Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Vintage Books (Random House)
Pages
346
Description
Handbook on how to teach children to read great poetry as a meaningful experience in their lives.
Description
A classic that revolutionized the way children are taught to read and write poetry. The celebrated poet Kenneth Koch conveys the imaginative splendor of great poetry—by Blake, Donne, Stevens, Lorca, and others—and then shows how it maybe taught so as to help children write poetry of their own. For this edition, the author has written a new introduction and a special afterword for teachers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Teaching Great Poetry to Children
Introduction #2 (1990)
*TEN LESSONS*
Chapter One.
WILLIAM BLAKE The Tyger
Chapter Two.
ROBERT HERRICK The Argument of His Book
Chapter Three.
JOHN DONNE A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Chapter Four.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Songs
Chapter Five.
WALT WHITMAN from Song of Myself sections 1 and 2
Chapter Six.
WALLACE STEVENS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
Chapter Seven.
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS This Is Just to Say; The Locust Tree in Flower; Between Walls
Chapter Eight.
FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA Romance Sonambulo; Arbole, Arbole
Chapter Nine.
JOHN ASHBERY Into the Dusk-Charged Air
Chapter Ten.
ARTHUR RIMBAUD Voyelles
*ANTHOLOGY*
Introduction to the Anthology
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Cuckoo Song
The Irish Dancer
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Sonetto / Sonnet
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
The Demon Lover
Lord Randal
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
Sonnet
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Over Hill, over Dale
Under the Greenwood Tree
Aubade
Orpheus with His Lute
Sonnet
ROBERT HERRICK
Delight in Disorder
How Violets Came Blew
How Roses Came Red
How Marigolds Came Yellow
GEORGE HERBERT
Heaven
THOMAS CAREW
A Song
WILLIAM BLAKE
The Lamb
The Sick Rose
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Kubla Khan
GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
Ode to the West Wind
JOHN KEATS
Ode on a Grecian Urn
ROBERT BROWNING
Home Thoughts, from Abroad
WALT WHITMAN
from Song of Myself section 15
from Song of Myself section 26
EMILY DICKINSON
I Never Saw a Moor
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
God’s Grandeur
ARTHUR RIMBAUD
Fleurs / Flowers
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Who Goes with Fergus?
GUILLAUME APOLLI NAIRE
Coeur Couronne et Miroir / Heart Crown and Mirror
D. H. LAWRENCE
The White Horse
Trees in the Garden
Humming-Bird
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Der Knabe / The Boy
Aus einer Kindheit / From a Childhood
WALLACE STEVENS
Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock
Bantams in Pine-Woods
MARIANNE MOORE
The Wood-Weasel
LÉOPOLD SÉDAR SENGHOR
Je veux dire ton nom / I Want to Say Your Name
ELIZABETH BISHOP
Cirque d’Hiver
GABRIEL OKARA
Piano and Drums
FRANK O’HARA
Les Étiquettes Jaunes
A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island
JOHN ASHBERY
The Painter
Four Chinese Poems
CH’U YUAN
In Praise of the Orange Tree
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Oath of Friendship
PO CHU-I
Eating Bamboo Shoots
HAN-SHAN
Cold Mountain Poems
Five Japanese Poems
SHIKI
What a wonderful day!
ISSA
Wild goose
RYOTA
No one spoke
BASHO
The old pond
With what voice
Two African Tribal Poems
The Magnificent Bull
Song for the Sun That Disappeared behind the Rainclouds
Three American Indian Poems
Dawn Song
Love-Charm Song
The War God’s Horse Song
SOME POEMS FROM SWAZILAND
Afterword (Mainly for Teachers)
Bibliographical Note
Author and Title Index of Adult Poems
Subject Index of Adult Poems
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Teaching Great Poetry to Children
Introduction #2 (1990)
*TEN LESSONS*
Chapter One.
WILLIAM BLAKE The Tyger
Chapter Two.
ROBERT HERRICK The Argument of His Book
Chapter Three.
JOHN DONNE A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Chapter Four.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Songs
Chapter Five.
WALT WHITMAN from Song of Myself sections 1 and 2
Chapter Six.
WALLACE STEVENS Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
Chapter Seven.
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS This Is Just to Say; The Locust Tree in Flower; Between Walls
Chapter Eight.
FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA Romance Sonambulo; Arbole, Arbole
Chapter Nine.
JOHN ASHBERY Into the Dusk-Charged Air
Chapter Ten.
ARTHUR RIMBAUD Voyelles
*ANTHOLOGY*
Introduction to the Anthology
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Cuckoo Song
The Irish Dancer
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Sonetto / Sonnet
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
The Demon Lover
Lord Randal
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
Sonnet
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Over Hill, over Dale
Under the Greenwood Tree
Aubade
Orpheus with His Lute
Sonnet
ROBERT HERRICK
Delight in Disorder
How Violets Came Blew
How Roses Came Red
How Marigolds Came Yellow
GEORGE HERBERT
Heaven
THOMAS CAREW
A Song
WILLIAM BLAKE
The Lamb
The Sick Rose
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Kubla Khan
GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
Ode to the West Wind
JOHN KEATS
Ode on a Grecian Urn
ROBERT BROWNING
Home Thoughts, from Abroad
WALT WHITMAN
from Song of Myself section 15
from Song of Myself section 26
EMILY DICKINSON
I Never Saw a Moor
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
God’s Grandeur
ARTHUR RIMBAUD
Fleurs / Flowers
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
Who Goes with Fergus?
GUILLAUME APOLLI NAIRE
Coeur Couronne et Miroir / Heart Crown and Mirror
D. H. LAWRENCE
The White Horse
Trees in the Garden
Humming-Bird
RAINER MARIA RILKE
Der Knabe / The Boy
Aus einer Kindheit / From a Childhood
WALLACE STEVENS
Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock
Bantams in Pine-Woods
MARIANNE MOORE
The Wood-Weasel
LÉOPOLD SÉDAR SENGHOR
Je veux dire ton nom / I Want to Say Your Name
ELIZABETH BISHOP
Cirque d’Hiver
GABRIEL OKARA
Piano and Drums
FRANK O’HARA
Les Étiquettes Jaunes
A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island
JOHN ASHBERY
The Painter
Four Chinese Poems
CH’U YUAN
In Praise of the Orange Tree
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Oath of Friendship
PO CHU-I
Eating Bamboo Shoots
HAN-SHAN
Cold Mountain Poems
Five Japanese Poems
SHIKI
What a wonderful day!
ISSA
Wild goose
RYOTA
No one spoke
BASHO
The old pond
With what voice
Two African Tribal Poems
The Magnificent Bull
Song for the Sun That Disappeared behind the Rainclouds
Three American Indian Poems
Dawn Song
Love-Charm Song
The War God’s Horse Song
SOME POEMS FROM SWAZILAND
Afterword (Mainly for Teachers)
Bibliographical Note
Author and Title Index of Adult Poems
Subject Index of Adult Poems
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
346 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0679724710 / 9780679724711
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
So, would a teacher accomplish the title goal of this book if guided by Koch's strategy? Hm. I guess it depends on exactly how the goal is defined. If it means helping children and teens see that grown-up poetry (as opposed to the kind of pap from Prelutsky that is most often shared in schools) is
If the goal is to get children to think creatively, and to write expressively, well, again, an inspired and inspiring teacher will have some success. The goal was probably not to help a housewife of a certain age better appreciate certain poems, but that is what it succeeded at best, imo. If you're looking for similar help, this is a pretty good book. Lots of poems and suggested writing ideas - 10 full lessons with kids' works and an anthology of more poems with brief lesson ideas.
Meanwhile, here are some bookdart marked passages -
Inspired by Blake, a 6th-grade student, Jeannie Turner, wrote:
Oh Daffodil, I hope you never die but last forever.
Oh Daffodil, live until the sun turns read and the moon turns black."
Two of Federico Garcia Lorco's poems prompted Andrew Vecchione to write:
*The World Under Green Mist*
Under the moon's green mist lie dreams of beauty and wonder
There are beds of fur from a fox
The warmth of the fireplace glows sparks of wonder
With the peaceful dark of the night lie fire bugs flickering their lights
Oh under this world with green mist lie the dreams of every person
Hidden from them until they die.
and Sedley Alpaugh to write:
*As I Sailed*
The sea was amarillo
With waves of rojo
The sun azul
And the sky gris
This was all this
As I sailed
In my verde boat.
Btw, my edition is the one from 1974, and it has a slightly different cover."
Show More
accessible and interesting, and if the teacher is passionate about the subject himself, sure. It is not a guide that can be used to work miracles, though. And in fact many time Koch himself focuses on less important aspects of the poem because they're the aspects most relevant to the students. If the goal is to get children to think creatively, and to write expressively, well, again, an inspired and inspiring teacher will have some success. The goal was probably not to help a housewife of a certain age better appreciate certain poems, but that is what it succeeded at best, imo. If you're looking for similar help, this is a pretty good book. Lots of poems and suggested writing ideas - 10 full lessons with kids' works and an anthology of more poems with brief lesson ideas.
Meanwhile, here are some bookdart marked passages -
Inspired by Blake, a 6th-grade student, Jeannie Turner, wrote:
Oh Daffodil, I hope you never die but last forever.
Oh Daffodil, live until the sun turns read and the moon turns black."
Two of Federico Garcia Lorco's poems prompted Andrew Vecchione to write:
*The World Under Green Mist*
Under the moon's green mist lie dreams of beauty and wonder
There are beds of fur from a fox
The warmth of the fireplace glows sparks of wonder
With the peaceful dark of the night lie fire bugs flickering their lights
Oh under this world with green mist lie the dreams of every person
Hidden from them until they die.
and Sedley Alpaugh to write:
*As I Sailed*
The sea was amarillo
With waves of rojo
The sun azul
And the sky gris
This was all this
As I sailed
In my verde boat.
Btw, my edition is the one from 1974, and it has a slightly different cover."
Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Ohioana Book Award (Winner — Poetry — 1974)
Call number
FIC D Koc