I have decided to take a challenge and memorise one poem per day. So far it's going well, I have memorised three poems in three days. Looking forward to learning new poems. What do you think about poetry? About learning it by heart? Which ones are your favourites?
94 poems in 94 days
Edit: Today, I am dealing with Philip Larkin's MCMXIV (1914, in roman numerals, as incised on stone memorials to the dead of World War I, as taken f. The Norton Anthology of Poetry (4th Edition)).
Because some of you have asked about these particular poems (I do have to say that some of these are just verses or even some excerpts from plays, etc.), I am absolutely willing to share them with you:
The Red Wheelbarrow by W.C. Williams;
This Is a Photograph of me by M. Atwood;
Preludes by T.S. Eliot;
MCMXIV by P. Larkin;
Daffodils by W. Wordsworth;
Break of Day in the Trenches by I. Rosenberg;
XLIII by W. Shakespeare;
Silent Noon by D.G. Rossetti;
Hamlet IV.VII. by W. Shakespeare;
LXV by W. Shakespeare;
The Waste Land (Fire Sermon, The Burial of the Dead, Death by Water, A Game of Chess) by T.S. Eliot;
La Belle Dame Sans Merci by J. Keats;
Holy Sonnets, XIV by J. Donne;
God's Grandeur by G.M. Hopkins;
Anthem For the Doomed Youth by W. Owen;
To Sleep by J. Keats;
The Kraken by Alfred, Lord Tennyson;
Auguries of Innocence by W. Blake;
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by E. Lear;
The Tempest I.III. by W. Shakespeare;
The Lotus-Eaters by A., Lord Tennyson;
I am by J. Care;
Ozymandias by P.B. Shelley;
From the Prelude Residence in France by W. Wordsworth;
IX [Funeral Blues] by W.H. Auden;
Methought I Saw by J. Milton;
The Cloud by P.B. Shelley;
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot;
Kubla Khan by S.T. Coleridge;
Mutability by P.B.Shelley;
LXXIII by W. Shakespeare;
The Maldive Shark by H. Melville;
Diving into the Wreck by A. Rich;
Upon Westminister Bridge by W. Wordsworth;
Schoolboys in Winter by J. Clare;
Warming Her Pearls by C.A. Duffy;
So we'll go no more a-roving by G.G., Lord Byron;
Lullaby by W.H. Auden;
To his coy mistress by A. Marvell;
An Arundel Tomb by P. Larkin;
Ode on Melancholy by J. Keats;
The Tempest I.II. by W. Shakespeare;
Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot;
Dover Beach by M. Arnold;
CCCXLI by E. Dickinson;
Modern Love, I. by G. Meredith;
Natural Tones by T. Hardy;
The Oven Bird by R. Frost;
Muséu des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden;
Stepping Westward by W. Wordsworth;
Paradise Lost, Book IX. [vs 679-709] by J. Milton;
The Haunted Palace by E.A. Poe;
Church Going by P. Larkin;
A Poison Tree by W. Blake;
Frost At Midnight by S.T. Coleridge;
Digging by S. Heaney;
Piano by D.H. Lawrence;
CXXVIII by W. Shakespeare;
The Wreck of the Deutschland by G.M. Hopkins;
Measure For Measure II.IV. by W. Shakespeare;
Nuns Fret Not by W. Wordsworth;
The New Colossus by E. Lazarus;
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death W.B. Yeats;
Fern Hill by D. Thomas;
Dulce Et Decorum Est by W. Owen;
My Last Duchess by R. Browning;
To His Mistress Going to Bed by J. Donne;
Byzantium by W.B. Yeats;
The Tyger by W. Blake;
Song- Go and catch a falling star by J. Donne;
Canto V, The Rape of the Lock by A. Pope;
Hero and Leander by C. Marlowe;
Lines Composed a few Miles... by W. Wordsworth;
Design by R. Frost;
The Ship of Death by H.D: Lawrence;
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty by P.B. Shelley;
The Sun Rising by J. Donne;
The Trees by P. Larkin;
Othello IV.III. by W. Shakespeare;
On the Beach At Night by W. Whitman;
Tear, Idle Tears by A., Lord Tennyson;
The Darkling Thrush by T. Hardy;
LXXXVII by W. Shakespeare;
The Road Not Taken by R. Frost;
XII by W. Shakespeare;
Three Years She Grew by W. Wordsworth;
Break, Break, Break by A., Lord Tennyson;
Danse Russe by W.C. Williams;
Love (III) by G. Herbert;
Written After Swimming from... G.G., Lord Byron
I don't memorize other people's poems but I do memorize my own. I compete in poetry slams and often I like to memorize my own poems as I really don't like to read off a phone or a piece of paper as I feel like it takes away from the performance. At times it can be tough to memorize pieces that are about three minutes long but it's rewarding when a performance works out. I have never really tried to memorized shorter poems that aren't my own but maybe I should.
I am a big fan of both medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature for this very reason! Up until the invention of the printing press, Western European culture was oral rather than written. This means that people would have to memorize literature and poetry in order to share it aloud with others. What you'll find is that medieval and Anglo-Saxon literature is very easy to memorize for this very reason. I recently learned something really cool about the oral tradition. When writing first came about in what had previously been an oral culture, scribes did not include spaces between their words. This was because written words were meant to mimic oral speech. When you're speaking, you don't pause in between each word, or even every sentence, so it would make sense to record words without spaces. What did this mean for reading? Well, since it was written to mimic oral speech, writing was also meant to be read aloud. It wasn't until the invention of the word space that reading started to take place in silence and seclusion. Whereas before, reading was a social activity, it became a solitary activity done in private after the word space came about. I think trying to memorize a new poem every day is a great idea! I would recommend trying out some medieval English works because they really lend themselves to memorization and oral recitation. If you're truly ambitious, you could even memorize them in Middle English and share them with others as they were meant to be heard. The only poem I have memorized at the moment (besides my own) is the opening to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan that Zephyrus eek with his sweete breethe Inspired hath in every holt and heethe The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages)
I totally butcher the pronunciation, but I do my best and it feels so awesome on the tongue. I guess I prefer to memorize poetry by ear and mouth than by heart. Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
I am quite acquainted with the AS literature: Beowulf, Caedmon's Hymn, The Dream of the Rood, etc. We had Anglo-Saxon Literature 101 at college, and it made me love this particularly strange, yet quite likeable language called Old English.
I have my Chaucer in the somewhat original Middle English, and it takes quite an effort to read/understand it, without those annotations (which are missing in my paperback).
I like this:
Will give my best to try and memorise some of the Mediaeval poetry. (Though, I know the beginning from the Wanderer, Oft to the Wanderer weary of exile / cometh God's pity compassionate love.)I guess I prefer to memorize poetry by ear and mouth than by heart.
A couple summer's ago, I tried a less intensive plan. I memorized Invictus, which is pretty easy and I'd highly recommend. I can get through Death Be Not Proud by John Donne with a cue or two. But I realized that for me, at least, it was basically just a parlor trick, and that I got more from poetry just reading it, so I stopped about half way through If.
I definitely see how it could be come become a parlor trick. If you're doing it because you want to impress others, or because you want to be able to say "I've memorized umpty nine million poems!" then it's pretty meaningless. However, I think that if you're doing it because you want to improve your thinking, or because you want to genuinely share poetry with others, then it can be more than just a parlor trick.
I think this is an interesting experiment! Poetry is such a great way to express a thought- I find it powerful and moving. I write poems when I can. I still have much to learn but I'd say I am decent. I feel that doing this will let you exerience things quite differently. Depending on the diversity of each poem, you might develop some pattern or theme in your daily activities based on your conceived perceptions. It would be great if you posted updates with descriptions of how memorizing more and more poems affect you. One of my all-time favorites is Tear It Down by Jack Gilbert. I highly recommend reading his work if you haven't done so!
So far, I have learnt three not-so-demanding poems: William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow," Margaret Atwood's "This Is a Photograph of me," and Thomas Sterns Eliot's "Preludes". We read Atwood's poetry at college, and it's been quite a joy to try to memorise the poem. Such a wonderful contrast; sedate words and quite an unfathomable strength coming out of that poem. I will give it a try about posting updates on the poems and how they affect me.
It would be quite an honour to read your poems, because writing/reading poems is as you say a moving and powerful experience, and it gets much better when you share it with others. Also, I will definitely give it a try and read J. Gilbert's work, because, honestly, this is the first time I've heard of him. Thanks for the recommendation. Warmest regards.
I will now have to check those poems out! I find it fascinating how poems can achieve such strength. I look forward to reading your updates. I do not wish to pressure you at all. Pressure obscures the true self-evaluations such as the updates you might write regarding how memorizing the poems affect you. So update on your own terms! Yes, I agree with you how reading and writing only helps us get better. In fact, I have posted a poem on this website very recently. I wrote it when I was an undergrad while taking a poetry course. I must admit, it is the only poetry class I have ever taken. I am by no means highly educated in the world of poetry--only by what I have read and observed on my own and of course by what I have learned in the only poetry class I've taken. As of now, one other person seems to have enjoyed it. I appreciate any feedback! Jack Gilbert is who we focused on in that class I mentioned. I am very much inspired by him and I have a feeling you will definitely enjoy his work. Until then, cheers!
I find Robert Frost excellent for memorization.
Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in Ice
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire
But if it had to parish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice
I have three of Frost's on my list: The Oven Bird, Design, and the Road Not Taken. Plus, I have all of his poetry just for my personal pleasure at home.
For how long to you plan to do this one poem per day thing? I feel this sort of rush to memorize will result in low quality to quantity ratio. I myself have never sat down to memorize a poetry or prose, yet there are some lines that have seared themselves into my memory. For example, I memorized "But then I sigh, and with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil; Thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends stole from Holy Writ, And seem a saint when most I play the Devil" from Shakespeare's King Richard III because it was so powerful. It was not out of a desire to be able to quote anything, but rather because I had found a mantra of sorts, a few lines of writing that somehow I felt summed up my entire life (Back when I read it. I am a different person now, yet I dont think I will ever forget those lines). IN your position I would set a more open ended goal "read more good poetry", and then if I came across anything that really resonated with me, I would memorize that.
What I've totally forgot to mention is that I have compiled a list of 94 thematically arranged poems. I will try to memorise these 94 poems in 94 days. Best regards and thanks for the advice.
I have added the poems, if you still want to check them out.