Poetry Anthology

The third quarter begins next week, and we'll be studying poetry for the whole quarter. I am planning to have my students create individual poetry collections, complete with explanations about their choices. In preparation, I am going to create my own poetry anthology as an example.

Poems I'm Considering:

• How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (Sonnet 43), Elizabeth Barrett Browning


• Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll


• Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe


• There is no Frigate like a Book, Emily Dickinson


• We Real Cool, Gwendolyn Brooks


• Mother to Son, Langston Hughes


• Batty, Shel Silverstein


• Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments (Sonnet 116), William Shakespeare


• American Pie, Don McLean (Yes, song lyrics are allowed.)


• Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor


• The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (probably an excerpt)


• Paul Revere's Ride, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (also an excerpt?)

Mom gave me two wonderful books of poetry for Christmas. One is called Poet's Corner: The One-and-only Poetry Book for the Whole Family and it's compiled by John Lithgow. The best part about it, which I haven't explored yet, is a CD of famous people reading the poems included in the book. The other is Early Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay, obviously by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I'm excited about this one because she is a poet I'm not very familiar with.

Any suggestions for poems to include? I'm vaguely considering the poem I wrote years ago, Starstruck, but I'm not at all sure I'm willing to open up that much to my crazy kids. We'll see.