02/10/2014 Poetry - Dave Cryer http://www.davecryer.co.uk

[WP Central]

The Ballad of the Memory Mouse

A mouse that lived two hundred years,

Had seen a lot of life.
Had seen great poets, kings and queens
And wasteful wars and strife.

The mouse now lived inside a zoo
His name was Rambling Rory –
He called the creatures to his house
To tell them all his story.

Writing tips from Dave – follow the rules or break the rules – you’ll have a poem either way:

• A ballad is a poem that tells a story
• Each stanza is a quatrain – four lines
• Lines one and three have eight syllables – they don’t rhyme
• Lines two and four have six or seven syllables – they do rhyme
• Mine is written in the past tense
• My idea is that Rambling Rory will tell lots of tales from the past two hundred years of his life, giving us his wisdom on great moments in history

[Rosie Pike]

He lived inside a lion cage

With his pretty wife

Each night the roommates watched the stars

Once Big Ben the Lion was snoozing

And the keeper came to take him away

But little Rory was watching...

By Sam Martin, James Morris & Jessica Cane

[Simone Pope]

The mouse once lived in Northern France,

His home was dug up by Brits.

It became a deadly warzone,

Completely blown to bits!

 

The mouse then moved to USA,

And visited Obama.

He greeted him with lots of cheese,

Sent by the Dalai Lama!

 

By Mark S. Year 9

Woolmer Hill School

Haslemere

 

   

[Katie Barnard]

After the months went by,

Of visiting around the world,

The little mouse Rory looked up in wonder,

‘Oh, how could my life be any fonder?’

 

After filling his face up with cheese,

His tummy bloated around him,

His whiskers grew ecstatic,

As he fell to the floor rather dramatic…

 

By Anya and TJ Year 7

St James Senior School

[Jayne Davidson, WHHS, UK]

Could this be the end of his life?
He wondered, he wondered would he ever see his darling.
His beautiful wife,
Her dazzling smile,
Her wonderful whiskers,
If only he could turn back that death door time dial,
One last sigh,
He takes a breath
With his head held high,
He was ready for death…
But in all of my life, my wife was the best adventure of all…

Kiera, Maddie, Annabelle and Jessica.
West Hatch