Slowly
Slowly the tide creeps up the sand,
Slowly the shadows cross the land.
Slowly the cart-horse pulls his mile,
Slowly the old man mounts his stile.
Slowly the hands move round the clock,
Slowly the dew dries on the dock.
Slow is the snail – but slowest of all
The green moss spreads on the old brick wall.
- James Reeves
In our Language studies, we recently took a look at the poem "Slowly" by James Reeves shown above. We discussed how the adverb slowly accurately describes the action of each line and analyzed the rhyming pattern. I then challenged my students to choose a different adverb and come up with a poem with a similar rhyming pattern. This is what Elisabeth came up with:
Quickly
Quickly, the car zooms past
“Quickly!” says the cast
Quickly, the years go by
Quickly, they say, "Hi"
Quickly, in the race they run
Quickly, travels the light of the sun
Quick! The small child wishes life would go
But so little do they know. - Elisabeth Davis (copyright 2019)
