Blast from the Poetry Past: 1924

In 1924, A.A. Milne published When We Were Very Young illustrated by E. H. Shepard, followed by Now We Are Six (1927). Here’s where we first meet the now-beloved Winnie-the-Pooh in the poem, “Teddy Bear.”

One of my favorite poems from When We Were Very Young is the rather subversive, “Disobedience.” Here’s how it begins:

     "James James
     Morrison Morrison
     Weatherby George Dupree
     Took great
     Care of his Mother,
     Though he was only three.
     James James
     Said to his Mother,
     “Mother,” he said, said he:
“You must never go down to the end of the town,
     if you don’t go down with me.”

(You’ll find the whole poem here.)



 
Contemporary Connections
Here are a handful of recent poetry anthologies that feature “old” poems in “new” ways—with new art and a new look. Look for:

Andrews, Julie and Hamilton, Emma Walton. Eds. 2012. Julie Andrews’ Treasury for All Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year. Ill. by Marjorie Priceman. New York: Little, Brown.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. Ed. 2012. Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart. Ill. by Michael Emberley. New York: Little, Brown.

Lewis, J. Patrick. Ed. 2012. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. Washington DC: National Geographic.

Merchant, Natalie. Ed. 2012. Leave Your Sleep. Ill. by Barbara McClintock. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

 Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.

Image credits: nationalgeographic;wikipedia