Special Hero (Poem)

Unit 1: Poem – Special Hero

Christina M. Kerschen

Warm-up

What are the sacrifices made by your father for your family?

Poem: Special Hero

Christina M. Kerschen

When I was a baby,
you would hold me in your arms.
I felt the love and tenderness,
keeping me safe from harm.

I would look up into your eyes,
and all the love I would see.
How did I get so lucky,
you were the dad chosen for me.

There is something special
about a father's love.
Seems it was sent to me
from someplace up above.

Our love is everlasting,
I just wanted you to know.
That you're my special hero
and I wanted to tell you so.

Glossary

• tenderness (n) – gentleness and kindness
• everlasting (adj) – lasting forever or a very long time
• special (adj) – different from what is usual

A) Read the poem aloud in pairs.

B) Find a line from the poem to match the statements given below and write it in the blanks.

1. He always saves me from harm
   “keeping me safe from harm.”

2. I am so lucky to get you
   “How did I get so lucky, you were the dad chosen for me.”

3. The affection between us has no end
   “Our love is everlasting.”

C) Answer the following questions.

1. Who is the speaker?
2. Who is the special hero mentioned in the poem?
3. How did the child feel when it was held by its dad?
4. “Seems it was sent to me from someplace up above.”
   What do the above lines mean?
5. What did the child want to tell its dad?

D) Work in pairs and answer the questions below.

1. “There is something special about a father's love.”
   Identify the alliteration in the given lines.

2. Pick out the rhyming words from the poem.

WRITING

E) Write a paragraph on the father’s love as described in the poem.

Parallel Reading

Only a Dad

Edgar Albert Guest

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more.
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen,
Only a dad, but the best of men.

Practice Practice Exercises

1. He always saves me from harm

2. I am so lucky to get you

3. The affection between us has no end

1. Who is the speaker?

2. Who is the special hero mentioned in the poem?

3. How did the child feel when it was held by its dad? Seems it was sent to me from someplace up above.

4. What do the above lines mean?

5. What did the child want to tell its dad?

1. "There is something special about a father's love". Identify the alliteration in the given lines.