Mortimer Minute
Ruth at There Is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town tagged me for the Mortimer Minute. Here are the rules:
1) Make up three questions you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview about children’s poetry and then answer them on your own blog;
2) Invite one, two or three other bloggers who write poetry (preferably children’s poetry, but we’re broad-minded) to answer any three questions that they make up on their own blogs (they can copy someone else’s questions if they’d like)
3) In your post, let us know who your invitees are and when they’re are going to be posting their own Poetry Blog Hop questions and answers…if you know the dates.
Ruth chose me partly because we had our share of poetry classes together in college, longer ago than I care to mention. She mentions in her post that Emily Dickinson is partly responsible for her marriage, since her husband heard her read one of Dickinson’s poems in a college class and was, ahem, favorably impressed. I remember that I loved Ruth’s voice too; she could make a fortune creating audiobooks. She also has a gift for friendship and plenty of poetic talent herself.
The other reason she chose me is that I have a bunny, a real live one: Whisper the Incredibly Pampered Rabbit. He goes by many handles: Bunson Bunnydew, Pudge, and Bunny Buns. It’s a wonder he puts up with us. I’m sure he would love to meet Mortimer and have some real conversation!
It’s never occurred to me that anyone would ask me anything about children’s poetry, so I have racked my brain to come up with some questions. The easy and self-indulgent question is, what poems do you remember from your own childhood?
Alas, there are no masterpieces lurking there. Most of my childhood fare was of this variety:
Big A, Little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie’s alligator, A, A, A!
If it rains before 7, it will shine before 11…
30 days hath September, April, June, and November…
…from which we may conclude, I suppose, that my introduction to poetry was tied to its capacity for storing bits of life instruction. I could go on and on, but most folks reading this will have already mastered the rules for putting i before e, or reading the color of the sky at night, or…
A second question would be, what poems have you shared with your children?
I’ve had the pleasure of homeschooling my daughters and discovering various poems that way. Some of our favorites have been from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Child’s Garden of Verses (of course!); Wm. Brighty Rands’ “Great Wide Beautiful Wonderful World” (cited in this post); and various poems about horses (like the ones in these books or “The Man from Snowy River); and poems about birds. My oldest recited Tennyson’s “The Eagle” in first grade, and I can still hear her wondering little voice whenever I think of it. One of the most fun ones to recite is Oliver Herford’s “I Heard a Bird Sing,” cited here, but there are many other lovely ones in Bright Wings: An Anthology of Poems about Birds.
I’ve revisited with the girls many of those instructional verses populating my memory as well, and we are forever stumbling over poems in the midst of stories — most recently The Hobbit. It’s interesting to see how these poems seem to be necessary supplements, or completions, of the stories. From time, to time the girls are required to memorize a poem as part of their English study (this week Younger Daughter is working on “Ozymandias”), and it’s always fun when these fill the atmosphere. In fact, it’s amazing how much poetry is in the air, without working to make it a focus. That’s a good thing in a world that feels at times like it’s being flattened out and drained of some of its color.
My third question is borrowed from Ruth: How did you come to love poetry?
I must confess: I don’t know. Somewhere along the line, it happened. Somewhere along the line, poetry’s economy and evocativeness and capacity to seep into the seemingly hard permafrost beneath rational experience became important to me. I know that many times a stray line of poetry will come in answer to some hopeless line of thought, or will capture some aspect of something that I haven’t quite grasped. It’s as though there are phrases floating in the air, the product of others’ difficult thought and craftsmanship, waiting to bring sense and solace and companionship as needed.
I’ve tagged Amy at Hope Is the Word for the Mortimer Minute. Amy’s blog is always full of literary interest and the energy of a home full of young, learning children, so I’m really looking forward to what she’ll share next Friday.
Whisper looks pleasantly lulled by all the poetic rhapsodizing, doesn’t he?
We’ll leave him and Mortimer to their chat… and hop over to Merely Day By Day for the Poetry Friday roundup.
13 Comments
Ruth
Great Mortimer Minute! I especially loved reading about how your home is naturally full of poetry. I can imagine that! And thanks for the nice things you said about me. :-) I am sick in bed today, and you cheered me up.
jama
Lovely Mortimer Minute, Janet. Whisper is adorable, and I love all his different names.
I didn’t realize you and Ruth were college friends. Very cool!
Heidi Mordhorst
Wow. I think this must be my first time meeting you, Janet, and your writing is wonderful. The paragraph about how you came to love poetry is lovely, and Whisper is of course beyond gorgeous. Thanks for joining us today.
B.J. Lee
Nice Mortimer Minute! Love your grey bunny and all his nicknames! It’s nice to meet another person who cares deeply about poetry!
Tabatha
“I know that many times a stray line of poetry will come in answer to some hopeless line of thought, or will capture some aspect of something that I haven’t quite grasped. It’s as though there are phrases floating in the air, the product of others’ difficult thought and craftsmanship, waiting to bring sense and solace and companionship as needed.” — Lovely.
And Whisper is a *beauty*! (“Bunson Bunnydew” makes me smile.)
Barbara H.
Fun! The earliest poems I remember are from A Child’s Garden of Verses, especially the one about having to go to bed when it is still daylight. I also remember one from elementary school about a village smithy – I think maybe we had to memorize it, or at least studied it enough that I remember it more than others.
DebD
what a delightful post! I’m not a huge poetry fan, although I do enjoy some of it from time to time. My 17yr old, however, has fallen in love with poetry. She spends a good bit of time watching Slam poetry on YouTube.
Buffy Silverman
I love the idea of “phrases floating around the air….waiting to bring sense and solace and companionship.” Thanks for the delightful interview and for sharing your delightful bunny.
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
Janet, your response to the third question is like a melody– gentle and calming to the spirit. Thank you.
Myra from GatheringBooks
Love this Mortimer Minute and the photographs of Whisper (and of course, Mortimer too). I love these lines from what you just shared: “Somewhere along the line, poetry’s economy and evocativeness and capacity to seep into the seemingly hard permafrost beneath rational experience became important to me.”
I don’t know how poetry came to me as well, but I know that it came to me at the perfect moment. :) Thank you for sharing this. :)
Linda Baie
I love hearing “bunny buns”, but really prefer the name “Whisper”-a good name for a poetry rabbit. You’ve shared a beautiful piece in your Mortimer Minute. As I always love reading Ruth’s posts, I am not surprised you are buddies! I especially liked hearing about your children’s experiences and all the links. Thanks much for a poetry-loving post.
Violet N.
Your answer to how you came to love poetry is, as so many have said, wonderful! How lovely to hear of your college friendship with Ruth.
Tell Whisper he is very handsome with a plush coat that would be the envy of many a stuffed Mortimer, I’m sure.
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