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To This Great Stage of Fools: Born April 5th

Apr5

No race can prosper, till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Booker Tallaferro Washington, b. 1856. And vice-versa.

Arthur Hailey, b.1920. I read Hotel long before I saw the movie, and I remember it being very entertaining. I don’t remember much about the movie.

Wednesdays are poetry days at The Immaculate Castle, and the family there recently found themselves memorizing Tennyson. Then, mom asked the question: What did Alfred Tennyson’s mother read to him as a child?

I wonder whether Shakespeare’s mother read to him?

The Reading Mother

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea,
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings —
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be —
I had a Mother who read to me. – Strickland Gillilan

What are you reading to the children in your life?

Third Carnival of Children’s Literature

Apr2


Welcome to the Third Carnival of Children’s Literature. Since April is National Poetry Month, the theme for this carnival is poetry. However, we have all sorts of posts, both poetic and prosaic, about children’s literature to give you enough reading to keep you busy all month. You can visit them all today (you glutton!) or bookmark this post and stop in daily for a dose of poetry and children’s literature all April long.

April 1 was, of course, April Fool’s Day, and we have some foolish fun posts just for a late celebration:
Susan at Chicken Spaghetti shares David Moody’s funny literary poem about Laura Numeroff (and other writers).
And then there are The Three Disco Mermaids who are actually three authors discussing writing for children. They must have been on the receiving end of a few rejection letters from publishers because their submission is 12 Form Rejections, a Christmas-time parody of the Twelve Days of Christmas using phrases from form rejection letters. With writers it’s all grist for the mill, right?

April’s not only National Poetry Month; it’s also Mathematics Education Month. So for April 2 (yesterday), head on over to At a Hen’s Pace to read about poetry, multiplication tables, and a very special teacher in the post, My Fourth Grade Poetry Muse.

Melissa Wiley In the Bonny Glen says today, April 3, is her due date (she’s great with child), so today is a great day to read her submission, Peeping at Spring with Poetry. I wonder if Melissa is peeping into the eyes of her new baby today?

April 4: It’s National Library Week (April 2-8, 2006), and Kim Winters, author of Kat’s Eye, an online journal featuring rants, raves, and musings about writing, balancing work and family, and life after the MFA, commits the Faux Pas of all Faux Pas in her post by the same name. Unfortunately, it involved a library book and RAIN.

April 5: Wednesdays are poetry days at The Immaculate Castle, and the family there recently found themselves memorizing Tennyson. Then, mom asked the question: What did Alfred Tennyson’s mother read to him as a child?

April 6: This week is also The Week of the Young Child (April 2-8, 2006). The Queen of Carrots is here with some advice on Poems To Say All Day Long. She writes, “The first introduction to poetry I can remember is the poems my mother would recite at suitable times. These are poems I find myself reciting to my little ones (both still under two) when the occasion arises.”
Meanwhile, Camille at Book Moot ponders Poetry and the Very Young. Do you consider a bookcase to be essential furniture in the nursery? Yeah, me too.

April 7 is the birthdate of the English poet Wiliam Wordsworth, and we join Cindy at Dominion Family as she puts together a bound family poetry book consisting of a few favorites from each member of the family. One of Cindy’s favorites is Lucy II by the birthday boy himself.

April 8: Happy Hearts Mom of the blog Sweetness and Light also reads poetry with her young children and helps the older ones to memorize poems. She writes about Poetry at Our House. The poems they’re memorizing? A.A. Milne, of course. The Deputy Headmistress at The Common Room has a wonderful tribute to Mr. Milne from his birthday back in January. Accept no substitutes, says she.

April 9: Palm Sunday. On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. The Civil War was over. Unfortunately, the enmity between North and South, and between black and white, was not over. Liz B. at A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy reviews the YA title, A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson. The book is made up of a series of sonnets about the life and death of Emmett Till, a 14 year old black child who was brutally murdered for the “crime” of whistling at a white woman.

April 10: April is also Autism Awareness Month. The always-insightful blogger who is Blest With Sons talks about her family’s recent forays into poetry, from which she suggests that poems are best for the Asperger kids with which you’ve been blessed. It’s called Rhyme Time and features Mr. Milne—again.

April 11:Karen Edmisten says you are what you read. (Shhh! don’t tell anyone, especially not her husband, but she sometimes dog-ears pages to mark favorite passages—very gently.)
The Prattling Pastor’s Wife once thought poetry was a waste of time, until she discovered children’s poetry and later began to enjoy poetry with her own children. Now it’s Poetry Every Day.

April 12: On this day at sunset, the Jewish celebration of Passover begins. And Wordswimmer, a blog on writing and the writing process, with a special focus on writing for children, shares excerpts from a conversation with Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet, on the writing process entitled Encouraging Words to a Young Poet.
In addition, Beverly Cleary is 90 years old today and the celebration includes D.E.A.R. Day. Do all you children’s literature aficionados know what D.E.A.R. stands for?

April 13: Maundy Thursday. Also the birthday of Thomas Jefferson and Lee Bennett Hopkins. So Many Books is Celebrating National Poetry Month with a poetry mad-lib. It’s not targeted for the younger set, but I think it would be a fun poetry game for children and young adults.

April 14: Good Friday. Also the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.

April 15 is the birthdate of Leonardo Da Vinci, so it seems an appropriate date to read about the evolution of a painting. The Bluedorns show us how daughter Johannah creates a masterpiece: Piglet Paints a Picture, or, The Evolution of a Painting. I reviewed Johannh Bluedorn’s beautifully illustrated book, Bless the Lord: The 103rd Psalm here.

April 16: Resurrection Day.

April 17: “In March 1957 Hilary Knight completed a painting of Eloise, which was hung in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. On December 6, 1960 the Eloise painting disappeared from the hotel, and later that month Kay Thompson offered a reward for its return. It never turned up. On April 17, 1964 a new oil painting was completed by Hilary Knight, which is the one that currently hangs in the Plaza.” Fast Facts about Eloise from KidsReads. At Cajun Cottage they Absolutely Love, Love, Love Eloise! Read and find out why.

On April 18, 1906 the business section of San Francisco, California was destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent fire. Nearly 4000 people died.

April 19: ForKelly at Big A Little a, Wednesdays and poetry are a traumatic combination. Find out why in her post about two well known children’s poems, one a comforting favorite (“The Land of Counterpane”) and the other a trauma (“Monday’s child”).

April 20: Mathematics Education Month continues with Fibonacci numbers. Engineer Husband told me about this special series of numbers a long time ago, but I had no idea they could relate to poetry until I read Gregory K’s post The Fib at GottaBook in which he writes about using a very precise (and geeky!) form of poetry to help train the writing brain… and having fun doing it. I’m definitely going to try this idea out on the urchins. While you’re visiting GottaBook, check out some of Mr. K’s own poetry (links in the sidebar) and this post, Poetry, It’s Not Just for April Anymore.

April 21: San Jacinto Day. On this date, Texans commemorate the Battle of San Jacinto in which the Texicans under General Sam Houston defeated Mexican troops led by Dictator/General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to gain Texas its independence from Mexico. On this day since author Chris Barton is a fellow Texan, the carnival features two of his posts on children’s literature: first the one he submitted, The Power of the One-Two Punch, and then the one your hostess couldn’t resist, a reflection on poetry called Stop. Me If You’ve Heard This One. Money quote: “I feel about poetry the same way I feel about Chinese food: While I may well find it delicious on the occasions when I partake, if you were to ask me right now if I’d like some, my instinctive response would be ‘No, thanks.'” Chris is a nonfiction kind of a guy.

April 22: Dawn just started her blog in March at By Sun and Candlelight, but she already has a plethora of posts, mostly about poetry. I thought this one, All Things Bright and Beautiful was a particularly good reminder for Earth Day. We can celebrate not just the Earth, but the Lord God who made it all.

On April 23, celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with my dear cyber-friend MFS of Mental-Vitamin (who was once reprimanded for “dipping into a gilt-edged set of Shakespeare�s complete works. ‘You�ll ruin the pages!’ cried my mother as she swooped in to ‘save’ the books and promptly return them to their purely decorative function as knickknacks on her colonial-style drum table.” Ouch!). MFS has a much more enlightened attitude about books in her post, In the company of books.
Amanda at Wittingshire on The Bard’s Birthday (from last year), including a nine year-old’s reaction to Romeo and Juliet.
And for the last post in today’s Triple Treat, here’s Carmon of Buried Treasure on poetry and Shakespeare: Fun Poetry Lessons With Carmon.

April 24: Verse novels? Author Susan Taylor Brown has made list of novels for children and young adults that are written in verse form. YA author Brandi Lee reviews Ms. Brown’s verse novel, Hugging the Rock and another by Christine Ford called Scout. And Kim, One Over-Caffeinated Mom, also reviews Ms. Brown’s novel.

April 25: National TV Turn-off Week started yesterday. Isn’t a reading good historical novel a lot better way to entertain oneself than watching TV anyway? Henry Cate of Why Homeschool? recommends the historical novel A Thane of Wessex by Charles W. Whistler.

April 26: Birthday of Charles Francis Richter (b.1900), American author, physicist, and seismologist and also of John James Audubon (b. 1780), American artist and naturalist.

April 27: Ludwig Bemelmans was born on this date in 1898, and millions of children have visited “an old house in Paris that was covered with vines” since that time. Students for Literacy Ottawa runs free Reading Circles for Kids to improve their reading skills, so that they can read about Madeline and other heroes and heroines of children’s literature. This post highlights some of the other activities, besides reading, that are done at the circle to help the kids with their reading and to ensure they have fun. And who doesn’t love playing games?

April 28: Arbor Day. With apologies to Joyce Kilmer, Becky of Farm School gives us Poetry as broccoli, and a wrap-up for National Poetry Month,
described as “how to make poetry and broccoli palatable to kids, with links added to recent Farm School posts about poetry, to help celebrate National Poetry Month.” Lots of good stuff for a poetry-appreciating Arbor Day.
It’s also Poem in Your Pocket Day in New York City. Why don’t other cities celebrate this day?

April 29: Catherine Ross would appreciate our perusing her review of The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson on this day. The book itself is “a poetic tale of adventure that reminds us that even the smallest creature are valuable.”

April 30: The bluebonnets should be out in full force in Texas by the end of April, and so we end this edition of the Carnival of Children’s Literature with a post “introducing Miss Rumphius to the lover of children’s literature. She isn’t as well-known as Laura, Anne or Jo, but is a heroine for adults and children, deserving a place on the home library shelf. Barbara Cooney, her author, also illustrates her beautifully.” Read about The Lupine Lady from The Wellspring.

The Carnival of Children’s Literature is registered with the TTLB Ubercarnival.

Past carnivals:
First Carnival of Children’s Literature at Here in the Bonnie Glen by Melissa Wiley, our initiator and fearless leader. Email Melissa if you’re interested in hosting the carnival in future months.

Second Carnival of Children’s Literature at Chicken Spaghetti by Susan.

The May Carnival of Children’s Literature will be hosted at In the Bonny Glen. Submissions are due to Melissa by May 20.
Happy April everyone!

America’s Favorite Poem

Apr2

Renowned poetry anthologist David Lehman has selected 10 poems from The Oxford Book of American Poetry that he feels represent the most popular American poems ever written. We’d like you to vote on which of these poems is the most loved. Is it Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, Emma Lazarus’s The New Colossus, or perhaps you prefer something a bit more contemporary? Cast your vote today! The poem that wins the distinction of being America’s Favorite Poem will be announced on May 1st.

Vote here.

I’ve told you here before that my favorite poem, American or otherwise, is Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee. However, that poem wasn’t on the list, so which one do you think I voted for? (Not The Raven) Which poem did you vote for? Which poem was left off the list that you would have voted for?

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born March 31st

Mar31

Entre lo que veo y digo,
entre lo que digo y callo,
entre lo que callo y sueno,
entre lo que sueno y olvido,
la poesia.–Octavio Paz, b. 1914.

Octavio Paz is a Mexican poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990. English translation:

Between what I see and what I say,
Between what I say and what I keep silent,
Between what I keep silent and what I dream,
Between what I dream and what I forget,
Poetry.

To this Great Stage of Fools: Born February 27th

Feb26


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, b. 1807 (only five years after Victor Hugo).

The Arrow and the Song:
“I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where.”

The Children’s Hour:
“Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.”
*Why is it that the Children’s Hour lasts all evening at my house?

Excelsior:
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell like a falling star,
Excelsior!

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere:
“So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, —
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!”

What The Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist:
“Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
and things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art; to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.”

A little Monday inspiration from from Mr. Longfellow on his 199th birthday.

The Defence of Guenevere

Feb24

“Listen, suppose your time were come to die,
And you were quite alone and very weak;
Yea, laid a dying while very mightily

The wind was ruffling up the narrow streak
Of river through your broad lands running well:
Suppose a hush should come, then some one speak:

‘One of these cloths is heaven, and one is hell,
Now choose one cloth for ever; which they be,
I will not tell you, you must somehow tell

Of your own strength and mightiness; here, see!’
Yea, yea, my lord, and you to ope your eyes,
At foot of your familiar bed to see

A great God’s angel standing, with such dyes,
Not known on earth, on his great wings, and hands,
Held out two ways, light from the inner skies

Showing him well, and making his commands
Seem to be God’s commands, moreover, too,
Holding within his hands the cloths on wands;

And one of these strange choosing cloths was blue,
Wavy and long, and one cut short and red;
No man could tell the better of the two.

After a shivering half-hour you said:
‘God help! heaven’s colour, the blue;’ and he said, ‘hell.’
Perhaps you then would roll upon your bed,

And cry to all good men that loved you well,
‘Ah Christ! if only I had known, known, known;’
The Defence of William Morris

Arthur's Tomb: Sir Launcelot Parting From Guenevere, 1854



Arthur’s Tomb: Sir Launcelot Parting From Guenevere, 1854
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
Buy this Giclee Print at AllPosters.com

We read this poem for my British Literature class today, and I was struck by Guenevere’s imaginary scenario in which she tries to excuse her dalliance with Launcelot.

“It’s not fair!” she says.

She’s wrecked a kingdom, set brother against brother, dishonored her marriage vows, and made the noble ideals of chivalry into a laughingstock, and all she can think of to say is, “It’s not fair. If only I had known!”

She chose to become friend, if not lover, to Launcelot, to allow him to come into her bedchamber, to spend time alone with him, to deny any wrong-doing when confronted. Then, she says that it was just like choosing between a blue cloth and a red cloth. How could she possibly have known that such an “innocent” choice would have such terrible and momentous consequences?

My students (and I) agreed that Guenevere’s defence, as presented in Morris’ poem, is really lame. Of course, she could have known. Anyone with half a brain could see the possible consequences of Guenevere’s and Launcelot’s friendship. The Bible says “flee immorality” for a reason; not only is adultery displeasing to God, you might get burned–and take a few others into the flames with you.

Yet, I find that I am not so very different from Guenevere. I make my own excuses for sin. “I didn’t know.” “I wasn’t thinking.” I couldn’t help myself.” And most insidious of all, “It won’t affect anyone else. No one else will even know.” All these are echoes of Guenevere’s Defence. In fact, that’s what I’m going to remind myself next time I choose wrongly and try to justify myself: “You’re only repeating Guenevere’s Defence. Time to own up.” 

I can try to cover myself with lame excuses, or I can admit that I knew all along which cloth to choose, knew which was the better of the two. I just wanted to choose otherwise. There is no real defence–only a cry for mercy.

Note: (Morris spells the word “defence,” so I did, too, ignoring the red underlined reminder from my spell-checker. British spelling?)

A Slice of Life by Edgar A. Guest

Feb14

Let loose the sails of love and let them fill
With breezes sweet with tenderness today;
Scorn not the praises youthful lovers say;
Romance is old, but it is lovely still.
Not he who shows his love deserves the jeer,
But he who speaks not what she longs to hear.
There is no shame in love’s devoted speech;
Man need not blush his tenderness to show.
‘Tis shame to love and never let her know,
TO keep his heart forever out of reach.
Not he the fool who lets his love go on,
But he who spurns it when his love is won.

Men proudly vaunt their love of gold and fame,
High station and accomplishments of skill,
Yet of life’s greatest conquests they are still,
And deem it weakness, or an act of shame
To seem to place high value on the love
Which first of all they should be proudest of.
Let loose the sails of love and let them take
The tender breezes till the day be spent;
Only the fool chokes out life’s sentiment.
She is a prize too lovely to forsake,
Be not ashamed to send your valentine;
She has your love, but needs its outward sign.

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born January 27th

Jan27

Lewis Carroll, b. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 1832 at Cheshire, England. Now you know where the name for the Cheshire Cat came from. At least, I assume so.

My favorite Lewis Carroll poem: Jabberwocky

My favorite scene from Alice in Wonderland: The very mixed-up croquet game in which the players keep on chasing their hedgehog balls round the lawn.

My favorite Lewis Carroll quote:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.” Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Browning’s Education

Jan24

Browning’s education in the formal sense reduces itself to a minimum. In very early boyhood he attended a species of dame-school, which, according to some of his biographers, he had apparently to leave because he was too clever to be tolerable. However this may be, he undoubtedly went afterwards to a school kept by Mr. Ready, at which again he was marked chiefly by precocity. But the boy’s education did not in truth take place at any systematic seat of education; it took place in his own home, where one of the quaintest and most learned and most absurdly indulgent of fathers poured out in an endless stream fantastic recitals from the Greek epics and mediæval chronicles. If we test the matter by the test of actual schools and universities, Browning will appear to be almost the least educated man in English literary history. But if we test it by the amount actually learned, we shall think that he was perhaps the most educated man that ever lived; that he was in fact, if anything, overeducated. In a spirited poem he has himself described how, when he was a small child, his father used to pile up chairs in the drawing-room and call them the city of Troy. Browning came out of the home crammed with all kinds of knowledge—knowledge about the Greek poets, knowledge about the Provençal Troubadours, knowledge about the Jewish Rabbis of the Middle Ages. But along with all this knowledge he carried one definite and important piece of ignorance, an ignorance of the degree to which such knowledge was exceptional. He was no spoilt and self-conscious child, taught to regard himself as clever. In the atmosphere in which he lived learning was a pleasure, and a natural pleasure, like sport or wine. He had in it the pleasure of some old scholar of the Renascence, when grammar itself was as fresh as the flowers of spring. He had no reason to suppose that every one did not join in so admirable a game. His sagacious destiny, while giving him knowledge of everything else, left him in ignorance of the ignorance of the world. From Robert Browning by GK Chesterton

Doesn’t this sound like a wonderful sort of homeschool education? Have you ever piled up chairs to recreate Troy in the dining room?

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born January 19th

Jan19

Patricia Highsmith, b. 1921. We used to rent DVDs from Clean Films, movies that had been edited to remove profanity and nudity. One of the films we rented has become something of a family joke, The Talented Mr. Ripley, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. I think something was definitely lost in the editing; it was a very confusing movie experience for us, and by the time we realized what the movie was all about and that we really didn’t want to watch it at all, it was too late. I still can’t watch a movie with Matt Damon and feel comfortable with whatever character he’s playing; I’m always afraid he might turn into Mr. Ripley before the end of the movie. Anyway I bought a copy of Strangers on a Train also by Patricia Highsmith, and I plan to read it soon. I hope it doesn’t have any disturbing or disturbed Damon/Ripley characters in it–although I could probably handle it better in a book than in a movie.

Edgar Allan Poe

Maybe January 19th is the day for weirdness; it’s also the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. I posted last year on Poe’s birthday about tintinabulation and in 2004 about my favorite poem, Annabel Lee.
I also wrote about the Poe forgery, Leonainie. Does anyone know without looking who the forger was?
Finally, have you heard about the Poe Toaster? He comes in the night every January 19th and leaves a half-filled bottle of cognac and three roses on Poe’s grave. Some unknown man has performed this ritual every year since 1949. Does anyone know if he’s left his tribute for this year? Or will it be tonight?