Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library — Background and Themes

The Editor's Pedagogical Voice

Burt's headnotes often adopt a conversational, almost maternal address to an imagined child reader. In the headnote to Macaulay's 'Ivry,' she writes: 'Laddie, aged eleven, do you remember how you studied and recited “King Henry of Navarre” every poetry hour for a year?' This direct second-person address, rare in anthologies, positions the editor as a guide who shares in the child's learning experience. Burt also reveals her own research: she discovered the meaning of a word 'up in Switzerland,' modeling intellectual curiosity. Such remarks suggest that the anthology is as much about the process of learning as about the poems themselves.

Selection and Omission: Copyright and Courtesy

The acknowledgments page offers a revealing glimpse into the practical constraints of anthology-making. Burt notes that 'special permission has been obtained for each copyrighted poem' and that 'the right to publish has been purchased of the author or publisher, except in those cases where the author or the publisher has, for reasons of courtesy and friendship, given the permission.' She also recounts an anecdote of a teacher who 'innocently put forth a little volume of poems that she loved and admired, without asking permission of any one.' This behind-the-scenes detail underscores the legal and social negotiations that shaped the final selection, reminding readers that the canon presented is partly a product of copyright and personal connections.

Patriotic and Martial Themes in the Excerpts

The excerpt from Lord Byron's 'The Eve of Waterloo' and Macaulay's 'Ivry' illustrate the anthology's emphasis on heroic, often martial, poetry. Byron's lines—'Battle’s magnificently stern array! / The thunder-clouds close o’er it'—employ a grand, elevated diction suited to public recitation. Macaulay's poem, with its repeated exclamations ('Hurrah! Hurrah!'), is designed for oral performance, its rhythm and rhyme reinforcing a sense of collective triumph. Burt's headnote to 'Ivry' personalizes the poem by linking it to a specific child's year-long study, suggesting that such poems were meant to be internalized through repetition.

The Structure of Difficulty: Parts I–VI

The table of contents divides the anthology into six parts, a structure that implies a progression in reading skill. While the excerpts do not reveal the exact criteria for each part, the arrangement likely moves from short, simple rhymes to longer narrative and reflective poems. This graded structure reflects Burt's pedagogical aim: to build a child's capacity for memorization and comprehension step by step. The inclusion of an index of authors and an index of first lines further suggests a practical, reference-oriented design. The anthology thus functions as a curriculum in verse, with the editor's choices shaping what a child 'should know' in terms of both content and literary form.

Readers approaching this edition should attend to the headnotes as much as the poems themselves; they reveal the editor's assumptions about childhood, education, and literary value. Burt's selections favor narrative clarity, moral certainty, and patriotic fervor, reflecting early twentieth-century American ideals. The anthology offers a historical document of what was considered essential literary knowledge for children at the turn of the century.

Holding Burt’s anthology, I remembered my grandmother’s worn copy, the margins filled with her penciled sighs. She loved the sturdy rhythms of Longfellow, yet would often set the book aside, turning to something quieter and more halting. That felt like opening A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul — Inside the Classic — not memorized uplift, but a whispered, honest struggle.