What is your favorite children's poem written by a poet from the past?
One of my favorite children's poems from the past is "Something Told the Wild Geese" by Rachel Field. It is one of those rare poems for children that transcends its sweet lyrical innocence and becomes a hauntingly memorable poem for all ages, one that can be read again and again throughout one's lifetime. Field takes us into her poem and lets us fly away with her flock of wild geese until we, too, realize "it is time to go." This poem is as enchanting and mysterious to me today as it was when I first heard it as a child.
Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field, 1894-1942
Something told the wild geese
It was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, "snow."
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, "frost."
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
It was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, "snow."
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, "frost."
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
This poem is in the public domain.
8 comments:
What a beautiful poem, Charles. I hadn't read it and I'm humbled.
My favorite poem from childhood is one my theatrical mother used to love reading to us:
Leetla Giorgio Washeenton by Thomas Augustine Daly
I found it in full here:
http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=556
"Something Told the Wild Geese" is lovely, Charles. One of my favorites is "Seal Lullaby" by Rudyard Kipling.
I had forgotten about this one, Charles - thanks for sharing it! One classic poem I really enjoy is Robert Louis Stevenson's "Land of Counterpane."
Thanks for sharing "Something Told the Wild Geese" - a new (old) favorite for me. I loved a book of limericks by Edward Lear. My mother thought they were "too old" for me - she was probably right - but I love the rhythm and rhyme. Thanks for the fond memory. =)
Great post, Charles,
Thanks for sharing "Something Told the Wild Geese."
One of my childhood favorites is "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
I love this one, too. As a child I liked A. A. Milne a lot, poems like "The King's Breakfast." And Matt reminded me of Robert Louis Stevenson -- I loved the one he mentioned, and also the one that starts, "Dark brown is the river, golden is the sand..."
Oh that is so lovely! I am so glad that to have learned a new favorite!
As a child I loved to hear Longfellow's "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere"
Mandatory for those growing up in Massachusetts, I think!
I've loved this poem since I first heard it, and I confess I had no idea it was a children's poem.
I couldn't possibly pick a single favorite, but one I love is Rudyard Kipling's Seal Lullaby.
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