Poetry Musings

Hello everyone,

As I sit here on this dark, rainy, Sunday evening, drinking pumpkin spice chai tea, I think I'll finish this post that I have in my drafts from ages ago.  Voting is still open as to which drafts you'd like to see finished, but this one is up in the poll so I thought I'd get it done.  😁

Well, as a homeschooler, I memorized poetry for many years in grade school.  I started with George Washington by Stephen Vincent Benet.  Then I moved on to harder things, The Charge of the Light Brigade, for instance. 

James Stewart recites The Charge of the Light Brigade in Magic Town

I loved reciting with emotion and rhythm.  Creating a rhythm really helped me memorize things.  I remember when I was learning America for Me by Henry Van Dyke, I sort of used the rhythm from the song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Marry Poppins). 

One of my favorite poems that I memorized was Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.  It made absolutely no sense whatsoever! 😆 It had fun words and made your imagination run wild!  (Read it here!)  I also liked to draw pictures of the poems I had memorized.

When I got older, I moved into Shakespeare.  I didn't memorize entire scenes or anything, but mostly short parts.  Selections from Henry V, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice were part of my homework.

Now I am in high school and poetry is not one of my "classes", but I still enjoy reading it very much.  There are so many kinds of poetry to explore.  I enjoy religious poems, short stories, eloquent love letters, and sweet rhyming words that roll off the tongue.

(Discovered this poem in When Calls the Heart TV series)

One of my favorite sources of poetry is some old Forget Me Not journals.  I can't find any information about this old tradition, but from the looks of it, and what I've been told by the friend who loaned these to me, the Forget Me Not journal was compiled by friends and family before someone moved away.  They filled it with poems (some have pictures as well) and gave it as a parting gift to the person leaving in the late 19th early 20th century. (I believe...🙂)  It makes sense since back in those days you may not hear from or see a loved one once they move faraway and so these journals are a sweet gift to be remembered by.  My favorite is one given to a Sarah Sprague in 1823.  The penmanship is impeccable, but the poetry is absolutely breathtaking.  I don't know whether Sarah's friends actually came up with these poems, but they are amazing.

(Not from my books, but the handwriting looks just like this.)

Reflection at Sunset

"I saw the radiant God of day

"Descending in the glowing west;

"I marked his last expiring ray

"As low he sank to seeming rest.

"Though for his chariot he had driven

"Beyond the hills to ocean's bed;

"Aglow divine illuminated heaven

"And over the scene luster shed.

"So when the Christian's race is run

"Though low he slumbers in the ground

"His virtues like the setting sun

"shall shed a heavenly lustre round."

~H. B. Banister Newburyport

I wish I could share all the beautiful poems here, but I just can't type that much!  But of all these, there is one that is my absolute favorite.  It was written to Sarah (❤) and uses her name over and over again, so it is very special to me.  It begins, "Good night, good night and is it so; And must I from my Sarah go?"

Another favorite of mine is The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  You may remember a bit of it being recited in Anne of Green Gables! 😉

St. Therese also wrote some poetry which has been compiled into a book.  She speaks so beautifully of her love for Jesus, and wrote many things for her fellow religious sisters.

Finally, what inspired me to write this post in the first place was the discovery of an American Poetry book published in 1923 that belonged to my grandfather.  The introduction starts, "Poetry is written to be enjoyed.  But to be enjoyed it must first be understood, and to understand and enjoy poetry we should know something of its principles."  (It goes on to talk about the rhythm, just like I did!)  If you ever find an old book (or new) on poetry, take a look through it!  I'd love to know if you have a favorite poem!

(Also not my photography)

God bless you! ❤