Once upon a time, when I was a little girl, my brother started school. I wanted to go, too, but they said I was too young. Each day when my brother got home, I had to hear all about it. Once he had to memorize a poem. Nothing would do but what I memorized a poem, too. So I picked out this one from a children's book of stories and poems that we had at home. It's been a few years and I only remember the first couple of lines, but I found the whole poem on the internet and here it is:
O Come Little Leaves
by
George Cooper
"Come, little leaves", said the wind one day,
"Come o'er the meadows with me and play;
Put on your dresses of red and gold,
For summer's gone and the days grow cold."
Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
Singing the glad little songs they knew.
"Cricket, good-bye, we've been friends so long,
Little brook, sing us your farewell song;
Say you are sorry to see us go;
Ah, you will miss us, right well we know.
Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
Fondly we watched you in vale and glade,
Ay, will you dream of your loving shade?"
Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went,
Winter had called them and they were content;
Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlet over their heads.
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11 comments:
How cute you must have been reciting that as a child! That is an upbeat poem of the type that I like. We get a subscription of Reminisce Magazine where people share pictures and stories from their past. They also have a web site too. I enjoy the poetry section where they share old time poems. By the way, I am enjoying the nature links too!
Barb, I'm sure I was very cute! :D
I like those old-fashioned upbeat poems, too. They bring a little joy, a pleasant thought, to our minds.
I'm glad you're enjoying the nature links. There is so much fascinating information out there!
When I was in kindergarten or first grade, there was some kind of benefit talent show, and I memorized (and still know to this day) 'Why So Pale and Wan?'. Why on Earth my mother chose that poem for a young girl, I'll never know. Yours is (was) a much better selection. :)
Naiah, maybe your Mom picked it because it was a well-known classic, but regardless, I'll bet you were very cute reciting it, too! And it's always a useful skill to learn how to memorize. I don't know how much of memorization kids do in school these days, but I hope they do at least some.
Thank you for posting this poem Come little leaves, I too had to memorize it in 2nd grade, I was chosen to record it as I was so good at the emphasis of it. That was back when they had reel to reel!! I always thought it was written by Robert Louis Stevenson but I have found that the author is George Cooper. What a blessing the internet is, I have looked for it for 35 years, now here it is so I can teach it to my daughter. Kelly in Branson, Mo.
Mary A, I just found your post and have found others on the web as well. I am wondering about the 8 lines that start with "cricket". My grandmother said this poem often to whichever of her families she was with in the fall. I don't remember those lines. Do you? The 3 verses I remember well, though I could not recite the whole poem without the words at hand. What a treat it is to remember Grammy saying this to us. Thanks.
A and B, I'm glad you stopped by and I'm glad my mention of this poem reminded you of your grandmother reciting it for you.
I don't remember the cricket lines from before, either, but I'm not sure. It's been a long time since I was a little kid, memorizing the poem! I memorized the poem from a set of children's books called My Book House. I still have them, but they are packed away right now so I can't get them out to see if those lines were in there or not. It might be that they were part of the original poem, but that they were often cut out for some reason or another.
All my siblings and I memorized this poem in the third grade for Mrs. Jenkins. We can all quote the first stanza 40 or so years later.
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My mother used to sing this poem to me when I was a young girl and for the life of me, I could not remember the fourth line. Bless you and the internet. Now I can share it with my darling young "grandson." Many thanks. Barbara Ellen
My mom used to sing this song to my sister and me many, many years ago ... when the leaves started to turn in the fall. I remember thinking that fall was a sort of sad time ... saying goodbye to the leaves and the crickets. But then as I grew older, I realized that each fall was followed by a cold winter and Christmas, and then the spring would appear. I can still see her image ... in her housedress ... cuddling us and singing this. I now sing it to my grandchildren.
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