26 Poems About Schools

1. First Day
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
   
   The first day of school is the reason why
   Children are happy but then some cry
   The first day of school can be a fear
   For our little ones that are so dear.
   
   Often they go holding Mom's hand
   But they would rather be playing in the sand
   With eyes so wide they look around
   But their focus is on the playground.
   
   The teacher approaches with a smile
   She welcomes the little ones with style
   There are a lot of kids in the room
   Dressed in new clothes and oh, so groomed.
   
   "I'll be back in a little while,"
   Says the Mom with a smile.
   "Go and play with your new friends"
   Off to school, the Mom does send.
   




2. Just For One Day
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
   
   The teacher says, "open your books."
   With that comment, I gave her a look.
   Oh why do I have to be here
   I think with a sneer.
   
   Teachers, books, and tests I don't like
   I'd rather be in the woods on a hike.
   All this learning hurts my brain
   School just seems like a pain.
   
   There must be more to life I think
   Pens, and paper, and just more ink
   If I could only have my way
   School would be just for one day!
   




3. School Bell
   Poet: Eleanor Farjeon
   
   Nine-o’clock Bell!
   All the small children and big ones as well,
   Pulling their stockings up, snatching their hats,
   Cheeking and grumbling and giving back-chats,
   Laughing and quarreling, dropping their things,
   These at a snail’s pace and those upon wings,
   Lagging behind a bit, running ahead,
   Waiting at corners for lights to turn red,
   Some of them scurrying,
   Others not worrying,
   Carelessly trudging or anxiously hurrying,
   All through the streets they are coming pell-mell
   At the Nine-o'clock Bell!
   




4. Summer Comes
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
   
   I always look forward to when summer comes
   And the school year is finally done.
   No more teachers, no more books,
   I'll just sit by the winding brook.
   
   I'll dream of things that life will bring
   The days are great, it makes me sing
   I can do whatever I want with the day
   I love summer in every way!
   
   But by summer's end
   I do miss my friends
   So off to school I will go
   My friends greet me with a big hello.
   
   Another school year has begun
   I will learn and ask questions.
   I'll study again and do my best
   I will ace every test.
   
   As the year passes by
   To my work, I will apply
   I will dream of summer days
   No more study, just full of play.
   




5. School Rule
   Poet: Arthur A. Knipe
   
   “Do not whisper" is a rule
   You will find in every school,
   And the reason here is given
   In a rhyme.
   
   For children all will chatter
   About any little matter
   And there’d be a dreadful clatter
   All the time.




6. A Good Foundation
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
   
   Oh I recall my school filled days
   I now realize how much it pays
   To learn and get an education
   It truly gives you a good foundation.
   
   Life will teach you many things
   Ups and downs and many swings
   But the learning that I got at school
   Has made me not anyone's fool.
   
   So learn all you can while you're in school
   Don't worry about being so cool.
   Always do your very best
   And life will take care of the rest.




Poem About Education



7. Success Is Yours
   Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
   
   To be successful in school
   Don't clown around and act like a fool
   Have a learning attitude
   Be full of gratitude.
   
   Ask the questions, learn all you can
   Determine what you want and have a plan
   These are the best days of your life
   Don't fill them with foolishness and strife.
   
   Your teachers only want the best
   That is why they give you the test.
   They want success for you
   In your life and all you do.
   
   The choice is yours to make
   You can learn or be a fake
   When you look back you will see
   That it prepared you for your degree!
   
   Try to be cheerful and kind, bringing pleasure into
   the lives of those at home and at school.




Poems About Learning



8. A Child's Thoughts
   Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
   
   I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day,
   I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play,
   And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood,
   And I am very happy, for I know that I’ve been good.




9. Freshmen
   Poet: Unknown
   
   We are students now called Greenhorns
   But Oh, we do not care,
   For soon there’ll be another class
   Who that same name must bear.
   
   For when we change to Sophomores
   We’re sure they cannot say,
   The Freshmen class of twenty four
   Did nothing else but play.
   
   And when the Juniors we become,
   The school will smile at us
   And say: “Those one time Freshies
   Succeed without a fuss."
   
   But oh, when we are Seniors
   In our motto we’ll confide-
   Because we mean to show them
   That since Freshman days we’ve tried.




10. The Years Of School
    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
    
    Grade one, grade two, grade three
    Were fun, happy, and free
    I made friends and had lots of play
    I loved going to school every day.
    
    But then came four, five, and six
    The work seemed hard as bricks.
    We now were subject to many tests
    Maybe school is not what they suggest.
    
    Next, you know came seven, eight, and nine
    I felt I was starting to shine
    I could do a lot of things on my own
    Sometimes school just made me groan.
    
    And the last, ten, eleven, and twelve
    School I was ready to shelve.
    But when graduation day came
    I proudly showed my diploma in the frame.
    
    The next chapter of life for me
    Will see me in university for my degree
    May the foundation that my teachers gave
    Serve me well in every way.



"The Years Of School" by Catherine Pulsifer reflects on the different stages of a school journey. In the early grades, like one, two, and three, school is full of fun, friends, and play, and the speaker enjoys it. However, as they progress to grades four, five, and six, they face tougher challenges and tests, making them question if school is what it's cracked up to be. Then, in grades seven, eight, and nine, they start to feel more confident and capable, though school can still be a bit frustrating. Finally, in grades ten, eleven, and twelve, the speaker is ready to leave school behind, but upon graduation, they proudly display their diploma. You may also find inspiration in these graduation poems



11. Quit?
    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, ©2021
    
    School enough, I am going to quit
    I have had enough I am going to split
    Why do I have to go,
    What do I have to show?
    
    I talked about this to friends of mine
    They did not think quitting would be fine
    They said, "What will you do
    No education, no job for you."
    
    I thought about the words they said
    And even though school I dread
    I need this education to survive
    I will change my attitude and thrive.
    




12. Going To School
    Poet: M. E. B.
    
    Dear little one good-bye, a pleasant walk for you
    On a summer morning early.
    When the flowers and the grass are wet with dew,
    That hangs in little drops so pearly.
    
    The sun is shining bright, and the birds so sweetly sing.
    As you walk to the school every morning;
    And always are in time, e'er the bell begins to ring,
    "Dull sleep and your downy bed scorning."
    
    Both the Latin and the French are quite difficult I know,
    But my brother conquers each of them with gladness;
    And how nice it is to think that a clever boy he'll grow,
    For he knows to be a dunce would give us sadness.
    
    Once more I say "good-bye," I will think of you the while
    You are busily engaged knowledge earning,
    And when at evening you return, friends will greet you with a smile.
    To welcome you from study and from learning.




Poems About Knowledge



13. The Old Red Schoolhouse
    Poet: Howard Carleton Tripp
    
    There it stood many years by the edge of the grove,
    On the brow of a beautiful hill;
    Not quite a fit object for children to love,
    It was built without beauty or skill.
    Its weather-worn siding was once painted red
    Its windows were dirty, and black was the door;
    The pupils it sheltered are nearly all dead,
    They never will scuffle again on its floor.
    
    It stood there defiant through winter's bleak hours.
    Its shingles were rotten from time and decay;
    In summer the dooryard was gaudy with flowers.
    Where the children would scamper and merrily play;
    Its chimney was battered and broken with stones,
    Its benches were whittied in comic relief ;
    Whenever I pass it the doleful wind moans
    Through the rafters, so old, like a spirit of grief.
    
    Its half-plastered walls were smoky and brown,
    The ceiling overhead was the color of slate;
    'Twas here they assembled, — the best of the town,
    On long winter evenings in earnest debate.
    'Twas here that the preacher each Sabbath would come,
    And dolefully mumble his time-honored prayers,
    And preach a long sermon on our final home,
    That lightened our purses, and also our cares.
    
    'Twas here the schoolmaster would pummel the boys,
    And fevor the maidens in all of their ways;
    'Twas here that the children of mischief and noise
    Spent many glad hours, the best of their days.
    From its door the black hearses wound over the hill,
    And carried their burdens of sorrow away;
    And now the old house is deserted and still,
    'Tis sunk into ruins, and gone to decay.




14. A School Break
    Poet: E. K. Linton
    
    Into the yard a rush of little feet;
    And then the summer air enshrines delight
    Of children's laughter in its fall and flight;
    While the sun shines more gaily, since such sweet
    Divine fair faces turn like flowers to greet
    His gentle gaze, and his gold beams may light
    In tender kisses slow and exquisite
    On their soft mouths that smile beneath his heat.
    
    Ah, sweeter far, I ween, to the Lord's ear
    This joyous laughter than the solemn hymn
    Of white-robed choir in measured melody
    Pacing the aisle of some cathedral dim;
    Nay, for God surely smiles and counts most dear
    Of all his wealth this childish ecstasy.




15. Junior Class Poem
    Poet: Adelore Ferron
    
    When it’s springtime we remember
    Joys we had in bleak December
    So when alone we must recall
    The peace we felt in study hall.
    
    Now is the time when pondering
    We put ourselves to wondering
    Of what we did or left undone
    When as Juniors we had our fun.
    
    A final thought but not the least
    Sure as the sun rose in the East
    We’ve loved our school its praises sung
    And in our studies we have won.




Quotes About Schools



16. School Is Done
    Poet: Mary D. Brine
    
    The daisies and the buttercups
    Now merrily are growing;
    And everywhere, for June's sweet sake,
    Are crimson roses blowing.
    The sunbeams o'er the meadows lie,
    And breezes light are straying;
    And oh! 'tis time the schools were done,
    And children out a playing.
    
    "Vacation is the time for fun!"
    All girls and boys are saying,
    When schools and books grow wearisome,
    And hearts are ripe for playing.
    So, little folks, come one and all,
    And tumble out together,
    Amid the sunbeam's golden bright,
    All in the sweet June weather.




17. Afternoon in School - The Last Lesson
    Poet: D. H. Lawrence
    
    When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?
    How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart
    My pack of unruly hounds: I cannot start
    Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,
    I can haul them and urge them no more.
    No more can I endure to bear the brunt
    Of the books that lie out on the desks: a full three score
    Of several insults of blotted pages and scrawl
    Of slovenly work that they have offered me.
    I am sick, and tired more than any thrall
    Upon the woodstacks working weariedly.
    
    And shall I take
    The last dear fuel and heap it on my soul
    Till I rouse my will like a fire to consume
    Their dross of indifference, and burn the scroll
    Of their insults in punishment? - I will not!
    I will not waste myself to embers for them,
    Not all for them shall the fires of my life be hot,
    For myself a heap of ashes of weariness, till sleep
    Shall have raked the embers clear: I will keep
    Some of my strength for myself, for if I should sell
    It all for them, I should hate them -
    I will sit and wait for the bell.




18. Do Your Best
    Poet: Phoebe Cary
    
    Do your best, your very best,
    And do it every day.
    Little boys and little girls,
    That is the wisest way.




Inspirational Quotes For Schools



19. I Got To Go To School
    Poet: Nixon Waterman
    
    I'd like to hunt the Injuns 'at roam the boundless less plain!
    I'd like to be a pirate an' plough the ragin' main
    An' capture some big island, in lordly pomp to rule,
    But I just can't be nothin' 'cause I got to go to school.
    
    'Most all great men, so I have read, has been the ones 'at got
    The least amount o' learnin' by a flickerin' pitchpine knot;
    An' many a darin' boy like me grows up to be a fool.
    An' never 'mounts to nothin' 'cause he's got to go to school.
    
    I'd like to be a cowboy an' rope the Texas steer!
    I'd like to be a sleuth-houn' er a bloody buccaneer!
    An' leave the foe to welter where their blood had made a pool,
    But how kin I git famous? 'cause I got to go to school.
    
    I don't see how my parents kin make the big mistake
    O' keepin' down a boy like me 'at 's got a name to make.
    It ain't no wonder boys is bad an' balky as a mule;
    Life ain't worth livin' if you've got to waste your time in school.
    
    I 'd like to be regarded as " The Terror of the Plains! "
    I'd like to hear my victims shriek an' clank their prison-chains!
    I'd like to face the enemy with gaze serene an' cool,
    An' wipe 'em off the earth! but, pshaw! I got to go to school.
    
    What good is 'rithmatic an' things exceptin' just fer girls
    Er them there Fauntleroys 'at wears their hair in twisted curls?
    An' if my name is never seen on hist'ry's page, why, you'll
    Remember 'at it's all just 'cause I got to go to school.




20. You Never Can Tell!
    Poet: Althea Randolph
    
    I go to school and try to read.
    But it is very hard!
    I'd so much rather stay at home,
    And play here in the yard.
    
    But Mother says that I must learn.
    And try to be content;
    For maybe some day when I'm grown
    I'll be the President!




21. The Schoolboy
    Poet: William Blake
    
    I love to rise in a summer morn,
    When the birds sing on every tree;
    The distant huntsman winds his horn,
    And the skylark sings with me:
    O what sweet company!
    
    But to go to school in a summer morn, -
    O it drives all joy away!
    Under a cruel eye outworn,
    The little ones spend the day
    In sighing and dismay.
    
    Ah then at times I drooping sit,
    And spend many an anxious hour;
    Nor in my book can I take delight,
    Nor sit in learning's bower,
    Worn through with the dreary shower.
    
    How can the bird that is born for joy
    Sit in a cage and sing?
    How can a child, when fears annoy,
    But droop his tender wing,
    And forget his youthful spring!
    
    O father and mother if buds are nipped,
    And blossoms blown away;
    And if the tender plants are stripped
    Of their joy in the springing day,
    By sorrow and care's dismay, -
    
    How shall the summer arise in joy,
    Or the summer fruits appear?
    Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
    Or bless the mellowing year,
    When the blasts of winter appear?
    




22. In School-Days
    Poet: John Greenleaf Whittier
    
    Still sits the school-house by the road,
    A ragged beggar sleeping;
    Around it still the sumachs grow,
    And blackberry-vines are creeping.
    
    Within, the master's desk is seen,
    Deep-scarred by raps official;
    The warping floor, the battered seats,
    The jack-knife's carved initial;
    
    The charcoal frescoes on its wall;
    Its door's worn sill, betraying
    The feet that, creeping slow to school,
    Went storming out to playing!
    
    Long years ago a winter sun
    Shone over it at setting;
    Lit up its western window-panes,
    And low eaves' icy fretting.
    
    It touched the tangled golden curls,
    And brown eyes full of grieving,
    Of one who still her steps delayed
    When all the school were leaving.
    
    For near it stood the little boy
    Her childish favor singled;
    His cap pulled low upon a face
    Where pride and shame were mingled.
    
    Pushing with restless feet the snow
    To right and left, he lingered;--
    As restlessly her tiny hands
    The blue-checked apron fingered.
    
    He saw her lift her eyes; he felt
    The soft hand's light caressing,
    And heard the tremble of her voice,
    As if a fault confessing.
    
    "I'm sorry that I spelt the word:
    I hate to go above you,
    Because," - the brown eyes lower fell, -
    "Because, you see, I love you!"
    
    Still memory to a gray-haired man
    That sweet child-face is showing.
    Dear girl! the grasses on her grave
    Have forty years been growing!
    
    He lives to learn, in life's hard school,
    How few who pass above him
    Lament their triumph and his loss,
    Like her, because they love him.
    




23. Vacation Time
    Poet: Edgar A. Guest
    
    Vacation time! How glad it seemed
    When as a boy I sat and dreamed
    Above my school books, of the fun
    That I should claim when toil was done;
    
    And, Oh, how oft my youthful eye
    Went wandering with the patch of sky
    That drifted by the window panes
    O'er pleasant fields and dusty lanes,
    
    Where I would race and romp and shout
    The very moment school was out.
    My artful little fingers then
    Feigned labor with the ink and pen,
    
    But heart and mind were far away,
    Engaged in some glad bit of play.
    The last two weeks dragged slowly by;
    Time hadn't then learned how to fly.
    
    It seemed the clock upon the wall
    From hour to hour could only crawl,
    And when the teacher called my name,
    Unto my cheeks the crimson came,
    
    For I could give no answer clear
    To questions that I didn't hear.
    "Wool gathering, were you?" oft she said
    And smiled to see me blushing red.
    
    Her voice had roused me from a dream
    Where I was fishing in a stream,
    And, if I now recall it right,
    Just at the time I had a bite.
    
    And now my youngsters dream of play
    In just the very selfsame way;
    And they complain that time is slow
    And that the term will never go.
    
    Their little minds with plans are filled
    For joyous hours they soon will build,
    And it is vain for me to say,
    That have grown old and wise and gray,
    
    That time is swift, and joy is brief;
    They'll put no faith in such belief.
    To youthful hearts that long for play
    Time is a laggard on the way.
    
    'Twas, Oh, so slow to me back then
    Ere I had learned the ways of men!




24. In Classrooms
    Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
    
    In classrooms where knowledge breathes,
    Teachers harbor wisdom like gentle sheaths.
    With chalk and charts, their guidance flows,
    Nurturing minds, as understanding grows.
    
    Within the school learning takes flight,
    As fertile thoughts bloom with pure delight.
    Plus in the library's embrace so grand,
    Vast treasures await, on every hand.




Poems About Libraries



25. Digging Gold
    Poet: S. M. Priest
    
    I am going to California,
    As smart as any man,
    To dig among the shining gold;
    For I am sure I can.
    
    I think you 'd better go to school.
    And study all you can,
    And never think of digging gold
    Till you become a man.
    
    Our fathers, and our mothers too,
    Would like a little gold;
    If we could get a lump or two,
    'Twould help them when they 're old.
    
    I think we 'd better stay at home.
    And dig for knowledge bright;
    'Twill be much better than the gold.
    With all its dazzling light.




26. On Old Man's Thought Of School
    Poet: Walt Whitman
    
    An old man, gathering youthful memories and blooms, that youth itself cannot.
    Now only do I know you!
    O fair auroral skies! O morning dew upon the grass!
    
    And these I see - these sparkling eyes,
    These stores of mystic meaning--these young lives,
    Building, equipping, like a fleet of ships - immortal ships!
    Soon to sail out over the measureless seas,
    On the Soul's voyage.
    
    Only a lot of boys and girls?
    Only the tiresome spelling, writing, ciphering classes?
    Only a Public School?
    
    Ah more--infinitely more;
    (As George Fox rais'd his warning cry, "Is it this pile of brick and
    mortar--these dead floors, windows, rails--you call the church?
    Why this is not the church at all--the Church is living, ever living
    Souls.")
    
    And you, America,
    Cast you the real reckoning for your present?
    The lights and shadows of your future--good or evil?
    To girlhood, boyhood look--the Teacher and the School.