Monthly Archives: April 2010


Twelfth Night “Hey, Ho, The Wind and the Rain”

*The Clown, Feste, sings this song at the end of the play. it is a gloomy history of his growth from childhood. The repeated refrain “the rain is raineth everyday,” is a particularly bleak vision of the world, especially of a world that has provided the extraordinarily happy ending of the play. But Feste’s account of the continuous rain is deliberately overstated, designed to make us aware of how much sunshine and delight there is in our lives.

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man’s estate,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
‘Gainst knaves and thieves men shut the gate,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
    And we’ll strive to please you every day.

swaggering – bullying

beds – sickbed

tosspots – drunkards

Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 381-400

From Amazon

*From

Poetry for young people
Willian Shakespeare


The More It Snows/Today I saw a little worm

You can find poems in very unlikely places. Did you think that there were poems in Winnie The Pooh? I am sure there are many poems in “Winnie The Pooh”, but here is a quite well known.

THE MORE IT SNOWS

The more it
SNOWS-tiddely-pom
The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom

The more it
GOES-tiddely-pom
On Snowing

And nobody
KNOWS-tiddely-pom
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
How cold my
TOES-tiddely-pom
Are
Growing

A.A Milne 1882-1956

Another personal favorite is short but sweet and completely not related to “Winnie The Pooh”.

TODAY I SAW A LITTLE WORM

Today I saw a little worm
Wriggling on his belly.
Perhaps he’d like to come inside
And see what’s on the Telly.

Spike Milligan 1918-2002

All of these poems are from  BRITAIN”S BEST LOVED Children’s Poems

TERMS TO LEARN
Telly=television
Telly is the British way for saying television.


The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

 

The Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear

The Owl and Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

Pussy said to the owl, “You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long have we tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”

They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there is a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the idge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.


April is National Poetry Month

by Guest Blogger M.O.M

Wow, a whole month devoted to poetry! That is quite impressive don’t you think? So, in recognition of this important event here are some thoughts to share with you.

National Poetry Month is a month-long celebration of poetry that was established by the Academy of American Poets. It aims to bring attention to poetry so that it can reach a wider audience and be appreciated by more. But why you might ask? In this age of 140 characters and abbreviated txtng why should we read poetry? Well, that is a good question and really requires a full and thoughtful answer. Another time. When the month isn’t about to end and we haven’t even posted a great, inspiring poem to justify the discussion. We can talk about it later. In honor of  this month here is a poem….a favorite.

Never Trust Dragons

‘I see you’ve arrived,’ the dragon said,
bright eyes like beacons set in his head.

‘Yes’ said the vet. ‘Left as soon as I knew
Now tell me the problem, a touch of the ‘flu?’

‘My flame has gone out, I can’t raise a spark,
not much use when you hunt in the dark.’

The vet peered down the gigantic throat,
black as a chimney and reeking of soot.

He threw in some petrol, a match to ignite,
firelighters, coal, and some dynamite.

The dragon covered a burp with his paw,
a flicker of flame flashed dlown his jaw.

He licked his lips with a golden tongue:
‘Take your fee, vet, you’d better run.

I can feel my fires boil, they are returning.
In a couple of minutes you could be burning.’

Clutching a diamond the size of a star,
the vet scampered away to his car.

As he drove off the dragon’s bright fire
gushed out of the cave and scorched his tires.

The vet snapped his fingers, laughed at the brute
because he was wearing his flame-proof suit.

David Harmer

from Dragon Poems by John Foster and Korky Paul


Robin Hood PRINCE OF THIEVES

Starring

  • Kevin Costner – Robin Hood
  • Morgan Freeman – Azeem
  • Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio – Marian Dubois
  • Christian Slater – Will Scarlet
  • Alan Rickman – George: Sherif of Nottingham

Summary

After being captured by Turks and being held captive, Robin of Locksley and two other men ( a friend and a Moor name Azeem) escape. Azeem then swears that he will stay by Robins side until he has fulfilled his vow of saving Robins life (because Robin saved his.) Meanwhile, Robins father, Lord Locksley, was murdered by the Sherif of Nottingham and when Robin finds out, he and Azeem with Duncan, found at Robins castle, make their way to the woods, where they meet some outlaws. With the help of these men he tries to take back the bad that the Sherif has spread and win the heart of his love.

Review

If you want a little action set in historical times, or to see how Robin Hood is portrayed (in a realistic sense) then this would be a good Saturday night movie. It was  little gory in some parts, and there was a lot of violence. People got run through with swords, people were hung, people were burned too. You get the picture. There were a lot of intense things going on so I would recommend not watching it unless you are 13.

This graph is from CommonSenseMedia.org

Rating – PG-13

Violence: Gory sword fights, hangings, firebombing of villages, basic medieval graphic violence.

Sex: Sexual Content (parents advised. For more information go to www.commonsensemedia.org and type in Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves)

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking: Friar Tuck is an alcoholic, praises beer more than God.

Also there is a part where you see Robin Hoods bare bottom.

To see what other parents and children say about this movie click here and it will take you to commonsensemedia’s website.

Enjoy.