St. Mary’s Bells

BY JOHN MASEFIELD It ‘s pleasant in Holy Mary By San Marie lagoon, The bells they chime and jingle From dawn to afternoon. They rhyme and chime and mingle, They pulse and boom and beat, And the laughing bells are gentle And the mournful bells are sweet. Oh, who are the men that ring them,……

Night

BY ROBERT SOUTHEY How beautiful is night! A dewy freshness fills the silent air; No mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain, Breaks the serene of heaven: In full-orb’d glory yonder Moon divine Rolls through the dark-blue depths. Beneath her steady ray The desert-circle spreads, Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky. How……

Scythe Song

BY ANDREW LANG Mowers, weary and brown, and blithe, What is the word methinks ye know, Endless over-word that the Scythe Sings to the blades of the grass below? Scythes that swing in the grass and clover, Something, still, they say as they pass; What is the word that, over and over, Sings the Scythe……

The Village Blacksmith

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW Under a spreading chestnut-tree ⁠The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands, And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands. His hair is crisp, and black, and long; His face is like the tan; His brow is wet with……

Paul Revere’s Ride

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, It would be good to have each child learn a part of this poem and all recite it together. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day……

The Bees’ Kingdom (excerpt from Henry V)

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE For so work the honey-bees, Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach The art of order to a peopled kingdom: They have a king and officers of state, Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad, Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon……

Foreign Lands

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Up into the cherry tree Who should climb but little me? I held the trunk with both my hands And looked abroad in foreign lands. I saw the next door garden lie, Adorned with flowers, before my eye, And many pleasant places more That I had never seen before. I saw……

The Little Waves of Breffny

BY EVA GORE-BOOTH The grand road from the mountain goes shining to the sea, And there is traffic in it and many a horse and cart, But the little roads of Cloonagh are dearer far to me, And the little roads of Cloonagh go rambling through my heart. A great storm from the ocean goes……

The Three Kings of Cologne

BY EUGENE FIELD From out Cologne there came three kings To worship Jesus Christ, their King. To Him they sought fine herbs they brought, And many a beauteous golden thing; They brought their gifts to Bethlehem town, And in that manger set them down. Then spake the first king, and he said: “O Child, most……

Conditor Alme Siderum (Vespers Hymn for Advent)

7th Century, Composer Unknown Translation by W.H. Monk and C. Steggall 1. Creator of the starry height, Thy people’s everlasting light, Jesu, Redeemer, save us all, Hear thou thy servants when they call. 2. Thou, sorrowing at the helpless cry Of all creation doomed to die, Didst save our lost and guilty race By healing……