Module 5 Poetry Break with Refrain
Poetry 5663
Diana Stephens

“House Crickets”
By Paul Fleischman
Illustrated by Eric Beddows
From Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

Introduction: Poetry month is April, and April is spring. What do you think of when you think of spring? (Allow for answers.) Are there any animals that you associate with spring? (Allow for answers.) Do you know how, sometimes, we have favorite animals? Does anyone have a favorite insect? Some people really do like spiders or cockroaches. If I could have a favorite insect, it would be the cricket. It’s the one that makes that noise. (Use Eric Carle’s book, The Very Quiet Cricket, to make the cricket sound.)

Did you know that the Japanese believe that the cricket brings them good luck, so they keep them in little traps or cages in their houses to bring good luck? It’s supposed to be bad luck if you kill one, so when I find one in the house, I capture it in my hands and throw it outside.

Now this poetry book, (holding it up), Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, may be new to you. It won the Newbery Medal, an award for children's literature, in 1989. It says two voices, so I will need your teacher to be the other voice with me, and then we will let you try it. Listen to see how many of the seasons are mentioned. And see if you catch the metaphor.

(I have bolded the refrain.)

“House Crickets”
By Paul Fleischman
Illustrated by Eric Beddows
From Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

We don’t live in meadows
crick-et .............................crick-et
or in groves
.....................................................We’re house crickets
.....................................................living beneath
.....................................................this gas stove
crick-et .............................crick-et
Others may worry
crick-et .............................crick-et
about fall
.....................................................We’re scarcely aware
.....................................................of the seasons at all
crick-et .............................crick-et
Spring, to house crickets,
crick-et .............................crick-et
means no more
.....................................................than the time
.....................................................when fresh greens
.....................................................once again grace the floor
crick-et ............................ crick-et
Summer’s the season
crick-et .............................crick-et
for pie crumbs:
.....................................................peach, pear, boysenberry,
.....................................................quince, apricot, plum
crick-et .............................crick-et
Pumpkin seeds tell us
crick-et .............................crick-et
fall’s arrived
.....................................................while hot chocolate spills
.....................................................hint that it’s
.....................................................winter outside.
No matter the month ...............No matter the month
we’ll stay well fed and warm,
.....................................................unconcerned about cold fronts
.....................................................and wind chill and storms,
For while others are ruled ......For while others are ruled
by the sun in the heavens,
.....................................................whose varying height brings
.....................................................the season’s procession,
we live in a world .....................we live in a world
of fixed Fahrenheit
crick-et .............................crick-et
......................................................thanks to our sun:
our unchanging
......................................................reliable
steadfast and stable
bright blue ..................................bright blue
pilot light. ....................................pilot light.

Extension: What do you think of the poem? What did you think of the two voices? How many seasons were mentioned? (All four.) What was the metaphor? (Sun compared to pilot light of a gas oven.) When words in a poem are repeated, it’s called a refrain. What word or words were repeated in this poem? (Crick-et.) How did having a refrain add to the experience of the poem? (It feels like there is a cricket interrupting the poem.) Are there two other voices who would like to read it?

Fleishman, Paul. (1988) Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. Illus. by Eric Beddows. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.