Children's Literature Part 102

Stevenson, Burton E., _Poems of American History_.

II. COLLECTIONS FOR CHILDREN

Chisholm, L., _The Golden Staircase_.

Grahame, Kenneth, _The Cambridge Book of Poetry for Children_.

Henley, William Ernest, _Lyra Heroica_.

Ingpen, Roger, _One Thousand Poems for Children_.

Lang, Andrew, _The Blue Poetry Book_.

Lucas, Edward Verrall, _A Book of Verses for Children_. _Another Book of Verses for Children._

Olcott, Frances J., _Story Telling Ballads_. _Story Telling Poems for Children._

Palgrave, Francis T., _The Children's Treasury of Poetry and Song_.

Repplier, Agnes, _A Book of Famous Verse_.

Smith, J. C., _A Book of Verse for Boys and Girls_.

Stevenson, Burton E., _The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks_.

Thacher, Lucy W., _The Listening Child_.

Whittier, John Greenleaf, _Child Life in Poetry_.

Wiggin, K. D., and Smith, N. A., _The Posy Ring_. _Golden Numbers._

III. INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS

Blake, William, _Songs of Innocence_.

Cary, Alice and Phoebe, _Poems for Children_. [In _Complete Works._]

Dodge, Mary Mapes, _Rhymes and Jingles_.

Field, Eugene, _Songs of Childhood_.

Greenaway, Kate, _Marigold Garden_. _Under the Window._

Lamb, Charles and Mary, _Poetry for Children_.

Lear, Edward, _Nonsense Songs_.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, _Complete Poetical Works_.

Richards, Laura E., _In My Nursery_.

Riley, James Whitcomb, _Rhymes of Childhood_.

Sherman, Frank Dempster, _Little-Folk Lyrics_.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, _A Child's Garden of Verses_.

Rands, William Brighty, _Lilliput Lyrics_.

Rossetti, Christina G., _Sing-Song_. _Goblin Market_.

Seegmiller, Wilhelmina, _Little Rhymes for Little Readers_.

Tabb, John B., _Poems_.

Taylor, Ann and Jane, _"Original Poems" and Others_. [Ed. by E. V. Lucas.]

Watts, Isaac, _Divine and Moral Songs_.

Wells, Carolyn, _The Jingle Book_.

SECTION VII. POETRY

INTRODUCTORY

Many teachers have more difficulty in interesting their pupils in poetry than in any other form of literature. This difficulty may be due to any one of a number of causes. It may be due to a lack of poetic appreciation on the part of the teacher, leading to poor judgment in selecting and presenting poetry. It may be due to the feeling that there is something occult and mysterious about poetry that puts it outside the range of common interests, or to the idea that the technique of verse must in some way be emphasized. The first step in using poetry successfully with children is to brush away all these and other extraneous matters and to realize that poetry is in essence a simple and natural mode of expression, and that all attempts to explain how poetry does its work may be left for later stages of study. It is not necessary even for the teacher to be able to recognize and name all the varieties of rhythm to be able to present poetry enthusiastically and understandingly. Least of all is it necessary to have a prescribed list of the hundred "best poems." Some of the best poems for children would not belong in any such list.

The selections in this section cover a wide variety. They are not all equally great, but no teacher can fail to find here something suitable and interesting for any grade. The few suggestions which it is possible to make in this brief introduction may best, perhaps, and without any intention of being exhaustive, be thrown into the form of dogmatic statements:

1. If in doubt about what to use beyond the material in the following pages, depend upon some of the fine collections mentioned in the bibliography. Every teacher should have access to Stevenson's _Home Book of Verse for Young Folks_, which contains many poems from recent writers as well as the older favorites. If possible, have the advantage of the fine taste and judgment of the collections made by Andrew Lang, Miss Repplier, E. V. Lucas, and as many of the others as are available.

2. Remember that in poetry, more than elsewhere, one can present only what one is really interested in and, as a consequence, enthusiastic about. Even poems about whose fitness all judges agree should be omitted rather than run the risk of deadening them for children by a dead and formal handling.

3. Mainly, poetry should be presented orally.

The appeal is first to the ear just as in music. The teacher should read or, better, recite the poem in order to get the best results. There should be no effort at "elocution" in its worst sense, but a simple, sincere rendering of the language of the poem.

The more informal the process is, the better.

There should be much repet.i.tion of favorite poems, so that the rich details and pictures may sink into the mind.

4. There should be great variety in choice that richness and breadth of impression may thus be gained. It is a mistake to confine the work in poetry entirely to lyrics or entirely to ballads. Wordsworth's "Daffodils" and Gilbert's "Yarn of the Nancy Bell" are far apart, but there is a place for each. Teachers should always be on the lookout for poetry old or new, in the magazines or elsewhere, which they can bring into the schoolroom. Such "finds" are often fresh with some timely suggestion and may prove just what is needed to start some hesitating pupil to reading poetry.

5. The earliest poetry should be that in which the music is very prominent and the idea absent or not prominent. The perfection of the Mother Goose jingles for little folks is in their fulfillment of this principle. Use and encourage strongly emphasized rhythm in reading poetry, especially in the early work. Gradually the meaning in poetry takes on more prominence as the work proceeds.

6. Children should be encouraged to commit much poetry to memory. They do this very easily after hearing it repeated a time or two. Such memorizing should not be done usually as a task. Children are, however, very obliging about liking what a teacher is enthusiastic about, and what they like they can hold in mind with surprising ease. The game of giving quotations that no one else in the cla.s.s has given is always a delight. Don't be misled by the fun poked at the "memory gem method" of studying poetry. The error is not in memorizing complete poems and fine poetic pa.s.sages, but in doing this in a mechanical fashion.