By A. A. Milne If I were a bear, And a big bear too, I shouldn’t much care If it froze or snew; I shouldn’t much mind If it snowed or friz— I’d be all fur-lined With a coat like his! For I’d have fur boots and a brown fur wrap, And brown fur knickers and a big fur cap. I’d have a fur muffle-ruff to cover my jaws, And brown fur mittens on my big brown paws. With a big brown furry-down up to my head, I’d sleep all the winter in a big fur bed. This poem is in the public domain. Milne joined the British Army in WWI, and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, being commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served on the Somme as a signals officer, but caught trench fever and was invalided back to England. Having recuperated, he served as a signals instructor, before being recruited into Military Intelligence to write propaganda articles. When he relinquished his commission, he retained the rank of lieutenant. During WWII, he was a captain in the British Home Guard. After graduating from Cambridge, Milne contributed humorous verse and whimsical essays to Punch, joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor. During this period, he published 18 plays and 3 novels. He is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin (after his son, Christopher Robin Milne), and various characters inspired by his son’s stuffed animals. Christopher Robin’s stuffed bear, originally named Edward, was renamed Winnie after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg) in the London Zoo during the war. “The Pooh” comes from a swan his son named “Pooh”. Milne died at his home in Harfield, Sussex, England on January 31, 1956.Furry Bear
About the poet: Alan Alexander Milne was born on January 18, 1882, in Kilburn, London, England. He attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship, graduating with a B.A. in 1903. Considered a talented cricket fielder, he played for two amateur teams that were largely composed of British writers.