Hector the Collector
Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string,
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
Pieces out of picture puzzles,
Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,
Twists of wires, worn-out tires,
Paper bags and broken bricks.
Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,
Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,
Leaky boat that wouldn't float
And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot.
Butter knives that had no handles,
Copper keys that fit no locks,
rings that were too small for fingers,
Dried-up leaves and patched up socks.
Worn-out belts that had no buckles,
'Lectric trains that had not tracks,
Airplane models, brooken bottles,
Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.
Hector the Collector
Loved these things with all his soul --
Loved them more than shinking diamonds,
Loved them more than glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,
"Come and see my treasure trunk!"
And all the silly sightless people
Came and looked...and called it junk.
Silverstein, Shel. 1974. Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN # 060256672.
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Extension
There are so many fun extensions that could be used with this poem, depending on which direction
you prefer to go. One extension would be to look at the language in the poem and playfully discuss the items Shel Silverstein
chose to include in his poem. All of them create very vivid pictures in one's imagination. Talk about the ways
Silverstein's poetry paints a picture in your mind - the way his poems feel alive and active. You could also read "Sarah
Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the garbage out" as a companion to this one; both use words to create vivid images.
Another extension would be to discuss different things people collect. Have the children share
what they or their parents collect and talk about why things are valuable to some people and not valuable to others.
It would also be fun to allow the children to draw their impressions of the poem since the images
are so vivid.
