Elizabeth's poetry recitation--"The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere"

Elizabeth worked hard for two weeks on memorizing "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere", which has close to a hundred lines to it. I videoed her right before oral surgery, in case she was bruised and swollen. The oral surgery went very well, by the way. On another side note, the earrings that she is wearing, she made herself mostly in art class. They are sculpey crosses in two different shades of blue. We bought some earring backs at Michael's and, thanks to the miracle of the hot glue gun, she had herself a new pair of earrings. If you want a really good illustrated version of the poem, check out, a version illustrated by Christopher Bing. It has a map of the routes taken by Paul Revere and other riders as well as the route taken by the British army. Instead of putting the whole poem on the page, like I did with the others, I am including a link to the poem. http://www.nationalcenter.org/PaulRevere

Jessi's recitation: "The New Colossus"

Note:
I have received some feedback that the audio on Kyle's recitation was pretty low. He had a microphone near his mouth. He tends to speak quietly when he is a little nervous. However, when he is upset or playing, he gets REALLY loud. There is no moderation with him. I might try and re-record Kyle, asking him to speak up a bit. As an additional side-note, Kyle has chosen a second poem to memorize which is four lines long and is a mouse lullaby. He is already finished with that one.

For Jessi, I chose "The New Colossus" because it was about the same length as Kyle's poem and really highlights that most of the people who emigrated to America, including the Pilgrims and Jamestown settlers, were considered "losers" (in our vernacular) by their contemporaries. What makes this poem difficult to memorize is that it doesn't have as obvious a rhythm as "Concord Hymn" and some of the sentences end in the middle of a line. (BTW, if you listen carefully, you will hear the boys yelling in the background and me telling them to be quiet. They were actually upstairs and I spoke to them from the bottom of the stairs. I wish I had one of those "red lights" to make my home a silent zone.) I will include the words to "The New Colussus" with the video. Jessi has chosen for her new poem to memorize, all on her own, the poem "Barbara Frietchie" by John Greenleaf Whittier. That one is much longer

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Kyle reciting "Concord Hymn"

As I mentioned in my homeschool update blog, I am having the three oldest kids memorize a poem about America and especially about the American Colonies. Kyle and Jessi have finished their poems. I had Kyle memorize "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson because it was about the first battle between the American Colonists and the British soldiers who were marching to Lexington to confiscate not only a store of guns and gunpowder to hamstring the Colonists revolutionary tendencies, but also John Hancock and Samuel Adams to silence them. Unfortunately for the soldiers, Paul Revere and his buddies had already alerted everyone and instead of taking the Colonists by surprise, they were surprised to see men at arms ready to defend themselves and John and Sam long gone. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this hymn which was sung at a dedication of a monument on April 19, 1836. I chose it because of the most famous phrase "And fired a shot heard round the world." The poem in its entirety is shown below. My favorite part is the last stanza.




Concord Hymn
By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled
Here once the emattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world

The foe long since in silence slept
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps

On this green bank, by this soft stream
We set today a votive stone
That memory may their deed redeem
When, like our sires, our sons are gone

Spirit, that made these heroes dare
To die and leave their children free
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
This shaft we raise to them and thee.

by Ralph Waldo Emerson