Memorizing Poetry
April 11, 2008 · Written by Melissa Donovan
Two things impress me beyond measure: people who can point out every constellation in a clear night sky, and people who can recite poetry from memory.
To truly appreciate a poem, you have to read it more than once. In fact, any poem should be read twice before you judge it or try to determine whether you like it or not. With each reading, the poem will reveal additional nuances, sub-text, and deeper meaning. Once you find a poem you like (not always an easy task), it will give you new and greater pleasure each time you read it. Eventually, phrases and perhaps entire lines will stick and the poem will become increasingly familiar.
Read the poem enough times and you’ll eventually have it memorized. It works the same way as music. If you listen to a song over and over, you’ll soon be singing along like a rock star. Try it with a poem.
For this week’s Friday writing exercise, put down your pen or pencil, and step away from the computer. Pick up a book of poetry and find a poem that resonates with you. Avoid anything too lengthy. You don’t want to tackle a three-page epic poem your first time around. But don’t take the easy route either. For example, don’t choose a nine word poem by Dorothy Parker:
News Item
men seldom make passes
at girls who wear glasses.-Dorothy Parker
Choose a poem you’ll have to read a few times and study it for a bit. Here are some tips:
- Find a poem that is less than one page long
- Choose a poem that you love
- Read the poem out loud, over and over
- Write down the poem or type it
- Recite it throughout the day — a great way to take breaks from the computer
Poems that rhyme will be easier to memorize, so if you find this exercise daunting, select a rhyming poem. Try looking through some children’s poetry, which is much easier to memorize (Mother Goose nursery rhymes, for example).
As for me, I used to have a few Shel Silverstein poems firmly planted in my mind, and for a few years during my childhood, I knew “The Night Before Christmas” by heart. Today I can say that I don’t have a single poem memorized other than Dorothy Parker’s “News Item.” But I’m on board. I’m going to memorize the following poem this weekend:
Her Kind
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.-Anne Sexton
I think it’s a little long but it’s one of my favorites. Have you ever memorized a poem? Which ones do you know by heart? Even if you’re not into memorizing, feel free to leave a comment and tell us which poems and poets are your favorites.
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The sun did not shine
It was too wet to play
So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day
I sat there with Sally
We sat there, we two
And I said, “How I wish we had something to do.”
Then something went BUMP.
How that bump made us jump!
We looked and we saw him step in on the mat - we looked and we saw him!
THE CAT IN THE HAT!
…written from memory; I could go on. I so relate to that Cat. Love him.
Nicely done Melissa!
I have never heard/read that one before but I agree it is great.I am writing it down as a keeper.
At one time, I had memorized the entire Romeo and Juliet Balcony scene and the final act. Oh, the extra time of idle youth….
Not so much any more.
But here is one that I do have memorised, as it sits on my desk.It is an excerpt from a slightly longer poem.
My motto for traveling through life.
Let me but live my life
from year to year,
With forward face and
unreluctant soul;
No hurrying to, nor turning
from the goal;
Not mourning
for the things that disappear
in the dim past, nor
holding back in fear from
what the future veils; but
with a whole and happy
heart, that pays its toll
to Youth and Age
and travels on with cheer.
-Henry van Dyke
Most of the poems I know were memorized in Mrs. Polen’s sixth grade class. Every day there was a quote to memorize (copied from the board into a blank book) and every week there was a poem to memorize as well. Most of the poems were 3-5 stanzas and things like “The Road Less Traveled.” We also memorized the Gettysburg Address, “The Preamble to the Constitution” and Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address among others.
However, the longest poem I remember memorizing was “Gunga Din” for 9th grade literature with Mrs. Dunn; and I think we memorized a section of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I know we sound like boring geeks, the truth is we were farm kids who really had more pressing ways to spend our time. But sometimes I come into situations and one of those old quotes or poems springs for from the catacombs and it is such a deja vu moment.
I should stop chatting over here and go write my own post.
@James
Ok, that just made me break out in a big ,huge grin.
How fun. and we are having day 2 of rainy day weather like that here too.
My favorite was the spot that just kept moving from thing to thing to thing in the Cat in the Hat Comes Back.
@James, you are so like the cat! That one is near and dear to my heart and Dr. Suess just happens to be one of my literary heroes
Green Eggs and Ham might be my favorite Dr. Suess poems. Ah, children’s poems are the best.
@Wendi Kelly, Dorothy Parker and Anne Sexton are two of my favorite poets! You will see this month that I have lots of favorites, heheh.
I’ve just (today) decided to start a file folder in my computer for FAVE POEMS. Copy, paste, save. Right now, they’re all marked with post-its in all my poetry books.
I like that Henry van Dyke excerpt you posted quite a lot. It has a great message perfect for posting right on your desk. I’ll have to look that one up so I can read the whole thing
Thank you for sharing that.
@Deb (gscottage), You’re so lucky. Gosh, what a geek I am, but I never had a teacher that made the class memorize poetry and I would have really enjoyed an assignment like that! However, for most of my life I have made it my business to memorize all the lyrics of every song I like. I love to sing along with the radio!
It’s funny how those quotes spring up from the catacombs, isn’t it? I think it’s magical. And I’ll be more than happy to be your fellow poetry geek even though I didn’t grow up on a farm
@Wendi Kelly, I forgot to mention that Romeo and Juliet is (yes, another) one of my favorite works. When I was a high school freshman, we read it in class. I think I took it upon myself to read it two or three times, then I got the movie (the older version) and watched it every day for a month. Later, when the DiCapprio/Danes film with a modern twist came out, I watched that one several times as well. I remember sitting on the floor eating Grape Nuts and watching Romeo and Juliet. Good times
I memorize text very easily; most of Shel Silverstein is forever lodged into my brain. However, and mostly on a whim, I decided to memorize Poe’s ‘The Raven’ when I was twelve. I can still quote it in its entirety almost perfectly today, eleven years later.
… I was a twisted little twelve year old.
And the raven never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming
And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws a shadow on the floor
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted–nevermore!
@Eliza… ah, The Raven - a beauty. Poe had a talent for tricking out the language. He’s one of those writers I’ve read a bit and definitely want to read more but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Thank you for sharing this one.
This is fun! Heheh. Gosh I am a poetry nerd.
Melissa,
Sorry, I could have saved you the trouble. Here it is uncut.
Life
Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.
So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O’er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And hope the road’s last turn will be the best.
Henry Van Dyke
@Wendi Kelly, Aw, thanks. You didn’t have to do that… I’ll add this one to my folder. Thank you!
What a romantic you are! Fun idea.
Lyrics count as poetry, right?
The only poem I ever committed to memory was for an English class in high school, the song Somebody by Depeche Mode. It is still the only thing I can remember.
“I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
No my intimate details
Someone who will stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She’ll get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life and general
Though my (?) may be (?)
They may even be perverted
She’ll hear me out
And won’t easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact she’ll often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me”
Goes something like that. I’m going to have some French bread with my Brie, thank you.
Ooops — I mean “know” not “no”
@Jaden, Most of my poetry teachers insisted that poetry and song lyrics are NOT the same (they put great emphasis on this). I disagreed then, and I disagree now. Just look at those lyrics. If that’s not poetry, I don’t know what is. In fact, I think what separates a great songwriter from an average one are lyrics that are more poetic.
I was lucky enough to see Depeche Mode in concert back when I was struggling through adolescence. What a comfort they were. This is a beautiful song. For anyone out there who has never heard it, go find it on iTunes or YouTube because it’s positively chilling.
I totally remember you singing song out loud a capella, Jaden, with spirit and verve. Heheh. Good times. Me? I was probably crooning “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
And I remember The Cure… oh yes! I might have to startup my iTunes and have an impromptu dance party. You know what that 80s music does to me.
*Smiling*
How can someone say that because someone sings words, as opposed to reading them flatly, that they are not poetry? Bizarre.
According to my dictionary, lyrics are poetry, which is logical to me:
lyric |ˈlirik|
adjective
1 (of poetry) expressing the writer’s emotions, usually briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms.
• (of a poet) writing in this manner.
2 (of a singing voice) using a light register : a lyric soprano with a light, clear timbre.
noun (usu. lyrics)
1 a lyric poem or verse.
• lyric poetry as a literary genre.
2 the words of a song : she has published both music and lyrics for a number of songs.
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from French lyrique or Latin lyricus, from Greek lurikos, from lura ‘lyre.’
And by this definition of poetry, sure looks like lyrics are poetry too:
poetry |ˈpōətrē; ˈpōitrē|
noun
literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature : he is chiefly famous for his love poetry.
• a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of poems : poetry and fire are nicely balanced in the music.
• something regarded as comparable to poetry in its beauty : the music department is housed in a building that is pure poetry
Even music without words is poetry in my book (as it is also considered so by the definition given in my dictionary).
@Jaden, Well, poetry and poems are sometimes, and I think more so in olden days, called lyrics. Whereas song lyrics are something else. I did have one teacher out of many who felt that at least some song lyrics were poems.
It’s kind of like people who declare that rap is not music when in fact, rap is not only music, it’s also poetry (often slam poetry).
What I find most interesting about all this is a recent trend I’ve seen (or rather, heard) in Performance Poetry (I subscribe via iTunes podcast) in which poets have music playing in the background of their recorded (and live) readings. Now, it’s not the same as a song at all because they don’t read the poem along to the music and there is no real melody; they read over the music. I don’t care for it very much despite my love for both poetry and music.
To me, a song is a song. It’s different than a poem, but the lyrics of the song — if they are good — they are a poem. Am I even making sense? I think not! Geez, I could talk about this for hours.
Yes, you are making sense.
If a song is just going “yeeahh, ooooh, oh shabang” for 3 minutes, yeah, maybe that’s not poetry. But then it gets down to preferences of what is profound enough.
The word poetry alone is often used to describe many things, like a landscape, sunset, music, a child’s smile, or your lovely grace.
Here is a Bob Marley song. Poetry I think.
Misty Morning lyrics
Misty mornin’, don’t see no sun;
I know you’re out there somewhere having fun.
There is one mystery - yea-ea-eah - I just can’t express:
To give your more, to receive your less.
One of my good friend said, in a reggae riddim,
“Don’t jump in the water, if you can’t swim.”
The power of philosophy - yea-ea-eah - floats through my head
Light like a feather, heavy as lead;
Light like a feather, heavy as lead, yeah.
See no sun! Oh.
Time has come, I want you -
I want you to straighten out my tomorrow! Uh.
I want - I want - I want you - (tomorrow).
Oh, wo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
I want you to straighten out my (tomorrow)!
Misty (morning) mornin’, don’t see no sun;
I know you’re out there somewhere having fun.
Mysteries I just can’t express:
How can you ever give your more to receive your less?
Like my good friend said, in a reggae riddim:
“You can’t jump - you can’t jump in the water, if you can’t swim.”
I want you (I want you) - I want you to straighten out my today -
My tomorrow - my-my-my - my - my
(I want you to straighten out my tomorrow).
On a misty morning, uh! (I want you to straighten out my tomorrow).
Oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh!
(I want you to straighten out my tomorrow)
Straighten out my tomorrow - my tomorrow! Need some straightenin’ out!
(I want you to straighten out my tomorrow)
Mist! Mm. (I want) Mist! (you to straighten out my tomorrow)
Misty! Oh! (I want you to straighten out my tomorrow)
@Coby, I have big love for Bob Marley
“One Love” is one the most uplifting and inspiring songs, in my top five all time favorites! Definitely poetry!
Three Little Birds is another one. I used to listen to that song all the time. It’s a good positive message but then again most of his songs are.