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  • Poem

    Fable

    By Ralph Waldo Emerson
    The mountain and the squirrel  
    Had a quarrel;  
    And the former called the latter ‘Little Prig.’
    Bun replied,  
    ‘You are doubtless very big;         
    But all sorts of things and weather  
    Must be taken in together,  
    To make up a year  
    And a sphere.  
    And I think it no disgrace  
    To...
  • Poem

    On Quiet Feet

    By Nikki Grimes
    When my dad walks
    into a room,
    or down
    the street,
    he inches
    up on me
    silent
    as shadow,...
  • Poem

    Ode on a Grecian Urn

    By John Keats
    Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
           Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
    Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
           A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:...
  • Poem

    Casey at the Bat

    By Ernest Lawrence Thayer
    The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
    The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
    And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
    A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of...
  • Poem

    Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

    By Jane Taylor
    Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
    How I wonder what you are!
    Up above the world so high,
    Like a diamond in the sky.

    When the blazing sun is gone,
    When he nothing shines upon,
    Then you show your little light,...
  • Poem

    A Visit from St. Nicholas

    By Clement Clarke Moore
    'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
    Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
    The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
    In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
    The children were nestled all snug in...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    Figs from Thistles: First Fig

    By Edna St. Vincent Millay
    My candle burns at both ends;
       It will not last the night;
    But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
       It gives a lovely light!
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    Trees

    By Joyce Kilmer
    I think that I shall never see
    A poem lovely as a tree.

    A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
    Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

    A tree that looks at God all day,
    And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

    A tree that may in...
  • Poem

    Mending Wall

    By Robert Frost
    Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
    That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
    And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
    And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
    The work of hunters is another thing:
    I have come after them and made repair
    Where...
  • Poem

    To an Athlete Dying Young

    By A. E. Housman
    The time you won your town the race
    We chaired you through the market-place;
    Man and boy stood cheering by,
    And home we brought you shoulder-high.

    Today, the road all runners come,
    Shoulder-high we bring you home,
    And set you at your threshold down,
    Townsman of a...
  • Poem

    Jack

    By Jane Yolen
    Jack was quite nimble,
    Jack was quite quick,
    Jack gave the beanstalk
    A mighty big kick.
     
    Down came the giant—
    GIGANTIC fall—
    Bottoms up in a crater,
    Thus ending it all.
  • Poem

    If We Must Die

    By Claude McKay
    If we must die, let it not be like hogs
    Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
    While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
    Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
    If we must die, O let us nobly die,
    So that our...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    The Witch Has Told You a Story

    By Ava Leavell Haymon
    You are food.
    You are here for me
    to eat. Fatten up,
    and I will like you better.

    Your brother will be first,
    you must wait your turn.
    Feed him yourself, you will
    learn to do it. You will take him

    eggs with yellow sauce, muffins
    torn apart and...
  • Poem

    The Twelve Days of Christmas

    By Anonymous
    The first day of Christmas,
    My true love sent to me
    A partridge in a pear tree.

    The second day of Christmas,
    My true love sent to me
    Two turtle doves, and
    A partridge in a pear tree.
    ...
  • Poem

    "Mary had a little lamb,"

    By Sarah Josepha Hale
    Mary had a little lamb,
    Its fleece was white as snow;
    And everywhere that Mary went
    The lamb was sure to go.

    It followed her to school one day,
    Which was against the rule;
    It made the children laugh and play
    To see a lamb at school.

    And...
  • Poem

    Willie Winkie

    By William Miller
    Wee Willie Winkie
        Rins through the toun,
    Up stairs and doun stairs
        In his nicht-gown,
    Tirling at the window,
        Crying at the lock,
    “Are the weans in their bed,
        For it’s now ten o’clock?
     
    “Hey, Willie Winkie,
        Are ye coming ben?
    The cat’s singing grey...
  • Poem

    Little Boy Blue

    By Mother Goose
    Little boy blue,
    Come blow your horn,
    The sheep's in the meadow,
    The cow's in the corn.
    But where is the boy
    Who looks after the sheep?
    He's under a haystack,
    Fast asleep.
  • Poem

    The Pied Piper of Hamelin

    By Robert Browning
    Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
       By famous Hanover city;
    The river Weser, deep and wide,
    Washes its wall on the southern side;
    A pleasanter spot you never spied;
       But, when begins my ditty,
    Almost five hundred years ago,
    To see the...
  • Poem

    The Ecchoing Green

    By William Blake
    The sun does arise,
    And make happy the skies.
    The merry bells ring
    To welcome the Spring.
    The sky-lark and thrush,
    The birds of the bush,
    Sing louder around,
    To the bells’ cheerful sound. 
    While our sports shall be seen
    On the Ecchoing Green.
     
    Old John, with white hair 
    Does laugh...
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