Poems a 13 yr old girl might enjoy?

[ShadyLane]

I'm an English teacher, and in my new class of year 9 girls (age 13-14) i have a couple that I think are quite gifted in English - or WOULD BE if they could be persuaded to embrace it.

What poetry can i introduce them to that they will enjoy? Nothing too long...

any ideas welcome :)

[mayneverhave]

The Waste Land?

No, kidding aside, I don't know. Keats? Shelley? the Romantics? pick one.

[motherhubbard]

Welcome to the forum ShadyLane, I hope you like it here.

I loved Robert Frost at that age and I love Ted Kooser now. Both are easy to follow.

[Janine]

How about Sara Teasdale or Emily Dickenson?....not all, but some are easy enough to comprehend at that age and you say they are gifted. I think the Brontes also wrote some poems that might interest them. Maybe go through an anthology to find some authors you think would be suitable.

Welcome to the forum, ShadyLane and hope you stick around and enjoy the discussions.

I will try and think up more poets for you for your class.

[JBI]

The Listeners - Walter De La Mare
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud - W. Wordsworth
A Musical Instrument - E. B. Browning
Virtually anything, though especially Goblin Market - Christina Rossetti
No Second Troy - W. B. Yeats
The Passionate Shepherd to his Love - C. Marlowe
and many others - essentially in any anthology that calls itself something along the lines of "The 100 best..."

[ShadyLane]

Thanks for the suggestions - keep them coming!

I'd never read that Browning poem before...

[Justin Rockwell]

I would suggest poems that are somewhat comical/relate to what young teen girls go through in order to hold their attention, or else they'll just hear you instead of listen to you.

[ShadyLane]

such as...?

[Justin Rockwell]

I dont know any off the top of my head, but you could search for some, they'd be easy to find.

[mercymyqueen]

Anything that is slightly sexy will probably work. I think I liked Dickinson at that age. I second the Marlowe, and I wish I'd been introduced to the romantics earlier, though I would probably pick more modern poems over older ones.