L'Allegro by John Milton

Posted by Henry on February 04, 2004

In Reply to: Children's verse posted by Henry on February 04, 2004

: : : : : : Hi

: : : : : : I know this is probably the rong place to try but here goes anyway. I am trying to find a poem I read in school in Scotland. It was about a Hawthorne tree and a babbling brook. I cant remember the author or title, ( big help). It is quite important as my mother in law read the same poem and loved it but she is very poorly at the moment and I would love to find it for her. so if there are any old or new English teachers out there that can help I would be very grateful. Thanks anyway.

: : : : : : Lorna

: : : : : I am in the U.S. I collect children's poetry books and have several old ones. So if someone has a clue to the title and can't locate it online, I'd be glad to try and find it.

: : : : Here's a babbling brook but no hawthorn!
: : : : The Brook by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

: : : : I come from haunts of coot and hern,
: : : : I make a sudden sally
: : : : And sparkle out among the fern,
: : : : To bicker down a valley.

: : : : By thirty hills I hurry down,
: : : : Or slip between the ridges,
: : : : By twenty thorpes, a little town,
: : : : And half a hundred bridges.

: : : : Till last by Philip's farm I flow
: : : : To join the brimming river,
: : : : For men may come and men may go,
: : : : But I go on for ever.

: : : : I chatter over stony ways,
: : : : In little sharps and trebles,
: : : : I bubble into eddying bays,
: : : : I babble on the pebbles.

: : : : With many a curve my banks I fret
: : : : By many a field and fallow,
: : : : And many a fairy foreland set
: : : : With willow-weed and mallow.

: : : : I chatter, chatter, as I flow
: : : : To join the brimming river,
: : : : For men may come and men may go,
: : : : But I go on for ever.

: : : : I wind about, and in and out,
: : : : With here a blossom sailing,
: : : : And here and there a lusty trout,
: : : : And here and there a grayling,

: : : : And here and there a foamy flake
: : : : Upon me, as I travel
: : : : With many a silvery waterbreak
: : : : Above the golden gravel,

: : : : And draw them all along, and flow
: : : : To join the brimming river
: : : : For men may come and men may go,
: : : : But I go on for ever.

: : : : I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
: : : : I slide by hazel covers;
: : : : I move the sweet forget-me-nots
: : : : That grow for happy lovers.

: : : : I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
: : : : Among my skimming swallows;
: : : : I make the netted sunbeam dance
: : : : Against my sandy shallows.

: : : : I murmur under moon and stars
: : : : In brambly wildernesses;
: : : : I linger by my shingly bars;
: : : : I loiter round my cresses;

: : : : And out again I curve and flow
: : : : To join the brimming river,
: : : : For men may come and men may go,
: : : : But I go on for ever.

: : : From The Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith

: : : Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain,
: : : Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
: : : Where smiling spring its earliest visits paid,
: : : And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed:
: : : Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
: : : Seats of my youth, where every sport could please,
: : : How often have I loitered o'er your green,
: : : Where humble happiness endeared each scene;
: : : How often have I paused on every charm,
: : : The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm,
: : : The never-failing brook, the busy mill,
: : : The decent church that topped the neighbouring hill,
: : : The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
: : : For talking age and whispering lovers made;

: : I wonder if Ms. Cooper is going to come back and tell us if that's the one.

: ESC; In case it may interest you, here's a reply kindly sent to me last year from Skokie, Illinois, which claims to be the largest village in the world;

: Our children's librarians have tracked down the answer to your question. Rosemary Wells did indeed write a poem entitled "Skokie". It's
: in a book entitled _Don't Spill It Again, James_, published by Dial Press, copyright 1977. The illustrations are charming: the characters are two brothers taking the train to Skokie. The poem goes like this:

: "We're on our way to Skokie.
: Everything is Okey-Dokey.
: I've got the money.
: You've got the lunch.
: We've got our presents
: In a great big bunch.

: We're on our way to Skokie.
: Everything is very smoky.
: You start to choke.
: I start to wheeze.
: Open up the window
: And let's all freeze.

: We're on our way to Skokie.
: This train is very poky.
: But never you mind.
: Let's see a smile,
: And we'll get to Skokie in style!"

From L'Allegro by John Milton

While the Plowman neer at hand,
Whistles ore the Furrow'd Land,
And the Milkmaid singeth blithe,
And the Mower whets his sithe,
And every Shepherd tells his tale
Under the Hawthorn in the dale.
Streit mine eye hath caught new pleasures
Whilst the Lantskip round it measures,
Russet Lawns, and Fallows Gray,
Where the nibling flocks do stray,
Mountains on whose barren brest
The labouring clouds do often rest:
Meadows trim with Daisies pide,
Shallow Brooks, and Rivers wide.