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Archive for the ‘Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors’ Category

The Brook by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I come from haunts of coot’ and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip’s farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel.

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

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Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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Christmas Greetings by Lewis Carroll

Lady dear, if Fairies may

For a moment lay aside

Cunning tricks and elfish play,

‘Tis at happy Christmas-tide.

We have heard the children say –

Gentle children, whom we love –

Long ago, on Christmas Day,

Came a message from above.

Still, as Christmastide comes round,

They remember it again –

Echo still the joyful sound

‘Peace on earth, goodwill to men!’

Yet the hearts must childlike be

Where such heavenly guests abide:

Unto children, in their glee,

All the year is Christmas-tide!

Thus, forgetting tricks and play

For a moment, Lady dear,

We would wish you, if we may,

Merry Christmas, glad New Year!

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Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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The Circus by Fannie Stearns Davis


“The Circus comes this week!
And there might be a skating bear,
And white Arabian horses there.
And popcorn, and balloons,
Gold, purple, scarlet moons, –
And great wise elephants,
And dogs that count and dance,
And cowboys! We shall see!”

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Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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Fannie Stearns Davis

Fannie Stearns Davis was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 6, 1884.

She graduated from Smith College in 1904. She is credited with having two books of poetry published: Myself and I, 1913, and Crack O’ Dawn, 1915. Her poetry is marked by sensitive poetic feeling and delicate artistry. Davis taught English at Kemper Hall in Kenoshay, Wisconsin from 1906-07. She earned the distinction of being listed in the 1914 Who’s Who.

She married Augustus McKinstrey Gifford, and lived in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

It appears that she is similar to Emily Dickerson in one way. Neither of the two liked to socialize. No one knows much about her except for maybe some very close family members.

Poems:

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Author Bios, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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The Life and Works of Jemima Thompson Luke

Luke, Jemima Thompson, the wife of Rev. Samuel Luke, an Independent minister of England, was the daughter of Thomas Thompson. She was born August 19, 1813, at Colebrooke Terrace, Islington. When only thirteen years of age she began writing for the Juvenile Magazine. She published a volume titled The Female Jesuit in 1851 and A Memoir of Eliza Ann Harris, of Clifton, in 1859, but her name is known to the Christian world almost wholly through the one hymn found in this volume, I think when I read that sweet story of old. She was married to the late Samuel Luke, a Congregational Minister, in 1843. Mrs. Luke died February 2, 1906.


Poems:

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Author Bios, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors, Uncategorized

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I Think When I read that Sweet Story of Old

I THINK WHEN I READ THAT SWEET STORY OF OLD

By Jemima Luke

I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How He called little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

I should like to have been with them then,
I should like to have been with them then;
How He called little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,
That His arm had been thrown around me,
And that I might have seen His kind look when He said,
“Let the little ones come unto me.”


“Let the little ones come unto Me,
Let the little ones come unto Me;”
And that I might have seen His kind look when He said,
“Let the little ones come unto Me.”

Yet still to His footstool in prayer I may go,
And ask for a share in His love;
And if I now earnestly seek Him below,
I shall see Him and hear Him above.

I shall see Him and hear Him above,
I shall see Him and hear Him above;
And if I now earnestly seek Him below,
I shall see Him and hear Him above.

In that beautiful place He has gone to prepare,
For all who are washed and forgiven;
And many dear children are gathering there,
For “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

For “Of such is the kingdom of heaven,”
For “Of such is the kingdom of heaven;”
And many dear children are gathering there,
For “Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Notes: This poem was written to be a song. It is recorded that this hymn was composed in a stagecoach in 1841, and was designed for use in the village school, near her father’s seat, Poundsford Park. It was published anonymously in the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, No. 874, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and has since come into use through children’s hymnbooks in most English-speaking countries.

Here is a video of some people singing the song. you may need to turn up the volume a little.

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bible, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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The Lamb by William Blake


Little Lamb who made thee 

  Dost, thou know who made thee 

Gave thee life and bid thee feed. 

By the stream and o’er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing wooly bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice! 

         Little Lamb who made thee 

         Dost thou know who made thee 

         Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,

         Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb: 

He is meek and he is mild, 

He became a little child: 

I a child and thou a lamb, 

We are called by his name.

         Little Lamb God bless thee. 

         Little Lamb God bless thee.

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bible, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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Snowflakes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Snowflakes

Out of the bosom of the Air,

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take

Suddenly shape in some divine expression,

Even as the troubled heart doth make

In the white countenance confession,

The troubled sky reveals

The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,

Slowly in silent syllables recorded;

This is the secret of despair,

Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,

Now whispered and revealed

To wood and field.

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Author Bios, Education, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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Exploring the Life of Charles Sangster: A Canadian Poet’s Journey

SANGSTER, CHARLES, poet, civil servant, and journalist; b. 16 July 1822 near Kingston, Upper Canada, son of James Sangster and Ann Ross; m. first 16 Sept. 1856 Mary Kilborn (d. 1858) in Kingston; m. secondly 30 Oct. 1860 Henrietta Charlotte Meagher at Niagara Falls, and they had three daughters and one son; d. 9 Dec. 1893 in Kingston.

Quiet and introspective by nature, Charles Sangster sought harmony in his connections with others and spiritual fulfillment through God’s will. Yet his life was marked by a string of misfortunes that, after the mid-1860s, brought anxiety, uneven literary output, and ultimately a nervous breakdown. Recognizing these contradictions and their influence on his work inspires respect for an artist wholly devoted to poetry. His talent stood out in colonial Canadian literature, earning praise from readers and critics of his era.

Sangster’s life played out mostly within the stretch from Kingston to Ottawa, with trips to visit family and friends taking him as far as Montreal, Niagara Falls, and Buffalo, N.Y. Ironically, his imagination traveled far beyond these borders, carrying him across the globe. Gentle and reserved on the outside, his poetry revealed deep emotions and personal struggles. In a note to his friend and literary executor William Douw Lighthall, he called himself “a self-made and pretty much a self-taught man,” yet his work showed a wide-ranging knowledge of geography, history, literature, science, and the events of his time.

Poems:

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Author Bios, Education, Poetry, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors

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James Weldon Johnson: Activist and Literary Pioneer

James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938) was an important American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to Grace Nail Johnson, who was also a civil rights activist.

James Weldon Johnson, born in Jacksonville, Florida, attended Atlanta University before taking on roles as a schoolteacher, lawyer, journalist, civil rights advocate, and U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Later, he taught at Fisk University. With his brother, composer Rosamond Johnson, he co-wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became known as the Black National Anthem. His poetry collections include *Fifty Years and Other Poems* (1917), *Saint Peter Relates an Incident* (1934), *Selected Poems* (1936), *The Creation* (1994), *Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing* (songs, 1995), and *Complete Poems* (2000). He received honors such as the Spingarn Medal and the W.E.B. Du Bois Prize for Negro Literature. Johnson died in a car accident while vacationing in Maine.

Poems:

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Author Bios, Black History, Education, February, Poetry, Seasonal, Top Poems for Children by Famous Authors, winter

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