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From: Richard Quiring <richard_quiring>
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 13:06:46 -0700
Poetry was always been a special part of my family background. My grandfather, although a farmer all of his working life, was a Tabor College, Kansas, educated man. He had a deep love for poetry and passed it on to my mother, who in turn passed it on to her children. I remember visiting with Grandpa a few years before his death. There were a number of relatives who came to the nursing home that particular afternoon. He turned his blind eyes to my and asked, ?Richard, in your school library do you have any good poetry books?? I assured him I did. Then he responded, ?No, I mean the really good ones, like Tennyson and Wordsworth.?
Without waiting for a response, he began reciting ?The Charge of the Light Brigade.? Not within a few lines, my mother joined him in the recital, then his brother joined in and before the poem was half done other elderly people also added their voices. It was grand impromptu choral speaking of elderly people (many in their late 80s) together finishing the poem with such expression it brought a lump to my throat. They didn?t stop there. They continued for an hour of marathon reciting, recalling the great poets of the past. Poems they had learned as young people in their schools. These poems stayed with them for more than 70 years and had become part of their life.
My own poetry memorization was also part of my education. Of course, we had to all memorize Hamlet?s soliloquy in high school, but there were poems I?d memorized as a primary student almost 50 years ago and they are still with me today. Walter de la Mare is still one of my favorite poets. My grandchildren now are asking me to recite to them. The oral tradition of poetry is a gift that ought not to be lost.
Richard Quiring, Teacher-Librarian Greendale Elementary School 46361 Yale Road Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P9 Phone: (604) 823g38 Fax: (604) 823E82 Email: richard_quiring at hotmail.com
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Received on Sat 26 Apr 2003 03:06:46 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 13:06:46 -0700
Poetry was always been a special part of my family background. My grandfather, although a farmer all of his working life, was a Tabor College, Kansas, educated man. He had a deep love for poetry and passed it on to my mother, who in turn passed it on to her children. I remember visiting with Grandpa a few years before his death. There were a number of relatives who came to the nursing home that particular afternoon. He turned his blind eyes to my and asked, ?Richard, in your school library do you have any good poetry books?? I assured him I did. Then he responded, ?No, I mean the really good ones, like Tennyson and Wordsworth.?
Without waiting for a response, he began reciting ?The Charge of the Light Brigade.? Not within a few lines, my mother joined him in the recital, then his brother joined in and before the poem was half done other elderly people also added their voices. It was grand impromptu choral speaking of elderly people (many in their late 80s) together finishing the poem with such expression it brought a lump to my throat. They didn?t stop there. They continued for an hour of marathon reciting, recalling the great poets of the past. Poems they had learned as young people in their schools. These poems stayed with them for more than 70 years and had become part of their life.
My own poetry memorization was also part of my education. Of course, we had to all memorize Hamlet?s soliloquy in high school, but there were poems I?d memorized as a primary student almost 50 years ago and they are still with me today. Walter de la Mare is still one of my favorite poets. My grandchildren now are asking me to recite to them. The oral tradition of poetry is a gift that ought not to be lost.
Richard Quiring, Teacher-Librarian Greendale Elementary School 46361 Yale Road Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P9 Phone: (604) 823g38 Fax: (604) 823E82 Email: richard_quiring at hotmail.com
========================================================
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Received on Sat 26 Apr 2003 03:06:46 PM CDT
