Kids in a cage

Elephant

They gave the shoes to the elephant.
He took one shoe
And he said: - We need wider ones,
And not two, but all four!

Giraffe

Picking flowers is easy and simple
Small children
But to the one who is so tall,
It's not easy to pick a flower!

Tiger cub

Hey, don't stand too close
I'm a tiger cub, not a pussy!

Zebras

striped horses,
African horses,
It's good to play hide and seek
In the meadow among the grass!
Lined horses
Like school notebooks
Painted horses
From hooves to head.

White bears

We have a spacious pond.
My brother and I swim together.
The water is cool and fresh.
The guards change her.
We're swimming from wall to wall
Sometimes on the side, sometimes on the back.
Stay to the right, darling
Don't touch me with your foot!

Owls

Look at the little owls -
The little ones are sitting next to each other.
When they don't sleep,
They are eating.
When they eat
They don't sleep.

Baby Ostrich

I am a young ostrich,
Arrogant and proud.
When I'm angry, I kick
Calloused and hard.
When I'm scared I run
Stretching your neck.
But I can't fly,
And I can't sing.

Great ones about poetry:

Poetry is like painting: some works will captivate you more if you look at them closely, and others if you move further away.

Small cutesy poems irritate the nerves more than the creaking of unoiled wheels.

The most valuable thing in life and in poetry is what has gone wrong.

Marina Tsvetaeva

Of all the arts, poetry is the most susceptible to the temptation to replace its own peculiar beauty with stolen splendors.

Humboldt V.

Poems are successful if they are created with spiritual clarity.

The writing of poetry is closer to worship than is usually believed.

If only you knew from what rubbish poems grow without shame... Like a dandelion on a fence, like burdocks and quinoa.

A. A. Akhmatova

Poetry is not only in verses: it is poured out everywhere, it is all around us. Look at these trees, at this sky - beauty and life emanate from everywhere, and where there is beauty and life, there is poetry.

I. S. Turgenev

For many people, writing poetry is a growing pain of the mind.

G. Lichtenberg

A beautiful verse is like a bow drawn through the sonorous fibers of our being. The poet makes our thoughts sing within us, not our own. By telling us about the woman he loves, he delightfully awakens in our souls our love and our sorrow. He's a magician. By understanding him, we become poets like him.

Where graceful poetry flows, there is no room for vanity.

Murasaki Shikibu

I turn to Russian versification. I think that over time we will turn to blank verse. There are too few rhymes in the Russian language. One calls the other. The flame inevitably drags the stone behind it. It is through feeling that art certainly emerges. Who is not tired of love and blood, difficult and wonderful, faithful and hypocritical, and so on.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

-...Are your poems good, tell me yourself?
- Monstrous! – Ivan suddenly said boldly and frankly.
- Do not write anymore! – the newcomer asked pleadingly.
- I promise and swear! - Ivan said solemnly...

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. "Master and Margarita"

We all write poetry; poets differ from others only in that they write in their words.

John Fowles. "The French Lieutenant's Mistress"

Every poem is a veil stretched over the edges of a few words. These words shine like stars, and because of them the poem exists.

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok

Ancient poets, unlike modern ones, rarely wrote more than a dozen poems during their long lives. This is understandable: they were all excellent magicians and did not like to waste themselves on trifles. Therefore, behind every poetic work of those times there is certainly hidden an entire Universe, filled with miracles - often dangerous for those who carelessly awaken the dozing lines.

Max Fry. "Chatty Dead"

I gave one of my clumsy hippopotamuses this heavenly tail:...

Mayakovsky! Your poems do not warm, do not excite, do not infect!
- My poems are not a stove, not a sea, and not a plague!

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky

Poems are our inner music, clothed in words, permeated with thin strings of meanings and dreams, and therefore, drive away the critics. They are just pathetic sippers of poetry. What can a critic say about the depths of your soul? Don't let his vulgar groping hands in there. Let poetry seem to him like an absurd moo, a chaotic pile-up of words. For us, this is a song of freedom from a boring mind, a glorious song sounding on the snow-white slopes of our amazing soul.

Boris Krieger. "A Thousand Lives"

Poems are the thrill of the heart, the excitement of the soul and tears. And tears are nothing more than pure poetry that has rejected the word.

Great ones about poetry:

Poetry is like painting: some works will captivate you more if you look at them closely, and others if you move further away.

Small cutesy poems irritate the nerves more than the creaking of unoiled wheels.

The most valuable thing in life and in poetry is what has gone wrong.

Marina Tsvetaeva

Of all the arts, poetry is the most susceptible to the temptation to replace its own peculiar beauty with stolen splendors.

Humboldt V.

Poems are successful if they are created with spiritual clarity.

The writing of poetry is closer to worship than is usually believed.

If only you knew from what rubbish poems grow without shame... Like a dandelion on a fence, like burdocks and quinoa.

A. A. Akhmatova

Poetry is not only in verses: it is poured out everywhere, it is all around us. Look at these trees, at this sky - beauty and life emanate from everywhere, and where there is beauty and life, there is poetry.

I. S. Turgenev

For many people, writing poetry is a growing pain of the mind.

G. Lichtenberg

A beautiful verse is like a bow drawn through the sonorous fibers of our being. The poet makes our thoughts sing within us, not our own. By telling us about the woman he loves, he delightfully awakens in our souls our love and our sorrow. He's a magician. By understanding him, we become poets like him.

Where graceful poetry flows, there is no room for vanity.

Murasaki Shikibu

I turn to Russian versification. I think that over time we will turn to blank verse. There are too few rhymes in the Russian language. One calls the other. The flame inevitably drags the stone behind it. It is through feeling that art certainly emerges. Who is not tired of love and blood, difficult and wonderful, faithful and hypocritical, and so on.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

-...Are your poems good, tell me yourself?
- Monstrous! – Ivan suddenly said boldly and frankly.
- Do not write anymore! – the newcomer asked pleadingly.
- I promise and swear! - Ivan said solemnly...

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. "Master and Margarita"

We all write poetry; poets differ from others only in that they write in their words.

John Fowles. "The French Lieutenant's Mistress"

Every poem is a veil stretched over the edges of a few words. These words shine like stars, and because of them the poem exists.

Alexander Alexandrovich Blok

Ancient poets, unlike modern ones, rarely wrote more than a dozen poems during their long lives. This is understandable: they were all excellent magicians and did not like to waste themselves on trifles. Therefore, behind every poetic work of those times there is certainly hidden an entire Universe, filled with miracles - often dangerous for those who carelessly awaken the dozing lines.

Max Fry. "Chatty Dead"

I gave one of my clumsy hippopotamuses this heavenly tail:...

Mayakovsky! Your poems do not warm, do not excite, do not infect!
- My poems are not a stove, not a sea, and not a plague!

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky

Poems are our inner music, clothed in words, permeated with thin strings of meanings and dreams, and therefore, drive away the critics. They are just pathetic sippers of poetry. What can a critic say about the depths of your soul? Don't let his vulgar groping hands in there. Let poetry seem to him like an absurd moo, a chaotic pile-up of words. For us, this is a song of freedom from a boring mind, a glorious song sounding on the snow-white slopes of our amazing soul.

Boris Krieger. "A Thousand Lives"

Poems are the thrill of the heart, the excitement of the soul and tears. And tears are nothing more than pure poetry that has rejected the word.

Zoo

Early, early we get up

We call the watchman loudly:

Watchman, watchman, hurry up

Go out and feed the animals!

The watchman came out of the guardhouse,

He sweeps the paths

Smoking a pipe at the gate,

He doesn't give us lunch.

Long, long time at the bars,

We stand with our throats agape.

We know, we know without a watch,

That lunch is ready for us.

At lunch, at lunch

We don't chat with our neighbor,

We forget about everything

And we chew, chew, chew.

It's hard work -

Cheeks are shiny with sweat.

After eating you need sleep.

An elephant is leaning and dozing.

Showing yourself to the people

The hippopotamus goes into the water.

The owl is sleeping, clinging to a stump,

The deer sleeps and the seal sleeps.

Dark brown bear cub

He grumbles to himself in his sleep,

Only a pony and a camel

They get to work.

On a camel, on a camel,

Like in the desert, people drive

They pass by the ditch,

Behind which they see a lion,

They drive past the cage

Where eagles sit on a branch.

Clumsy, shaggy and thin,

A camel walks through the garden.

And in a circle, on the site,

Black-maned horses

They rush side by side and in single file,

They wave their bangs and tail.

But now it gets cold.

Strangers are leaving the garden.

The lights are burning behind the fence,

And we are left alone.

Elephant

They gave the shoes to the elephant.

He took one shoe

And he said: - We need wider ones,

And not two, but all four!

Giraffe

Picking flowers is easy and simple

Small children

But to the one who is so tall,

It's not easy to pick a flower!

Tiger Cub

Hey, don't stand too close -

I'm a tiger cub, not a pussy!

Zebras

striped horses,

African horses,

It's good to play hide and seek

In the meadow among the grass!

Lined horses

Like school notebooks

Painted horses

From hooves to head.

White bears

We have a spacious pond.

My brother and I swim together.

The water is cool and fresh.

The guards change her.

We're swimming from wall to wall

Sometimes on the side, sometimes on the back.

Stay to the right, darling

Don't touch me with your foot!

Owls

Look at the little owls -

The little ones are sitting next to each other.

When they don't sleep,

They are eating.

When they eat

They don't sleep.

Baby Ostrich

I am a young ostrich,

Arrogant and proud.

When I'm angry, I kick

Calloused and hard.

When I'm scared I run

Stretching your neck.

But I can't fly,

And I can't sing.

Penguin

Really, kids, am I good?

It looks like a big bag.

On the seas in years past

I overtook steamships.

And now I'm here in the garden

I swim quietly in the pond.

Swan

Why does water flow

From this baby?

He recently came out of the pond,

Give me a towel!

Camel

Poor little camel:

The child is not allowed to eat.

He ate this morning

Only two of these buckets!

Eskimo dog

There is a note on the twig:

"Don't come close!"

Don't believe the note -

I am the kindest animal.

Why am I sitting in a cage?

I don't know myself, kids.

Little penguins

We are two brothers, two chicks.

We are fresh out of the egg.

What kind of bird is our mother?

Where can we find her?

We don't know anyone here

And we don’t even know who we are.

Geese? Ostriches? Peacocks?

You guessed it! We are penguins.

Kangaroo

Here's a look at the game

Two Australian kangaroos.

They play leapfrog

In the zoological garden.

Dingo dog

No, I'm not a wolf or a fox.

You come to our forests,

And there you will see a dog -

Warlike dingo.

Let the kangaroo tell you

Like in the Australian heat

Chased his sister through the forests

Lean, skinny dingo.

She goes into the bushes - and I follow her,

She is in the stream - and I am in the stream,

She's faster - and I'm faster,

The tireless dingo.

She is cunning, and I am not simple.

In the morning we ran to the stars,

But I caught her by the tail

The relentless dingo.

Now I'm in everyone's sight

In the zoological garden,

I'm spinning like a top and waiting for meat,

Restless dingo.

Lion cubs

Don't you know dad -

A big, red lion?

His paws are heavy

And a shaggy head.

He screams loudly - in a bass voice,

And you can hear him far away.

He eats meat at lunch

And we suck milk.

Lion cub

No, wait, wait, wait,

I'll deal with you!

My father in one leap

Deals with a bull.

It would be a shame if I

I won't catch the sparrow.

Hey, come back while you're still alive!

Mother! Mother! Flew away!..

Lioness

What a foggy summer

In this unkind country!

I'm dressed in a warm dress

But it's cold, I'm cold!

They call me savage

Because I'm sitting in sadness,

Dreaming of hot Africa,

About soft, hot sand.

I met a crocodile here.

He smiled at me like a friend.

“Do you want,” I asked him, “

To the bananas and palm trees to the south?

“Child,” he answered sadly, “

Don’t see my native land!”

And tears from the crocodile's eyes

It started running down my black cheeks.

Hyena

The rhinoceroses snored

A long-legged ostrich is dozing.

Thick-skinned hippopotamus

Lay down quietly on your stomach.

A camel sleeps with its knees bent.

But I, a hyena, can’t sleep!

My time is coming:

I will howl until the morning.

During the day I was silent gloomily -

I'm afraid of the noise of the day -

But my hoarse laughter

It scares everyone at night!

Even lions are afraid of me...

How can you not laugh at them?

Bear

Here's a bear, a bear, a bear!

Who wants to watch?

Come visit Misha,

Throw some sweet gingerbread to Misha.

Misha asks, Misha waits,

With his mouth wide open.

No, to the right! No, to the left!

We missed, you bastards!

Now they're in the mouth!

What a gingerbread - pure honey!

For such a treat

We'll put on a show.

Come on, Misha, take a bow!

Come on, Misha, somersault!

Jackal

My father is a steppe jackal

I was looking for food for myself.

Far away in the land of sand

He accompanied the caravans

And in the desert under the moon

Crying loudly in silence.

He ate bones and scraps,

And now he lives in a cage.

He's sheltered from the rain here

And you are always full.

Elephant

African young

Doused with water.

I washed my hair and ears -

And the tub became dry.

For a good elephant

We need a whole river.

Take it away

Bring it

Fontanka!

Monkey

Sailed across the ocean

Sailor from Africa

Baby monkey

He brought it to us as a gift.

She sits, sad,

All evening long

And such a song

In his own way he sings:

"In the far hot south,

On palm trees and bushes,

My friends are screaming

Swinging on their tails.

Wonderful bananas

In my homeland.

Monkeys live there

And there are no people at all.”

Kangaroo

Long-tailed kangaroo

He calls his sister for a walk,

And my sister is sitting in a bag

On mom's belly.

Where did you have lunch, sparrow?

Where did you have lunch, sparrow?

At the zoo with the animals.

I had lunch first

Behind bars by the lion.

Took some refreshment from the fox.

I drank some water at the walrus's.

I ate carrots from an elephant.

I ate millet with the crane.

Stayed with a rhinoceros

I ate a little bran.

I went to the feast

In tailed kangaroos.

I was at a festive dinner

At the shaggy bear.

A toothy crocodile

Almost swallowed me.

Orphanage

This spring

In the zoological garden

Deer and lion, badger and lynx

And the cubs were born.

An orphanage has been set up for them.

With green meadow and pond.

They play and lie down.

A goat butts bear cubs.

And the lion and the wolf rush at a gallop

And they are chasing a multi-colored ball.

A year or two will fly by quickly,

And the wolf will be afraid of the lion,

And they will live apart in the world

Badger and lion, bear and elk.

Fomka

In front of the pool at the zoo -

Bear wet tracks. -

With a heavy splash at midday hot

The bear comes out of the water.

Even in the bones he is very thin,

He is also short in stature.

He is not a bear, but a bear cub,

But snow-white, like an old man.

Easily recognized by its white skin

Tiger cub

Hey, don't stand too close -
I'm a tiger cub, not a pussy!

Elephant

They gave the shoes to the elephant.
He took one shoe
And he said: “We need wider ones.”
And not two, but all four!

Zebras

striped horses,
African horses,
It's good to play hide and seek
In the meadow among the grass!

Lined horses
Like school notebooks
Painted horses
From hooves to head.

Giraffe

Picking flowers is easy and simple
Small children
But to the one who is so tall,
It's not easy to pick a flower!

Owls

Look at the little owls -
The little ones are sitting next to each other.
When they don't sleep,
They are eating.
When they eat
They don't sleep.

Penguin

Really, kids, am I good?
It looks like a big bag.

On the seas in years past
I overtook steamships.

And now I'm here in the garden
I swim quietly in the pond.

Swan

Why does water flow
From this baby?
He recently came out of the pond,
Give me a towel!

Baby Ostrich

I am a young ostrich
Arrogant and proud.
When I'm angry I kick
Calloused and hard.

When I'm scared I run
I crane my neck.
But I can't fly,
And I can't sing.

Monkey

Sailed across the ocean
Sailor from Africa
Baby monkey
He brought it to us as a gift.

She sits, sad,
All evening long
And such a song
In his own way he sings:

"In the far hot south,
On palm trees and bushes
My friends are screaming
Swinging on their tails.

Wonderful bananas
In my homeland.
Monkeys live there
And there are no people at all.”

White bears

We have a spacious pond.
My brother and I swim together.

The water is cool and fresh.
The guards change her.

We're swimming from wall to wall
Sometimes on the side, sometimes on the back.

Keep to the right, dear.
Don't touch me with your foot!

Eskimo dog

There is a note on the twig:
"Don't come close!"

Don't believe the note -
I am the kindest animal.

Why am I sitting in a cage?
I don't know myself, kids.

Dingo dog

No, I'm not a wolf or a fox.
You come to our forests,
And there you will see a dog -
Warlike dingo.

Let the kangaroo tell you
Like in the Australian heat
Chased his sister through the forests
Lean, skinny dingo.

She goes into the bushes - and I follow her,
She is in the stream - and I am in the stream,
She's faster - and I'm faster,
The tireless dingo.

She's cunning and I'm not simple
In the morning we ran to the stars,
But I caught her by the tail
The relentless dingo.

Now I'm in everyone's sight
In the zoological garden,
I'm spinning like a top and waiting for meat,
Restless dingo.

Camel

Poor little camel:
The child is not allowed to eat.
He ate this morning
Only two of these buckets!

Where did the sparrow have lunch?

-Where did you have lunch, sparrow?
- In the zoo with the animals.

I had lunch first
Behind bars by a lion.

Took some refreshment from the fox.
I drank some water at the walrus's.

I ate carrots from an elephant.
I ate millet with the crane.

Stayed with a rhinoceros
I ate a little bran.

I went to the feast
In tailed kangaroos.

I was at a festive dinner
At the shaggy bear.

A toothy crocodile
Almost swallowed me.

Analysis of the poem “Children in a Cage” by Marshak

Despite the fact that the number of works for children today is very large, it is rare that a house will not have a collection of Marshak’s poems. Samuil Yakovlevich’s work “Children in a Cage” is almost 100 years old, it has gone through many editions and is still in demand on the children’s literature market. The writer’s unsurpassed talent, his understanding of a child’s thoughts, and his unfailing sense of humor made the “Children in a Cage” series a classic and an example of children’s poetry.

Together with his little readers, the author walks between the cages in the zoo and offers a look at its inhabitants. The very title of the collection is interesting: children in a cage: a simple rhyme gives room for imagination. The child is transported to an amazing world in which behind bars are not just wild animals, but “children” just like him. Getting to know birds and animals is fun and easy, and their distinctive features are highlighted in a couple of lines.

What is surprising about the cycle of children's prose is that the author does not just draw the image of an animal, but creates an emotionally charged artistic image. Using the simplest words, S.Ya. Marshak accurately conveys not only the appearance, but also the habits of the animals. Reading the lines about polar bears, “We swim from wall to wall, sometimes on our sides, sometimes on our backs,” the image of sedate and large animals slowly swimming in their pond in the summer heat arises in your mind. It’s as if the child is being invited on an entertaining journey, jokingly telling, teaching and even warning “Hey, don’t stand too close - I’m a tiger cub, not a pussy!”

Seeing a picture in a book, a child remembers familiar lines, and vice versa, hearing poetry, he imagines the image of a zoo inhabitant - this trains memory and imaginative thinking. The animals introduce themselves to their little reader, hold attention with bright details and phrases and invite them to continue the journey further. The introduction to the elephant occurs in just four lines, but a whole story unfolds in them: the elephant did not have shoes, someone (most likely a child) shared his shoes, the elephant took them, examined them and was surprised. The author conveys surprise only through rhymes: “to the elephant” - “alone”? And the requirement: “wider” - “four”.

Marshak looks at his heroes through the eyes of a child, maintaining childish spontaneity and naivety. The reader is presented with a fairy tale in which animals can speak and reason, an elephant can offer his shoe, and a cheerful sparrow will tell about dinner at the neighbors' house. The author embodied children's thinking in an ideal form and conveyed it to us in the cycle of the wonderful literary work “Children in a Cage.”