Friday, December 7, 2018

POETRY - Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart selected by Mary Ann Hoberman

Illustrated by Michael Emberley
2012 Megan Tingley Books:  Little, Brown & Company
144 pages
Endpapers:  Lilac
Goodreads: 4.00 - 265 ratings

A lovely mixture of old and new poems.  Many favorites, some of which I've copied below:

Goodreads Summary:  When you learn a poem by heart, it becomes a part of you. You know it in your mind, in your mouth, in your ears, in your whole body. And best of all, you know it forever. 
From the creators of the bestselling You Read to Me, I'll Read to You series comes this new collection of poems especially suitable for learning by heart and saying aloud. With personal introductions by former Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman -- as well as her own time-tested tips and tools for memorization and recitation -- and vivid illustrations by Michael Emberley featuring his trademark wit and lively characters, Forget-Me-Nots includes more than 120 works from both classic and contemporary poets, from childhood favorites to lesser-known treasures.
This anthology will inspire a love of learning poetry!


Sometimes

Sometimes I like to be alone
And look up at the sky
And think my thoughts inside my head ---
Just me, myself, and I

                                Mary Ann Hoberman
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

The Animal Store

If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
                Or maybe a little more,
I’d hurry as fast as my legs would go
                Straight to the animal store.

I wouldn’t say, “How much for this or that?”—
                “What kind of a dog is he?”
I’d buy as many as rolled an eye,
                Or wagged a taile at me!

I’d take the hound with the drooping ears
                That sits by himself alone,
Cockers and Cairns and wobbly pups
                For to be my very own.

I might buy a parrot all red and green,
                And the monkey I saw before,
If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
                Or maybe a little more.

                                Rachel Field
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Night

Stars over snow,
                And in the west a planet
Swinging below a star ---
                Look for a lovely thing and you will find it,
It is not far ---
                It never will be far.

                                Sara Teasdale
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Toad by the Road

I’m only a toad
By the side of the road,
Watching the world go by.
Some bustle and hurry.
Some bustle and scurry.
Some wiggle, flicker, or fly.
They come and they go
On their way to and fro.
But I’d rather sit and sing.
It’s a glorious day,
So I’m happy to stay
And savor the songs of spring.

                                Joanne Ryder
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

The Sun

I told the Sun that I was glad,
                I’m sure I don’t know why;
Somehow the pleasant way he had
                Of shining in the sky
Just put a notion in my head
                That wouldn’t it be fun
If, walking on the hill, I said
                “I’m happy” to the Sun.

                                John Drinkwater
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Things

Went to the corner
Walked in the store
Bought me some candy
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more

Went to the beach
Played on the shore
Built me a sandhouse
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more

Went to the kitchen
Lay down on the floor
Made me a poem
Still got it
Still got it

                                Eloise Greenfield
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?
                Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
                Neither you nor I;
But when the trees bow down their heads
                The wind is passing by.

                                Christina Rossetti
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.
The rain makes running pools in the gutter.
The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night –

And I love the rain.

                                Langston Hughes
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and sky
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

                                Carl Sandburg
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

I Hear a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
                In the dark of December
A magical thing
                And sweet to remember.

“We are nearer to Spring
                Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
                In the dark of December.

                                Oliver Herford
                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

                                Robert Frost

No comments: