My poetry anthology is about childhood and the memories and lessons that come along with it. The order in which these poems are presented are in order from which you’ll see goes from childhood relationships, to childhood memories, and then the struggles of adulthood.
I chose the theme childhood because I believe it’s the most beautiful and most important part of our lives. We wouldn’t be who are today if we had skipped that step in our life. It is something we look back on when we are facing a rough patch in our life. Adulthood isn’t always bad, but it can never compare the great memories you had as a child. I chose these song/poems that you are about to read because I think they go very well with the theme I chose. They all differ, but each one of them can relate back to childhood. They each send you back in time and lets your mind replay a sweet memory from your past, a memory that you will never forget.
Backward, turn backward, O time, in your flight; Make me a child again, just for tonight! Mother, come back from that echoless shore; Take me again in your heart as of yore -- Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair, Over my slumbers your loving watch keep -- Rock me to sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep Backward, turn backward, O tide of the years! I am so weary of toil and of tears -- Toil without recompense, tears all in vain -- Take them and give me my childhood again! I have grown weary of dust and decay --
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away --
Weary of sowing for others to reap --
Rock me to sleep, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded -- our faces between --
Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I tonight for your presence again;
Come from the silence, mother -- rock me to sleep!
Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
I chose the poem “Rock Me to Sleep” by Elizabeth Akers Allen to relate to my
theme on childhood. I love the way the poet uses the daughters sweet memories
of her childhood and the connection with her mother and compare it to the
feelings that she is facing now. The poet does a great job explaining that
special bond a mother and daughter have together, the nurturing and confront of
a mother figure, it really can’t compare to anything. Allen made this poem easy
to understand and used a past and present timeline that I think made this poem
stronger.
This poem gives us a story
that is about a daughter who is talking about her mother, who had passed away
and how she wishes to be a child again, so she can be in her mother’s arms one
last time. This poem really gives off a really strong emotion, not just because
of the deceased mother, but of the powerful connection a parent and child have
between each other. Sometimes we don’t realize just how much a mother
(guardian) means to us, until they’re gone. “Backward, turn backward, O time,
in your flight; Make me a child again, just for one night! Mother, come back
from that echoless shore; Take me again in your heart as of your—“ I know
sometimes, many of us that go through a rough patch in life and we automatically
wish we could go back in time. That moment of our mother tucking us in bed,
reading us a story, and feeling the warmth of her hug when she tells a
goodnight, that moment where nothing else in the world matters.
"Rock me to sleep,
mother -- rock me to sleep!" was used as the title and throughout the poem
to symbolize a sweet childhood, a moment in your life that you wish you could
return to. I think the poet did an amazing job putting such and indescribable
bond, between a mother and child, into words. This is such touching poem
and something that almost everyone can relate to and a feeling that everyone
deserves to experience.
HOW are they waned and faded from our hearts, The old companions of our early days! Of all the many loved, which name imparts Regret when blamed, or rapture at its praise? What are their several fates, by Heaven decreed, They of the jocund heart, and careless brow? Alas! we scarcely know and scarcely heed, Where, in this world of sighs, they wander now. See, how with cold faint smile, and courtly nod, They pass, whom wealth and revelry divide— Who walked together to the house of God, Read from one book, and rested side by side; No look of recognition lights the eye Which laughingly hath met that fellow-face; With careless hands they greet and wander by, Who parted once with tears and long embrace.
Oh, childhood! blessed time of hope and love, When all we knew was Nature's simple law, How may we yearn again that time to prove, When we looked round, and loved whate'er we saw. Now dark suspicion wakes, and love departs, And cold distrust its well-feigned smile displays; And they are waned and faded from our hearts, The old companions of our early days!
Analysis: I
chose the poem “Old Friends” by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton because
reflects on childhood friendships. The poem is about a childhood friendship
that ended after they started to grow older. I like this poem because it is
very accurate to how friendships start to fade away as you get older and
sometimes you don’t even realize what’s happening. This poem was very effective
by making you rethink your past, to question what went wrong or if maybe life
just got in the way.
It’s
actually quite sad if you think about, how did we become so busy that we no
longer could make time for the people who made such a huge impact on our life? Our
childhood friends are people that we never will forget, they were family at one
point, but yet we treat each other like strangers. When you see your “old
friend” in the store, you may wave or nod your head, but you don’t say no more
to them even though when you see them, a sweet memory from your past replays in
your head. “Oh, childhood! Blessed time of hope and
love, When all we knew was Nature's simple law, How may we yearn
again that time to prove, When we looked round, and loved whate'er we
saw”. It’s really devastating how we let life get in the way have such a
beautiful thing.
I like how the poet used “Old Friends” instead of “Strangers” or
something along those lines because I think “Old Friends” is a reminder that
they were once an important part in your life. Even though you may treat each
other like strangers, there will always be that connection with them. You will
always remember and treasure your childhood friendships.
This poem is a great look on reality and just how life works in
ways we don’t always understand. Friendships are a big part of our life, we all
need them from time to time. I just wish we were able to keep them together as we
grow older.
Analysis: I chose the
poem “A Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Patasan because it presents a view
point from the parents’ thoughts on how fast their children grow up. This poem
relates to my first poem “Rock Me to Sleep” by Elizabeth Allen, showing us
again the special bond we have with our parents. This poem is about a parent, which
I interpret it to be a father figure, who is teaching his daughter to ride a
bike. I like that they use this reference to represent a childhood memory because
if you ask anyone about the memory of learning how to ride a bike, most people could
tell you like it happened yesterday.
Most fathers have the hardest time letting go of their “baby
girl”. Fathers tend to more protective and compassionate to their daughters, they
hate the idea of sending them off in the real world. I think this poem does a
great job at briefly describing the fearful emotions of a father. As a child,
your daddy was most likely your biggest hero. He is was the first man you ever
loved and he made huge impact on your childhood. While your mother was nurturing
and comforting, your father was most likely the “fun parent” who did the
physical activities with you like riding a bike.
From the title of this poem, I see it being said by a proud
parent. It says just enough to make you think just how much your parents taught
you. You probably wouldn’t be who you are today without them. This isn’t just
toward parents, it’s about anyone who played the role of a mother or father
figure in a child’s life.
The story in this poem symbolizes just how fast we grow up “I
kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted
to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable
with distance, pumping, pumping for your life,
screaming with laughter, the hair flapping
behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye”. One
day we are learning to ride a bike, the next day we are waving goodbye to our
parents and entering adulthood.
In a world of pure imagination Take a look and you'll see Into your imagination
We'll begin with a spin Trav'ling in the world of my creation What we'll see will defy Explanation
{Refrain}
If you want to view paradise Simply look around and view it Anything you want to, do it Want to change the world, there's nothing to it
There is no life I know To compare with pure imagination Living there, you'll be free If you truly wish to be
{Refrain}
Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination Take a look and you'll see Into your imagination
Analysis: I chose the song “Pure Imagination” by Anthony Newly and
Leslie Bricusse because it goes so well with my theme on “childhood”. This song
was used in the movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Fountain” and the lyrics
really fit the scene from this movie like in the video shown above. The lyrics
of this song really helps explain the limitless imaginations that children
have. They are capable of exploring things way beyond the actually reality. I like
how the artist uses the title “pure imagination” repetitively throughout the
song to give its true meaning. I believe anyone who just reads the title would
interpret it to be about childhood because we’ve all heard the saying that, “children
have the most powerful imagination”, which is quite true.
This poem is really effective by showing you just how
children minds work. They see what they want to see and turn reality into
something amazing. Imagination as a kid made life more fun and joyful. Children
have visions, dreams, and believe in themselves. They are capable of seeing and
doing anything they set their minds to “If you want to view paradise. Simply
look around and view it. Anything you want to, do it Want to change the world,
there's nothing to it” As you get older, life gets more stressful, and you seem
to slowly start to lose that great imagination you had as a child. It’s
actually quite sad, if you think about it, that we just let go of such a
beautiful and creative side of us as we enter the “real world”.
While reading the
lyrics to this song, it starts to make you imagine and relive all the play dates you had as a child, when you would “play house”, "lava" or pretend to“fight off the
dragons” with your cardboard swords. It’s truly amazing how children are
capable of developing such a vision that creates a whole new world that
nobody else can see “We'll begin with a spin. Trav'ling in the world of my
creation”.
This song is a reminder of how precious and easy life really was as a child. No matter where you are in life, there is really nothing you can compare to
the world you created for yourself as a kid “There is no life I know To compare with pureimagination Living there, you'll be
free If you truly wish to be”.
Analysis: I
chose the song “Innocent” by Taylor Swift because the lyrics from this song
really relate to childhood memories. This song is talking about a person who
has made a mistake in their life and compares it to who they used to be as a
child. Taylor Swift’s lyrics to this song really makes it easy for anyone to
relate to. The song is very soothing and encouraging. Everyone has a rough
patch, we just have to remember the great memories in our life instead of
dwelling on the bad memories.
This
song has a lot of uplifting words that everyone needs to hear every once in a
while, it’s a song that lets you know that it’s alright to forgive yourself. The words “Time turns
flames to embers. You'll have new Septembers. Every one of us has messed up too”
is so encouraging and reminds us that everyone makes mistakes, but we have to
keep moving forward. It also shows us how life gets harder as we grow older,
but the great memories that we treasure from our childhood is a reminder just
how beautiful life can be if we let it. “Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox
days? Always a bigger bed to crawl into. Wasn't it beautiful when you believed
in everything? And everybody believed in you?”
“Innocent”
I believe is a great title for this song, it’s a word we use to describe a
child. They also use the word throughout the song “It's okay, life is a tough
crowd. Thirty two and still growin' up now. Who you are is not what you did. You're
still an innocent. Which I interpret to mean that we will always be learning
what’s right from wrong and no matter what mistakes you make in life, you’re
still that kind hearted, joyful kid that you used to be.
Analysis: I chose the song “You’re going to Miss this” sung by Trace
Adkins because it’s a reminder that we need to slow down and stop growing up so
fast like the message in the poem "I taught you how to ride a bike".This song is about a teenage girl, who couldn’t wait to eighteen, get
married, and have kids. The father tries to keep reminding her to slow down and
how she needs to savor her childhood. I like that this poem is from a father’s
point of view because he knows from experience and we’ve all heard our parents “Give it
a few year, you’ll be wishing to be a kid again” and parents are usually right,
for the most part.
I really like the chorus in this song “You're gonna want
this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast These
Are Some Good Times So take a good look around” which really sums up the
meaning of the song. When we reach a certain age, we are so anxious to grow up
and forget just how easy life as a child can be. Childhood is the most
important part of your life, it’s where you learn and develop who you are.
Childhood is where we get our most precious memories from.
The title
of this song “You’re Going to Miss this” means exactly what it says. As life
moves forward, you start to miss you past and all the great friendships and
memories that came with it. You’re going to miss everything and everyone that
doesn’t fit in your busy life as an adult.
I think
Trace Adkins does a great job explaining the big transformation from childhood
to adulthood. He is very straight forward in this song, reminding us to slow
down and that we shouldn’t be in hurry to grow up. Childhood is a beautiful experience
that you should try to hold onto as long as you can.
