February 7th is World Read Aloud Day so instead of a poetic form or fun ways to write poems, I bring you great poems to read aloud, something in this list of poems for everyone. Some fun, others powerful, some poignant, others purely for the sake of reading poetry, and more.

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Poetic Sundays: Great Poems to Read Aloud for All Ages

Well, when I thought of this post, I thought it will be easy enough. To list out a few cool poems that are cool to read out loud. Turns out it is harder than that. Picking just a few out of the tons of wonderful verses was hard, really difficult, almost an Herculean effort. So it took longer than I planned. But here is a list of poems for you, randomly picked out of the initial zillion! Each of the poets featured below have so many more poems that are also great to read aloud but..

Poems I have in entirety here are in the public domain. And for a few other poems that are in the public domain have linked to external sites because of length.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

• Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. The first few lines below:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

maggie and milly and molly and may

• E.E. Cummings, maggie and milly and molly and may (read the entire poem at poets.org – linked; first lines below)

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

How do I Love Thee

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, How do I Love Thee

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

• Emily Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who are you? (read the first few lines below)

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

And another by her: “Hope” is the thing with feathers

Hughes’ Dream poems

• Langston Hughes, The Dream Keeper /Harlem/Dreams

The Dream Keeper

Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers.
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too rough fingers
Of the world.

Read also: Harlem and Dreams

Eletelephony

• Laura Elizabeth Richards, Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

Lewis Carroll’s poems

• Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky/The Walrus and the Carpenter 

Of course, Jabberwocky is on the list. And I also love reading The Walrus and the Carpenter along with many other poems by Carroll.

Still I Rise

• Maya Angelou, Still I Rise/Caged Bird

Angelou’s Still I Rise is a powerful read, and one that is sure to make you feel empowered and inspired when you read it out loud. Another favorite is her Caged Bird

Robert Frost

• Robert Frost, Dust of Snow/The Road Not Taken/Fire and Ice

Dust of Snow is a short read but one that will add a spring to your step as soon as you read it.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Fire and Ice repeatedly finds itself in lists like this, and you can see why when you read it for yourself.

As for The Road Not Taken, I am sure you have read it at least once.

Shel Silverstein

• Shel Silverstein, so many of his poems that I just will leave it at the poet here
• And if you love Silverstein, then check out this post as well.

On the Ning Nang Nong 

• Spike Milligan, On the Ning Nang Nong  

This is such a fun poem to read out loud. You can listen to it here:

The Tyger

• William Blake, The Tyger (link has full poem; read first lines below)

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

• William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Wordsworth’s poem is a beautiful read, and transports us instantly to the world within.

and then books with poems/verses/verse novels to read out loud too. Of course, my blog is filled with poems and books of poems/verse novels/ and so much more. I have reviewed some of the books below on my blog before and tried to link reviews as well.

• 50 Great Poems to Read & Perform Out Loud
• Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme
• I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups
• Poems Aloud / Courage Out Loud (review post)/ Smile Out Loud (review post) by Joseph Coelho.
• Poems Out Loud!: First Poems to Read and Perform
• The Poem You Will Hate To Read (But Love To Listen To)
• Read! Read! Read! A book of poems about reading!! Check out my thoughts here.
• Read-Aloud Poems: 120 of the World’s Best-Loved Poems for Parent and Child to Share. My review for this book is here.
• Zorgamazoo (one of the many novels in verse I love.. )

I mentioned Billy Collins’ Poetry 180 Project in an earlier post. The List of All 180 Poems: Billy Collins selected this list of poems with high school students in mind; but of course, everyone can find something to read and enjoy here. He even talks about how to read a poem out loud here.

Also check out these sites to listen to poems read out loud:

• Poetry Out Loud
• The Children’s Poetry Archive

Recently

On My Blog And the Homefront

Got more posts than I expected into the blog this week…

• When You Didn’t See that Coming
• Wacky and Wonderful: Celebrate Backwards Day with These Fun Tips!
• Sharing 10 Favorite New Authors Between Breaths and Beats
• 5 Lunar New Year Books for Kids: Wishing You Luck
• Sunday Scribblings #174: Brick Verse: A Playful and Unique Way to Poetry Crafting

And on the home front, our home is almost back to normal.. just a tiny few things I need to clean up and reorganize and we are done (for at least a while).

Upcoming

On My Blog and Homefront

Oh my mommy heart!! Can it really be happening? My DD – my youngest – is turning 18! So regardless of the other celebrations I list out here below, we are celebrating her this week!! And while her brother cannot make it in person this coming week/weekend to celebrate with her, we will be getting together in the next couple of weeks for sure.

And I hope to share more posts here – bookish and not..

This Week’s Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: William S. Burroughs and Tom Eaton on the 5th; Bob Marley on Feb 6th; Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis, and Laura Ingalls Wilder on the 7th; Elizabeth Bishop, Kate Chopin, John Grisham, Jules Verne, and Rebecca Wells on the 8th; Alice Walker on the 9th; Charles Lamb and Boris Pasternak on the 10th; Sidney Sheldon and Mo Willems on the 11th
• It is World Read Aloud Day on the 7th of February.
• Another way to read celebrated on Feb 9th with Read In The Bathtub Day!
• and All the News That’s Fit to Print Day on February 10.
• This second week of February is Freelance Writers Appreciation Week (5th through the 11th this year)

Foodie Celebrations

• The week starts with a couple of sweet treats for it is World Nutella Day as well as National Chocolate Fondue Day on the 5th.
• Then it is National Frozen Yogurt Day on the 6th of February and also National Chopsticks Day.
• Followed by National Fettuccine Alfredo Day on the 7th
• The 8th is National Molasses Bar Day, and also ‘any food the birthday girl enjoys day’ at our home, as it is my DD’s birthday:)
• Another day to celebrate pizza for it is National Pizza Day is on the 9th of February
• It is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day and World Pulses Day on Feb 10th
• followed by National Peppermint Patty Day and National Latte Day on the 11th of February.

Other Celebrations

• The 5th is Western Monarch Day and while we haven’t able to go see the monarchs this year at their migratory stops in our area, I fondly recall past visits. Seeing the monarchs is a glorious sight always!
• February 6th is Pay a Compliment Day. I love this.. and we should of course pay at least one compliment to someone everyday..
• The 7th is National Periodic Table Day.. and I am always in awe of this coolest of tables I know. And also National Ballet Day, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and National Send a Card to a Friend Day.
• Then the 8th is special for me. It is, as I mentioned already, my DD’s birthday. It also observes National Boy Scouts Day.
• National Umbrella Day is on the 10th of February and also Valentismas (Valentine’s Day and Christmas)
• The 10th, which is the second Saturday in February this year, is also Global Movie Day 
• February 11th is National Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day and National Make a Friend Day. It is also Be Electrific Day and National Inventors’ Day  (in honor of Thomas Alva Edison). As well as International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.