The Daily Poem

Today’s poem is an appreciation of little things. Happy reading.

Today’s poem celebrates the crisp, cool days of early Autumn as the most hospitable season of the year. Happy reading.

The world-wandering John Masefield waxes Solomonic in today’s poem. Happy reading.

Today’s poem is for everyone who knows that children keep you young, but also know how old you feel while it’s happening.

Hall, taken aback by the success of this poem, expressed some regret that he became “the fellow whose son strapped him into the electric chair,” explaining that its inspiration came from 2 a.m. bottle-feedings that he conducted “with pleasure.” Happy reading.

The title of today’s poem is a mouthful, but it is fittingly emblematic of the poet’s full heart. Happy reading!

Never have rhyming couplets been so full of pathos as in today’s poem, where they symbolize the bond between father and son, tragically cut short.

If pumpkin-spice-everything or the sea of puffy vests and Ugg boots at the cider stand are getting you down, let today’s poem remind you of all that is great about Autumn. Happy reading.

Today’s poem offers a folksy look at the subtleties of terror. Happy reading.

David Thompson Watson McCord was born on December 15, 1897, in New York. A poet and fundraiser, McCord grew up in Portland, Oregon. He received both a BA and MA from Harvard University and briefly served in the military at the end of World War I. In 1922, McCord became associate editor for the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, where he served as editor from 1940 to 1946. He was also executive director of the Harvard College Fund for thirty-eight years.  

McCord, who has been widely recognized for his children's poetry, wrote and edited over fifty works of poetry and prose. He was the recipient of Harvard University's first honorary doctorate of humane letters, the first NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a National Institute of Arts and Letters grant. He died on April 13, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts. 

-bio via Academy of American Poets

Today’s poem offers a recipe for domestic bliss. Happy reading.

Though we remember Browning far more readily than we do Landor, this poem dates from a period when their fortunes were reversed and the latter was eager to acquaint the world with the budding talent he had discovered.

Walter Savage Landor (30 January 1775 – 17 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity. As remarkable as his work was, it was equalled by his rumbustious character and lively temperament. Both his writing and political activism, such as his support for Lajos Kossuth and Giuseppe Garibaldi, were imbued with his passion for liberal and republican causes. He befriended and influenced the next generation of literary reformers such as Charles Dickens and Robert Browning.

-bio via Wikipedia