Rudyard Kipling’s signature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If, Rudyard Kipling, Great poem by Kipling
Never fall in love with a poet...
by Thomas Hawkins
Never fall in love with a poet
for their words are sometimes lies
on occasions they’re a shield
on occasions a disguise
They will take you on a journey
upon which they bare their soul
in a bid to ease your burdens
in a bid to make you whole
But in every word they choose
for the stories that they tell
lies a little piece of heaven
and a little piece of hell
Tormented souls we poets are
sometimes quite broken and despaired
in search of lost expressions
missed by others who once cared
Never fall in love with a poet
unless you’re prepared to share their pain
to hold them close on the darkest nights
over and again
10 Things I Hate About You (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10 Things I Hate About You. (poem)
I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots and the way you read my mind. I hate you much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme. I hate it, I hate the way you’re always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.I hate it that you’re not around, and the fact that you didn’t call.
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you.
Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.
Muzzy in Gondoland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I often discussed the following questions with my students at school, and we always discussed more than about any other topic because every student wanted to talk. I called the lesson ‘Big Screen, Small’ that I had found in a course book ( I can’t recall which one), read it and added a lot of other questions of my own.
I start the lesson by asking:
How many of you watched television last night?
What did you watch?
What do you usually watch on TV?
When do you watch it?
Do you watch it alone, with a friend, or with your family?
How do you feel when you watch television?
Do you feel more energetic, nervous, happy or tired?
Did you learn anything from TV that you could not find/learn from books you read, or lessons at school?
How does television affects peoples’ life?
Then, I give them to read the poem “Television” by Roald Dahl
The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set —
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink —
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY … USED … TO … READ!
They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start — oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts.
They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
After they read the poem, I ask them:
How many of Roald’s ideas you never thought about?
Which of Roald’s ideas do you agree or disagree?
What would you do if you wouldn’t have no television, no computer, no gadgets for at least three months?
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John Keats, Portrait by William Hilton, after Joseph Severn (National Portrait Gallery, London). (Photo credit: Books18)
When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be
BY JOHN KEATS
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
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The Lady of Shalott, based on The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Lady of Shalott is a Victorian ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Like his other early poems — “Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere” and “Galahad” — the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources.
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An English Cartoon with English subtitle for ESL learners.
Watch and listen, then when the story finishes try to read it yourself!
Have fun.
The monkey referee
A hunter made a trap under a tree. The tree was very deep. He put some grass over the trap, then some branches on the grass, and at last some earth on it. Now, the road looked just the same as before. Then the hunter left. But the monkey on the tree saw all this. He said to himself, “What a sly man he is! How fine the trap is! Even I would be trapped if I didn’t see this. It’s funny anyway. Maybe I should stay here for a while, just to find who will be the unlucky one. “
Soon after that, a rabbit came towards the trap. She walked nearer and nearer to the trap. Now she is so close to it. Oh, she is going to step on the trap. The monkey wanted to save her. “Stop! Stop!” he shouted to the rabbit, and jumped down from the tree.
The rabbit was frightened by HIM. But when she found it’s the monkey, she patted her chest and said, “Ah. Is it you my brother Monkey?” “But where are you going? ” the monkey asked.
“I’m going to the forest. And I want to get some fresh tender grass leaves for my children. “
” You’d better not go this way. There are some traps in the road. “Monkey told her.”
Thank you. See you. “The rabbit said and went another way.
But soon she met a hungry wolf in the way. “Oh. Great!” The wolf said greedily.
“I’m now hungry, so you can be the pastry for me, understand? “
” We all live in the forest. Why do you have the right to eat me? “the rabbit was a little afraid, but still tried to explain.
“Ha ha ha, because I’m hungry. I want to eat something. You shouldn’t have met me. That is the reason. “the wolf shouted.
” No, it’s not fair. We must take a third person to judge it. “
Just then, a fox appeared, so the wolf said, “Well, you can ask the fox to do that. He is a sensible person. “
” No need to say anything. I’ve heard what you said, so rabbit you should give yourself to the wolf, you must do that, and it’s the truth. “the fox said, shaking his tail.
“No, the fox is unfair. We should find another judge.” the rabbit said.
“It’s OK.” The wolf agreed. So they came over to the monkey. The monkey listened to their statement and said,
“The wolf is stronger than the rabbit, so he wants to eat the rabbit. But you need to tell us in what fields you do better than her. “
” Oh, it’s quite obvious. See my sharp teeth. I can kill a large cow with them. And my four legs, they can run so fast that I can bit a running Mongolian gazelle, and …. “”
Wait! Wait! I can’t believe you can run that fast. “the monkey interrupts.”
Oh, little brother, you shouldn’t doubt the wolf’s abilities. All that he said is true. I’m sure of that. “the fox chipped in.
The monkey shook his head. “Verbal statements are no guarantee. The wolf must prove that with action. “he said.” Well, we’ll make the tree over there as the end the road the track. And the wolf starts 20 steps before the rabbit. The rabbit runs after the wolf. If the rabbit can’t catch up with the wolf, he’ll have to be your food. But if he does, it means that the wolf is just a boastful guy. ”
The wolf was very happy at this.
“Great! The rabbit runs slower than me then with 20 steps ahead of her. She has no way out. “he thinks and then says.” OK, let’s do it.
“But the talkative fox said,” I can now know the result of the race, even I can win a rabbit, let alone the wolf with four long legs. Oh the rabbit will surely be defeated. “
“Well then. You’ll take part in it too. If you can win, you’ll have a piece of rabbit to eat. “the monkey said.”
No problem. “the fox patted his chest and said. Thus the race began. The monkey held his mouth, blew a whistle. “Xu … Xu …” The wolf and the fox started to run to the tree. They were running very fast. The monkey pretended to be a referee and shouted,
“Come on. “
The rabbit gets started.
Suddenly, “Tong … Tong …” the wolf and the fox got Trapped. They both hurt themselves badly.
After a few minutes, they came to themselves, and began to remember what had happened. They tried to jump out of the trap. But they couldn’t, because the trap was too deep. They could do nothing but to bluff and blow.
The monkey and the rabbit now stood above by the trap very happily.
“Ha ha ha ha. Enjoy yourselves, Mr. Wolf. ”
Learnalltheway 