Kids Famous Poems

Prairie-Dog Town By Mary Hunter Austin Old Peter Prairie-dog  Builds him a house  In Prairie-Dog Town,  With a door that goes down  And down and down,  And a hall that goes under  And under and under,  Where you can't see the lightning,  You can't hear the thunder,  For they don't like thunder  In Prairie-Dog Town.  Old Peter Prairie-Dog  Digs him a cellar  In Prairie-Dog Town,  With a ceiling that is arched  And a wall that is round,  And the earth he takes out he makes into a mound.  And the hall and the cellar  Are dark as dark,  And you can't see a spark,  Not a single spark;  And the way to them cannot be found.  Old Peter Prairie-Dog  Knows a very clever trick  Of behaving like a stick  When he hears a sudden sound,  Like an old dead stick;  And when you turn your head  He'll jump quick, quick,  And be a...

Bed In Summer By Robert Louis Stevenson  In Winter I get up at night  And dress by yellow candle light.  In Summer, quite the other way,  I have to go to bed by day.  I have to go to bed and see  The birds still hopping on the tree,  Or hear the grown-up people's feet  Still going past me in the street.  And does it not seem hard to you,  When all the sky is clear and blue,  And I should like so much to play,  To have to go to bed by day?

Won't You? By Shel Silverstein Barbara's eyes are blue as azure,  But she is in love with Freddy.  Karen's sweet, but Harry has her.  Gentle Jane is going steady.  Carol hates me. So does May.  Abigail will not be mine.  Nancy lives too far away...  Won't you be my Valentine?

Rathers By Mary Hunter Austin I know very well what I'd rather be  If I didn't always have to be me!  I'd rather be an owl,  A downy feathered owl,  A wink-ity, blink-ity, yellow-eyed owl  In a hole in a hollow tree.  I'd take my dinner in chipmunk town,  And wouldn't I gobble the field mice down,  If I were a wink-ity, blink-ity owl,  And didn't always have to be me!  I know very well what I'd like to do  If I didn't have to do what I do!  I'd go and be a woodpecker,  A rap-ity, tap-ity, red-headed woodpecker  In the top of a tall old tree.  And I'd never take a look  At a lesson or a book,  And I'd scold like a pirate on the sea,  If I only had to do what I like to do,  And didn't always have to be me!  Or else I'd be an antelope,  A pronghorned antelope,  With lots of other antelope  Skimming like a cloud on a wire-grass plian.  A bound...

The Fisherman By Abbie Farwell Brown The fisherman goes out at dawn  When every one's abed,  And from the bottom of the sea  Draws up his daily bread.  His life is strange ; half on the shore  And half upon the sea --  Not quite a fish, and yet not quite  The same as you and me.  The fisherman has curious eyes ;  They make you feel so queer,  As if they had seen many things  Of wonder and of fear.  They're like the sea on foggy days, --  Not gray, nor yet quite blue ;  They 're like the wondrous tales he tells  Not quite -- yet maybe -- true.  He knows so much of boats and tides,  Of winds and clouds and sky !  But when I tell of city things,  He sniffs and shuts one eye !

Paul Revere's Ride By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hear  Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,  On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;  Hardly a man is now alive  Who remembers that famous day and year.  He said to his friend, "If the British march  By land or sea from the town to-night,  Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch  Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-  One if by land, and two if by sea;  And I on the opposite shore will be,  Ready to ride and spread the alarm  Through every Middlesex village and farm,  For the country folk to be up and to arm."  Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar  Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,  Just as the moon rose over the bay,  Where swinging wide at her moorings lay  The Somerset, British man-of-war;  A phantom ship, with each mast and spar  Across the moon like...

If I Were King By A. A. Milne I often wish I were a King,  And then I could do anything.  If only I were King of Spain,  I'd take my hat off in the rain.  If only I were King of France,  I wouldn't brush my hair for aunts.  I think, if I were King of Greece,  I'd push things off the mantelpiece.  If I were King of Norroway,  I'd ask an elephant to stay.  If I were King of Babylon,  I'd leave my button gloves undone.  If I were King of Timbuctoo,  I'd think of lovely things to do.  If I were King of anything,  I'd tell the soldiers, "I'm the King!"

A Riddle By Christina Rossetti There is one that has a head without an eye,  And there's one that has an eye without a head.  You may find the answer if you try;  And when all is said,  Half the answer hangs upon a thread.

What Is Pink? By Christina Rossetti What is pink? A rose is pink  By the fountain's brink.  What is red? A poppy's red  In its barley bed.  What is blue? The sky is blue  Where the clouds float through.  What is white? A swan is white  Sailing in the light.  What is yellow? Pears are yellow,  Rich and ripe and mellow.  What is green? The grass is green,  With small flowers between.  What is violet? Clouds are violet  In the summer twilight.  What is orange? Why, an orange,  Just an orange!