A FEW VERSES, STORIES & SONGS
Morning Verse – Grades 1-4 By Rudolf Steiner
The Sun with loving light
Makes bright for me each day
The soul with spirit power
Gives strength unto my limbs
In sunlight shining clear
I do revere Oh God
That strength of humankind
Which thou so graciously
Hath planted in my soul
That I with all my might
May love to work and learn
From thee stream light and strength
To Thee rise love and thanks
Morning Verse – Grades 5-8
I look into the world
Where n there shines the Sun
Where in there gleam the stars
Where in there lie the stones
The plants they live and grow
The beasts they feel and live
And man to spirit gives
A dwelling in his soul
I look into the soul
That living dwells in me
God’s spirit lives and weaves
In light of sun and soul
In heights of worlds without
In depths of soul within
Oh spirit of God to thee
By Rudolf Steiner
I seeking turn myself
That strength and grade and skill
For learning and for work
In me shall live and grow
GRADE 1
Morning has come
Night is away
Rise with the sun
And welcome the day
*
Good morning dear Earth,
Good morning dear Sun.
Good morning dear Stones,
Flowers everyone.
Good morning dear Beasts,
And Birds in the trees.
Good morning to you,
Good morning to me.
*
The earth is firm beneath my feet
The sun shines bright above
And here I stand
So straight and strong
All things to know and love
If I were so very tall
I’d walk among the trees
And stretch to reach the top most leaf
As easily as you please
If I were so very small
I’d hide myself away
And creep into a buttercup
To spend the summers day
*
Two little feet to go tap, tap, tap,
Two little hands go clap, clap, clap,
A quick little leap next to your chair
Two little arms raise high in the air
Two little feet go jump, jump, jump,
Two little hands go thump, thump, thump,
One little body turns round and round,
One little child sits quietly down.
Proud Prancing Ponies
Parade in a line
Not hurried, not worried
Each stepping in time
Their heads they hold proudly
Their backs straight and strong
Each stepping so lively
As they march along
*
I ride on my horse
with my sword in my hand.
I ride through the wooded
And mountainous land.
I battle with dragons,
With giants I fight,
Defending the weak
And upholding the right.
My sword is of steel
My helmet of gold,
I dare all adventures,
My heart is so bold.
My armor is shining
As bright as the light,
And I am a gallant
And glorious knight.
Two birds did play
A game one day.
One flew high,
The other low.
The high one dropped
A seed below,
The low one caught
The seed and flew.
From there above
And dropped it too.
The other caught
It underneath,
And sang because
He was so pleased.
The other sang
Let’s play again,
And so they played
Until the end.
*
Brave and true,
Will I be.
Each good deed,
Sets me free.
Each kind word,
Makes me strong.
I will fight,
for the right.
I will conquer the wrong.
*
Down is the earth;
Up is the sky;
There are my friends;
And here am I.
*
Up I stretch on tippy toe
Down to touch the earth I go
Up again my arms I send
Down again my knees I bend
*
In front, behind, my left, my right,
Above, below, I curl up tight.
I stretch my limbs like a shining star,
To earth bring light from realms afar.
When I stand so straight and true,
I bring love to all I do.
*
I lift my arms to the clear blue sky,
I stretch them wide and I stretch them high.
Firmly on the earth I stand,
To my neighbor I give my hand.
A Friend to the left,
A friend to the right,
God will keep me in his sight.
*
Fiddle de dee!
Grasshoppers three,
Rollicking over the meadow.
Scarcely the grass
Bends as they pass,
So fairy light is their tread-o.
Said Grasshopper one
The summer's begun,
This sunshine is driving me crazy.
Said grasshopper two
I feel just like you,
And leapt to the top of a daisy.
Please wait for me
Cried Grasshopper three,
My legs are ready for hopping.
So Grasshoppers three,
Fiddle de dee,
Raced all the day without stopping!
*
Grasshopper Song
Grasshoppers three a-fiddling went,
Hey! Ho! Never be still;
They paid no money towards their rent,
All day long with elbows bent,
They fiddled a tune called "Rillaby Rillaby,"
Fiddled a tune called "Rillaby Rill."
*
Dragon, dire and dreadful beast
Deep in darkness dwells.
The evil deeds he does and sees
None dare ever tell
We warriors of St. Michael
We knights in armor bright,
We shall destroy the dreaded beast
We shall defend the right.
Our horses are gallant and beautiful steeds;
They gallop with courage where Michael leads.
They leap over fences and trot through the wood,
But walk, oh so softly, whenever they should.
We joyfully follow you knights bound afar
Who shine like the sun, like the heaven's own star,
We skip and we skip, and bright flowers we spread.
On the path which the brave knights in heaven are lead.
*
A Man From Blairsville
A Man from Blairsville counting sheep;
He counted so hard that he went to sleep;
He counted by 3's he counted by 2's,
The rams and the lambs and the sheep and ewes,
He counted six thousand three hundred and ten,
And when he woke up he'd count them again.
Counting Game
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
In my head are windows seven
1,2,3,4,5,6
Point each way, that makes six.
1,2,3,4,5 See my fingers five.
1,2,3,4 Limbs I have four
1,2,3 Earth, air, sea
1,2 Me, You
1 Done
The Key to the Kingdom
This is the Key of the Kingdom:
In that Kingdom is a city;
In that city is a town; In that town there is a street;
In that street there winds a lane;
In that lane there is a yard;
In that yard there is a house;
In that house there waits a room;
In that room an empty bed;
And on that bed a basketA basket of Sweet Flowers;
Of Flowers, of Flowers;
A Basket of Sweet Flowers.
Flowers in a Basket
Basket on the bed;
Bed in the chamber;
Chamber in the house;
House in the weedy yard;
Yard in the winding lane;
Lane in the broad street;
Street in the high town;
Town in the city;
City in the KingdomThis is the key of the Kingdom.
Of the Kingdom this is the Key.
*
Little candle
Shining bright
I can see you
In the night
*
Slip one and two
Jump three and four
Turn around swiftly
And sit on the floor
Clap one and two
Nod three and four
Jump up again
We’re ready for more
*
Brave and true will I be
Each kind word sets me free
Each good deed makes me strong
I will fight for the right
I will conquer the wrong
The Rainbow by Paul King
Red and orange and yellow and green,
The rainbow’s seven colors have a bright shiny sheen.
Light blue, indigo, and violet all told
At the end of the rainbow lies a pot of gold.
GRADE 2
Out of Stars
Out of stars
Wondrous light
I have come
From the night
Bearing gifts
For the day
For my work
And for my play
May I use them well
Think wisely
Speak well
Stand Upright
And Michael will guide me
From darkness to light
Jack Frost
Look out-lookoutJack Frost is about
He’s after our fingers and toes!
And all through the night,
The gay little sprite
Is working where nobody knows.
He climbs each tree, so nimble is he
His silvery powder he’ll shake.
Up the window he’ll creep
And while we’re asleep
Such wonderful pictures he’ll make.
Across the grass, he’ll nimbly pass
And change the brownness to white
Then home he will go, and laugh
Ho, Ho, Ho!
What fun I have had in the night!
Two Little Kittens -Anonymous
Two little kittens, one stormy night,
Began to quarrel and then to fight.
One had a mouse, and the other had none,
And that’s the way the fight begun.
“I’ll have that mouse,” said the bigger car.
“You’ll have that mouse? We’ll see about that!”
“I will have that mouse!” said the bigger one.
“You shan’t have that mouse!” said the little one.
I told you before ‘twas a stormy night,
When those two little kittens began to fight.
The old woman took up her sweeping broom,
And swept those kittens right out of the room.
The ground was covered with frost and snow,
And the poor little kittens had nowhere to go,
So they both lay down on the mat by the door,
While the old woman finished sweeping the floor.
Tipperty Toes by Elizabeth Gould
Tipperty Toes the smallest elf
Sat on a mushroom by himself
Playing a little tinkling tune
Under the big round harvest moon
And this is the song that Tipperty made
To sing to the little tune he played
Red are the hips and red are the haws
Red and gold are the leaves that fall
Red are the poppies in the corn
Red berries on the rowan tall
Red is the big round harvest moon
And red are my new little dancing shoon
Little red leaves are glad today
For the wind has blown them off and away
They’re flying here, they’re flying there
Little red leaves are everywhere.
The Fox and the Crow by Paul King
A coal-black crow sits in a tree
A morsel of cheese in his beak has he.
A fox slinks by as sly as you please,
And cunningly plots how to get the cheese.
“Oh how I admire your feathers so spry,
The sheen of your tail and the glint of your eye,
The elegant curve of your beak sharp and longBut would I could hear your sweet voice raised in song!”
And this the crow’s flattered and quite taken in;
To impress the fox further he will now begin.
He throws back his head, and rasping and raw,
He utters a raucous, cacophonous “Caw!”
With beak all agape, the cheese tumbles out,
The fox snaps it up in his long pointed snout.
“Sing, Crow, your vanity, long as you please.
You keep your song, and I’ll have the cheese!”
GRADE 3
Harvest by Dorothy Hancock
Now all the farmers from far and wide
Have gathered their bounty of countryside:
Corn and barley from field and wold.
Honey from beehive and wool from the fold,
Fruit from the orchard all ripe, red and gold,
Log for the fire to keep out the cold.
The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a might man is her,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron hands.
His hair is crisp, and black and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can.
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn to night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow.
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And the children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.
Roiling – rejoicing – sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begun,
Each evening sees it close.
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou has taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!
I Will Go With My Father a Plowing – by Joseph Campbell (1879-1944)
- by Seosamh Maccathmhaoil
I will go with my father a-ploughing
To the green field by the sea,
And the rooks and the crows and the seagulls
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the patient horses
With the lark in the white of the air,
And my father will sing the plough song
That b blesses the cleaving share.
I will go with my father a-sowing
To the red filed by the sea,
And the rooks and the gulls and the starlings
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the striding sowers
With the finch on the flowering sloe,
And my father will sing the seed song
That only the wise men know.
I will go with my father a-reaping
To the brown field by the sea,
And the geese and the crows and the children
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the weary reapers
With the wren in the heat of the sun,
And my father will sing the scythe-song
That joys for the harvest done.
BLESSINGS
The silver rain, the shining sun
The fields where scarlet poppies run
And all the ripples of wheat
Are in the bread that we do eat
So when I sit for every meal and say a grace,
I always feel that I am eating rain and sun
And fields where scarlet poppies run.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to greet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand
Earth who gives to us this food
Sun who makes it ripe and good
Dear Earth, dear Sun by you live
Our loving thanks to you we give
Lovely Things by H.M. Sarson
Bread is a lovely thing to eatGod bless the barley and the whet
A lovely thing to breathe is airGod bless the sunshine everywhere!
The earth’s a lovely place to knowGod bless the folks that come and go!
Alive is a lovely thing to beGiver of life – we say – bless Thee!
Ending Verse for Main Lesson
All my doing is now ended,
What I have done will rest.
If I have done my best,
Wisdom and power and love will grow.
And I will bless all people I know.
Ending Verse For The Day
Speak well,
Stand upright,
And Michael will lead me,
From darkness to light.
CLOSING VERSE By Rudolf Steiner
May wisdom shine through me
May love glow within me
May strength penetrate me
That in me may arise
A helper of human kind
A servant of sacred things
Selfless and true