You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The theme of this volume honouring Arnold Cooper brought to mind a remarkable article by the poet Kenneth Koch (1971).1 It was about teaching children to write poetry. The poet described his experience in a public school in New York City, working with children from first to sixth grades. To begin, he found that it was important to remove obstacles like rhyme and metre, which impede the free flow of feelings and associations. And in an atmosphere that encouraged the young writers to take chances, Koch gave them wonderful subjects to write about: write about your wishes, he told them, write poems that are lies, write about your dreams. But the poems that most delighted me - and that have remained so vivid in my mind all these years - were the poems whose alternate lines began “I used to … / But now …”:
I used to drive trucks, but now I drive racing cars.I used to be in first gradeBut now I'm in second grade.I used to have an apple dressBut now it doesn't fit me.