A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Poem

The Land Of Story-books

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Today my son and I enjoyed this poem.
After I finished reading it I said to my lad “boy this poem makes me think of you.”
He laughed and said “I know mom.   And it makes me think of you too!”.

I laughed too.

It’s good to laugh with a boy over good poetry isn’t it?

I could have gone into the form and structure of the poem, but for today.. it was just good to laugh with a boy child.  🙂

The Land of Story-books
by Robert Louis Stevenson
 At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter’s camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like to an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.

So when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story-books.

Tonight’s Poem: A was an Apple Pie

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Out of the mother goose nursery rhymes book we read a poem called
a was an apple pie.
I wanted to know more about it so I did some googling and found out that the original name to the poem was read is this: the
tragical death of A, apple pye who was cut in pieces and eat by
twenty-five gentlemen with whom all little people ought to be very well
acquainted with.

A was an apple pie
B bit it
C cut it
D dealt it
E eats it
F fought for it
G got it
H had it
I inspected it
J jumped for it
K kept it
L longed for it
M mourned for it
N nodded at it
O opened it
P peeped in it
Q quartered it
R ran for it
S stole it
T took it
U upset it
V viewed it
W wanted it
X, Y and Z (and amperse-sand) all wished for and had a piece in hand.

NOTE: the italics were added in the version that I read, but were not in the version found on-line.

Wikipedia gives more detail on this poem.
I just want to say how much the lad enjoyed listening to his poem and his reaction was just priceless.
I stopped reading.
He turned and extremely excitedly said… Mommy… that was a pie and all the letters ate it and put it into pieces and just like their names are!!!!!  Mommy!!!   Read it again!!!!

He loved it.
I will probably read it again, and possibly if he’s up for it, get him to memorize it.  🙂   Time will tell.  🙂

Poem – I Think Mice are Rather Nice

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MICE

I think mice are rather nice;
Their tails are long, their faces small;
They haven’t any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house at night;
They nibble things they shouldn’t touch,
and, no one seems to like them much,
but, I think mice are rather nice.

Rose Fyleman

I learned this poem as a child and it has stuck with me ever since.
Want to have it here in case I ever forgot it. 🙂

Have had a reader comment that the proper wording of this poem should be as follows. Note the absence of the word rather in the last line:

MICE
I think mice are rather nice;
Their tails are long, their faces small;
They haven’t any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house at night;
They nibble things they shouldn’t touch,
and no one seems to like them much,
but I think mice are nice!
-Rose Fyleman

I learned the poem as I wrote it above, but I’m fine either way. 🙂