Do you memorize poems ?

[Warwick]

A lot of people usually memorize a few famous lyrics, even if just involuntarily. Some verses or lyrics are some beautifully-crafted that get stuck in your mind from the first time you hear or read them. But not as many people have the habit of memorizing full poems. I, personally, try to learn many poems, just for sheer passion. I graduated from the Literature section of a Romanian University, and some of my professors have fascinated me with their skills of poetry recitation. It is also an incredible exercise that keeps the mind active... Scientists say that, in the long run, constantly memorizing things helps one live longer and prevents Alzheimer's.

 

What is you opinion on memorizing poems? Do you do it? Why or why not?

[bree]

I don't like memorising things much.

I believe that if I'm alert enough when I see/read something, and it is important/impact-ful(?) enough, it will stick in my mind.

 

(It's not surprising then that I can quote next to nothing! )

[poppy]

Apart from a few poems we had to memorize at school, I don't usually try to. But I had the most boring job one time which involved dipping copper wires into a solder pot all day. The lead fumes were probably going to my head so that might explain why I decided to learn AA Milne's Forgiven:The Alexander Beetle Poem, to wile the hours away.

 

I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,

And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.

I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...

And Nanny let my beetle out -

Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -

She went and let my beetle out -

And Beetle ran away.

etc

Edited December 23, 2012 by poppy

[bree]

... which involved dipping copper wires into a solder pot all day...

I'm intrigued poppy!

 

And that's a delightful little poem!

[Peahen]

I memorise the most relevant or beautiful verses. I like to spring them out in arguments or have them to mind when writing something that is relevant so i can contextualise it within literature.  Others I involuntarily memorise due to their rhythm, such as Dulce et Decorum Est, I studied this as part of my GCSEs and still to this day can recite it as of the fall and rhythm of the lines.

[Kell]

The only poem I've ever memorised is Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll from Alice Through the Looking Glass.

[Raven]

I'm lucky if I can remember my name . . .

[Kidsmum]

i used to when i was younger The Jabberwocky Lewis Carroll, a couple of poems by Pam Ayres & Matilda by Hilaire Belloc. i recite them for my children sometimes but i don't think i could memorise any these days i don't have the head space 

[Cumberbabe]

I have Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 down 'my mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun...'

Um Donne's 'Death be not proud' and 'The Good Morrow'

I think I could also give 'Futility' by Owen a good go.

[Brook]

I try to memorise my favourite poems. If I feel sad, bored, confused, lonely, or intensely happy, even if I am away from home and my
book collection, I can say them to myself. Anything material could be lost or destroyed, but once you have memorised a poem, it is yours to keep and carry with you for the rest of your life - and nothing can touch that. A wonderful secret treasure.

 

 

[Calexa]

I do. I love poetry, and those well-loved poems from my favourite poets are burned into my memory through repeated readings or recitation in the same way as lyrics that are often heard or sung unevenly pitched by me in a vain attempt to flatter myself that I can carry a tune...are...

[Angury]

I would really like to start doing this. There are a few poems I've come across which I'd like to keep in my kind. I've been thinking of writing them on my bedroom wall.

 

Has there ever been a conversation where your memorised poems have come in useful? I remember Christopher Hitchens illustrated his point beautifully once by reciting 'Dulce et decorum est.'

Edited July 22, 2014 by Angury

[Anna Begins]

I sometimes can fit part of the Walrus and The Carpenter in my conversations.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

 

And I love (which I know 90% of):

 

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend:

And, as I am an honest Puck,

 

(This part I forget)
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

(Then I get it here lol)

We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2014 by Anna Begins

[Kell]

I ADORE A Midsummer Night's Dream - I always wanted to play Puck.

[poppy]

I sometimes can fit part of the Walrus and The Carpenter in my conversations.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

 

 

  I do this too Anna, although usually only lines or short excerpts and I often misquote. I thought it was 'The time has come,' the walrus said, to talk of other things.'

 

I've often used the lines from the Jabberwocky "Come to my arms, my beamish boy, oh frabjous day, Callooh! Callay!' in conversation with my sons, with much eye rolling on their parts. And I love "The Jabberwock with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the Tulgey wood, burbling as it came.' (misquote again)

 

Keats lines 'O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, alone and palely loitering?' comes in very handy, and cracks me up. It sounds so melodramatic.

[Anna Begins]

  I do this too Anna, although usually only lines or short excerpts and I often misquote. I thought it was 'The time has come,' the walrus said, to talk of other things.'

 

I've often used the lines from the Jabberwocky "Come to my arms, my beamish boy, oh frabjous day, Callooh! Callay!' in conversation with my sons, with much eye rolling on their parts. And I love "The Jabberwock with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the Tulgey wood, burbling as it came.' (misquote again)

 

Keats lines 'O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, alone and palely loitering?' comes in very handy, and cracks me up. It sounds so melodramatic.

Just noticed you are reading Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde- hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I don't know much poetry, mostly lines from plays.  Mostly Shakespeare's. 

Have you seen Dead Poets Society?

Edited July 22, 2014 by Anna Begins

[Calexa]

I would really like to start doing this. There are a few poems I've come across which I'd like to keep in my kind. I've been thinking of writing them on my bedroom wall.

 

Has there ever been a conversation where your memorised poems have come in useful? I remember Christopher Hitchens illustrated his point beautifully once by reciting 'Dulce et decorum est.'

 

In nearest memory I can think of two occasions where my memorization of poems has been helpful. The first was to recite Percy Shelley's Ozymandias to punctuate the point I was making during a politically hued conversation, and the other was to answer a friend's query as to what poem Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) was reciting during the film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. I answered my friend's query by obnoxiously rattling off a few more stanzas of The Faerie Queen. My friend thanked me for my help then promptly accused me of being pretentious...I think her accusation held more than a little merit.

 

I do, now and again, will quote a line here and there during conversation if it will make a point...or sometimes out of nothing more than whimsy.

 

Maybe I'm a little odd...

[poppy]

Just noticed you are reading Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde- hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I don't know much poetry, mostly lines from plays.  Mostly Shakespeare's. 

Have you seen Dead Poets Society?

 

I'm enjoying it very much, I love the characters already, especially Grace and Billy and I'm only about a quarter of the way through. I suspect I'm going to get very attached to Rayleen and Filipe as well. Muggle recommended it to me and he's never put me wrong yet  

And no, I haven't watched Dead Poet's Society. Is it good?

[Athena]

I'm not big on poems at all but I do like it when in movies, characters quote from them (or from books in general, to be honest).

[Angury]

My friend thanked me for my help then promptly accused me of being pretentious...I think her accusation held more than a little merit.

This is what I'd be worried about - being seen as pretentious, and I would probably make that judgement as well if someone were to start quoting poetry in front of me.

 

I think I'd like to remember some poems that have stuck with me just for my own pleasure of mind. There are poems that have really resonated with me at certain points in my life, and it'd be nice to have those in the back of my mind which I can come back to whenever I am having difficulties. Plus there's a lot of nostalgia associated with some poems I have read in the past which bring up emotions. It's amazing how powerful words can be.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Angury

[chesilbeach]

I don't even read poetry, much less memorise it, but I do know the first verse of She Walks In Beauty by Byron, just because it was part of scene in an episode of The Cosby Show that I've seen about a hundred times! Sorry, I'm a bit of a philistine when it comes to poetry, and I just don't understand it - nobody has ever been able to give me any sort of appreciation for it, so I'll just stick to the prose. 

[Anna Begins]

I'm enjoying it very much, I love the characters already, especially Grace and Billy and I'm only about a quarter of the way through. I suspect I'm going to get very attached to Rayleen and Filipe as well. Muggle recommended it to me and he's never put me wrong yet  

And no, I haven't watched Dead Poet's Society. Is it good?

Ya, I had already read 2 of her books when he told me about Don't Let Me Go being even BETTER than the previous two.  I really want to read more of her stuff.  Yes, you would love Dead Poets Society- it's the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry (Robin Williams in a straight role).  (1989)

[Calexa]

I think I'd like to remember some poems that have stuck with me just for my own pleasure of mind. There are poems that have really resonated with me at certain points in my life, and it'd be nice to have those in the back of my mind which I can come back to whenever I am having difficulties. Plus there's a lot of nostalgia associated with some poems I have read in the past which bring up emotions. It's amazing how powerful words can be.

 

For your own pleasure, inspiration, as a warm fluffy security blanket and-or a set of wide verbal shoulders to help carry the burden are some of the best reasons to memorize a poem.

 

Words can weave the most beautiful dreams, and also etch the darkest of nightmares. Indeed words are powerful.

[vodkafan]

Oh wow. Memorize a poem? Like Claire, I would have to actually force myself to read one first!  

I did like one of Ben's poems. I don't remember the words but I remember the emotions it engendered.

[Calexa]

Oh wow. Memorize a poem? Like Claire, I would have to actually force myself to read one first!  

I did like one of Ben's poems. I don't remember the words but I remember the emotions it engendered.

 

I first learned poems out of necessity to satisfy educational requirements (mostly)...then as a teenager whilst reading the Carolingian bishop Theodulf of Orléans' Latin poetical works I found a deep affection for the poem delusa expextati.

 

 

grande habet initium cum res vilissima dictu,

tunc gignis murem, magne elephante, brevem.

sic patri quidam retulit sua somnia natus,

depromens animo frivola dicta suo:

"O pater, in somnis dicam quae mira videbam,

moverunt animum talia visa meum.

bos dabat humanas nostras hac nocte loquelas,

Ille loquebatur, nos stupebamus," ait.

tum pater attonitus rem sic inquirit ab illo:

"dic, quod dicebat,' intulit ille: "nihil."

 

Translation:

When momentous beginnings mere trifles espouse,

Then you, mighty elephant, bring forth a mouse.

A son told his father his dreams; thus he heard

What fell from his thoughts, every frivolous word:

“Father, I’ll say what I see in my mind.

The most troubling visions in sleep do I find:

An ox who could speak I encountered tonight.

He talked! We were rather amazed at the sight.”

Inquired the father, “What news did he bring?”

Answering him, he replied, “Not a thing.”

 

And I was hooked on poetry. Yes. Yes, I'm odd.

 

Edited July 27, 2014 by Calexa