Green Glass Beads Read online

  Contents

  Foreword by Jacqueline Wilson

  Friends

  Me & You Mandy Coe

  Tunbridge Wells Fleur Adcock

  Friends Elizabeth Jennings

  Sporty People Wendy Cope

  Prior Knowledge Carol Ann Duffy

  Sassenachs Jackie Kay

  It Is a Puzzle Allan Ahlberg

  Summer Romance Jackie Kay

  I’m Nobody! Who Are You? Emily Dickinson

  Family

  Sleep, Baby, Sleep Anon.

  New Baby Jackie Kay

  My Baby Brother’s Secrets John Foster

  Balloons Sylvia Plath

  Sister in a Whale Julie O’Callaghan

  Human Affection Stevie Smith

  The Housemaid’s Letter Clare Bevan

  Sidcup, 1940 Fleur Adcock

  Sensing Mother Mandy Coe

  Daddy Fell into the Pond Alfred Noyes

  Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Adrienne Rich

  Uncle Edward’s Affliction Vernon Scannell

  Grandmamma’s Birthday Hilaire Belloc

  Indifference Harry Graham

  Your Grandmother Carol Ann Duffy

  Rooty Tooty Carol Ann Duffy

  Grandpa’s Soup Jackie Kay

  Nymphs, Mermaids, Fairies, Witches – and One Giantess

  Overheard on a Saltmarsh Harold Monro

  from Prothalamion Edmund Spenser

  Sabrina Fair John Milton

  The Mermaid Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  The Merman Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  Wish Mandy Coe

  The Girl Who Could See Fairies Marian Swinger

  The Spider Clare Bevan

  A Fairy Went a-Marketing Rose Fyleman

  The Fairy’s Song William Shakespeare

  The Fairies William Allingham

  Thrice Toss These Oaken Ashes in the Air Thomas Campion

  The Old Witch in the Copse Frances Cornford

  Fire, Burn; and Cauldron, Bubble William Shakespeare

  The Giantess Carol Ann Duffy

  Clothes

  My Sari Debjani Chatterjee

  My Hat Stevie Smith

  Purple Shoes Irene Rawnsley

  Red Boots On Kit Wright

  Warning Jenny Joseph

  Birds and Animals

  The Prayer of the Little Ducks Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, translated from the French by Rumer Godden

  A Melancholy Lay Marjory Fleming

  The Swallow Christina Rossetti

  The Owl and the Pussy-Cat Edward Lear

  The Frog Who Dreamed She Was an Opera Singer Jackie Kay

  The Singing Cat Stevie Smith

  The Song of the Jellicles T. S. Eliot

  The Cat and the Moon W. B. Yeats

  My Cat Jeoffry Christopher Smart

  The Tyger William Blake

  A Sonnet on a Monkey Marjory Fleming

  The Cow Robert Louis Stevenson

  Cow Ted Hughes

  The Blessing James Wright

  A Small Dragon Brian Patten

  Toy Dog Carol Ann Duffy

  A Garden of Bears U. A. Fanthorpe

  Animals Sharon Thesen

  School

  Halfway Street, Sidcup Fleur Adcock

  St Gertrude’s, Sidcup Fleur Adcock

  A Poetry on Geometry Ruhee Parelkar

  Inside Sir’s Matchbox John Foster

  Dream Team Frances Nagle

  Make It Bigger, Eileen! Joseph Coelho

  The New Girl Clare Bevan

  Mrs Mackenzie Gillian Floyd

  The Day After Wes Magee

  Squirrels and Motorbikes David Whitehead

  The Fairy School under the Loch John Rice

  We Lost Our Teacher to the Sea David Harmer

  Ms Fleur Mary Green

  Changed Dave Calder

  Teacher Carol Ann Duffy

  St Judas Welcomes Author Philip Arder Philip Ardagh

  Birth and Death

  You’re Sylvia Plath

  Morning Song Sylvia Plath

  Drury Goodbyes Fleur Adcock

  Not Waving but Drowning Stevie Smith

  Song Christina Rossetti

  Remember Christina Rossetti

  Fidele’s Dirge William Shakespeare

  Stop All the Clocks, W. H. Auden

  Break, Break, Break Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  Ariel’s Song William Shakespeare

  The Stranger Walter de la Mare

  Children

  A Song about Myself John Keats

  What Are Little Girls . . . Adrian Henri

  The Boy Actor Noel Coward

  The Adventures of Isabel Ogden Nash

  maggie and milly and molly and may E. E. Cummings

  Equestrienne Rachel Field

  Brendon Gallacher Jackie Kay

  If No One Ever Marries Me Laurence Alma-Tadema

  Colouring In Jan Dean

  Amanda! Robin Klein

  Halo Carol Ann Duffy

  Good Girls Irene Rawnsley

  Women

  Minnie and Winnie Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  Tarantella Hilaire Belloc

  Unwilling Country Life Alexander Pope

  Annabel-Emily Charles Causley

  The Ice Wilfrid Gibson

  The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women Anon.

  Love

  The Janitor’s Boy Nathalia Crane

  Romance Robert Louis Stevenson

  Expecting Visitors Jenny Joseph

  The Twelve Days of Christmas Anon.

  Dear True Love U. A. Fanthorpe

  Indoor Games near Newbury John Betjeman

  A Birthday Christina Rossetti

  from The Princess Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Christopher Marlowe

  Love You More James Carter

  How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  Sally in our Alley Henry Carey

  Renouncement Alice Meynell

  A Quoi Bon Dire Charlotte Mew

  As I Walked Out One Evening W. H. Auden

  Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare

  Stories

  La Belle Dame Sans Merci John Keats

  The Song of Wandering Aengus W. B. Yeats

  The Jumblies Edward Lear

  On St Catherine’s Day Charles Causley

  The Lady of Shalott Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  Fruit and Flowers

  This Is Just to Say William Carlos Williams

  from The Old Wives’ Tale George Peele

  Given an Apple Elizabeth Jennings

  Moonlit Apples John Drinkwater

  Millions of Strawberries Genevieve Taggard

  from Goblin Market Christina Rossetti

  What Is Pink? Christina Rossetti

  Time of Roses Thomas Hood

  Lilies Are White Anon.

  Daffodils William Wordsworth

  Foxgloves Ted Hughes

  Spring Song William Shakespeare

  Loveliest of Trees A. E. Housman

  Time Mary Ursula Bethell

  Places

  I Remember, I Remember Thomas Hood

  Cottage Eleanor Farjeon

  The Lake Isle of Innisfree W. B. Yeats

  The Way through the Woods Rudyard Kipling

  Adlestrop Edward Thomas

  The Counties Carol Ann Duffy

  Rainbows, Moons and Stars

  Spell to Bring a Smile John Agard

  My Heart Leaps Up William Wordsworth

  Above the Dock T. E. Hulme

  Lemon Moon Beverly McLoughland

  The Moon Landing James Carter

  Where Am I? Wendy Cope

  The Heavenly City Stevie Smith

  The More Loving One W. H. Auden

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