indexrosearbor.htm

SPIRITUAL THINGS: "Seek, and ye shall find!" Matthew 7:7
Bible Gateway: Search the Bible online, for free, in many different versions. Links to lexicons, Bible dictionaries, and concordances. Search Bibles in other languages, also.
Bible ToolBox: Handy collection of online Bible study tools.
Spurgeon's Sermons: Portal site. Read or listen to the beautifully written sermons of Spurgeon, the "golden-tongued" preacher! Many short, devotional pieces. Inspiring and joyful in outlook.
Great-Grandpa's Hymns: Here, collected, are some of the best hymns of my great-grandfather, Andrew L. Byers. He mostly composed music to other people's words, but he also wrote a few song lyrics of his own. You can read his words and scores and listen to his music here. "Draw Me Nearer" is a good example of his composing style. Hymns don't have to sound somber and stately! His son, Virgil, was a church choir director and amateur painter. See also on this site, the compositions of Della F. Byers, Andrew's wife, my great-grandmother.
Cachetism of the Catholic Church: If you want to understand the entire history of Christianity, you must learn a bit about the Catholic Church. Start with their well-written cachetism. For more history, visit the Vatican's graphics-rich, supersite for links to their amazing online museums and archives. Slow-loading but well worth a virtual visit.

POETRY LINKS FOR ADULTS AND TEENS:

Bartleby's: Free, online, classic English literature, including poetry.
Emily Dickinson Museum: Immortal free spirit! Superb list of links to her poetry and life. Find out who owns the copyright to her works.
Pablo Neruda: Emperor of metaphors! Listen to the poet read his works here (in Spanish), University of Chile. Read English translations of his poems here (site has stiff copyright restrictions). His vast ocean of work translates beautifully, in part due to his heavy use of metaphors--the universal poetic language. I like to read his poems in both English and Spanish, as translations do not give the full flavor of his writing.
Poets and Writers: Portal site. Stuffed with information on readings, workshops, prizes, contests, resources, etc., of interest and use to the serious poet and/or writer. Their bi-monthly magazine is generous with online articles. Contains resources especially focused on teen poet needs.
William Blake Portal Site: Fiery, sweet singer! A very nice collection of Blake links. Page loads quickly. Go to the William Blake Archives for complete texts and illustrations of Blake's work. Browser must be java-enabled for the archive site. Slow-loading..
Academy of American Poets: A generous site for serious adult and teen poets and writers. Teachers, discover their Online Poetry Classroom. Gorgeous!
Walter de la Mare: Ever-seeking heart! Read his poetry online with poems for both children and adults (stiff copyright restrictions apply). His anthology, "Come Hither," sadly op, is a wonderful resource for teen poets. Try Alibris to find a used copy.

POETRY LINKS FOR TEACHERS:
Internet School Library Media Center: Portal site of research links. A small poetry page. A focus on classic poems for children. Handy resource for parents and teachers.
The Poetry Teacher: Fantastic site to start with for those new to teaching poetry, written by a teacher. Clean interface. Very nice. Nonprofit site.
ProTeacher: Contains a forum where teachers can ask questions and share ideas about teaching poetry. Huge, searchable archive of teaching ideas. Click on "Help" first to use their search function.
Online Poetry Classroom: Sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, a nonprofit site. Large site with a focus on child and young adult poets and writers.
Poetry For Children Blog: Densely packed with up-to-date information on modern poets who write for children. From the University of Texas. Excellent resource.
Kristine O'Connell George: Probably the richest, poet-writing-for-children site on the Internet in terms of resources for teachers. Large, commercial site, however, that heavily promotes the poet's own work. Her publishing links have not been well-researched. Check these sites out carefully, as not all are reputable. This site also contains no information for young poets about copyright protection for their own poetry. The most useful resource here is the poet's own long, updated, and carefully annotated list of books about poetry and writing poetry.
The Poetry Foundation: Links and articles and poems online for both children and adult. An interesting list of poetry blogs. Clean interface.

POETRY LINKS FOR CHILDREN:
Poetry Zone: Portal site about poetry for children from English poet, Roger Stevens. Commercial with a focus on the author's own words but with a heavy emphasis also on promoting young poets. Free, safe, no-fee, online contests for child poets. Unusual--and wonderful-- in that it publically protects copyright of children's poems! Links to poetry resources (with an emphasis on the UK) for young poets and their teachers.
Mother Goose Rhymes: Every child, teen, and adult should know these!
Odgen Nash's Poetry: Great master of funny poetry for children!
Edward Lear's Poetry: Site loads slowly, somewhat commercialized, but worth the visit. Contains complete works. King of the limerick!

POETRY WRITING TOOLS:
RhymeZone: Free, online rhyming dictionary. Reverse dictionary.
Hypertext Dictionary: Interesting, new concept, almost like a thesaurus and rhyming dictionary combined. Offers rhymes for as well as words related to a word.
Glossary of Poetic Terms: Very complete, a lovely resource.
Poetry Writing Software: Cyberart technology! Interesting look at poem-writing software. The author has written a fascinating book on the same subject, The Age of Spiritual Machines.