[1097] The End
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
-- A.A. Milne
|
(from "Now We Are Six")
I'm almost certain that Billy Collins had this childhood classic at the back
of his mind when he wrote "On Turning Ten" [Poem #1096]. He appears to have
answered from an adult perspective -- but one that would be interesting to
share with a 10-year-old," whereas Milne wrote from what he must have imagined
was a child's perspective. However. I think children of six have a much clearer
sense of anticipation of the future than the title of Milne's poem -- "The End"
-- would imply. They are just starting school, learning to read and write, and
they can already count quite well, certainly up to and beyond what Collins
calls "the first big number." I think that excitement about what comes next,
even if it is a little scary, is probably more dominant than the complacency of
"I think I'll be six for ever and ever."
Writing what is in children's minds, or what was in ones own mind as a child
or indeed at any time in the past, is always a challenge; the more I look
at children the more I believe that even very small children think in more
complicated ways than many adults would like to believe.
To its credit, though, "The End" is a fine poem for early readers of
English, with its reassuring repeated syntactical structures on the one hand
and the rhymes that exhibit the devilish vagaries of English spelling on the
other.
-- Vivian
From: Arun Simha <Arun.Simha@>
Hi Martin,
Interestingly enough, I was just reading an excerpt from
"Conceptual Blockbusters" by J. Adams as part of
an Organizational Behavior course. He states:
" The knowledge that you acquire between the ages of 0 and 6,
for instance, enormously exceeds what has been consciously taught.
A great amount of knowledge is gained through observation
and questioning. Unfortunately, as we grow older many of us
lose our questioning attitude."
He goes on to state that there are too main
reasons why this is so. First, we are discouraged from
inquiry and second, the child's "inquisitive" nature is socialized
out of us. Acc to him, the second reason implies
that smartness is associated with knowledge and a
questioning attitude could imply that the questioner
is less than smart]
Now the poem makes perfect sense to me given
the above context.
Cheers
Arun
From: "Susan Fisher" <sefisher5@>
Simply stated - I am hunting for Poetry to include in my 6 year old
daughters school fete. My father used to recite this poem to me
constantly when I was very young, and until recently wasn't aware that
it was by AA Milne. It is just a simple, beautiful set of words, that I
am now reciting to my own children! I just love it! Sue Fisher.
From: "The Kowalchuks" <dan.kowalchuk@>
I hope you don't mind me emailing you. But felt I had to after reading
your comment.
Thank you for your interpretation of the poem.
I let my 13 year old read both the poem and your comment. He has been
discouraged by his peers and I admit, sometimes by me, to ask certain
questions for fear of him sounding less than intelligent. At his grade
eight graduation the valedictorian said of him "Then there's
Kyle...Always asking the questions others were afraid to ask" and of
his twin brother she said "And there's Andrew, the intelligent one...
beside him telling him not to ask the question."
Thank you for your words of wisdom... I will encourage more and
discourage less.
Wendy
From: Amy B Moore <makmoore@>
I love this poem. I learned it as a 6-yr-old girl and as my son turned 6
yesterday, I wnet in search for it on the internet. Thank you for having
it on your site! I will teach it to my boy so he may share it with his
Kindergarten class, and hopefully with his own child somewhere ages and
ages hence!
Amy Moore
From: Susan Pavlik <spavlik@>
This poem brings tears to my eyes. I had many collections of A..A.
Milne, both stories and poems, when my children were small, and I read
them all to them. My oldest was especially fond of this poem when he
was six, so much so that he memorized it and recited it to anyone who
would listen. When his little girl turned six, I asked her if she knew
the poem, and she replied that her daddy read it to her all the time.
Four weeks after her sixth birthday, she and her daddy were killed in a
traffic accident. This poem reminds me so strongly of the two of them,
and I guess after all, Millie will be six forever and ever. Susan
Pavlik
From: DonPow1@
I was once the secretary to a Catholic Bishop in Northern California who
loved poetry and used this poem in his homilies when he administered the sacrament
of Confirmation to eighth grade students. Now my granddaughter will be
turning six and I am so glad to find the source and read the comments, especially
Susan's.
From: "Katrina Price" <katrina@>
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GlacierMy son turned six last week and I included this in a book that I made
him full of pictures from each year of his life.
thank you for making in accessible.
Katrina Joy Price, Esq.
Matison & Margolese
9150 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 241
Beverly Hills, California 90211
310-656-7000
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<DIV><FONT face""Comic Sans MS" color"#000000 size"3><SPAN
class"990460016-15122004>My son turned six last week and I included
this in a
book that I made him full of pictures from each year of his life.
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Comic Sans MS" color"#000000 size"3><SPAN
class"990460016-15122004>thank you for making in
accessible.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Comic Sans MS" color"#000000 size"3><SPAN
class"990460016-15122004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Comic Sans MS" color"#000000 size"3><SPAN
class"990460016-15122004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">Katrina Joy Price, Esq.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">Matison & Margolese</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">9150 Wilshire Boulevard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">Suite 241</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">Beverly Hills, California
90211</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face""Book Antiqua">310-656-7000</FONT></DIV>
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From: "Sherrie Horn" <rafibeth@>
When I was a little girl I had a book called The Little House by
Virginia Lee Burton. The book included a 45 rmp record with a musical
version of the AA Milne poem The End and a song about the little house.
I was at the Cracker Barrel restaurant recently and saw the book. It
didn't have the 45 with it, but I bought it anyway for my 4 year old
daughter. I wanted to find the poem I so vividly remembered. Thank you
for making it available so I can share it with my daughter.
Sherrie
From: MaePurcell@
i LOVED THIS ONE AND WILL BE GIVING IT TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER FOR HER 6TH
BIRTHDAY ON 27TH DECEMBER