Added: 5 years ago
From: Urgelt
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  • This video made me cry. That probably wasn't the intent, but I couldn't help it. It really stirred something in me because I can relate to whomever wrote you that letter. And the fact that you took it upon yourself to dedicate this lovely poem to someone whose face you'll likely never even see is just... beautiful. :)

  • I'm 26 years old and listening to this made me feel like a kid again. I don't have any grandparents but hearing you read makes me feel less badly about missing out on them. Thank you so much. :o)

  • keep it up man! your videos are relaxing!

  • I believe that was one of the most kind things someone could do for someone. I know you touched that child's heart.

    You're expressions while reading made me happy as well. :)

  • Thankyou .

  • Thanks Sire, nice reading.

  • Dont take this negatively, because it's completely positive, your voice helps me sleep on those nights where Mom and Dad are fighting and all that....

  • This isn't the first time people have commented on that property of my videos. The notion left me a little perplexed, once.

    No longer. I think I understand the effect and why it occurs.

    If it's of benefit to you, I'm glad.

  • I dont know how i came across your videos, but that letter was incredibly touching. What a sweet little boy. Thank you for responding to him like you did. Made his day with this video, I'm sure. I love your reading style, by the way. Very relaxed, soothing, and comforting. I find them beneficial when trying to unwind and relax before bed. You bring the words to life. Keep it up!

  • What a fantastic reading. I'm thrilled that I happened to stumble upon your videos. This is actually one of my favorite poems but never before have I cried because of it.

  • Wow. I can't believe I'm crying over this. You sir, are a very remarkable man.

  • hope you have a nice christmas ans a happy new year =) stay healthy urgelt ;)

  • Good job...

  • thankyou. and i could not agree more.

    i was read to as a child by my mother and father. and i'll make sure that when the day comes that i become a father i shall read to my children.

    you are fastly becoming very special to me.

  • I'm glad you will, Waylander7475.

  • Thank you for reading this, cheered me up.

  • Brilliant! And a real connection from one spirit to another...just when I was beginning to lose faith in humanity.

  • Faith in humanity is taking for granted that, without any effort on our part, things will turn out great.

    I gave up that kind of faith long ago. Good results can happen, but they'll take some work to bring to fruition.

    We have a lot of work to do, I'm afraid.

  • very good. well read

  • Both of my parents read to me for at least half an hour every night from the time I was born until I was around 10. It strengthened my inspiration like nothing else possibly could and it securely cemented my lifelong devotion to words. What you are doing here is something purely good. You are using your talents to effectively enrich the lives of others while simultaneously putting forth a positive message. Thank you!

  • Words are a playground of imagination, a source of delight and enrichment beyond measure. But entry into this playground is not automatic. We must be given the key, and the best time to get the key is when we are young.

    You were given the key, and you understand its value.

    Too many children have never had an adult read to them. For them, I feel a terrible sense of loss.

    Perhaps, if we remind each other just how important reading to kids truly is, we'll do more of it.

  • For a long time, I've been a fan of your videos, going as far as basing a character in a story on you--mostly on your voice, because that was what caught me, particularly in "The Highwayman".

    This video struck a particular chord with me. I'm close to my father, he read to me as a kid. Though he took me for a mature youngling, and by the time I was eight, we were reading Ender's Game together.

    In any case--thank you.

  • Any father who reads science fiction with an 8-year-old has my unqualified admiration, Francine.

    Simply marvelous. I can think of no better way to expand a young mind.

  • I agree quite fully--he and I still share books, though our tastes differ slightly. There's nothing like being 19, and after a fight with Dad, I can go up to him--"Hey, I just finished the latest book in that dhampir series. Um, you wanna read it?" It might not bring forgiveness, but it shows we're still connected, Daddy and daughter.

  • I'm sorry but when u say why it cracks me up because u enfisize on the H.

  • I have seen you for the first time.. and It makes me wonder-- what is it that we are missing today? Something has been beaten/taken out of us--

  • Big question.

    I don't have many answers. But I think that traditional families are becoming rare. That isn't helping.

    Too, most of us are too busy - or too distracted by mass media - to pay enough attention to our kids.

    Childhood should be magical, not sad. But that sure isn't the trend in the industrialized world.

  • Well, you have definatly found your gift as I am sure you know. The more magic you can help bring back the better off we are... BTW- I teach health to large lecture halls at a college here in California-- I am going to steal some of the info from 'human being'.. check the facts and use parts for my opening first day lecture.. very interesting!

  • You are most welcome to do so.

    If just lifting ideas, no credit is due; I didn't invent them.

    If you lift my words, kindly provide attribution ("Urgelt on YouTube will do) and avoid using them for commercial purposes.

    My work is licensed under the "Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0" license, which you can turn up easily by plugging that exact phrase into Google. If any questions arise about licensing and permissions, drop me a note. I usually respond pretty quickly.

  • Yes sir, just ideas... although your phrasing is magnificent indeed! Thank you very much!

  • Next big thing on youtube!

  • I had to come back and listen again, thanks Urgelt!

  • Most welcome, solorguy.

  • are you fo reals

  • *Pinches himself*

    Ow!

    I think that's a yes!

  • i really enjoy your videos. Ive not been on youtube long, But you videos are a refreshment from alot of the crap other people try broadcasting. Thanks for keeping it clean ,God be with you, Stay yourself as i see you are and youll be loved and remembered by many. Your new freind from Dayton Oh (George)

  • Thanks, George.

  • Thank you.

  • I know i haven't known you very long here on youtube. but it feels like i have known you all my life :)

    your story telling style is so awesome and calming. i could listen for hours :)

    God bless you :)

    If you are a grandfather. your grandson is very lucky.

  • It is so nice to see there still exists some genuinely lovely people in this world! Well done you!!! :)

  • The name Urgelt sounds like it comes from a fairy tale. Did you make it up or did you come across it somehow in your reading??

  • As far as I know, the pseudonym is original.

  • is this for real?

  • Yep. The letter is real, and I'm sincere in urging people to read to their kids.

  • Going back and listening to this takes me back to my dad reading me Tom Sawyer. Thank you so very much.

  • you diserve an oscar =) bravo =)

  • Heh! I don't think they have a category for "amateur talking head YouTube videos.".

  • you are amazing

  • Sad to say I think that there are more people who write poetry than read it. But maybe with youtube and the internet in gerneral people will start to listen.

  • Oh, I have no gripe with writers of poetry.

    But reading to kids is important.

    Einstein said "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.

    If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."

    I will add my own sentiment: "If you want your kids to be dumb, use a TV to keep them quiet and out of your hair."

    The damage that does is akin to bashing their heads repeatedly with a rock.

    YouTube is a poor answer to this need. It's too much like TV.

  • Bless your heart, Sir. You truly understand that love is self sacrifice. At 49, what illuminates my heart most, & lifts my soul, no matter what is happening in the present, - is the warm memories of how much I was loved & guided as a child. How can 2 people bring a child into the world, & not wish to devote their lives to the goal of introducing him to all that is beautiful & wise & wonderful, past & present? The need to feel special, is as deep as the need for food & sleep. That poor boy..

  • What do you think of musical poets like bob dylan, leonard cohen and tom waits?

  • I like them.

    Most popular songs have lyrics that are trite, uncomplicated, and kind of stupid, if you ask me. Sometimes the quality of the music in those songs can persuade me to forgive them those defects.

    The "musical poets" you mentioned don't have those problems at all. They are indeed writing poetry, some of it very good poetry, and it's worth spending time thinking about what they've written.

  • have you ever considered writing poems of your own?

  • I've written poetry since I was a teenager.

    None of it was very good.

    That statement costs me nothing to admit.  Worthy poetry is uncommon.

    For a taste of it, see my video "Introducing Urgelt." Don't say you weren't warned.

  • you touch and heal dephts that

    are unknown even to me

    I am so gratefull Urgelt!

  • Hello Urgelt,

    Wish you keeping in good health indeed. Thank you very much, you are truly gentleman...

  • My dad used to read that poem to my sister and me when we were kids because we are related to HWL (on my mother's side). I'm in college now and I started to cry when I heard you read the poem. I wish there were more people like you in the world. Thank you.

  • You are very inspiring. I love how you teach and read about the things you know. This video here is definitely the best one on Youtube..it shows love, wisdom, and how peaceful or broken somebody can be. Caring is the best, and I thank you greatly.

  • that was a very nice thing to do, you are a kind and generous man.

  • I'm an ordinary man, who is trying to be kind.

    Sometimes I succeed. And other times, I have to put myself in the "also ran" category.

    I console myself with the thought that perfection is unknown to humanity; yet it is still unpleasant to contemplate the imperfections in my own heart.

  • i would like to say, this is probably one of the most touching Youtube video's, i have ever watched. I am a father and always read to my daughter. I truely believe that is why she loves to read still at the age of 16.

  • I'm sure you're right, Bernie, and I think your gift to your daughter is priceless.

  • simply thank you

  • Differnet I liked it very much, poems are for everyone! dvora swickle

  • Glad you liked it, Dvora, and thank you for your comments.

  • Nice! Dvora Swickle

  • I remember an interview in which John McCain was telling how when he was a Prisoner of War for seven years, that the men tried to remember EVERY poem they had learned, so they could share them with each others. As a result of that, I made my children learn this poem by heart,so they will always have it with them.

  • I fervently hope that your children will never need to rely on poetry for their very sanity.

    It's an inspired choice for that purpose, though. In just a few lines, Longfellow tells us a great deal about humanity and the love of which we are capable - should we choose to express it.

  • Thanks, today in tribute to my Dad. He loved Longfellow's poems. Happy Father's Day Dad:)

  • Loving Longfellow is a good trait in a man.

    Sharing that love with his daughter, though, is a much higher achievement. I suspect your father cleared that higher hurdle, and was a man deserving of admiration.

    Happy Father's Day, EGCA.

  • ?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  • Superb reading of a top-quality poet's work.

    Thank you, Urgelt, for giving of your time. ability and understanding to us all.

  • Dear Urgelt,

    I hope this love and affection finds its way back into all our hearts...

    love and bless from the bath town Bad Nauheim not far from Bingen where my grandparents were born...

    I fairly often am there, if you give me your address i will send you a postcard with the Mouse-Tower...

    Love and Peace

    FlorianChristian ॐ

  • I've heard it said that there are only two base emotions from which we deal with other humans: fear and love.

    One brings out the worst in us. The other, the best.

    When the rest of us learn what you already know, the world will be a far better place.

  • I loved it... thank u for sharing. I as a new mom from this day on will make sure I read to my little one. Beautiful,Urgelt.

  • Wonderful, Ivy. You're the best!

  • made me cry, wonderfull stuff urgelt

  • Wow even though this is the first video I saw from you. It made me feel warm and sepcial for my little sisters. I am a older sister and thanks to you, they will always bein my heart till the day I pass on.

    -P.S You rock ^_^

  • This is so beautiful... I appriciate this poem more than ever now that I have become a grandparent.

  • You really do seem like a good grandfather. i've Nothing left to do ,but to admire your sesitivity to other people needs. Wonderfull reading and introduction.

  • A bit of sensitivity to others' needs goes a long way, I think. Glad you liked it, yazjack.

  • Wonderful!

  • Thank you, crstprst, I'm glad you found it so.

  • Just grand. Thank you!

  • I'm happy you enjoyed it, Megan. Thank you for your comment.

  • Thank you Urgelt. That was beautiful. I am a Grandfather by adoption and I am very grateful to be one. I've just started my own blog which has an autumnal theme, and remembered how magical a time of year it was in my own life. I recalled the Children's Hour and wanted to link to the poem and instead found your touching recitation and message to Fathers. These are precious moments, often moments that heal the story teller as well. Philly.Joe.C

  • Precious moments, indeed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Joe, they are most welcome.

  • Thank you once again. I didn't have much of a father figure in my youth and so I try all the harder to give my little daughters as much of myself as I can. They are without question the most precious thing in this world.

  • That they are. Every moment you spend with them is a moment that will echo throughout their lives - and yours.

  • What a pleasure it was to hear your spoken words of wisdom, thank you for that. donnalee

  • Your kind words are appreciated, Donnalee.

  • WOOOOOW

    WONDERFUL POETRY

    i am a poetry lover

    i write it since my 14yr old, now i am 22 and i still write cumpulsively!

    i loved the poem!

    really!

  • It's a favorite of mine, too. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Tiago.

  • That poem is really nice. You are such a good reader! ♥

  • Thank you, Pierre, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

  • Now that's a New Age idea! Professors, take note. :-)

  • Another youtuber told me to watch this video. So a big Thanks to him. My Grandma used to make up stories for me about a character called 'Naughty Jim'.I remember all of those stories and have told them to my own children.

  • Telling stories to each other is as old as language, and remains wonderfully pleasurable - even in this age of mass media.

    Imagination is not fired by moving images - it's limited to what you see. Telling stories to children brings to life the connection between word and image, and with it, the love of reading.

  • I thought it was very wonderful. Very deatailed & very truthful. Enough said.

  • Thank you, Corey.

  • Wow!!

    You know sometimes when you read to children a really great story, and you stop at the end and close the book, and wait and look and see whether the story evoked any response in them, whether they felt what you felt ....

    Just sometimes, when it was a really great story, there is just a deep pause and no one says anything to break the moment

    The finish of that poem reminded me of such moments.

    Love it...

  • Yes. That's a magical moment, when the child is thinking about what she has heard and what it means.

    It's entirely wonderful, and very, very essential to the child's development.

  • The world needs more people like Urgelt.

  • wow this is great

    good job!!!

  • Thank you, Ireland88, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

  • Wow, you change the feeling of any room, you have such power in your words. I am a new fan of yours. God Bless you Urgelt.

  • Thank you, Decimuscarrerus, and blessings.

  • How about ending with -"or grandfather"-for those of us who....And, for some, "big brother,uncle cousin,babysitter." Maybe,for some-it is just URGELT! Urgelt PLEASE read us more poems! (You may read the poems i wrote on my website-writingsetccom, in the photoart poetry section if and when you find them meaningful....We so appreciate all you do!

  • Well, sure! Lots of others can tell stories and read to children, fire their imaginations. It's all good.

    I'll be doing more poetry readings. Stay tuned - but please be patient. I'm not a frequent poster.

  • i just recommended you to youtube's new partnership program;you surely deserve it. of course i could not fill in your personal info, so trust you will. your only drawback is that you donot post often enough, so please do,urgelt, even if you just talk about the weather!-from writingsetccom AND....

  • Thanks, but you know, I'm just not interested in posting that frequently.

    There's no production company behind me, no staff of writers, and random vlogging - the only other way to attain the volume of posts required by the partnership program - isn't my style. I like to take time to research and think about topics, and if reading a poem, I may practice it for weeks. A slow pace suits my needs.

  • no wonder your videos are so outstanding! we can't wait for the next one! BLESSINGS!

  • *enthusiastic applause*

    that was awsome.

    i hope that young persons life becomes better for that person...

  • Many thanks, Sankekor.  I hope so, too.

  • lol :O

  • Urgelt, the world needs more people like you!

  • If you're putting in your order for more people, start with more parents who read to their children. No kid should do without that. You can put "people who read into a camera for YouTube" further down the list. :P

  • hi urgelt

    can u send me the text from this video? or it cant be?

    thanks in any case

  • There is a link in the text box to the right of the video that will take you to the poem.

  • Wow, thank you for being here, Urgelt, you are only perfect...

  • Oh, far from it. And there are plenty of detractors to puncture my ego if I forget it, too, heh.

  • My dad used to tell me and my brother bedtime stories tough he allways made the story upon telling them, now im an adult, my brother has all the fire of life while im still at my dads home and yet we speak not more than 20 minuts a day wich made me think, even if im not a great talker, why am i unreactive to life opposit to when i was young, i lived with my dad from age 8 and from 0-6 with my mom, both of them has been realy good, but have they been too good?

  • A question like that is yours to answer, Slayer. You will answer it with the shape of the life you decide to live.

  • Care to comment on this:

    Children that are growing-up, either want to be just like their parents, or they want to be nothing like them at all.

  • I think young children usually admire their parents... they are almost like gods to them, powerful, decisive, capable.

    Adolescents discover their parents are weak and flawed - and are also slow to accept their children's emerging desire for making their own decisions. There is friction.

    As adults, children may finally gain the objectivity to see their parents for what they really are. If those parents offered unconditional love all those years, it will be returned in full.

  • So I just watched almost all your videos, I'm not done yet, and all I can say about it is Urgelt in 2008

  • Well, ok! I'll tell all the candidates to step aside, then. They'll be disappointed, but hey, politics is brutal. They should have read more poetry! :P

  • :) I bet your kid/kids, want to be just like you,

    I know i'd like... But then again, I treasure my individualism.

  • My mother read to me every day when I was little, now I love reading and it has benefited me as a person. Thank you Urgelt, you are the kind of person that makes me glad to be alive.

  • Your mother is the hero of this story, Phillax. No greater gift could she have given.

  • This video literally brought me to tears. Urgelt, you are one of the good people out there in this world.

  • You are kind, Chomp133. But better than I by far are parents who read to their kids. To them goes all the credit in the world.

  • There are special places reserved for people like you in Heaven.

  • For anyone who reads to children, I hope.  Thank you for your kind words, Metalgear8871.

  • "An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere. The pessimist sees only the red light. But the truly wise person is color blind."

    Thank you for the poetry. :)

  • Well said, dalsgaard12, and thank you for your comment.

  • Hi Urgelt, first, excuse me for my english, I'm writing from Santiago de Chile, south america. I've heard your poems and I think that the beauty that you bring to the light its huge. Please don't stop, your poetry its traveling and I'm showing your work to my friends.

    My dad didnt read nothing to me... I think would have been nice.

    Thank you

    Cecilia

  • It would have been nice, indeed, Cecilia. Few pleasures in life exceed that of a parent reading to his child.

    I'm glad you enjoyed my reading, and wish you well.

  • I can understand why the kid wrote that to you, I felt a kind of love in your voice which made me feel like i want to hug my dad :p, you are a wise man.

  • I think most Dads need a hug from time to time.

    But the wisdom is borrowed, you know, from Longfellow. That's the great thing about literature and poetry: we can tap into deep reservoirs of wisdom about being human. We need not reinvent it entirely with each new generation.

  • Urgelt im a young woman who is going to be 24 soon. Reading is SUCH an important thing in life. Weather it be a poem or a book. I find my self excaping from the world and entering in to the book or poem i might be reading. I dont have a good relationship with my dad. It would always be my mom reading to me. I thank God for you. You are a man who realy knows how to touch hearts.

    meghan

  • Your mother has passed a litmus test of parental love. It's not the only litmus test, of course. But it's sure an important one. Good for her, Meghan.

    And good for you! You know the secret, that if you love books, you'll have such a good time in life, no matter what else happens.

    Thank you for your sensitive and lovely comment.

  • Besides having the honor of the 200th comment I just wanted to tell you that your compassion is overwhelming.

  • Heh, who knows how many comments there are? Now it says you're the 199th commenter. YouTube really needs to fix its data management problems.

    Still, numbers don't matter. Sharing, communicating, teaching, learning, those are things that matter. I'm grateful we have a means to do those things here.

    Thanks for commenting, Robert.

  • Kind of like my life.

  • Yes, unfortunately.

    But I think you have created for yourself an advantage. Unlike so many young people who never learn what magic lives in books and poetry, you've figured it out.

    I hope you will develop your passion for stories, and share that passion with others. Children, adults, it does not matter.

  • u seem like a guy from a wizard or harry potter lol even ur name

  • Heh, true, my screen name does sound like something from Harry Potter or LOTR.

    Alas, the only magic I know is how to use a microwave oven. :-D

  • Thank you so much. I always enjoy hearing you read!

  • Thank you so much Urgelt, this was a beautiful reading. I know you've heard it all before, but nobody can read a poem like you. It's captivating. Thank you again for all your amazing videos.

  • Stormrider, I'm glad you liked it. But you know, anyone can read poetry aloud, really. And sound good doing it.

    There's a bit of technique to learn. But it's not hard.

    Mass media likes to convince us that there are elite performers, and then there is the rest of us, and none of the rest of us can look good. We stop singing; we stop reading aloud, we stop *doing* and start *watching.* We lose our voices.

    Let's take our voices back. YouTube is a good place to start.

  • Thanks Mate. I had been looking forward to another of your poems. Gee, you do a good job.

    Merry Christmas, Urgelt.

    Regards,

    Damian.

  • Thanks, Damian, Merry Christmas to you, too. :-)

  • My father used to tell me stories of his youth and all the places he'd been. After supper at nights we would stay at the table so I could listen too him. Then he would go to work at one of the clubs he owned at the time. He died when I was eight. You can always buy things for children but there is no substitution for stories and poems like yours in which you present so well.

  • No substitute at all. Thank you for sharing your insight, hayatemarcantel.

  • 12.10.06

    Urgelt. Ditto for me on all of the above comments.

    "cat"

  • Much appreciated, "Cat." Thank you. :-)

  • 12.07.06

    Urgelt. I was moved to listen to the The Cremation of Sam McGee and then I segued to The Children's Hour. I am featuring both on my channel for a while. I know that both Poems are highly significant as is Lady in my association with you. They also send a message, clear and stark, of the necessity for more involvement in the lives of their children that some parents have been remiss in following. Let us hope this changes.

    "cat"

  • I hope most parents are not remiss, but it won't hurt to remind folks. A magical thing, reading to children. Thank you for your generous support, "Cat."

  • Thank you!

  • Welcome, Kedoke, I'm happy you liked it.

  • Urgelt, Your voice is soothing not to just my ears from all that i've read here.You said that you've refused many but couldn't refuse that child because he didnt ask.Maybe he doesn't know how to ask for what he truely desires nobody is around for him to ask...

  • In that respect what kind of person would I be if I didn't say to you for him and all of us here...Im asking you to please continue with your readings not for me but because there might just be that one child or adult that didn't have a dad figure like you that had the time.ive heard more poetry from you in the last hour than i've heard read in 38 years. Thankyou please don't stop

  • Will do.

    I don't think watching poetry readings on YouTube serves nearly as well as an adult reading to a child. But maybe it's better than nothing... and maybe it will remind adults to read to kids, too.

  • I think your voice touches people more than you know even my nephew was glued to my computer screen as you read...do you know what he said? My mommy don't make it that good...some of us don't have the ability you have. He liked the Sam poem best and wants me to find the book he thinks the cover looks nice.He's 8,,,it searved just fine thankyou

  • Urgelt you make me feel like crying too! I am just so overwhelmed with emotion after watching and hearing this video. How fortunate are we to have such a compassionate and caring soul as you! *HUGS*

  • Sometimes we need a reminder of the right thing to do. This time, a child taught me an answer I should already have known.

    I'll take that hug and return it gratefully.

    Stay tuned, I have more poetry readings coming. :-)

  • Looking forward to 'em! ;)

  • i love you

  • Thank you. I liked this very much.

  • Great story telling, or is it a story at all. When truth and sincerity are real, its really no story at all.

  • You are an inspiration and a man to be admired. Thank you for sharing this.

  • I'm no native English speaker but I understood all of the lyrics very well. I found you and your videos by coincidence, but I'm really glad that destiny gave me this gift, because my day wasn't good at all, but brought some light in it. Thank you so very much.

  • Thank you for sharing that with us.

  • I think its really fantastic that you took the time to read that to someone.its nice to know pwople in the world stil care.

  • This was one of the most touching videos I've seen to date.

  • I hadnt thought of Longfellow in ages.I used to really

    love his work.

    Thank you for reminding me of my childhood Urgelt.

    We all need to keep a little of the child in us, as

    a reminder that everything is new, even our aging.

  • Wow. Such a wonderful message. You certainly have touched lives with your storytelling and your compassion. Thank you Urgelt, once again. You never cease to amaze us all. :)