Poems, Prayers and Promises

And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in.
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care.
How long it's been since yesterday
And what about tomorrow
And what about our dreams
And all the memories we share?
- John Denver

On Christmas Eve, we were all gathered around the kitchen center island munching on snacks, and someone made reference to a line in the poem "The Night Before Christmas." Laura's boyfriend had no idea what we were referring to. We were all surprised that he didn't understand the reference and in unison, the girls started reciting the poem. They didn't quite get all the way through it, but they were close. And we started talking about poetry. The other one they know well and can recite most of is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert W. Service. It's a long one, 14 verses.

Both my mother and my father's mother, my Grandma Helen, used to recite poetry to me. I'm not sure why my mother was so big on poetry because I don't ever remember her mother reciting poetry. Grandma Helen had all sorts of nonsense poems she would recite to us. But every December 24th, my mother would read "The Night Before Christmas" to us. And "The Cremation of Sam McGee" was one of her favorites and we all thought it was just ghastly enough to be fascinated with it as children.

Another favorite of hers was "Barbara Fritchie". A story about Stonewall Jackson marching into Frederick town, and 90 year-old Barbara Fritchie flying the Union flag from her attic window in defiance. And when the rebels tried to shoot it down:

'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag,' she said.

I always thought that was an incredibly brave and patriotic thing to do. And if I reflect back, that was probably planted the earliest seeds of my patriotism. The understanding that being patriotic means taking a stand for your country in the face of personal cost. The poem was written in 1864, and whether or not the events in the poem occurred exactly as written, it has inspired countless others, including Winston Churchill who visited the town in 1943 and recited the poem as well.

One Christmas, Grandma Helen gave us the book, "The Best Loved Poems of the American People." I spent countless hours pouring over that book. It contained some famous passages from Shakespeare, some well known Bible verses, famous speeches, songs such as the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, and dozens of others. Many of the poems in that book are part of the Core Knowledge curriculum at my school. At a time when too many school districts are cutting curricula, poetry is too often on the chopping block. Or it is replaced with simplistic poems by modern children's authors. Classic poems are just as important as classic literature, and can be just as inspirational. It's important to share them with our children as part of our past and our future.

And what about our dreams,
And all the memories we share?