Caldecott Monday: The Little Island

[osprey_archer]

There was a little Island in the ocean.
Around it the winds blew
And the birds flew
And the tides rose and fell on the shore.

So begins Margaret Wise Brown's The Island. It's like a free verse poem: you can almost track the ebb and the fall of the waves in the length of the lines

Comments

[minutia_r]

There are songs, though? I'm not sure that poetry stops being poetry when it's set to music.

Also, I feel one could do a lot worse than Dr. Seuss.

[osprey_archer]

Possibly? I'm not sure how widespread the distinction between song and poetry is. I do kind of like the idea of, say, a modern political prisoner staying strong in the face of oppression by singing "Don't Stop Believin'" in their head.

[minutia_r]

I like it, too! Because a) whatever works, and b) the idea that poetry has to be good and profound and difficult in order to count is part, if not the whole, of the problem.

[asakiyume]

I think music lyrics are a real source of popular poetry these days. Lots of people can quote lyrics, and songs really do run the gamut from pretty amazing poetry to ehhh, not so much.

ETA: LOL, posted without reading other comments....