The End
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.
Commentary
(from “Now We Are Six”)
I’m almost certain that Billy Collins had this childhood classic at the back of his mind when he wrote “On Turning Ten” [Poem #1096]. He appears to have answered from an adult perspective – but one that would be interesting to share with a 10-year-old,” whereas Milne wrote from what he must have imagined was a child’s perspective. However. I think children of six have a much clearer sense of anticipation of the future than the title of Milne’s poem – “The End” – would imply. They are just starting school, learning to read and write, and they can already count quite well, certainly up to and beyond what Collins calls “the first big number.” I think that excitement about what comes next, even if it is a little scary, is probably more dominant than the complacency of “I think I’ll be six for ever and ever.”
Writing what is in children’s minds, or what was in ones own mind as a child or indeed at any time in the past, is always a challenge; the more I look at children the more I believe that even very small children think in more complicated ways than many adults would like to believe.
To its credit, though, “The End” is a fine poem for early readers of English, with its reassuring repeated syntactical structures on the one hand and the rhymes that exhibit the devilish vagaries of English spelling on the other.
– Vivian
Show 11 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Arun Simha · 2 October 2002
Hi Martin,
Interestingly enough, I was just reading an excerpt from “Conceptual Blockbusters” by J. Adams as part of an Organizational Behavior course. He states:
” The knowledge that you acquire between the ages of 0 and 6, for instance, enormously exceeds what has been consciously taught. A great amount of knowledge is gained through observation and questioning. Unfortunately, as we grow older many of us lose our questioning attitude.”
He goes on to state that there are too main
reasons why this is so. First, we are discouraged from inquiry and second, the child’s “inquisitive” nature is socialized out of us. Acc to him, the second reason implies that smartness is associated with knowledge and a questioning attitude could imply that the questioner is less than smart]
Now the poem makes perfect sense to me given
the above context.
Cheers
Arun
Susan Fisher · 1 September 2003
Simply stated - I am hunting for Poetry to include in my 6 year old daughters school fete. My father used to recite this poem to me constantly when I was very young, and until recently wasn’t aware that it was by AA Milne. It is just a simple, beautiful set of words, that I am now reciting to my own children! I just love it! Sue Fisher.
The Kowalchuks · 26 September 2003
I hope you don’t mind me emailing you. But felt I had to after reading your comment.
Thank you for your interpretation of the poem.
I let my 13 year old read both the poem and your comment. He has been discouraged by his peers and I admit, sometimes by me, to ask certain questions for fear of him sounding less than intelligent. At his grade eight graduation the valedictorian said of him “Then there’s Kyle…Always asking the questions others were afraid to ask” and of his twin brother she said “And there’s Andrew, the intelligent one… beside him telling him not to ask the question.”
Thank you for your words of wisdom… I will encourage more and discourage less.
Wendy
Amy B Moore · 9 February 2004
I love this poem. I learned it as a 6-yr-old girl and as my son turned 6 yesterday, I wnet in search for it on the internet. Thank you for having it on your site! I will teach it to my boy so he may share it with his Kindergarten class, and hopefully with his own child somewhere ages and ages hence!
Amy Moore
Susan Pavlik · 18 May 2004
This poem brings tears to my eyes. I had many collections of A..A. Milne, both stories and poems, when my children were small, and I read them all to them. My oldest was especially fond of this poem when he was six, so much so that he memorized it and recited it to anyone who would listen. When his little girl turned six, I asked her if she knew the poem, and she replied that her daddy read it to her all the time. Four weeks after her sixth birthday, she and her daddy were killed in a traffic accident. This poem reminds me so strongly of the two of them, and I guess after all, Millie will be six forever and ever. Susan Pavlik
DonPow1 · 17 June 2004
I was once the secretary to a Catholic Bishop in Northern California who loved poetry and used this poem in his homilies when he administered the sacrament of Confirmation to eighth grade students. Now my granddaughter will be turning six and I am so glad to find the source and read the comments, especially Susan’s.
Katrina Price · 15 December 2004
GlacierMy son turned six last week and I included this in a book that I made him full of pictures from each year of his life. thank you for making in accessible.
Katrina Joy Price, Esq.
Matison & Margolese
9150 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 241
Beverly Hills, California
Sherrie Horn · 31 March 2005
When I was a little girl I had a book called The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. The book included a 45 rmp record with a musical version of the AA Milne poem The End and a song about the little house. I was at the Cracker Barrel restaurant recently and saw the book. It didn’t have the 45 with it, but I bought it anyway for my 4 year old daughter. I wanted to find the poem I so vividly remembered. Thank you for making it available so I can share it with my daughter.
Sherrie
MaePurcell · 8 December 2005
i LOVED THIS ONE AND WILL BE GIVING IT TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER FOR HER 6TH BIRTHDAY ON 27TH DECEMBER
Dan & Laura Clawson · 29 August 2006
Thank you for the wonderful website. I read Milne’s Now We Are Six to my children until we all had much of it memorized. I love to recite “The End” to six-year-olds to see their delight. I’m not sure I agree with your analysis; I’ve seen the pleasure on many small faces that seem to express simple joy in being six and surprise that an adult can express it. It’s a fabulous thing to be six. Oh that we should take such happiness in whatever age we attain!
~Laura Clawson
Graham Jackley · 18 March 2007
As I grew up mum used to read A.A. Milne. “The End” was my favorite and I couldn’t wait to reach the age of 6 so that I could recite it. I thought 6 was just so old. As my children grew I read A.A. Milne to them too and they couldn’t wait to get to 6 and recite it. It sums up just how simple and carefree a childs life can be, and just how important they think getting older is. Does it pay to worry about how complex a childs mind is? Or should we just rejoice in how such a simple poem can be so significant to a young mind. - Graham Jackley