Poems about Earth

The Elements in Poetry
Compiled by Andrew Fusek Peters

Peters, Andrew Fusek, comp. Poems about Earth. Mankato, MN: Cherrytree Books, 2008.

This collection of earth poems represents twenty-one different poets. There are some well known and prestigious poets such as John Keats, J. Patrick Lewis, and William Wordsworth. Poems from this book have been represented in other publications, but there is no mention of it in this book. 

The majority of the poems in the book have a consistent quality and are positive contributions to this collections. Young readers may not recognize the poets, but adults, teachers, and people in the writing community will know a few of the well named poets represented in this collection. All of the poems tie into the theme of earth. Some poems definitely stand out more than others, but they all speak of wonders in our natural world. Readers may experience a few emotions from certain poems. One poem, "After the Earthquake" will stimulate sympathy and sadness. The tone of the book is more educational than emotional. The selected poems will teach readers how to remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, plate tectonics, elements, and other earth related concepts. This book is full of poems containing many poetic elements. The most prominent element is personification. Almost every poem gives human characteristics to plants, bugs, elements, gravity, and other non-human items. There is also a lot of sound, figurative language, and sense imagery. This collection also has two concrete/shape poems, "Web of Life" and "Nature's Jewel".

The book's layout starts with a table of contents and concludes with an author index, acknowledgments, picture credits, a short note about the anthologist, and information on the three other books in The Elements of Poetry series. There does not seem to be a specific arrangement of the poems. They can be used in any order, by themselves, or together. The commonality that all the poems have is Earth. As a collection these poems represent our natural world. All of the pictures and illustrations are distinctive to each poem. Some pages have a picture background representing the poem, while others have a single picture on a solid background. The illustrations do not overpower the poems, and they are not a main attraction for this book. They complement the poems, but they are not extraordinary. This book can provide an easy connection to science in the English classroom.

A poem I would highlight from the book is "The Sunflower" by Polly Peters. A good way to include this in the classroom would be to have some students act out the different stanzas while other students read aloud. This would be a fun poetry break that the students can fully get involved. Student participation is require for this poetry break.

Excerpt from The Sunflower by Polly Peters

(last 3 stanzas)

now I am uncurling

young leaves on either side

then whoosh! I'm stretching upwards

first straight and tall, then wide.

my leaves are arched like bird's wings,

they flutter in the air.

my petals are unfurling

like a plate with yellow hair.

look at me! I'm swaying

a leaning, smiling tower.

I turn my face to catch the sun,

a tall and proud sunflower.