Poet of the month - May

Alfred Austin (1835 - 1913)

 

 

Biography

Poems

"Public opinion is no more than this: what people think that other people think."

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

 

 

Poet of the Month - February

Shel Silverstein (1930 - 1999)

Biography

Poems

Video

"I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it."

Poet of the month - January 2013

Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)

Although remembered now for his elegantly argued critical essays, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) began his career as a poet, winning early recognition as a student at the Rugby School where his father, Thomas Arnold, had earned national acclaim as a strict and innovative headmaster. Arnold also studied at Balliol College, Oxford University. In 1844, after completing his undergraduate degree at Oxford, he returned to Rugby as a teacher of classics. After marrying in 1851, Arnold began work as a gove..

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"Culture is properly described as the love of perfection; it is a study of perfection."

Poems

Poet of the month - January

Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)

Biography

Poems

Video

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you."

Poet of the month - December 2012

Shel Silverstein (1930 - 1999)

A truly unique and multi-faceted artist, Shel Silverstein was a renowned poet, playwright, illustrator, screenwriter, and songwriter. Best known for his immensely popular children’s books including The Giving Tree, Falling Up, and A Light in the Attic, Silverstein has delighted tens of millions of readers around the world, becoming one of the most popular and best-loved children's authors of all time. 

Born in Chicago on September 25, 1930...

Biography

Poems

Poem: Rain by Shel Silverstein

I opened my eyes

And looked up at the rain,

And it dripped in my head

And flowed into my brain,

And all that I hear as I lie in my bed

Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,

I walk very slow,

I can't do a handstand--

I might overflow,

So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--

I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

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"I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it."

Poet of the month - November

Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)

"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it."

Poem: Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,

I set down on the bank.

I tried to think but couldn't,

So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn't a-been so cold

I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator

Sixteen floors above the ground.

I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!

I stood there and I cried!

If it hadn't a-been so high

I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',

I guess I will live on.

I could've died for love--

But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,

And you may see me cry--

I'll be dogged, sweet baby,

If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

Poems

Biography 

Poet of the month - October 2012

Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973)

"The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty."

Poem: Always by Pablo Neruda

I am not jealous

of what came before me.

Come with a man 

on your shoulders,

come with a hundred men in your hair,

come with a thousand men between your breasts and your feet,

come like a river

full of drowned men

which flows down to the wild sea,

to the eternal surf, to Time!

Bring them all

to where I am waiting for you;

we shall always be alone,

we shall always be you and I

alone on earth

to start our life!

Poems

Biography