My Poetry Anthology

by Shataya Woods

Table of Contents
Introduction... Page 3
Poems.... Page 5
Bibliography.. Page 10

Introduction:
All of the poems that I have chosen express an opinion on life itself and they all depict
the idea of admiring life itself, and what the world has to offer. And, even if it is not the most
optimistic piece of life, it is still life and should be valued. For example, in the poem titled THE
LAND OF HAPPY, it is saying that if we were always happy, then we would live in a boring
world. And while one would love to believe that this world is always happy, the truth is that it is
not and we should embrace that. To continue, I included poems that look at the beauty and
appreciate each day, ones self, the universe, dreams, the seasons and different aspects of life.
When looking at good poems for children, I think it is important that the poems have a
message, have a rhyme scheme or some type of rhythm/flow, and use some type of metaphor or
personification. At a young age, it is important for children to start learning about life and it is
critical that they began to mold their view of it. It is easier for them to learn about life in a fun
way, like with poetry. And when the poems rhyme or have a rhythm, while using metaphorical
language, it is more enjoyable and easier for them to make connections. With the poems that I
chose, the message is basically that this our only life, enjoy it and enjoy the beauty of it. While
that is the message that they send, they also either rhyme or have some type of rhythm. Also,
good poems for children should be about something that they know about (i.e. the beach, stars,
summer). They should also be soft and optimistic. It is crucial that the child knows what the
poem is talking about, or can relate to something in the poem. Also, the poem should not be too
harsh or negative, unless that is the view that one wants the child to have on life.
The poem Dreams by Langston Hughes is an excellent poem. While it is short, it still has
an amazing message and has a rhythm. The message is that we should hold onto our dreams

because they do not stay for long, and one can think deeper and think to hold onto life because at
any minute that can be gone, too. Not only does it rhyme and have beautiful message, but it is
also easy for children to connect with the poem. Most children have experienced dreaming, and
by using metaphors, he talks about a dream being a broken-winged bird. It is safe to assume that
most children would think that having a broken wing is not a good thing, like letting your dreams
die.

Every Day
My hundred-year-old next-door neighbor told me:
everyday is a good day if you have it.
I had to think about that a minute.
She said, Every day is a present
someone left at your birthday place at the table.
Trust me! It may not feel like that
but its true. When youre my age
youll know. Twelve is a treasure.
And its up to you
to unwrap the package gently,
lift out the leaming hours
wrapped in tissue,
don't miss the bottom of the box.
By Naomi Shihab Nye in A Maze Me: Poems for Girls

THE LAND OF HAPPY

Have you been to The Land of Happy,
Where everyones happy all day,
Where they joke and they sing
Of the happiest things,
And everythings jolly and gay?
Theres no one unhappy in Happy,
Theres laughter and smile galore.
I have been to The Land of Happy-What a bore!
By Shel Silverstein in Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems & Drawings of Shel
Silverstein
Trip: San Francisco
I went to San Francisco.
I saw the bridges high
Spun across the water
Like cobwebs in the sky.
By Langston Hughes in Sail Away

The following poems are from The Random House Book of Poetry for Children:
Dreams
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
By Langston Hughes

Happy Thought
The world is so full of a number of things,
Im sure we should all be as happy as kings.
By Robert Louis Stevenson

Together
Because we do
All things together
All things improve,
Even weather.
Our daily meat
And bread taste better
Trees are greener,
Rain is wetter.

Some People
Isnt it strange some people make
You feel so tired inside,
Your thoughts begin to shrivel up
Like leaves all brown and dried!
But when youre with some other ones,
Its stranger still to find
Your thoughts as thick as fireflies
All shiny in your mind!
By Rachel Field

By Paul Engle

Joyful
A summer day is full of ease,
a bank is full of money,
our lilac bush is full of bees,
and I am full of honey.
By Rose Burgunder

Just Me
Nobody sees what I can see,
For back of my eyes there is only me.
And nobody knows how my thoughts begin,
For there's only myself inside my skin.
Isn't it strange how everyone owns,
Just enough skin to cover his bones?
My father's would be too big to fit -I'd be all wrinkled inside of it.

And my baby brother's is much too small -It just wouldn't cover me up at all.
But I feel just right in the skin I wear,
And there's nobody like me anywhere.
by Margaret Hillert

I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
By Oliver Herford
Smells
Through all the frozen winter
My nose has grown most lonely
For lovely, lovely, colored smells
That come in springtime only.
The purple smell of lilacs,
The yellow smell that blows
Across the air of meadows
Where bright forsythia grows.
The tall pink smell of peach trees,
The low white smell of clover,
And everywhere the great green smell
Of grass the whole world over.
By Kathryn Worth
The Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
7

As your bright and tiny spark

Lights the traveler in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
By Jane Taylor

Until I Saw the Sea

Until I saw the sea
I did not know
that wind
could wrinkle water so.
I never knew
that sun
could splinter a whole sea of blue.
Nor
did I know before,
a sea breathes in and out
upon a shore.
by Lilian Moore

The Universe
There is the moon, there is the sun
Round which we circle every year,
And there are all the stars we see
On starry nights when skies are clear,
And all the countless stars that lie
Beyond the reach of human eye.
If every bud on every tree,
All birds and fireflies and bees
And all the flowers that bloom and die
Upon the earth were counted up,
The number of the start would be
Greater, they say, than all of these.
By Mary Britton Miller
Auguries of Innocence
To see a World in a grain of sand,

And a Heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
By William Blake

Beyond Winter
Over the winter glaciers
I see the summer glow,
And through the wild-piled snowdrift
The warm rosebuds below.
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Far Trek
Some things will never change although
We tour out to the stars;
Arriving on the moon well find
Our luggage sent to Mars!
By June Brady

February Twilight
I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.
There was no other creature
That saw what I could see-I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.
By Sara Teasdale

Bibliography
Hughes, Langston, and Ashley Bryan. Sail Away: Poems. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Nye, Naomi Shihab., and Terre Maher. A Maze Me: Poems for Girls. New York:
Greenwillow, 2005. Print.
Prelutsky, Jack, and Arnold Lobel. The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. New
York, NY: Random House, 1983. Print.
Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems & Drawings of Shel Silverstein.
New York: Harper and Row, 1974. Print.

10