Day One Hundred and Forty-One
The Everyman Anthology of Poetry for Children Page: 379
Brideshead Revisited Page: 315
I must confess, I’m a bit shocked. It is mis-titled and mis-intended. A poem about wanting to crawl back into the womb? For children? A line in a poem that says we might as well suck at a dug? For kids? Really? I don’t think so.
It’s not that good, fun poems weren’t included, because they were. And there are rich, deep ones too but there are far too many poems in this collection that would involve complex and grown-up explanations far beyond the capacity of most children. It might qualify as an anthology of poetry for teens or rather mature grade-schoolers but I won’t answer for the consequences. If you want to explain to your six-year-old what is meant by virgin and why it’s so important for the bride to be one, that’s your business but I’ll wait till he’s a bit older before I delve into that topic. Also a high number of morbid poems are included with hangings, cemetery decay and faithless lovers all making a showing. I’m sad that I finally have to recommend against one of Everyman’s selections for children but their you have it. I get to go ride home in the rain now…