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Poems Every Child Should Know

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<h3>The Banks o' Doon.</h3> <div class="pre_poem">"The Banks o' Doon," by Robert Burns (1759-96). Bonnie Doon is in the southwestern part of Scotland. Robert Burns's old home it close to it. The house has low walls, a thatched roof, and only two rooms. Alloway Kirk and the two bridges so famous in Robert Burns's verse are near by. This is an enchanted land, and the Scotch people for miles around Ayr speak of the poet with sincere affection. Burns, more than any other poet, has thrown the enchantment of poetry over his own locality. </div> <table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza"> Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye blume sae fair! How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae fu' o' care. </div> <div class="stanza"> Thou'lt break my heart, thou bonnie bird That sings upon the bough; Thou minds me o' the happy days When my fause luve was true. </div> <div class="stanza"> Thou'lt break my heart, thou bonnie bird That sings beside thy mate; For sae I sat, and sae I sang, And wist na o' my fate. </div> <div class="stanza"> Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon, To see the woodbine twine, And ilka bird sang o' its love, And sae did I o' mine. </div> <div class="stanza"> Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose Frae off its thorny tree; And my fause luver staw the rose, But left the thorn wi' me. </div> </td></tr></table> Robert Burns. <h3>The Light of Other Days.</h3> <table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza"> Oft in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around me: The smiles, the tears Of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken; The eyes that shone, Now dimmed and gone, The cheerful hearts now broken! Thus in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. </div> <div class="stanza"> When I remember all The friends so link'd together I've seen around me fall Like leaves in wintry weather, I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed! Thus in the stilly night Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. </div> </td></tr></table> Thomas Moore. <h3>My Own Shall Come to Me.</h3> <div class="pre_poem">If John Burroughs (1837-) had never written any other poem than "My Own Shall Come to Me," he would have stood to all ages as one of the greatest of American poets. The poem is most characteristic of the tall, majestic, slow-going poet and naturalist. There is no greater line in Greek or English literature than <blockquote> "I stand amid the eternal ways." </blockquote></div> <table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza"> Serene I fold my hands and wait, Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea. I rave no more 'gainst time or fate, For lo! my own shall come to me. </div> <div class="stanza"> I stay my haste, I make delays, For what avails this eager pace? I stand amid the eternal ways, And what is mine shall know my face. </div> <div class="stanza"> Asleep, awake, by night or day The friends I seek are seeking me; No wind can drive my bark astray, Nor change the tide of destiny. </div> <div class="stanza"> What matter if I stand alone? I wait with joy the coming years; My heart shall reap when it has sown, And gather up its fruit of tears. </div> <div class="stanza"> The stars come nightly to the sky; The tidal wave comes to the sea; Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, Can keep my own away from me. </div> <div class="stanza"> The waters know their own and draw The brook that springs in yonder heights; So flows the good with equal law Unto the soul of pure delights. </div> </td></tr></table> John Burroughs. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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