General Chat

My sister remembers the first piece of poetry that I learnt at school because she says I drove her mad reciting it over and over:- I wonder I wonder I wonder who knows Who lives in the heart of that velvety rose Is it a goblin? Or is it an elf? Or is it the queen of the fairies herself? Norah in Hampshire - and I'm still wondering!!! lol

Hi Norah I remember when I was at junior school the headmaster wanted us to recite something by Hilair Bellock (spelling!) - can't remember which one - instead of doing a play for the xmas concert. We all hated it and refused to do it which resulted in the headmaster throwing a major wobbly just like a big kid. lol. I think we ended up doing a play about Hans Christian Anderson instead. Both of my girls have always enjoyed the Flower Fairy poems by Cicely Mary Barker. Jeanette

Always remember a poem by Spike Milligan, I taught myself when I was 8 : Mary Pugh was only two, when she went out of doors. She went out on both feet, she did, but came back on all fours. The moral of this story is (please meditate & pause), never send a baby out, with loosely-waisted draws! Have just 'passed on' this poem to my six year old daughter, who has also learnt it off by heart!! Easier to remember funny ones! Steph ;-)

If you could hear at every jolt The blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory The old lie - Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

Just adding the English interpretation for that last line. 'It is sweet and glorious to die for ones country'

Johny finding life a bore Drank some H²SO4 Johny's father quick to see Gave Johny CaCO³ Now he's neutralised its true But he's full of CO² To help us memorise H²SO4 (sulphuric acid)+ CaCO³ (calcium carbonate) equals H²0 (water) + CO² (carbon dioxide) Len

I think you'd get calcium sulphate rather than water.

Cannot hear the name 'Keats' without shuddering I'm afraid!! Maz. XX

The Vulture by Hilaire Belloc The vulture eats between his meals And that's the reason why He very, very rarely feels As well as you or I. His eye is dull, his head is bald, His neck is growing thinner. Oh! what a lesson for us all To only eat at dinner. I wish i'd taken that poem to heart, then maybe I wouldn't have to diet all the time LOL.

Couldn't resist doing another favourite. Folks byTed Hughes I've heard so much about other folks' folks, How somebody's Uncle told such jokes The cat split laughing and had to be stitched, How somebodys Aunt got so bewitched She fried the kettle and washed the water And spanked a letter and posted her daughter. Other folks' flolks get so well known, And nobody knows about my own.

the only bit of poetry i remember doing at school was called "the jaberwocky"(spelling) but i cant remember a single word of it!!! susie

I was six years old and very proudly recited the following poem to my parents: Stop! "said the red light". Go! " said the green". Becareful! "said the yellow one" winking in between. That's what they say and that's what they mean. We must all obey them. Even The Queen. Lindy:-))

I wish I was a little frog To slither through the grass. I'd like to climb up all the trees And come down on my..... hands and knees.

Hi Norah, Do you know that I cannot remember a single poem learned at school. Or do I remember something about 'The Highwayman'? Molly from Nottingham

I remember the Ted Hughes Folks too. Taught by Mrs Slack, first year at junior school. She also taught us this one but I don't recall who wrote it. Snail upon the wall Have you got at all Anything to tell About your shell? Only this my child That when the wind is wild Or when the sun is hot It's all I've got.

I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills When all at once I saw a crowd A host of golden daffodils. Beside the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Can only remember parts of the other verses, but it always conjures up Springtime to me picturing all the yellow daffodils waving in the breeze! Sue

Just remembered part of another poem learnt in Junior school. Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack Butting through the channel in the mad March days. With a cargo of Tyne coal, Road rail, pig lead, Firewood, ironware And cheap tin trays. Cargoes by John Masefield. Very onomatopoeic! Sue

Hi Sue, One of my all time favorites: I wandered lonely as a cloud. That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine. And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of the bay; Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company; I gazed ....and gazed...but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dance with the daffodils. by William Wordsworth P.S. For Molly Lindy:-)

I remember songs we learned off by heart in the French lesson. Hope they count as poems: Au claire de la lune Mon ami Pierrot "Pretez moi ta plume Pour ecris un mot." "Ma chandelle est morte Je ne plus de feu. Ouvrez moi ta porte Pour l'amour de Deu." My French is terrible and probably wrongly spelled. Kathy

Hi Lindy in the Algarve, Thank you for quoting the first verse of 'The Daffodils'. It was my late mother's favourite poem which she learned at school and could still recite it at the age of 89. I know the first verse but cannot remember any more. Can you remember the rest of the poem please? Molly from Nottingham