PoemsPoems on teachers, school and farewell
Poems for the stage: Teachers' Day, the farewell function, the annual day. They are short and rhythmic, and easy to learn in one evening.
English
To My Teacher
You taught me where the comma goes, and where the river meets the sea, and that a question, asked aloud, is braver than a guess can be. You marked my errors small, in red, and wrote "well tried" in letters tall. I did not know, at twelve years old, that this was the lesson, after all.
ShareYourGroupThe First Bell
New shoes that bite, a bag too wide, a bottle hanging at my side, a gate as tall as any king, and somewhere, bells begin to ring. My mother's hand slips out of mine. I join the smallest, wobbliest line. I do not cry. Well, not a lot. By lunch I've made a friend. Forgot.
ShareYourGroupFarewell, Class
We came in shorts and leave in ties, with longer legs and wiser eyes. The desks we carved, the walls we knew will learn the names of someone new. So thank you, corridors and bell, and teachers who have borne us well. We take the lessons, leave the chairs. The school stays here. We take the stairs.
ShareYourGroupThe Blackboard
It holds a sum, a map, a rhyme, then loses them, one wipe at a time. But what it lost has gone to stay in forty heads that walked away. So thank the board, so dark and plain: it learns each thing, forgets again, and stands there every morning, clear, as if to say: begin from here.
ShareYourGroupThe Last Period
The fan still turns, the chalk is short, The bell is five minutes late. She gives us one more sum to do And smiles as we all wait. Tomorrow someone else will stand Where thirty years she stood. We did not always learn the sums. We learnt that she was good.
ShareYourGroupHomework
I did it, Ma'am, I promise you, I did it, every bit. I only cannot find the page, The bag, the book, or it. My dog is innocent this time, My brother has not seen. Tomorrow I shall bring it, Ma'am, And two, to show I'm keen.
ShareYourGroup
हिन्दी
गुरु
उँगली पकड़कर अक्षर सिखाए, ग़लती पर भी धीरज रखा। जो ख़ुद जलकर रोशनी दे, उस दीपक को गुरु कहा। किताबों से आगे की बातें आपने ही समझाई थीं: हारना कोई हार नहीं, रुकना ही बस बुराई थी। आज जहाँ भी पहुँचा हूँ मैं, नींव आपकी डाली है। शिक्षक दिवस पर शीश झुकाकर यही बात कह डाली है।
ShareYourGroupस्कूल के दिन
सुबह की प्रार्थना, लंबी क़तार, जूतों पर पॉलिश, माँ की पुकार। टिफ़िन की ख़ुशबू, आधी छुट्टी, कंचे, पतंगें, झूठी कुट्टी। होमवर्क अधूरा, बहाने पूरे, मास्टर जी के चश्मे घूरे। तब लगता था कब छूटेगा, अब लगता है: क्यों छूट गया?
ShareYourGroupविदाई
आज विदा की बेला आई, आँखें नम, दिल भारी है। जिन गलियारों में दौड़े थे, उनसे बिछड़ने की बारी है। गुरुजनों का आशीष लेकर नई राह पर जाएँगे। जहाँ रहेंगे, जो बनेंगे, इस आँगन को न भुलाएँगे।
ShareYourGroupआख़िरी घंटी
पंखा वैसे ही घूम रहा है, चॉक ज़रा सा बाक़ी है। मैडम की यह आख़िरी क्लास है, घंटी बजनी बाक़ी है। तीस बरस इसी कमरे में कितने बच्चे पढ़ा गईं। हमें सवाल भले न आए, अच्छा बनना सिखा गईं।
ShareYourGroup
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
ਮਾਸਟਰ ਜੀ
ਹੱਥ ਵਿੱਚ ਚਾਕ, ਅੱਖਾਂ ਤੇ ਐਨਕ, ਬੋਲ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਮਿੱਠੇ। ਮਾਸਟਰ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਊੜਾ ਐੜਾ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਦੱਸੇ। ਝਿੜਕ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਦਵਾਈ ਵਰਗੀ, ਸ਼ਾਬਾਸ਼ ਇਨਾਮ ਜਿਹਾ। ਜੋ ਕੁਝ ਵੀ ਆਂ ਅੱਜ ਅਸੀਂ, ਸਭ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ।
ShareYourGroupਸਕੂਲ ਦੀ ਵਿਦਾਇਗੀ
ਆਖ਼ਰੀ ਵਾਰੀ ਘੰਟੀ ਵੱਜੀ, ਬਸਤੇ ਮੋਢੇ ਪਾਏ। ਜਿਸ ਵਿਹੜੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਖੇਡੇ ਕੁੱਦੇ, ਓਥੋਂ ਤੁਰ ਕੇ ਆਏ। ਅੱਖਾਂ ਗਿੱਲੀਆਂ, ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹ ਹੱਸਦੇ, ਯਾਰਾਂ ਜੱਫੀਆਂ ਪਾਈਆਂ। ਸਕੂਲ ਛੁੱਟਿਆ, ਯਾਦਾਂ ਸਾਡੇ ਨਾਲ ਈ ਤੁਰ ਕੇ ਆਈਆਂ।
ShareYourGroup
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Which poem for which function
- Teachers' Day (5 September): "To My Teacher", "The Blackboard" or "गुरु". For a class presentation, let four students take a stanza each.
- Farewell of a class: "Farewell, Class" or "विदाई", read by a junior to the outgoing seniors, or by a senior in reply.
- Farewell or retirement of a teacher: "The Last Period" or "To My Teacher", with the teacher's subject worked into a line.
- The first day of the session: "The First Bell" or "स्कूल के दिन".
- Alumni reunions: "स्कूल के दिन" and "The Blackboard" bring the old classroom back.
Make it about your own teacher
A poem addressed to "my teacher" becomes a gift when it carries one true detail: the red pen, the chalk dust on a sleeve, the phrase the teacher always says, the way the whole class goes quiet when footsteps come down the corridor. Change one line to hold it. If the poem is for a card, write the teacher's name at the top and sign it with your class and roll number, the way they know you.
Reciting on a school stage
These poems have a steady beat on purpose, so that a nervous speaker can lean on it. Say the title and "a poem for our teachers" before you begin. Speak to the last row. Pause for a breath between stanzas. If the poem ends on thanks, look at the teachers as you say the final line, then say "thank you" once and leave. More help is in our guide, How to recite a poem.
A note for farewell speeches
A four line poem at the end of a farewell speech is stronger than a long poem in the middle. Give your thanks in your own words first, then close with one stanza. People remember the last thing they hear.
Good to know
- On stage, look up at the end of every second line. It slows you down and lets the hall hear you.