Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Everything Old Is New Again




"Let's Enjoy Poetry" selected and arranged by Rosalind Hughes. The MY DOG poem below came out of this ancient book. Well, not that ancient, actually a little newer than myself it was published in 1958. These old volumes are great, although some of the phases are dated and need to be investigated. For example, in the Dog poem by Emily Lewis the line "Then hide your mats, and put your meat upon the topmost shelf." I asked my husband if he knew what the mats are that she was referring to. He's a decade older than I am and he knew right away! "Mats were made of rubber and children use to play on the wood floors on them. It was when houses were 'green', no wall to wall carpet and very few air conditioners."

My four year old granddaughter loves when I read simple poems to her. The foreword of this old text summarizes it best.

"Poetry is, first and foremost, something to be enjoyed. It is a special way of using words in order to create the desired effect upon the reader and to light up the world for him. The poet who has said: My heart leaps when I behold a rainbow in the sky, has only put into words the feeling of wonder and excitement which all of us have when we see a rainbow. Poetry universalizes experience. It has the power to make an event seem to be happening to us although it may have occurred many years ago to people we don't know. In this way it opens up to everyone an experience originally enjoyed by only a few. The poet sees and feels a situation in a way that enables him to express it for our better understanding and enjoyment. He helps us to understand the world better by sharpening our senses and by making us more sensitive to life around us. By his vivid imagery he appeals to us not through our heads but rather through our hearts and feelings. Our imaginations are kindled and we are privileged to store up treasure in memory. How often do we hearken back to those early memory gems of childhood years!

There your have it fellow grannies.... read poems to your grandchildren and make their world sparkle!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

good con

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