Poems for the Full Corn Moon

Hello everyone –

All this week, you can see the (nearly) Full Corn Moon outside in the early evening, rising above the eastern horizon. Be sure to step outside and have a look! Longtime listmembers will recall that I’ve been fascinated by the Moon ever since I can remember. My grandmother used to sing a song to me called “I See the Moon,” which has this chorus:

“I see the Moon, and the Moon sees me.

God bless the Moon, and God bless me.”

The Moon also appears in this nonsensical nursery rhyme:

“Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the Moon.

The little dog laughed

To see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.”

Here are some poems about the Moon to celebrate the Full Corn Moon this week!

“Leaves” (Anonymous)

The leaves had a wonderful frolic.

They danced to the wind’s loud song.

They whirled, and they floated, and scampered.

They circled and flew along.

The Moon saw the little leaves dancing.

Each looked like a small brown bird.

The Man in the Moon smiled and listened,

And this is the song he heard.

“The North Wind is calling, is calling,

And we must whirl round and round,

And then, when our dancing is ended,

We’ll make a warm quilt for the ground.”

“The Moon Blessing”

Collected by Alexander Carmichael in Carmina Gadelica (1900)

May thy light be fair to me!

May thy course be smooth to me!

If good to me is thy beginning,

Seven times better be thine end,

Thou fair Moon of the seasons,

Thou great lamp of grace!

The One who created thee

Created me likewise;

The One who gave thee weight and light

Gave to me life and death,

And the joy of the seven satisfactions,

Thou great lamp of grace,

Thou fair Moon of the seasons.

“Wynken, Blynken, and Nod”

By Eugene Field (1889)

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe —

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

The old Moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring fish

That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old Moon laughed and sang a song,

As they rocked in the wooden shoe,

And the wind that sped them all night long

Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring fish

That lived in that beautiful sea —

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish —

Never afraid are we";

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam —

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home;

'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed

As if it could not be,

And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea —

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while Mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Until next time – keep looking up! :)

Rob