It’s a triple-scoop Poetry Friday today!
1) I was listening to Writer’s Almanac on NPR on my way to school visits last week, and I learned that both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on Feb. 12, 1809. I’m excited to share this beautiful poem, “Coincidence of Greatness,” by U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis. (By the way, have you seen his gorgeous new collection,?When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders? I shared a poem from it on Poetry Friday a couple of weeks ago.)A Coincidence of Greatness
On 12 February 1809, the yelp
of a newborn could be heard in
a one-room log cabin on Sinking
Spring Farm, near Hodgenville,
Kentucky.That same Sunday, four thousand
miles and a brute ocean away?
a Canada-wide and far reach?
another baby’s howl disturbed
enchanted hallways of ?The Mount,?
a mansion in Shrewsbury, England.The first cry belonged to one who
would do battle with unreason,
freeing over three million of his
countrymen born brown; the second
cry came from one who would unleash
reason on a dumbstruck world,
explaining that all species of life
evolved from common ancestors.
Over two hundred years ago,
two infants who announced
themselves on the same day
would be endlessly hounded,
pursued by their own sentences,
or be roundly revered until
the third week of forever.–J. Patrick Lewis, all rights reserved
I love this poem! I love how it shares the very different circumstances under which?these two great men came into the world (across a Canada-wide ocean). My favorite bits are “unleash / reason on a dumbstruck world” and the verb “disturbed” and “pursued by their own sentences” (don’t we writers surely feel that way at times?).?Both Lincoln and?Darwin definitely disturbed the world, and we are better for it!
2) Speaking of changing the world, I hope you’ll check out Dare to Dream for some fantastic poems about people who did just that. And if you know students grades 3-8 who like writing, publisher Kane Miller has a very?cool poetry contest going on.
3) Finally, a quick plug for The Poetry Friday Anthology. I’ve posted here about it many times (just type in Poetry Friday Anthology in the Search box at the top right to find those posts). I’ve been sharing it at teacher inservices recently, and it is the one book that really is a life preserver to many of them. Not only is it a well-organized book of K-5 poems, but it actually teaches you how to easily read those poems with your kids and meet the Common Core State Standards at the same time. It’s a phenomenal resource for you or your favorite teacher!
Sheri at Sheri Doyle has today’s Poetry Friday roundup — enjoy!
That is a great poem, thanks for sharing it, Laura. I love the Poetry Friday anthology and I really like the National Geographic animal poems book too.
Glad you liked it, Catherine! So. Much. Great. Poetry!
That is a great poem, thanks for sharing it, Laura. I love the Poetry Friday anthology and I really like the National Geographic animal poems book too.
Glad you liked it, Catherine! So. Much. Great. Poetry!
It’s a beautiful poem, Laura. I didn’t know they had the same birthdays, & this by J. Patrick Lewis is lovely to connect such great men and their ideas. Isn’t that great, “the third week of forever”? And, I have the Poetry Friday Anthology-always helpful!
That line reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot song, East of Midnight. So wonderful when poets put together things that don’t go together at all and it works brilliantly!
It’s a beautiful poem, Laura. I didn’t know they had the same birthdays, & this by J. Patrick Lewis is lovely to connect such great men and their ideas. Isn’t that great, “the third week of forever”? And, I have the Poetry Friday Anthology-always helpful!
That line reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot song, East of Midnight. So wonderful when poets put together things that don’t go together at all and it works brilliantly!
Like Linda, I also really like the ‘the third week of forever’ – the whole poem says so much. Thanks for sharing, Laura!
Glad you enjoyed it, Matt!
Like Linda, I also really like the ‘the third week of forever’ – the whole poem says so much. Thanks for sharing, Laura!
Glad you enjoyed it, Matt!
I love those last two lines too – two great men, indeed. I need to purchase this book!
Oops, I probably wasn’t clear enough. This poem is NOT from When Thunder Comes (though that is an awesome book). I just mentioned that book since it’s Pat’s latest…
I love those last two lines too – two great men, indeed. I need to purchase this book!
Oops, I probably wasn’t clear enough. This poem is NOT from When Thunder Comes (though that is an awesome book). I just mentioned that book since it’s Pat’s latest…
What a great poem connecting these two men. That line “pursued by their own sentences” stood out for me too. And I love the mention of Canada’s size to describe distance! Nice surprise for this Canadian. Thanks, Laura.
It’s like he wrote the poem just for you:>) Glad you enjoyed Pat’s poem!
What a great poem connecting these two men. That line “pursued by their own sentences” stood out for me too. And I love the mention of Canada’s size to describe distance! Nice surprise for this Canadian. Thanks, Laura.
It’s like he wrote the poem just for you:>) Glad you enjoyed Pat’s poem!
I hadn’t seen this before – very cool! I really like that last stanza.
It’s terrific, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s been published anywhere…
I hadn’t seen this before – very cool! I really like that last stanza.
It’s terrific, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s been published anywhere…
Love this poem.
I’m listening to Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior and thinking lots about how hard it is for humans to listen to the voice of reason…and DO something about what it’s saying!
We are definitely not a rational species! Is that a novel or a nonfiction book?
Love this poem.
I’m listening to Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior and thinking lots about how hard it is for humans to listen to the voice of reason…and DO something about what it’s saying!
We are definitely not a rational species! Is that a novel or a nonfiction book?
Love this poem. Didn’t know about the shared birthday. My favorite is the last stanza but only because it is the perfect end “third week of forever…”
Gotta get the anthology! On my list.
That ending is really striking a chord with everyone!
Love this poem. Didn’t know about the shared birthday. My favorite is the last stanza but only because it is the perfect end “third week of forever…”
Gotta get the anthology! On my list.
That ending is really striking a chord with everyone!
A triple scoop of deliciousness today, Laura! Amazing that these two men who made such an impact on the world were born on the exact same day! I will be checking out Dare to Dream. And I gave the Poetry Friday Anthology to my daughter’s 3rd grade teacher. He is very grateful. =)
How cool that you gave PFA to a teacher:>) The birthday thing is cool, right? It would be a fun project to see who else was born on your exact birthday and then write a poem about you and that person, using Pat’s poem as a model. Older students would have a blast with that, I think.
A triple scoop of deliciousness today, Laura! Amazing that these two men who made such an impact on the world were born on the exact same day! I will be checking out Dare to Dream. And I gave the Poetry Friday Anthology to my daughter’s 3rd grade teacher. He is very grateful. =)
How cool that you gave PFA to a teacher:>) The birthday thing is cool, right? It would be a fun project to see who else was born on your exact birthday and then write a poem about you and that person, using Pat’s poem as a model. Older students would have a blast with that, I think.
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing this.
Glad you enjoyed it, Ruth!
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing this.
Glad you enjoyed it, Ruth!
I love this poem too, Laura! And what a very interesting topic — that these two great men would have the same birthday. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it, BJ!
I love this poem too, Laura! And what a very interesting topic — that these two great men would have the same birthday. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it, BJ!