’re restin’,

In your nose they’re nestin’,

There isn’t question

They’re infestin’ your intestine

Greenberg, David T. BUGS!. 1st ed. Canada: Little, Brown & Company, 1997. 32. Print.

Bugs is a funny and partially gross single length poem book. This is book with a ridiculous use of bugs, which will surely keep the interest of readers, even reluctant ones. The story in verse is original, fast paced, and definitely stimulates the imagination using more of the readers' senses than just sight. It is a hilarious, colorful book for young readers.

If not for the cat,And the scarcity of cheese,I could be content.

I, the hoverer,Sip the nasturtium’s nectarAnd sing with my wings.

Boneless, translucent,We undulate, undulate,Gelatinously.

I am slow I am.Slowest of the slow I am.In my tree I am.

Prelutsky, Jack, and Ted Rand. If Not for the Cat. 1st. ed. Greenwillow, 2004. 40. Print.

If Not for the Cat is another one of my choices for a single poem length book. It contains seventeen sweet and simple haikus. This book is a great introduction of haiku style poems for young readers. The wide, double page illustrations done in the watercolors and brushed ink give that book more value and will gain interest of young readers.