Student: Hi, Professor McPatrick! What's the name of the poem we're reading today?
Teacher: Oh, I'm so glad you asked! Today's poem... is called, "POEM".
Student: *giggle giggle ...WHAT??
Yes, there IS, in fact, a poem under the name of "Poem". It's a poem found in A. A. Milne's book, "The House at Pooh Corner", written way back in 1928.
"Pooh? ...As in WINNIE THE POOH?!"
"I LOVE Winnie the Pooh! I saw ALL of the Storybook classics on TV!"
"I saw the whole series of 'The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh', AND 'The Book of Pooh'!"
"We're too OLD for Winnie the Pooh!"
"Oh, don't be so sure, old chap! There is a LOT more for us all to learn in the Hundred Acre Wood than meets the eye."
"Careful, fella. Yer startin' to sound like Owl!"
Quite right! And I bet you didn't know that Pooh Bear and friends were VERY fond of poetry themselves. THIS poem is Eeyore's poem, and it is called "Poem."
...And THIS is how it goes.
POEM - A. A. Milne, 1928, The House at Pooh Corner, The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie the Pooh, Page 329-330
Christopher Robin is going,
At least I think he is.
Where?
Nobody knows.
But he is going-
I mean he goes
(to rhyme with "knows")
Do we care?
(to rhyme with "where")
We do
Very much.
(I haven't got a rhyme for that "is" in the second line yet. Bother.)
(Now I haven't got a rhyme for "bother". Bother.)
Those two bothers will have
To rhyme with each other
Buther.
The fact is this is more difficult
Than I thought,
I ought-
(Very good indeed)
I ought
To begin again,
But it is easier
To stop.
Christopher Robin, good-bye,
I
(good)
I
And all your friends
Sends-
I mean all your friends
Send-
(Very awkward this, it keeps going wrong)
Well anyhow, we send
Our love
END.
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Teacher: As Eeyore would say, "If anyone wants to clap, now is the time to do it."
Student: Yeah! WOOHOO! Let's give Eeyore a round of applause for his brave recital!
Teacher: It WAS pretty brave of him, wasn't it? He kept slipping up, but he still pressed on anyway and finished strong. That's a lesson we ALL can learn from.
BRINNNNNNNGGG!!
Teacher: ...And that's the bell again! If everyone enjoyed the poem, then I'll be sure to pick another Hundred Acre poem to study next week! CLASS DISMISSED!
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