Hannah Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Which ten poems should every classicaly educated child have memorized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I once made up a file of poems that were most frequently referenced in contemporary pop culture. These were the top ten. Trees by Joyce Kilmer Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost THE TYGER by William Blake The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe JABBERWOCKY by Lewis Carroll Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer Hiawatha's Childhood (Selections) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the moon, Nokomis. Dark behind it rose the forest, Rose the black and gloomy pine trees, Rose the firs with cones upon them. Bright before it beat the water, Beat the clear and sunny water, Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water. Of all beasts he learned the language, Learned their names and all their secrets, How the beavers built their lodges. Where the squirrels hid their acorns, How the reindeer ran so swiftly, Why the rabbit was so timid, Talked with them whene'er he met them, Called them "Hiawatha's Brothers." Then Iagoo the great boaster, He the marvelous story-teller, He the traveler and the talker, He the friend of old Nokomis, Made a bow for Hiawatha; From a branch of ash he made it, From an oak bough made the arrows, Tipped with flint, and winged with feathers, And the cord he made of deerskin. Then he said to Hiawatha: "Go, my son, into the forest, Where the red deer herd together, Kill for us a famous roebuck, Kill for us a deer with antlers!" Forth into the forest straightway All alone walked Hiawatha Proudly, with his bow and arrows; And the birds sang round him, o'er him "Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!" Sang the robin, sang the bluebird, "Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!" And the rabbit from his pathway Leaped aside, and at a distance Sat erect upon his haunches, Half in fear and half in frolic, Saying to the little hunter, "Do not shoot me, Hiawatha!" But he heeded not, nor heard them, For his thoughts were with the red deer; On their tracks his eyes were fastened, Leading downward to the river, To the ford across the river, And as one in slumber walked he. Hidden in the alder bushes, There he waited till the deer came, Till he saw two antlers lifted, Saw two eyes look from the thicket, Saw two nostrils point to windward, And a deer came down the pathway, Flecked with leafy light and shadow. And his heart within him fluttered Trembled like the leaves above him, Like the birch-leaf palpitated, As the deer came down the pathway. Then, upon one knee uprising, Hiawatha aimed an arrow; Scarce a twig moved with his motion, Scarce a leaf was stirred or rustled, But the wary roebuck darted, Stamped with all his hoofs together, Listened with one foot uplifted, Leaped as if to meet the arrow; Ah! the singing, fatal arrow, Like a wasp it buzzed, and stung him. Dead he lay there in the forest, By the ford across the river; Beat his timid heart no longer; But the heart of Hiawatha Throbbed and shouted and exulted, As he bore the red deer homeward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycalling Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 This is a great topic. :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 (edited) Come to think of it, I have a txt file and a PDF file that have all of these in it, and the following titles too. If you want 'em, shoot me an e-mail (let me know, txt or PDF): hootandflutter at yahoo. ETA If you e-mailed me and I didn't appear to respond, look in your spam box. I may have been marked as a spammer because I've attached a file to the e-mails. I definitely responded to every e-mail I got. O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman All the World's a Stage by William Shakespeare Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (This is the one that goes, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost i carry your heart with me by E. E. Cummings I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou Metaphors by Sylvia Plath Homework by Allen Ginsberg He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by William Butler Yeats The Serenity Prayer by Francis of Assisi Edited July 11, 2009 by dragons in the flower bed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Dragons ~ I sent you an email, THANK YOU! This list looks PERFECT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryTX Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I like the suggestions so far. I haven't required my daughter to memorize any poems just yet, but I do have a few that I would like to work with her on. The number one, though, is "If" by Rudyard Kipling: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! We have it taped to the fridge. I love Edgar Allen Poe! When my son was little, the Conquerer Worm was his favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Dragons ~ I sent you an email, THANK YOU! This list looks PERFECT! Thanks. I sent you an e-mail back.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 We did "If" two years ago; it's still one of our favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryTX Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 We did "If" two years ago; it's still one of our favorites. I wish I had read more Kipling years ago - I had read some of his stories back in the day, but never any of his poetry. I cannot believe I missed out on his stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rita Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 excellent topic!:lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Sections of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge If - Kipling Charge of the Light Brigade - Tennyson Daffodils - William Wordsworth High Flight - MaGee Sections of the Lays of Ancient Rome - Horatius XXVII -XXXIII -Macaulay Flanders Fields - McCrae Invictus - Henley Sonnet 18 Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day - Shakespeare Stopping by the Woods - Frost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elw_miller Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Ok, so my munchkins are a little young to start memorizing advanced poetry (we're learning nursery rhymes now). But, on my list of poems to know, if not memorize: The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow The Lady of Shallott by Tennyson When You Are Old by Yeats The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe some of Shakespeare's sonnets, perhaps bits of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" or bits of his Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Surprised no one named John Donne. Death be not proud - I think would appeal to many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe :D have you read the response? The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh I don't have those on my "top ten" list, but i think it would make a FABULOUS talent show skit for an older teen boy and teen girl..... I make the distinction that these are not the top ten that a classically educated child should have studied, but there is something unique about memorization that doesn't necessarily require a deeper study. i would expect a deeper study of Shakespeare [mostly because of cultural references], but not a complete memorization. I like what Death Be Not Proud represents, but i hate it as a poem to recite. I also love Annabel Lee, but that's more of a personal thing, not one i would foist on my dc....:lol: I'll also ignore songs/hymns/bible verses for now, [even tho Marty Robbins' El Paso and the Battle of New Orleans seem to be must-memorize favorites, lol] ;) ============= for memorization, My top nine: [some already listed] 1. If 2. Daffodils [i Wandered Lonely as a Cloud] 3. E.B.B. Sonnet 43 4. Jabberwocky and 5. Raven [EXCELLENT campfire poems for late at night, mwuhahah...] 6.1 Cor 13: the Love Passage [applicable even from a secular POV] 7. [at least the beginning of] The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere 8. A Visit from St Nicholas [Night before Christmas] 9. "One, Two, Three!" by Henry Cuyler Bunner [very few things make me tear up, but this is one.] #10: still deciding :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Oh, goodness. I can tell you what Calvin has learned, but whether they are the essentials, I really don't know: All the World's a Stage (Shakespeare, As You Like It) Be Not Afeard (Shakespeare, The Tempest) Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Shakespeare, Macbeth) The St Crispian's Day Speech (Shakespeare, Henry V) Sonnet 18 - Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day (Shakespeare) Kubla Khan (first section, up to 'greenery') by Coleridge The Tyger (Blake) Composed on Westminster Bridge (Wordsworth) I wandered Lonely as a Cloud (Wordsworth) The Destruction of Sennacherib (Byron) Ozymandias (Shelley) La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats) On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer (Keats) The Ways of Love (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost) We have barely touched the 20th Century yet... Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveview Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 There are some great ideas on this list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Three Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Thanks for the ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe Made even better by the reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Great replies. Lots of my favorites have made the list. I also love Annabel Lee, but that's more of a personal thing, not one i would foist on my dc Me too!! I memorized it in 8th grade when we got to pick any poem we wanted, and I still love it!! Don't know why it appealed so much, but it just did/does... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elw_miller Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 :D have you read the response? The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh I have not read the response--thanks for noting it! I'll go read it. Reminds me of the time my 8th grade students and I read the Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum "Old Father William" poem in class. One of my students asked if I'd ever heard of the original: "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them" by Robert Southey. I hadn't, so he enriched the class' experience by reading it in class the next day. :) That was one of my favorite things about teaching--learning from my students. A few more poems I'd add to the list: 'O Captain, My Captain' by Walt Whitman and various Emily Dickinson poems (like 'Nobody'). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenC Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Quite a few of the poems listed in this thread are in the Harp and Laurel Wreath by Laura Berquist. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowperch Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Love this thread. I Must Go Down to the Sea by John Masefield would make a good addition. The TV poem in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory is wonderful for tv-free kids. My children loved memorizing this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Which ten poems should every classicaly educated child have memorized? To Lucasta on Going to the War - Lovelace Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in original (makes a great party trick) Psalm 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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