Good morning, friends. Today I wanted to share an annotation from a poet whose work I truly love: Celia Thaxter.
“Stories and Poems for Children,” (Thaxter, Celia Leighton. Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 1895) is an exquisite celebration of the beauties of nature among the Isles of Shoals, the tender nurturing love between a grandmother and her grandchildren, the innocent adventures of children, and the miracle of seeds planted in the earth and becoming beautiful flowers. One Little Sandpiper and I, perhaps her best known poem, celebrates the kinship Mrs. Thaxter felt with Nature. The Waterbloom describes a child’s rapturous delight in a rainbow after a storm. Crocus is a sprightly monologue of a crocus bulb making its way to the surface to greet the sun and to bloom. Milking is a sad song about lost childhood but can also be read as a loving lyric to the “dun cow.” Yellow Bird instills a love of bird watching in children. Slumber Song is a tender lullaby. Dust helps children understand that the glorious colors and fruits and leaves of the verdure are all stored in the smallest of seeds and nuts. Bluebirds in Autumn teaches children about enduring winter storms bravely and having faith that spring, and the bluebirds, will return.
Celia Thaxter was the most widely published and read woman poet of her time. I am not aware of any awards that her books may have won, but I do know that her poetry found a home in the hearts of American and European readers of all ages.
Although Poems for Children was written for a young audience, the poems are perfect for reading with a parent or a grandparent.
Poems for Children is not illustrated. However, another well known book by Celia Thaxter, An Island Garden, was illustrated by American impressionist Childe Hassam, and those illustrations can serve as excellent companions to illuminate the beauty of the Isles of Shoals.
Poems for Children could be used in the classroom to demonstrate rhythm and rhyme patterns.
There are lines in the text that could be considered didactic, but it is a tender, gentle didacticism, about God’s tender watchful care over children, meant to comfort and console, not to terrify children. This didacticism may be read as a weakness. The strengths of the text are in the vivid imagery, the light and playful tone, and the simple yet profound language.
Celia Leighton Thaxter grew up on Appledore, the largest of the Isles of Shoals, and learned a deep and abiding love of the sea and nature. She grew up steeped in the lyrical language of Shakespeare and the Psalms, and those early influences can be traced in her poetry. Married at sixteen, she left the Isles she loved and became a mother of three. She wrote poetry and stories to support herself and her family. She was a leader in elite social circles in Boston and was perfectly at home whilst traveling abroad. She enjoyed friendships with many of the artists and writers and musicians of the day, including her close friend, Sarah Orne Jewett.
I deeply, deeply love Celia Thaxter’s poems. I find an exquisite beauty and melancholy and unfailing hopefulness in them. They are the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. I have very tender memories of reciting “One Little Sandpiper and I” back and forth with my Grandmother.