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Poems Every Child Should Know

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<h3>For a' That.</h3> <div class="pre_poem">Robert Burns, the plowman and poet, "dinnered wi' a lord." The story goes that he was put at the second table. That lord is dead, but Robert Burns still lives. He is immortal. It is "the survival of the fittest" "For a' That and a' That" is a poem that wipes out the superficial value put on money and other externalities. This poem is more valuable in education than good penmanship or good spelling. (1759-96.) </div> <table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza"> Is there, for honest poverty, That hangs his head, and a' that? The coward slave, we pass him by, We dare be poor for a' that; For a' that, and a' that, Our toils obscure, and a' that; The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man's the gowd for a' that! </div> <div class="stanza"> What though on hamely fare we dine, Wear hoddin-gray,[1] and a' that; Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine, A man's a man for a' that! For a' that, and a' that, Their tinsel show, and a' that; The honest man, though e'er sae poor, Is king o' men for a' that! </div> <div class="stanza"> Ye see yon birkie[2] ca'd a lord, Wha struts, and stares, and a' that; Though hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof[3] for a' that; For a' that, and a' that, His riband, star, and a' that, The man of independent mind, He looks and laughs at a' that. </div> <div class="stanza"> A prince can make a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and a' that; But an honest man's aboon his might. Guid faith he maunna fa' that! For a' that, and a' that, Their dignities, and a' that, The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth, Are higher rank than a' that. </div> <div class="stanza"> Then let us pray that come it may— As come it will for a' that— That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, May bear the gree, and a' that; For a' that, and a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That man to man, the warld o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that! </div> </td></tr></table> Robert Burns. [1] Coarse woolen clothes. [2] Impudent fellow. [3] Fool: blockhead. <h3>A New Arrival.</h3> <div class="pre_poem">"The New Arrival" is a valuable poem because it expresses the joy of a young father over his new baby. If girls should be educated to be good mothers, so should boys be taught that fatherhood is the highest and holiest joy and right of man. The child is educator to the man. He teaches him how to take responsibility, how to give unbiased judgments, and how to be fatherly like "Our Father who is in Heaven." (1844-.) </div> <table class="poem" summary="poem"><tr><td><div class="stanza"> There came to port last Sunday night The queerest little craft, Without an inch of rigging on; I looked and looked and laughed. It seemed so curious that she Should cross the Unknown water, And moor herself right in my room, My daughter, O my daughter! </div> <div class="stanza"> Yet by these presents witness all She's welcome fifty times, And comes consigned to Hope and Love And common-meter rhymes. She has no manifest but this, No flag floats o'er the water, She's too new for the British Lloyds— My daughter, O my daughter! </div> <div class="stanza"> Ring out, wild bells, and tame ones too! Ring out the lover's moon! Ring in the little worsted socks! Ring in the bib and spoon! Ring out the muse! ring in the nurse! Ring in the milk and water! Away with paper, pen, and ink— My daughter, O my daughter! </div> </td></tr></table> George W. Cable. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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