The following poems related to fables, fairy tales, folklore, legends, and myths are appropriate for young people.
“Mermaid Song” by Kim Addonizio
Damp-haired from the bath, you drape yourself…
“from Fairies” by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
Fairies begin their day by coming together…
“Odysseus to Telemachus” by Joseph Brodsky
My dear Telemachus…
“The Weavers” by Linda Gregerson
As sometimes, in the gentler months…
“The Iliad, Book 1, Lines 1-15” by Homer
RAGE: Sing, Goddess, Achilles’ rage…
“Daedalus, After Icarus” by Saeed Jones
Boys begin to gather around the man like seagulls…
“A Short History of the Apple” by Dorianne Laux
Teeth at the skin. Anticipation….
“The Children’s Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Between the dark and the daylight…
“Utopian” by Alicia Ostriker
My neighbor’s daughter has created a city…
“Fairy Tale” by Ron Padgett
The little elf is dressed in a floppy cap…
“Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich
First having read the book of myths…
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“Token Loss” by Kay Ryan
To the dragon…
“The Land of Nod” by Robert Louis Stevenson
From Breakfast on through all the day…
“The Dumb Soldier” by Robert Louis Stevenson
When the grass was closely mown…
“It Happens Like This” by James Tate
I was outside St. Cecelia’s Rectory…
“The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
On either side the river lie…
“The Aeneid, Book I, [Arms and the man I sing]” by Virgil
Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by fate…
“Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams
According to Brueghel…
“Diana of the Hunt” by Forceythe Willson
All can see, in the shining places…
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