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What's the first poem(s) or poet(s) that you recall reading that made a big impression on you?

For me it was three different poems I read in a literature text book at school in 6th grade. Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken, and Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening and James Whitcomb Riley's When the Frost is on the Punkin

Ever since I read these poems that first time I have been in love with poetry and reading in general. It was that same literature book that opened my eyes to a world unknown, and for the first time in my life I actually enjoyed reading and was proud to say so!

I Remember, I Remember by Thomas Hood

When I started infants school my older brother was studying this poem & it has been in my head since .... to this day I can recite that poem & it still makes me cry.

'My spirit flew in feathers then
That is so heavy now,
The summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow'.

^Thanks Fran I looked it up. It's a very moving piece. I like it.

Where the Sidewalk Ends - by Shel Silverstein

Melaniep wrote:Where the Sidewalk Ends - by Shel Silverstein

A beautifully, evocative poem

Thanks Melaniep, I enjoyed it.

My father read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" to me when I was very young; I didn't understand much of it, but I attempted to read Poe's poetry several times after that, and today he is one of my favorites.

The first poem I truly remember reading was in school and it was e. e. cummings she being brand. I went to a predominantly all boys technical school and I think this was the teachers idea of getting hormone driven young men interested in poetry. It worked for me, for the rest of the class, meh not so much.

The first poem I came across was Over the Fence by Emily Dickinson in high school, very short, but beautiful.

I can't remember the first poem that I've read but as what I remember my all time favorite poem is Alone by Edgar Allan Poe. That poem inspires me to write my own poem.

The Crocodile

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale?

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
("Lewis Carroll" 1832-1898)

The Raven" to me when I was very young; I didn't realise much of it, but I tried to read Poe's verse some times after that, and today he is one of my favorites.

I remember reading Trees by Joyce Kilmer when I was a little girl.

TREES
by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Timpane wrote:The Raven" to me when I was very young; I didn't realise much of it, but I tried to read Poe's verse some times after that, and today he is one of my favorites.

The Raven also. I never knew it was from Edgar Allan Poe until I look it up. I'm so proud.

The two poems I remember having the biggest impression on me the first time I read them was J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Road Goes Ever On and On", and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". I absolutely love them!