New 4th Term Poems

4th Term Poems
Due Date for Memorization: Feb 24th

These will remain easily accessed in the CURRENT POEMS tab.
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The Duel

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'T was halfpast twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went "Bowwowwow!
And the calico cat replied "Meeow!
The air was littered, an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimneyplace
Up with its hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind: I’m only telling you What the old
Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
Employing every tooth and claw
In the awfullest way you ever saw
And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
(Don't fancy I exaggerate
I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning, where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole that pair away!
But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)

-by Eugene Field



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The American’s Creed

I believe in the United States of America as a
government of the people, by the people, for
the people; whose just powers are derived from
the consent of the governed; a democracy in a
republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign
States; a perfect union, one and inseparable,
established upon those principles of freedom,
equality, justice, and humanity for which American
patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

"I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to
love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws,
to respect its flag, and to defend it against all
enemies."

-by William Tyler Page




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My Inside-Self and my Outside-Self

Are different as can be.
My Outside-Self wears gingham smocks,
And very round is she,
With freckles sprinkled on her nose,
And smoothly parted hair,
And clumsy feet that cannot dance
In heavy shoes and square.

But, oh, my little Inside-Self --
In gown of misty rose
She dances lighter than a leaf
On blithe and twinkling toes;
Her hair is blowing gold, and if
You chanced her face to see,
You would not think she could belong
To staid and sober me!

-by Rachel Field
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Nat Love: Black Cowboy

Whoever heard of a black cowboy?
You rarely see one in the movies.
You rarely see one on TV.
But I can tell you of one black cowboy.
A slave born down in Tennessee.

His name?
Nat Love.

Occupation:
Cowpuncher
Champion roper
Bronco rider

(and he’s known to have worked cattle from
the Texas border to Montana).

That Nat Love-
He was a wanderer
Who could handle a rifle
Or a Colt .45
Like no other man could.

He could shoot a runnin’ buffalo
At 200 yards.

He was fast.
He  had a good eye
He  was sharp shootin'
He  was double-quick.
              (At one Western-town contest, he earned the name
                DEADWOOD DICK).

You may never’ve heard of a black cowboy.
You may never’ve seen one in the movies.
Or on TV.
But now you’ve heard tell of one black cowboy.
Nat Love-
A slave born down in Tennessee.

-by Lee Bennett Hopkins
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The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We
have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting
place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate we can not
consecrate we can not hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little
note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never
forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought
here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that
from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that
cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died
in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-by Abraham Lincoln




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The Chatterbox

From morning till night is was Lucy’s delight
To chatter and talk without stopping:
There was no a day but she rattled away,
Like water for ever a-dropping

No matter at all if the subjects were small,
Or not worth the trouble of saying,
‘Twas equal to her, she would talking prefer
to working, or reading, or playing.

You’ll think now, perhaps, that there would have bee
gaps,
If she had not been wonderfully clever:
That her sense was so great, and so witty her pate,
It would be forthcoming or ever;

But that’s quite absurd, for have you not heard
That much tongue and few brains are connected?
That they are supposed to think least who talk most,
And their wisdom is always suspected?

While Lucy was young, had she bridled her tongue,
With a little good sense and exertion,
Who knows, but she might now have been our delight,
Instead of our jest and aversion?

-by Kate Greenaway

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The Land of Nod

From breakfast on through all the day
At home among my friends I stay,
But every night I go abroad
Afar into the land of Nod.

All by myself I have to ho,
With none to tell me what to do –
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountainsides of dreams.

The stangest things are there for me,
Both things to eat and things to see,
And many frightening sights abroad
Till morning in the land of Nod.

Try as I like to find the way,
I never can get back by day,
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear.

-by Robert Louis Stevenson



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Jonathan Bing

Poor old Jonathan Bing
Went out in his carriage to visit the King,
But everyone pointed and said, “Look at that!
Jonathan Bing has forgotten his hat!”
(He’d forgotten his hat!)

Poor old Jonathan Bing
Went home and put on a new hat for the King,
But up by the palace a soldier said, “Hi!
You can’t see the King; you’ve forgotten your
tie!”
(He’d forgotten his tie!)

Poor old Jonathan Bing,
He put on a beautiful tie for the King,
But when he arrived an Archbishop said, “Ho!
You can’t come to court in pajamas, you know!”

Poor old Jonathan Bing
Went home and addressed a short note to the
King:

If you please will excuse me
I won’t come to tea;
For home’s the best place for
All people like me!

-by Beatrice Curtis Brown