what to look for in others, and how to deal with them I am well aware that in teaching them to children. to ordinary readers it will seem unnecessary and impertinent to dwell at such length upon things which are obvious to them; but to elementary school children of twelve or thirteen they are not obvious: one cannot take it for granted that they understand even the simplest language, and, in attempting to stimulate their imagination and arouse in them some literary sense, a very full treatment, such as is here suggested, is necessary. The poems are arranged to illustrate and "interpret" successive phases and experiences of life, from childhood to death. E. F. D. INTRODUCTION WHAT USE CAN BE MADE OF POETRY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS? Poetry is essentially a thing to be felt, not argued about or explained; it is a difficult matter therefore to speak about it. It appeals to the emotions rather than to the reason. Definitions of it are unsatisfactory, and when one who delights in and is helped by the best poetry endeavours to explain to others how he derives pleasure and profit from it, he is at a loss how to begin. Yet this question of the use which may be made of poetry in our schools is an important one, and one which has been a good deal neglected; so that it may be well to gather together at any rate a few fragmentary thoughts about it, without pretending to deal exhaustively with the subject. The importance of poetry in our elementary school course has been recognized for some time past by the requirement that a certain number of lines shall be learned by heart every year in each class. This is in itself an admirable provision, but from the nature of the case only a limited amount can be learned by heart. In addition to this, there might with advantage be a much more wide reading of poetry, especially in the higher classes. Only a limited number of lines can be learned, but it must not be too limited. In former years the very modest minimum prescribed by the Code used to satisfy most teachers. Very often the lines were learned just before the annual examination, and for the rest of the year no poetry was taken. If it was taken throughout the year, the same few lines were repeated again and again, till the children were wearied to death of them. In either case the object aimed at in prescribing the learning of poetry was defeated. There should be regular lessons throughout the year, and when one piece is known the children should go on to learn another, it being quite possible to keep fresh their knowledge of the old pieces by an occasional repetition of them. The aim should be always to rouse the children's interest in what they learn, not to secure a mere parrot repetition of it, nor to make them dislike it by going over it ad nauseam. The sensible course is to read as much poetry as possible, and to learn by heart the best pieces read. It is not, of course, necessary that all the lines learned should come from one poem and be continuous. Extracts here and there which are specially beautiful may be learned, or a number of short complete poems. What, then, are some of the reasons for the study of poetry in our schools? (i) The first is that it cultivates the imagination. "However moderate and limited the opportunity for education," says Mr. Frederic Harrison, "in its way it should be always more or less symmetrical and balanced, appealing equally in turn to the three grand intellectual elementsimagination, memory, and reflection." No one will deny that the work in our elementary schools trains the memory. It is indeed the chief indictment against the system that it teaches the children to rely too much on memory to learn by rote, and does not develop originality and power of independent thought. We are becoming more alive now to the need of getting children to think for themselves, and this involves not only reflection but imagination. The two cannot be labelled as separate faculties. They intermingle with one another; and so in every subject in which we stimulate children to think for themselves we are developing their imagination also. But more direct training of the imagination is undoubtedly needed. |