Non-yawn poetry

Life just gets busy sometimes-- so busy that I had forgotten how lovely a poem could be.

One of my favorite writers is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow... The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Village Blacksmith, Paul Revere's Ride, Hiawatha... I first enjoyed all of these when I was in 5th grade.

I found this new-to-me poem by Longfellow and thought I'd share. It totally makes me think of my boys and how fleeting their childhood really is!

THE CASTLE-BUILDER
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A gentle boy, with soft and silken locks,
A dreamy boy, with brown and tender eyes,
A castle-builder, with his wooden blocks,
And towers that touch imaginary skies.

A fearless rider on his father's knee,
An eager listener unto stories told
At the Round Table of the nursery,
Of heroes and adventures manifold.

There will be other towers for thee to build;
There will be other steeds for thee to ride;
There will be other legends, and all filled
With greater marvels and more glorified.

Build on, and make thy castles high and fair,
Rising and reaching upward to the skies;
Listening to voices in the upper air,
Nor lose thy simple faith in mysteries.

(A slightly younger Christian building his own castle while imagining that these soup cans are blocks.)

Do y'all have any favorite poems from childhood?
I would love to introduce my boys to more poetry, especially the kind that would enthrall and capture their imagination.

While not exactly enthralling, I still have poems by Shel Silverstein running through my head. You might remember him from A Light in the Attic, The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

"Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too went for a ride in a flying shoe..." or "Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out..." :-)

He just made poetry fun for every kid. That's what I want it to be for my boys-- fun, interesting, memorable with a dash of silly sometimes