Math Verses: Numbers

One is the Sun that shines so bright,
One is the moon so high;
One is the day and one is the night,
One is the sheltering sky.
One is a head so still and tame,
Upon one body whole with health;
And I is the one and the special name
That only I can call myself!


Two are the eyes with which I see,
Two are the ears that hear;
Joy and sorrow both live in me,
And so do courage and fear.
Darkness and Light must together live,
Night and day are as sister and brother;
And two are the hands that receive and give,
To help myself or serve another.


Around me in the world I see
Beast and plant and stone.
Nature weaves her world as Three,
But I am three in one:
A head well-wrought for wisdom's work,
A heart hallowed by love;
Strong limbs to labor on the earth
As Angels do above.


Summer and Autumn, Winter and Spring,
Through Four seasons passes the year;
Fire and Air, Water and Earth--
Out of these four does our whole world appear.


Five are the fingers upon each hand,
Each foot has its five toes;
Five rays has the star shining high o'er the land,
Five petals has the rose.
And when with limbs outstretched I alight,
Like a five-pointed star
All the world I make bright.

Verse: Grammar

(Nouns and Verbs For Class 2 or 3 Grammar)

Of all the things I can know and love, 
Like the earth below and the sky above, 
The wind in the trees 
And the waves of the sea: 
All these the noun will name for me. 
  

The dolphin, the whale and fishes bright,
The lark at dawn, and the owl of the night,
The fox in his den,
And the buck that springs:
The naming noun will name these things. 

  

Of all the things that as deeds are done,
I can leap or linger, romp and run,
I can weep salt tears,
And chuckle with glee:
And these the doing verbs decree. 

  

I live, I learn, I wish for, I work,
But if a good deed I would lazily shirk,
Then a charm I can say
The good to fulfill:

I can,
I should,
I want to,
I will!

VERSE: Acorn & the Oak

Acorn and Oak

“Oh I’ll never be big,” the acorn said 
As it gazed on high to the oak tree tall, 
“I’m little and round as a miller’s thumb, 
I’ll never be big, I’ll always be small.” 
  
The oak tree smiled a knowing smile, 
“My trunk is thick, and my roots are deep, 
My branches and twigs spread high and wide, 
For birds to nest in, and bugs to sleep. 
  
But I was an acorn too on a time, 
- ‘Oh I’ll never be big, I’ll never be strong,’- 
That’s what I thought many years ago... 
 And, dear little acorn, you see I was wrong!”

Paul King

Fable Verse: Fox & the Crow

The Fox and the Crow 
    (after Aesop) 
  
A coal-black crow sits in a tree, 
A morsel of cheese in his beak has he. 
A fox slinks by as sly as you please, 
And cunningly plots how to get the cheese. 
  
“Oh how I admire your feathers so spry, 
The sheen of your tail and the glint of your eye, 
The elegant curve of your beak sharp and long - 
But would I could hear your sweet voice raised in song!” 
  
At this the crow’s flattered and quite taken in; 
To impress the fox further he will now begin. 
He throws back his head, and rasping and raw,
He utters a raucous, cacophonous “Caw!” 
  
With beak all agape, the cheese tumbles out, 
The fox snaps it up in his long pointed snout. 
“Sing, Crow, your vanity, long as you please. 
You keep your song, and I’ll have the cheese!”

  Paul King

Fable Verse: Lion & Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse 
       (after Aesop) 
  
Lion lies sleeping, silent and still, 
Along comes a mouse and thinks he’s a hill. 
Up the great body the little mouse goes, 
Through mane, across ear, and down Lion’s nose. 
  
But Lion wakes up and gives a great roar, 
Catches poor Mouse in his long cruel claw. 
“How dare you walk over your king and your lord!
For this only death shall be your reward.” 
  
The little mouse shivers and shudders with fright, 
Tries hard to think how to put things a-right. 
“Forgive my mistake, mighty Lion, I pray, 
And I promise to help you too some day.” 
  
At this Lion laughs and shakes to and fro, 
But he’s now in good humour and lets the mouse go. 
  
Days come and days go, and some hunters pass by 
Who set a great lion-trap cunning and sly. 
Lion walks in, unaware of the threat, 
And suddenly finds himself caught in a net. 
  
Frustrated he roars with wrath and despair; 
Little Mouse hears how he’s caught in a snare. 
She remembers her promise and runs without pause 
To the spot where the Lion so rages and roars. 
  
Her sharp little teeth set to gnawing the rope, 
Thread after thread, now the Lion feels hope. 
Soon there’s a hole and the Lion is freed. 
The Mouse has kept her promise indeed!

 Paul King

Verse: Rainbow

 The Rainbow
Red, and orange, and yellow, and green: 
The rainbow’s seven colours have a bright shiny sheen.
Light blue, indigo, and violet all told. 
At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold.

Paul King

----
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,
Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

This can me a bridge game, like londan brige, but they go over it...instead of being trapped by it.

Math Verses: Counting by...

TWELVE TINY TADPOLES (adding 2)

 2 tiny tadpoles swimming near the shore, 
up swam another two and that made 4. 
  
4 tiny tadpoles playing naughty tricks, 
up swam another two and that made 6. 
  
6 tiny tadpoles in a giddy state, 
up swam another two and that made 8. 
  
8 tiny tadpoles found a little den, 
up swam another two and that made 10. 
  
10 tiny tadpoles in the mud did delve, 
up swam another two and that made 12. 
  
12 tiny tadpoles wriggling just for fun, 
One called out, “There’s the stork!”, 
.  .  . And then there were none. 

[because they'd all hidden, not because they were all eaten!]

Paul King