Poetry can quite easily be seen as the poor relation of the arts. Collections of poetry sell in remarkably small numbers and almost nobody earns a living from writing the stuff. And yet, if the internet is to be believed, hundreds of thousands of people seem to be writing poetry, and a lot of them are also discussing this most noble of arts in blogs and other online forums. One of the things most often discussed is the fundamental question, "what is poetry anyway?"And here's how it ends.
Other definitions of poetry have tended to avoid questions of harmony and morality entirely. For instance, William Carlos Williams wrote that a "poem is a small (or large) machine made out of words". Williams points to a distinction between prose and poetry that, by analogy, lies somewhere in the self-sustaining economy of effort and complete lack of sentimentality that characterises machines. Williams's words also, I believe, sit very comfortably with Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous dictum, "I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose - words in their best order; poetry - the best words in their best order."
This last is the definition that most pleases me. Now all we have to do is agree on what we mean by the "best words" and the "best order" and we're laughing.
In the spirit of poetry Friday, this is a worthy entry. Do click on over and read all the stuff in the middle.
A Lesson in Latin
by Lewis Carroll
Our Latin books, in motley row,
Invite us to our task-
Gay Horace, stately Cicero:
Yet there's one verb, when once we know,
No higher skill we ask:
This ranks all other lore above-
We've learned "'Amare' means 'to love'!" -
So, hour by hour, from flower to flower,
We sip the sweets of Life:
Till, all too soon, the clouds arise,
And flaming cheeks and flashing eyes
Proclaim the dawn of strife:
With half a smile and half a sigh,
"Amare! Bitter One!" we cry. -
Last night we owned, with looks forlorn,
"Too well the scholar knows
There is no rose without a thorn"-
But peace is made! We sing, this morn,
"No thorn without a rose!"
Our Latin lesson is complete:
We've learned that Love is Bitter-Sweet!
Fiona Bayrock wrote a tasty verse entitled Lasagna, But Do You Love Me?While thinking about this challenge I experimented with Latin (5 years in high school and college) and Yiddish (thanks to the very funny Yiddish with Dick and Jane and the head full of words my Jewish friends have taught me). However, I just couldn't get away from the snippets of various languages that are rattling around in my brain. Here's my verse.
just paisley gives us a meditation on a photo, in English, English and Spanish, and back to English again. Do read the three versions of Sepia and weigh in on your favorite.
The Crafty Green Poet at Over Forty Shades (of green) gives us a verse entitled Untranslateable.
cloudscome at a wrung sponge also wrote from a photo, then replaced all the nouns with words from a made up language. Now if only someone would read it aloud!
Over at Things that make me say..., daisybug gives us Sub Ubi. That's underwear for you non-Latin types.
sister AE at Having Writ gives us a song and lesson in Yiddish with her verse Oy Vey, Tateh!
Sandy at Sensual Senryu has written a senryu in macaronic verse.
The Necessary LinguistIt's not too late if you still want to play. Read the rules and then leave me a comment about your verse. I'll add it to the others here.
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
Shall I un, deux, trois or
uno, dos, tres?
I can raise my glass
and offer a toast,
with sláinte or yasas,
gan bei or prost!
Traveling abroad
I say hello,
with Merhaba, Ni hao,
Shalom and Jambo.
I can please and thank you
in languages ten,
but I must beg forgiveness
again and again.
I'm a necessary linguist,
for I speak only English,
though I hope to know more
one day.
Changes in achievement gaps are most easily summarized by examining average scale scores, which place students on a continuous ability scale based on their overall performance. Results indicate that all demographic groups gain mathematical skills and knowledge during elementary school but the rate of progress varies.
- Gender Gaps. Boys and girls started kindergarten at the same overall mathematics performance level, but by the end of fifth grade, boys had made larger mathematics gains than girls, resulting in a small but observable gender gap of four points.
- Race/Ethnicity Gaps. Gaps between white and black students and between white and Hispanic students existed when students started kindergarten and they widened over time. In mathematics, from kindergarten to fifth grade, white students posted a gain of 93 points; Hispanics, a gain of 89 points; and blacks, a gain of 80 points. By fifth grade, the gap between white and black students in average mathematics scores was 19 points, and the average score of black fifth grade students was equivalent to the average third grade score of white students.
- Mother’s Education and Family Income Gaps. Students whose mothers had higher levels of education entered kindergarten with higher average mathematics scores than their peers whose mothers attained less formal education and these gaps increased as students progressed through elementary school. By grade 5, the gaps in mathematics scores were substantial, with students whose mothers had dropped out of high school posting a lower average mathematics score than students whose mothers had graduated from college had posted at grade 3. Students living in families with incomes below the poverty threshold also entered school with lower mathematics skills than their peers from higher income families, and those discrepancies in scores grew by fifth grade.
Macaronic verse is a peculiar, rare and often comic form of poetry that sometimes borders on nonsense. It is a mixture of two (or more) languages in a poem, in which the poet usually subjects one language to the grammatical laws of another to make people laugh.You can read more at Wikipedia and learn a bit about the history of this form. You can also read something by an academic (c'mon, don't let that stop you). I was interested to note that the Carmina Burana is a fine example of this.
Thoreau’s FluteThe round up today is over at Farm School. Please stop by and check out all the great poetry being shared this week. Before you head on over, do read this week's poetry stretch results. We have some great centos created from titles of favorite books.
by Louisa May Alcott
We, sighing, said, “Our Pan is dead;
His pipe hangs mute beside the river;
Around it wistful sunbeams quiver,
But Music’s airy voice is fled.
Spring mourns as for untimely frost;
The bluebird chants a requiem;
The willow-blossom waits for him;
The Genius of the wood is lost.”
Then from the flute, untouched by hands,
There came a low, harmonious breath:
“For such as he there is no death;
His life the eternal life commands;
Above man’s aims his nature rose:
The wisdom of a just content
Made one small spot a continent,
And turned to poetry Life’s prose.
“Haunting the hills, the stream, the wild,
Swallow and aster, lake and pine,
To him grew human or divine,—
Fit mates for this large-hearted child.
Such homage Nature ne’er forgets,
And yearly on the coverlid
’Neath which her darling lieth hid
Will write his name in violets.
“To him no vain regrets belong,
Whose soul, that finer instrument,
Gave to the world no poor lament,
But wood-notes ever sweet and strong.
O lonely friend! he still will be
A potent presence, though unseen,—
Steadfast, sagacious, and serene:
Seek not for him,—he is with thee.”
cloudscome over at a wrung sponge gives us a cento inspired by the Cybils finalists. It is called Short List.It's not too late if you still want to play. Read the directions here. Then leave a comment and I'll add your cento to the list.
Laura Purdie Salas has poetry on the brain, so she used titles from poetry books. It's titled Why I'm Crazy.
Elaine at Wild Rose Reader has written two centos using titles of poetry books. The first is a lovely little haiku. The second is a poetry invitation.
Sara Lewis Holmes at Read*Write*Believe is thinking about her pile of books to be read. Her cento, An Alphabetized, Prognosticating Cento of Fortuitous Couplets, is meant to organize this pile. Good luck with that, Sara!
MotherReader also gives us a list of upcoming reads in her cento.
Susan at Wizards Wireless takes us on a walk back through 70 years of the Caldecott medal winners with her cento (story).
I was inspired by some of my favorite books to write a poem entitled Nobody's Fool.
Yes, I'm a math lover, but even if I wasn't I would think this graph was amazingly beautiful. Now, go and find out just how pretty your blog is. In the meantime, I'm going to ponder this and see if it inspires something poetic.Nobody's FoolHere are the books that make up this cento.
He waits in the secret garden while his
love is lost to the housekeeping.
He knows the name of the rose,
and all creatures great and small.
He meditates on beauty,
and walks where angels fear to tread.
He is the constant gardener,
tending the family orchard while
the sun also rises.
He lives in a brave new world,
without pride and prejudice,
by a thread of grace.
He dreams of Gilead,
the wide Sargasso Sea and
going to the lighthouse,
but dreams blow away
on the shadow of the wind.
He views the world through
an imperfect lens, and knows it's all
one big damn puzzler, but
he believes that life is a miracle and
that the Lord God made them all.
"According to the Notables Criteria, "notable" is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children's books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways."This is an exceptional list. Many of these titles were nominees for the Cybils or are currently Cybils finalists. Here are the finalists that appear on the list.
LightshipMiddle Readers
by Brian Floca
Cybils Category - Nonfiction Picture Book
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County
by Janice N. Harrington
Cybils Category - Fiction Picture Book
Vulture View
by April Pulley Sayre
Cybils Category - Nonfiction Picture Book
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity
by Mo Willems
Cybils Category - Fiction Picture Book
Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry
edited by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters
Cybils Category - Poetry
One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War IIOlder Readers
by Lita Judge
Cybils Category - Nonfiction Picture Book
Robot Dreams
by Sara Varon
Cybils Category - Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel
Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian ChildhoodThe ALA also named the Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens. There are a few Cybils books on this list as well.
by Ibtisam Barakat
Cybils Category - Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean Motion
by Loree Griffin Burns
Cybils Category - Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas
by Russell Freedman
Cybils Category - Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
Marie Curie: Giants of Science #4
by Kathleen Krull
Cybils Category - Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Cybils Category - Poetry
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
Cybils Category - Young Adult Fiction
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Peter Sís
Cybils Category - Middle Grade/YA Nonfiction
The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
Cybils Category - Teen/Young Adult Graphic Novel
In 2005, 60 percent of children ages 3–5 who were not yet in kindergarten were read to daily by a family member. This rate is higher than the rate in 1993 (53 percent), but the rate fluctuated in intervening years.The fact that 40% of children in this country were NOT read to every day is very discouraging. Jen Robinson has done a great job over at the PBS Parents Expert Q&A and on her blog collecting and sharing a range of ideas for helping kids learn to enjoy reading. (You can even download a pdf file of all these great tips!) However, none of these tips will help if parents aren't reading to kids. This is an issue of race, class and education. My question to you is, how do we reach out to folks who don't read blogs, or much of anything else, and get them to understand how incredibly important reading to children is, and what a long-term impact this practice (or lack of it) makes?
In 2005, 72 percent of children whose mothers had at least a bachelor’s degree were read to every day. In comparison, daily reading occurred for 60 percent of children whose mothers had some postsecondary education, 55 percent of children whose mothers had a high school diploma or equivalent but no further education, and 41 percent of children whose mothers had less than a high school diploma.
White, non-Hispanic and Asian, non-Hispanic children were more likely to be read to every day than either Black, non-Hispanic or Hispanic children. Sixty-eight percent of White, non-Hispanic children, 66 percent of Asian, non-Hispanic children, 50 percent of Black, non-Hispanic children, and 45 percent of Hispanic children were read to every day by a family member.
Children in families with incomes of 200 percent or more of the poverty level were more likely to be read to daily by a family member (65 percent) than were children in families with incomes below the poverty level (50 percent) or those in families with incomes 100–199 percent of the poverty level (60 percent) in 2005.
Children living with two parents were more likely to be read to every day than were children living with one parent. Sixty-two percent of children in two-parent households were read to every day in 2005, compared with 53 percent of children living with one parent.
Children in the Northeast (66 percent), Midwest (62 percent), and West (61 percent) were more likely than their peers in the South (56 percent) to have been read to daily by a family member in 2005.
The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr, written and illustrated by Nicolas DebonThis is an outstanding list, full of great biographies and interesting history, but I do have one question. WHERE IS THE SCIENCE?
Henry’s Freedom Box, written by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Houdini the Handcuff King, written by Jason Lutes and illustrated by Nick Bertozzi
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village, written by Laura Amy Schlitz and illustrated by Robert Byrd
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain , written and illustrated by Peter Sís.
Granted, these books were old even in the 1960s, but we read them because there wasn't the profusion of children's books that there is today. I lived and breathed The Three Musketeers and The Scarlet Pimpernel, as well as anything by Jules Verne - of whom there appears to have been more translations into Swedish (my childhood reading language) than into English. I devoured Scott and Stevenson, albeit mainly in abridged versions. When did children stop reading the classic adventure stories?Giles mentions some current books that now fill the adventure gap, including one of my favorite's, The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding. I bought mine as a Christmas gift to self in 2006 from Amazon UK. You still can't get it in the US, even though it was on the shortlist for last year's Costa prize. Several books follow Cat Royal as she continues her adventures.
A Song from the SudsThe round-up this week is at The Book Mine Set. Before you head over there to read all of the great poems, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!
by Louisa May Alcott
Queen of my tub, I merrily sing,
While the white foam raises high,
And sturdily wash, and rinse, and wring,
And fasten the clothes to dry;
Then out in the free fresh air they swing,
Under the sunny sky.
I wish we could wash from our hearts and our souls
The stains of the week away,
And let water and air by their magic make
Ourselves as pure as they;
Then on the earth there would be indeed
A glorious washing day!
Along the path of a useful life
Will heart's-ease ever bloom;
The busy mind has no time to think
Of sorrow, or care, or gloom;
And anxious thoughts may be swept away
As we busily wield a broom.
I am glad a task to me is given
To labor at day by day;
For it brings me health, and strength, and hope,
And I cheerfully learn to say-
"Head, you may think; heart, you may feel;
But hand, you shall work always!"
I wrote the Fib below.one
small
blossom
holding fast
to this well-worn place
sun-drenched and reaching for the sky
Sara Lewis Holmes gives us a poem entitled Flower in Tibet.
Laura Purdie Salas shares a poem entitled Just Breathe.
sister AE at Having Writ gives us Pink.
Daisybug at Things That Make Me Say ... gives us her brave attempt.
Paisley at Just Paisley has written a poem entitled desert{ed} flower.
Over at Words are My Life, the author shares a haiku.Diane Davis shares an untitled poem.
Chelle at Snowshoe Diaries has written a series of haiku.
Cath at little cool shallows hasn't written a poem in a while, but is in big time withBlaspheme. She writes, "Warning: this poem does mention Jesus, Sex, Blaspheme, and a Vagina. If this sentence was offensive, do not read on." I read it, and so should you.
Open Wide, Look InsideLet's hope this one's permanent.
http://blog.richmond.edu/openwidelookinside/
Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed and Revealed 
Dinosaur Eggs Discovered: Unscrambling the Clues!
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring
Exploratopia: More than 400 Kid-friendly Experiments and Explorations for Curious MindsWhat say you? What kind of poem will this image inspire you to write? Leave a comment about your creation and I will link the results here later this week. Feel free to reproduce the photo on your blog to accompany your poem.
Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg
Let's Go!: The Story of Getting From There to Here
Lightship
Living Color
One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II
Vulture View
Where in the Wild?: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed ... and Revealedsister AE at Having Writ shares a sonnet she wrote for her Dad entitled I'm an Artist. Since she was thinking in couplets, she also wrote a poem called Dear Editor.It's never too late if you want to stretch with us. Create your own poem and drop me a line. Then I'll add your work to the list.
Laura Purdie Salas turned her couplets into The Pencil's Plight.
Tiel Aisha Ansari of Knocking From Inside shares a story poem (read the news article first!) called The Fish's Tale.
How Much?I'm also quite fond of Sandburg's Arithmetic. It begins this way.
How much do you love me, a million bushels?
Oh, a lot more than that, Oh, a lot more.
And to-morrow maybe only half a bushel?
To-morrow maybe not even a half a bushel.
And is this your heart arithmetic?
This is the way the wind measures the weather.
Child MargaretThe child Margaret begins to write numbers on a Saturday morn-
ing, the first numbers formed under her wishing child fin-
gers.
All the numbers come well-born, shaped in figures assertive for a
frieze in a child’s room.
Both 1 and 7 are straightforward, military, filled with lunge and
attack, erect in shoulder-straps.
The 6 and 9 salute as dancing sisters, elder and younger, and 2 is
a trapeze actor swinging to handclaps.
All the numbers are well-born, only 3 has a hump on its back and
8 is knock-kneed.
The child Margaret kisses all once and gives two kisses to 3 and
8.
(Each number is a bran-new rag doll … O in the wishing fingers
… millions of rag dolls, millions and millions of new rag
dolls!!)
Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.Alkelda the Gleeful highlighted this poem quite a while ago. You should read it in its entirety. (Sadly, the video link is no longer working.)
Arithmetic tell you how many you lose or win if you know how many you had before you lost or won.
Arithmetic is seven eleven all good children go to heaven -- or five six bundle of sticks.
Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer.
