The Buckley School's founder, Reid Buckley, believed that all speakers should hone their speaking skills by reading poetry aloud. Each month in our magazine, we'll keep that worthwhile practice alive by including a poem for you to read aloud.
Since it's March, it seems right to draw from the Irish-born poet, William Butler Yeats:
When You Are Old
By William Butler Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
You can find more poems by Yeats at the wonderful website of a wonderful program, Poetry Out Loud. This national nonprofit organization holds competitions across the country, encouraging high schools students to study poetry and improve their speaking skills by memorizing and delivering poems.
