It's All in the Rhyme!

[image error]So my daughter's AP English Lit class is getting ready to start on a unit in poetry.  An avid, reader, she's never been much of a poetry person, except that we both share a love of T.S. Elliot's The Hollow Men.   Anyway, it got me to thinking, and I remember once a long time ago, that I was in fact a fan of poetry.  But somewhere along the way that got lost.   And I don't find myself as moved as I once was.   

I even used to write poetry, some of it within the constrictions of certain form, some of it basic Seussian rhyming, but most of it very bad free verse angst, written when my adolescent life had gone to hell.  (Or at least I perceived that it had).   I even tried song writing once.  Again the angst would have put an old style country western singer to shame. 

When I think about the poetry I loved, the poets that spring to mind are Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne, Carl Sandberg, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Elliot,  e.e. cummings, Shel Silverstein (from my daughter's childhood), and the aforementioned Dr. Seuss.  There are also words that come unbidden—sometimes without context or author.  Things that meant something in the moment, and stuck somewhere in this old, overly filled memory of mine.  

A lot of them surprisingly are from Shakespeare and not so surprisingly from Seuss  It's interesting what the mind chooses to preserve.  And I will say that I usually am misquoting.  Not quite remembering the words as they were truly written.    So anyway in celebration of all things poetic—here are two of my (shorter) favorites. 

Tweedledum and Tweedledee[image error]

   Agreed to have a battle!

For Tweedledum said Tweedledee

   Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,

   As black as a tar-barrel!

Which frightened both the heroes so,

   They quite forgot their quarrel.'

 Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)

 Yesterday upon the stair

I met a man who wasn't there

He wasn't there again today

Oh, how I wish he'd go away

Antigonish  (William Hughes Mearns)

How do you feel about poetry?  What are some of your favorites?