“Poetry Play”
Was a Great Success
ost of us had no idea what
to expect last Monday. Our
teachers told us that it was
National Poetry Week. The whole
school would be seeing a show
called “Poetry Play.”
When we got to the auditorium,
we saw a big trunk in the middle of
the stage. A man was sitting on it.
After everyone sat down, the man
stood up. He started pulling up the
sail on a ship. There was no ship.
There was no rope. He didn’t say
anything. But we could tell exactly
what he was doing. We all got very
quiet and watched. Soon he was
sailing on the sea. He began
speaking. “If I had a ship, I’d sail
my ship.” He was reciting “The
Island,” a poem by A. A. Milne.
By then we knew that Peter
Williams, the man on stage,
was going to give us a great
performance. Between poems,
he often lifted the lid of the
trunk and stuck his head inside.
When he came out, he had
changed into a different character
by putting on a funny nose or a
hat. First he was a silly guy with
big red cheeks and a round nose.
Then he turned into a very proper
English gentleman. Next he was a
cat. With each change he used a
different voice. Williams was truly
amazing. He became five different
characters and recited more than
twenty poems in all.
His performance of
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
was one of the best parts of the
show. The poem is filled with
made-up words. No one knows
exactly what they mean. But when
Peter Williams acted out the poem,
it became an exciting adventure.
Williams was often very funny.
But he was serious, too. He really
showed how poems can fit every
mood. He told us that we should say
poems out loud. We should all try to
learn some poems by heart. He left
us with these words from a poem by
Beatrice Shenk de Regniers: “Keep a
poem in your pocket.”
If you visit our school today,
you’ll see that Peter Williams’s
words came to life. In every room
you will hear people reading poems
out loud. Ask anyone what his or
her favorite poem is. Your friend
will probably start reciting it!
“Poetry Play” got National Poetry
Week off to a wonderful start.
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Text 17
Could you act out a poem?
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