CMP Review 2026-05-07

May 7, 2026

In rural Devonshire in the 1960s, a pair of sisters looked out of their bedroom window at a field full of sheep in the evening sunshine. One of the sisters then recited these words:

Little one, sleep!
Tiny one, sleep!
In the green meadows,
Cropping their shadows,
Graze the white sheep,
Graze the white sheep.

The sister who listened was not yet ten years old. But the words and the image cemented the moment in her mind.

More than sixty years later she sought to rediscover the poem that had remained in her heart. Who wrote these verses? Where could they be found? On thing she knew for sure: “Given the ‘True Poetry’ of the imagery—especially the sheep ‘cropping their shadows’—I am certain it was part of the PNEU’s curated ‘Living Books.’”

Well, we found Elizabeth Morley’s lovely poem “Cradle-Rocking.” The words exactly match what this PNEU homeschooler had remembered her entire life, even though she may have never before seen it on a page.

It is words that sustain us, and images and sounds that are beautiful and true. For so many of us, those sources of beauty were shown us by Miss Mason. I will say again that Charlotte Mason is not my living water. But thanks be to God, she showed me where to find it.

@artmiddlekauff