Page 1 of 3
Homeschool Learning Network
Poems
Name ___________________________
Date _____________________
Grade 5 Week 24
Additional Activity: Complete the Poetry Analysis Worksheet available this week for one or more
of the following poems..
I Hear America Singing
By Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the
steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon
intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl
sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust,
friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
© 2004 The Homeschool Learning Network, all rights reserved. The Homeschool Learning Network permits teachers and parents to reproduce this
page for non-profit and educational purposes only. http://www.homeschoollearning.com
Page 2 of 3
Homeschool Learning Network
Poems
Name ___________________________
Date _____________________
I, Too, Sing America
By Langston Hughes
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-I, too, am America.
© 2004 The Homeschool Learning Network, all rights reserved. The Homeschool Learning Network permits teachers and parents to reproduce this
page for non-profit and educational purposes only. http://www.homeschoollearning.com
Page 3 of 3
Homeschool Learning Network
Poems
Name ___________________________
Date _____________________
The Snowstorm
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
Come see the northwind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every wayward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of snow.
© 2004 The Homeschool Learning Network, all rights reserved. The Homeschool Learning Network permits teachers and parents to reproduce this
page for non-profit and educational purposes only. http://www.homeschoollearning.com