POETRY: DECLAMATION PIECE, POEMS, SPEECH

The Eagle and the Mole Elinor Wylie Avoid the reeking herd, Shun the polluted flock, Live like that stoic bird, The Eagle of the rock. The huddled warmth of crowds Begets and fosters hate; He keeps, above the clouds, His cliff inviolate. When flocks are folded warm, And herds to shelter run, He sails above the storm, He stares into the sun. If in the eagle's track Your sinews cannot leap, Avoid the lathered pack, Turn from the steaming sheep. If you would keep your soul from spotted sight or sound, Live like the velvet mole; Go borrow underground. And there hold intercourse With roots of trees and stones With rivers at their source, And disembodied bones.

When to the Sessions  of Sweet Silent Thought William Shakespeare When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste: Then can I drown an eye, Unused to flow, For precious friends hid in death's dateless night, And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe, And moan the expense of many a vanished sight: Then can I grieve at Grievances foregone, And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er The sad account to fore-bemoaned moan, Which I new pay as if not paid before. But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restored and sorrows end.

From Twelfth Night William Shakespeare When that I was and a little tiny boy, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, A foolish thing was but a toy, For the rain it raineth everyday. But when I came to man's estate, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate, For the rain it raineth every day. But when I came, Alas! to wive, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, By swaggering could I never thrive, For the rain it raineth every day. But when I came unto my beds, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, With toss-pots still had drunken heads, For the rain it raineth every day. A great while ago the world begun, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, But that's all one, our play is done, And we'll strive to please you every day.

To the evening star William Blake Thou fair-hair'd angel of the evening, Now, while the sun rests on the mountains, light Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown Put on, and smile upon our evening bed! Smile on our loves; and, while thou drawers the Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes, And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon, Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide, And the lion glares thro' the dun forest: The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence

A Beautiful Person With A Heart Of Gold   Francis Duggan She sees things of beauty in all that she see And what's beautiful to her seems ugly to me What to her is a flower to me is a weed We do seem so different so different indeed. The window of her soul is open to light She always seems happy and bubbly and bright And her type of person a pleasure to know For beauty goes with her where-ever she go. Of those who are different good things she does say And for to help out others she goes out of her way She helps out the homeless and those in dire poverty I do not know of anyone as great as she. And sad to think her type are becoming more rare For the poor and downtrodden she genuinely does care To the most worthy causes her work free time she devote Yet she is not seen as one worthy of note. A beautiful person with a heart of gold And surely her story deserves to be told Not proud of her beauty and free of conceit And ...

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love   By Christopher Marlowe   Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the Rocks, Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow Rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing Madrigals. And I will make thee beds of Roses And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty Lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and Ivy buds, With Coral clasps and Amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me, and be my love. The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May-morning: If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my love.

The Aim Was Song By Robert Frost Before man came to blow it right      The wind once blew itself untaught, And did its loudest day and night      In any rough place where it caught. Man came to tell it what was wrong:      It hadn’t found the place to blow; It blew too hard—the aim was song.      And listen—how it ought to go! He took a little in his mouth,      And held it long enough for north To be converted into south,      And then by measure blew it forth. By measure. It was word and note,      The wind the wind had meant to be— A little through the lips and throat.      The aim was song—the wind could see.

Gathering Leaves By Robert Frost  Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I fill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight, And since they grew duller From contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use, But a crop is a crop, And who’s to say where The harvest shall stop?

Eating Words   By Katherine Hauth When you know   that  vore  means  eat , you will know t hat  insectivores  feed on grasshoppers, moths, and butterflies, mosquitoes, bees, and plain-old flies. When you know that  carni  means  meat , you will know that  carnivores  eat  snakes and lizards, deer and lamb, carrion, birds, fish, and ham. When you know that  herb  means  plant , you will know that  herbivores  CAN'T  eat anything that moves on a foot, just foods that spring up from a root. When you know that  omni  means  all , you will know that  omnivores  call Everything  they can suck or chew— sometimes even me or you— food.