--- description: A poem written by Roald Dahl for an elementary school class has been put on display after being lost in a desk drawer for nearly 25 years. title: Read the Roald Dahl Poem That Was Lost in a Desk Drawer for Nearly 25 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb93e58271bdde07/6988a5b9cd1bba5d0c702484/roald-dahl3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read the Roald Dahl Poem That Was Lost in a Desk Drawer for Nearly 25 Years  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 13, 2016 3:21 PM CUT  British children's author, short-story writer, playwright and versifier Roald Dahl (1916 - 1995), 11th December 1971. British children's author, short-story writer, playwright and versifier Roald Dahl (1916 - 1995), 11th December 1971.Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Sep 13, 2016 3:21 PM CUT A poem written by [Roald Dahl](http://time.com/4488085/roald-dahl-birthday-words/ "undefined") for an Irish elementary school class has been recovered after being lost in a desk drawer for nearly 25 years. Penned in 1988 for the Primary Five class of Primate Dixon Primary School in Coalisland, Ireland, according to [BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-37348417 "undefined"), the piece will be on display Tuesday to mark what would have been the [100th birthday](http://time.com/4487573/roald-dahl-100-years-biography-video/ "undefined") of the author of [children’s classics](http://time.com/4483825/roald-dahl-anniversary-best-books/ "undefined") such as _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_, _Matilda_ and _James and the Giant Peach_. The class received the poem after writing to Dahl to tell him they had just finished reading his book, _Danny, the Champion of the World_. It was accompanied by a note addressed to teacher James Maye and his students. “Hello handsome James and all the clever children at Primate Dixon Memorial Boys’ School,” Dahl wrote. “Thank you so much for your lovely letters.” --- > “” --- The school discovered the three-stanza rhyme in 2012 and found that it had later been printed under the title, “A poem in reply to schoolchildren,” as part of an anthology in the _Roald Dahl Treasury_. > [](https://twitter.com/irish%5Fnews/status/775627622235594753) “It wasn’t until 2012 that our vice principal Siobhan Murphy was clearing out an old desk — an old desk that could easily have been thrown out — and came across the letter,” Primate Dixon’s principal Sean Dillon told the BBC. Read more at [BBC.com](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-37348417 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4489222/roald-dahl-long-lost-poem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4489222/roald-dahl-long-lost-poem/"},"headline":"Read the Roald Dahl Poem That Was Lost in a Desk Drawer for Nearly 25 Years","datePublished":"2016-09-13T15:21:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:28.273Z","description":"It's on display for what would have been the author's 100th birthday","url":"https://time.com/4489222/roald-dahl-long-lost-poem/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Books","Authors","Poetry","Literature"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb93e58271bdde07/6988a5b9cd1bba5d0c702484/roald-dahl3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb93e58271bdde07/6988a5b9cd1bba5d0c702484/roald-dahl3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Roald Dahl","caption":"British children's author, short-story writer, playwright and versifier Roald Dahl (1916 - 1995), 11th December 1971.","creditText":"Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4489222/roald-dahl-long-lost-poem/","name":"Read the Roald Dahl Poem That Was Lost in a Desk Drawer for Nearly 25 Years"}}]}] ```