Poems in my posts

Those of you, following my blog, will have noticed, that I often quote a poem, appropriate to the post.
Sometimes, there is just a verse or two, I don't want the posts to be too long, it's just the time for a cup of coffee or tea.
Poetry is very important to me. Without wishing to appear OTT, it seems to go straight to my soul, to nourish my spirit.
It must come from my Mum, like a lot of the really good things in life. She often read us poems, in her gentle voice, she made them come alive.
There were two by Robert Louis Stevenson, that we really loved. I 'll just write one verse of each, so you can get the flavour.


In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle light,
In Summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
(from Bed in Summer)

I actually liked lying in bed on summer evenings, with the light coming through the curtains, and hearing my Mum and Dad downstairs.

Even now, when we go to England, from Italy, in the summer, we find it hard to get used to there not being shutters, and so my sister-in-law has bought us all eye masks to help us sleep beyond 5 am.

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every time at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the Street.
(from The Lamplighter)

This poem is about what was my favourite time of day, as a child. Teatime.
In Italy it is called merenda ("snack") and I loved it as a mother too. It is a moment when you have a chance to talk about the day's events, and relax with the children.


It is also nice to imagine what life was like without electric lights, what it must have been like to see the Street slowly start to glow in the lamplight.

As I said above, poetry speaks to my soul.
This is what the poet Shelley said :-

"Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.
Poetry makes immortal all that is best and most beautiful in the world.
Poetry redeems from decay the visitations of the divinity in man."

When I was Mrs Rabbit in the Primary school play, I discovered what a great feeling it 
is to make children laugh, by reciting a poem, a limerick.

There was an old man from Peru
Who dreamt he was eating his shoe,
He awoke in the night,
In a terrible fright,
To find it was perfectly true.

So there we are, humour and poetry together, wonderful.