Recitation of Poem : I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

 Classes started. I thought of getting ready with my poem selections for this year little early. Here comes the first...by Mary Angelou, one of the most visible female American poets of this era.

I know why the caged bird sings
by Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.

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Maya Angelou (born 1928) is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her first seventeen years. It brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book Award. She has been awarded over 30 honorary degrees and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie.
Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.

Synonym Finder & Antonym Finder

 Part of my English grammer learnings we need to find out synonyms and antonyms. Following sites are pretty useful

• Synonym Finder (Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings)
• Antonym Finder  (Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings. )
  

Recitation of Poem : Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Christmas holidays over and back to school. Competitions are back and some of the english poems for recitation competitions for you my friends. These are part of my shorlists.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Recitation of Poem - The Lake Isle of Innisfree - W B Yeats

This is another poem which I liked. I am adding this to the shortlist for my 5th standard English Poem recitation. The Lake Isle of Innisfree - William Butler Yeats.

You can access the audio of the poem recitation by the poet from the following link. The Lake Isle of Innisfree recitation by W B Yeats

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Written by William Butler Yeats

I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Recitation of Poem - My Shadow by R L Stevenson

I am preparing for the 5th standard English poetry recitation competition. I am planning to select few poems and finalise one in coming weeks.My Sharow by Stevenson is a beautiful little poem.

My Shadow
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward, you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed

Recitation of Poem - Daffodils by Wordsworth

Daffodils by William Wordsworth is a beautiful and fameous poem. I recited this poem in the English recitation competition in my school (during my 3rd standard days).

Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

My first Novel - The Chocolate Palace and the three Girls

This is my first Novel...
The Chocolate Palace and  the three Girls
Children from a primary school went for a picnic to a resort in  a forest. Their teacher tell a story about the resort castle and a chocolate palace in the forest nearby. Three girls decide to go in search of the palace and meet the princess...

Thanks to my teacher...this novel is part of a project work at school.

Read more ... (Click the View Full screen link at the top right corner of story window ...next to 18...)


The Chocolate Palace and the three Girls -