Reciting Poetry

1. Reciting Poetry Standard 501.2.9

2. Young and Oldby Charles Kingsley When all the world is young, lad,And all the trees are green; And every goose a swan, lad,And every lass a queen; Then hey for boot and horse, lad,And round the world away;

3. Young blood must have its course, lad,And every dog his day. When all the world is old, lad,And all the trees are brown; When all the sport is stale, lad,And all the wheels run down;

4. Creep home, and take your place there,The spent and maimed among: God grant you find one face there,You loved when all was young.

5. Young and Old This poem should be read quickly at first and more slowly towards the end. It tells of life from the perspective of a young man to an older man and how important it is to have loved ones in your life.

6. The Land of Counterpaneby Robert Louis Stevenson When I was sick and lay a-bed, I had two pillows at my head, And all my toys beside me lay, To keep me happy all the day.

7. And sometimes for an hour or so I watched my leaden soldiers go, With different uniforms and drills, Among the bed-clothes, through the hills; 

8. And sometimes sent my ships in fleets All up and down among the sheets; Or brought my trees and houses out, And planted cities all about. 

9. I was the giant great and still That sits upon the pillow-hill, And sees before him, dale and plain, The pleasant land of counterpane.

10. The Land of Counterpane When reading this poem, think about a little boy sick in bed playing with his toys. Read the poem smoothly and quietly with happy memories as an adult thinking back to his childhood.

11. The Road Not Takenby Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

12. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,  

13. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

14. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

15. The Road Not Taken This is a poem about a choice that was made when the author was a young man. It should be read smoothly and slowly. The last line should be read with emphasis, as it is the theme of the poem.