Things I won't forget - Silver & Gold 1925
Posted: 24 Feb 2016, 10:23
Things I won't forget - Silver & Gold /Barbara Stoney Biography(part)
I love this poem,but are these the only two books it has appeared in,or is it in any other collections?
I love this poem,but are these the only two books it has appeared in,or is it in any other collections?
I've always misread the last line as' though they'll know I'm long past sight!' - which to me always made it seem even more poignant and reflective,as if written through the eyes of a very old person reflecting back over a very long life!
When I'm grown up I won't forget the things I think to-day-
I won't forget the sort of things I like to do and say;
I won't be like the folk I know, who seem so very old,
And quite forget the things they did when they were eight years old.
I won't forget the nasty noise that gurgles every night
When all the water in the bath is swallowed out of sight;
I won't forget I thought it was a thirsty giant's roar,
Who'd swallow both my feed unless I jumped out on the floor!
I always will remember how I simply love to see
A circus where the clowns are all as funny as can be.
I love to see them fall about and knock each other down:
And p'raps when I am quite grown up, I'll be a circus clown.
I won't forget what fun it is to make a bonfire blaze-
The sort that gardener keeps alight on dark November days.
I won't forget what fairies are, nor how I saw a gnome
One summer's day on Bracken Hill when I was hurrying home.
I'll always think what lovely times I have with Auntie Nell-
I won't forget the lovely tales of fairies she can tell.
And oh! I never could forget that horrid horrid sound
That frightens me at night-time when the wind is moaning round!
There's lots of other things, of course, that I'll remember too;
And then when I'm grown up I'll know what children like to do.
I'll know the things they're frightened of, I'll know the things they hate-
And oh! I hope they'll love me, though they'll know I'm long past eight!