Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of bees in the sunny weather,
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of lambs in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn —
But only one mother the wide world over.
Manual for the Elson-Runkel Primer by William Harris Elson, Lura E. Runkel (1901) | George Cooper (1840–1927)
Suggestions
Have your children do one or more of the following:
- Read the poem aloud (or read it aloud for younger children).
- Identify the lines that rhyme.
- What is the rhyme scheme? (ABAB)
- Memorize the poem. It may help to remember the order of the things mentioned (stars, shells, birds, bees, dewdrops, lambs, butterflies).
- Copy the poem in your copybook.
- Illustrate the poem on Drawing & Writing paper.
- After the poem has been memorized, have your child recite the poem.
- Take a side trip and learn more about each item mentioned:
- George Cooper was a poet who gave up a promising law career to write song lyrics and hymns. One of his more famous hymns was “May God Bless the Little Church Around the Corner.” Many of his verses were written for children and appear scattered throughout the many readers and other old texts now in the public domain. Learn more about George Cooper.
- Create an author page for George Cooper.
- Choose another work of Cooper’s to copy and learn.
Further Information
Drawing & Writing Notebooking Paper {Free Download}
For copying the poem.
Author Notebooking Paper
Create an author page.
