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ReadingWillow structured literacy program for Australian students
Poetry Library

— John Milton

Say, Heavenly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein 15

Afford a present to the Infant God?

Hast thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain,

To welcome him to this his new abode,

…

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noun

A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.

“Writers often choose access when discussing complex ideas.”

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The Gallows

32 lines
Edward Thomas
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HERE was a weasel lived in the sunWith all his family,Till a keeper shot him with his gunAnd hung him up on a tree,Where he swings in the wind and rain,In the sun and in the snow,Without pleasure, without pain,On the dead oak tree bough. There was a crow who was no sleeper,But a thief and a murdererTill a very late hour; and this keeperMade him one of the things that were,To hang and flap in rain and wind,In the sun and in the snow.There are no more sins to be sinnedOn the dead oak tree bough. There was a magpie, too,Had a long tongue and a long tail;He could both talk and do--But what did that avail?He, too, flaps in the wind and rainAlongside weasel and crow,Without pleasure, without pain,On the dead oak tree bough. And many other beastsAnd birds, skin, bone and feather,Have been taken from their feastsAnd hung up there together,To swing and have endless leisureIn the sun and in the snow,Without pain, without pleasure,On the dead oak tree bough.
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