Education Poems
Introductory 05
by Saadi Shirazi
My negligence and backwardness in diligent attendance at the royal court resemble the case of Barzachumihr, whose merits the sages of India were discussing but could at last not reproach him with anything except slowness of speech because he delayed long and his hearers were obliged to wait till he delivered himself of what he had to say. When Barzachumihr heard of this he said: ‘It is better for me to consider what to speak than to repent of what I have spoken.’
A trained orator, old, aged,
First meditates and then speaks.
Do not speak without consideration.
Speak well and if slow what matters it?
Deliberate and then begin to talk.
Say thyself enough before others say enough.
By speech a man is better than a brute
But a beast is better unless thou speakest properly.
......
Ch 07 On The Effects Of Education Story 04
by Saadi Shirazi
I saw a schoolmaster in the Maghrib country, who was sour-faced, of uncouth speech, ill-humoured, troublesome to the people, of a beggarly nature and without self-restraint, so that the very sight of him disgusted the Musalmans and when reading the Quran he distressed the hearts of the people. A number of innocent boys and little maidens suffered from the hand of his tyranny, venturing neither to laugh nor to speak because he would slap the silver-cheeks of some and put the crystal legs of others into the stocks. In short, I heard that when his behaviour had attained some notoriety, he was expelled from the school and another installed as corrector, who happened to be a religious, meek, good and wise man. He spoke only when necessary and found no occasion to deal harshly with anyone so that the children lost the fear they had entertained for their first master and, taking advantage of the angelic manners of the second, they acted like demons towards each other and, trusting in his gentleness, neglected their studies, spending most of their time in play, and breaking on the heads of each other the tablets’ of their unfinished tasks.
If the schoolmaster happens to be lenient
The children will play leapfrog in the bazar.
Two weeks afterwards I happened to pass near that same mosque where I again saw the first master whom the people had made glad by reconciliation and had reinstalled in his post. I was displeased, exclaimed ‘La haul’, and asked why they had again made Iblis the teacher of angels. An old man, experienced in the world, who had heard me, smiled and said: ‘Hast thou not heard the maxim?
A padshah placed his son in a school,
Putting in his lap a silver tablet
With this inscription in golden letters:
......
TThank You, Teacher
by Julia Shaw
Thank You, Teacher
Julia Shaw
We teachers all on knowledge dine
And we unlock our students' minds.
So they can reach the path divine
We really are of a special kind.
We are mentors that prompt their yearning
Reading is a skill that we must impart.
......
The Little Old Lady In Lavender Silk
by Dorothy Parker
I was seventy-seven, come August,
I shall shortly be losing my bloom;
I've experienced zephyr and raw gust
And (symbolical) flood and simoom.
When you come to this time of abatement,
To this passing from Summer to Fall,
It is manners to issue a statement
As to what you got out of it all.
......
Kaddish, Part I
by Allen Ginsberg
Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on
the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village.
downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I've been up all night, talking,
talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues
shout blind on the phonograph
the rhythm the rhythm--and your memory in my head three years after--
And read Adonais' last triumphant stanzas aloud--wept, realizing
how we suffer--
And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of, sing, remember,
prophesy as in the Hebrew Anthem, or the Buddhist Book of An-
......
He Hath Laid A Crown On Thee....
by MBJ PANCRAS
Thou hast been conferred with the crown of princess -
The crown of Degree in Biotechnology by HIS Grace,
The Lord hath been with thee all through the years of thy learning,
He hath guided thee with HIS Wisdom and Knowledge,
Each step thou hadst made hath been touched by HIS Hand,
The Knowledge thou hast Imbibed hath been HIS Breath,
The seconds thou hadst spent have been set by HIS Words,
The thesis thou hast prepared hath been guided by HIS Utterance,
The projects thou hast done have been structured by HIS Plan,
The professors who have taught thee have been designed by HIM.
......
Thy First Graduate Degree!
by MBJ PANCRAS
Thou art God's Gift: thou wert born by HIS Grace,
He hath been with thee while growing in life,
Though thou walked thro' thorns and spikes, He hath been with thee.
Thou wert a tiny-tot when entered a play school,
Thou uttered alphabet and numbers, and were taught rhymes,
Thou hadst slept in thy tiny snug couch,
Thy eyelids winked that pronounced infantile babblings.
Thou entered class One and learnt child-like language,
God in Christ JESUS showed a ladder unto thee to soar high,
Each step thou climbed up hath been fruitful,
......
First Graduate Degree!
by MBJ PANCRAS
She's God's Gift: she was born by HIS Grace,
He hath been with her while growing in life,
Though she walked thro' thorns and spikes, He hath been with her.
She was a tiny-tot when entered a play school,
She uttered alphabet and numbers, and was taught rhymes,
She had slept in her tiny snug couch,
Her eyelids winked that pronounced infantile babblings.
She entered class One and learnt child-like language,
God in Christ JESUS showed a ladder unto her to soar high,
Each step she climbed up hath been fruitful,
......
Education 02
by Mario Odekerken
A question opens slowly
wider than the page
and refuses easy answers.
We walk through what we don't know
carrying small pieces of light
until they begin to connect.
A Letter To The Lecturer
by Fidelis Peter Olowu
Dear Lecturer,
I really hope this finds you well.
About your students
Be not mean nor unreasonably harsh
Towards them even if they deserve it
For they are more of your future
Than they are your students
Remember, that the child is indeed
The father of the man
......
