Rhymes and poems are one of the first things that children learn. The rhythmic poems are short but contain a deep meaning, and hence help the child learn the language as well as understand the world. Poems and rhymes are a great way to help your child learn the language. If you are looking for English poems for kids, we have got you covered. Children love learning rhyming poems. A good poem with meanings helps your child make sense of the world around them. You can also teach your child poems to keep them engaged and develop an interest in learning. In this post, we have come up with some best English poems that your kid would love to recite.

24 Short English Poems For Children

Famous Poems For Kids

These are popular poems written by poets widely known.

  1. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!” He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” He chortled in his joy. ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
  2. Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti Brown and furry Caterpillar in a hurry, Take your walk To the shady leaf, or stalk, Or what not, Which may be the chosen spot. No toad spy you, Hovering bird of prey pass by you; Spin and die, To live again a butterfly.
  3. Dream Variations by Langston Hughes To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening Beneath a tall tree While night comes on gently, Dark like me– That is my dream! To fling my arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening . . . A tall, slim tree . . . Night coming tenderly Black like me.

Poems For Inquisitive Kids

  1. What’s a Mystery? Why do keyholes have no keys Why do fairies have no tales Can I dial the numbers please Which is best, boys or girls What’s a mystery? If I had another Mum Would I be another child If I had another Dad Where would my old daddy be What’s a mystery? Where do grown-ups put the child That they say that they used to be Where did my Mummy find my Dad In the old days was I really Just a little seed When you die does it make you sad What’s a mystery? How many miles is far away Why does daddy stop at lights Doesn’t daddy know the way What is left and is it right What’s a mystery? When we get to holidays Will I be asleep Is Blackpool in London or Japan Is that baby lamb out there The same as we had for tea Why is everybody getting mad What’s a mystery? Why do grannies dress in lace Why must children go to bed Am I in the human race Is my mind in my head What’s a mystery? Must you still do as you are told Even if you cry Why is everybody getting mad If you pray to Heaven can you do just what you like Does He love you even if you’re bad What’s a mystery? — Graham Cunningham

Short Poems For Kids

These can be used as pre and primary school poems for kids because they are short and easy to understand. 5. My Kite My kite flies high, I wonder how and why. With a long tail and wings, See how my kite swings! Holding its thread in my hand, I feel so happy and grand. 6. The Labrador Puppies I see them now, They neither moo nor meow. Hands are small, oh that’s the paw! Will you look at that tiny little claw. Now I plod to match the pace, But they pounce to lick my face, Oh so adorable, cute, and fluffy, My dearest buddies, the Labrador puppies! 7. Child Of The Days Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for a living, Sunday’s child is fun and entertaining. All the days have a child that’s amusing. 8. Rabbit by Mary Ann Hoberman A rabbit Bit A little bit An itty-bitty Little bit of beet Then bit By bit He bit Because he liked the taste of it 9. About the Teeth of Sharks by John Ciardi The thing about a shark is—teeth, One row above, one row beneath. Now take a close look. Do you find It has another row behind? Still closer—here, I’ll hold your hat: Has it a third row behind that? Now look in and…Look out! Oh my, I’ll never know now! Well, goodbye. 10. First Grade by William Stafford In the play Amy didn’t want to be anybody; so she managed the curtain. Sharon wanted to be Amy. But Sam wouldn’t let anybody be anybody else. He said it was wrong. “All right,” Steve said, “I’ll be me but I don’t like it.” So Amy was Amy, and we didn’t have the play. And Sharon cried. 11. At the Zoo by William Makepeace Thackeray First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black; Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back; Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw; Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw; Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk; Then I saw the monkeys—mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!

Animal Poems For Kids

These are funny poems for kids, with a touch of animal cuteness. 12. White Sheep White sheep, white sheep, On a blue hill, When the wind stops, You all stand still. When the wind blows, You walk away slow. White sheep, white sheep, Where do you go?

Nature Poems For Kids

These poems are about natural beauty and the lovely earth. 13. Rain by Robert Louis Stevenson The rain is raining all around, It falls on field and tree, It rains on the umbrellas here, And on the ships at sea. 14. Trees by Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. 15. By the Stream by Paul Laurence Dunbar By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass, How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass, And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads, Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees. 16. Putting in the Seed by Robert Frost You come to fetch me from my work to-night When supper’s on the table, and we’ll see If I can leave off burying the white Soft petals fallen from the apple tree. (Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you came for and become like me, Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed On through the watching for that early birth When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The sturdy seedling with arched body comes Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs. 17. To make a prairie by Emily Dickinson To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee. And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few. 18. Patience Taught by Nature by Elizabeth Barrett Browning “O Dreary life!” we cry, “O dreary life!” And still the generations of the birds Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds Serenely live while we are keeping strife With Heaven’s true purpose in us, as a knife Against which we may struggle. Ocean girds Unslackened the dry land: savannah-swards Unweary sweep: hills watch, unworn; and rife Meek leaves drop yearly from the forest-trees, To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass In their old glory. O thou God of old! Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these;— But so much patience, as a blade of grass Grows by contented through the heat and cold. 19. Song by T. S. Eliot When we came home across the hill No leaves were fallen from the trees; The gentle fingers of the breeze Had torn no quivering cobweb down. The hedgerow bloomed with flowers still, No withered petals lay beneath; But the wild roses in your wreath Were faded, and the leaves were brown. 20. Deep in the Quiet Wood by James Weldon Johnson Are you bowed down in heart? Do you but hear the clashing discords and the din of life? Then come away, come to the peaceful wood, Here bathe your soul in silence. Listen! Now, From out the palpitating solitude Do you not catch, yet faint, elusive strains? They are above, around, within you, everywhere. Silently listen! Clear, and still more clear, they come. They bubble up in rippling notes, and swell in singing tones. Now let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale Until, responsive to the tonic chord, It touches the diapason of God’s grand cathedral organ, Filling earth for you with heavenly peace And holy harmonies. 21. On the Grasshopper and Cricket by John Keats The poetry of earth is never dead: When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead In summer luxury,—he has never done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. 22. I Hear You Call, Pine Tree by Yone Noguchi I hear you call, pine tree, I hear you upon the hill, by the silent pond where the lotus flowers bloom, I hear you call, pine tree. What is it you call, pine tree, when the rain falls, when the winds blow, and when the stars appear, what is it you call, pine tree? I hear you call, pine tree, but I am blind, and do not know how to reach you, pine tree. Who will take me to you, pine tree? 23. Flower by Rabindranath Tagore Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust. I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by. Though its color be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time. 24. The Brook by Alfred Lord Tennyson I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorpes, a little town, And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip’s farm I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever. I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles, I bubble into eddying bays, I babble on the pebbles. With many a curve my banks I fret By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. I chatter, chatter, as I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever. I wind about, and in and out, With here a blossom sailing, And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a grayling, And here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery waterbreak Above the golden gravel, And draw them all along, and flow To join the brimming river For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever. I steal by lawns and grassy plots, I slide by hazel covers; I move the sweet forget-me-nots That grow for happy lovers. I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows; I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows. I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses; I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses; And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.