Well, having seemingly set everyone off on the topic of war yesterday ... I had a much better day at work today, and am consequently feeling much more cheerful. So loosely picking up on Christine's childhood memories of geese, as a child I loved Winnie-the-Pooh . I have fond memories of my mum reading it to me before I could read, and then exitedly reading it myself when I could. I had a beautifully illustrated version that contained the two books, "Winnie-the-Pooh" and the "House at Pooh Corner" along with the collected poems "When we Wer Very Young" and "Now we are Six" - these 2 collections were my first exposure to poetry and the simplicity and rhythm of them really captured my imagination - I learned most by heart, and would recite them to whoever would listen at the drop of a hat !! So forgive my indulgence - but here are a few bird related ones (although you really need the fabulous Ernest Shepard illustrations to truely appreciate them) :
The Mirror
Between the woods the afternoon
Is fallen in a golden swoon.
The sun looks down from quiet skies
To where a quiet water lies,
And silent trees stoop down to trees.
And there I saw a white swan make
Another white swan in the lake;
And breast to breast, both motionless,
They waited for the wind's caress ...
And all the water was at ease
A.A. Milne
For those who don't know, the name Pooh originally belonged to a swan. In his introduction to "When we Were Very Young" AA Milne says of the poem above, that :
"Christopher Robin, who feeds this swan in the mornings, has given the name of `Pooh'. This is a very fine name for a swan, because if you call him and he doesn't come (which is a thing swans are good at), then you can pretend you were just saying "Pooh"! to show how little you wanted him"
A sentiment I'm sure many people on this forum would share !!
In the introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh, the following explanation is given for the name transfer :
"IF you happen to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don't know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh. That was a long time ago, and when we said good-bye, we took the name
with us, as we didn't think the swan would want it any more. Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was"
Anyway, back to the poems :
The Wrong House
I went into a house, and it wasn't a house,
It has big steps and a great big hall;
But it hasn't got a garden,
A garden,
A garden,
It isn't like a house at all.
I went into a house, and it wasn't a house,
It has a big garden and a great high wall;
But it hasn't got a may-tree,
A may-tree,
A may-tree,
It isn't like a house at all.
I went into a house, and it wasn't a house -
Slow white petals from the may-tree fall;
But it hasn't got a blackbird,
A blackbird,
A blackbird,
It isn't like a house at all.
I went into a house, and I thought it was a house,
I could hear from the may-tree the blackbird call ....
But nobody listened to it
Nobody
Liked it,
Nobody wanted it at all
AA Milne
The Invaders
In careless patches through the wood
The clumps of yellow primrose stood,
And sheets of white anemones,
Like driven snow against the trees,
Had covered up the violet,
But left the blue-bell bluer yet.
Along the narrow carpet ride,
With primroses on either side,
Between their shadows and the sun,
The cows came slowly, one by one,
Breathing in the morning air
And leaving it still sweeter there.
And one by one, intent upon
Their purposes, they followed on
In ordered silence ... and were gone.
But all the little wood was still,
And if it waited so, until
Some blackbird on an outpost yew,
Watching the slow procession through,
Lifted his yellow beak at last
To whistle that the line had passed ....
Then all the wood began to sing
In morning anthem to the spring.
AA Milne
As far as I'm concerned, you can keep your Harry Potters ... children's literature doesn't get any better than this (I still read the books today when I am feeling jaded with the world, and they never fail to lift the spirits !!)
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