# what is the longest poem you've memorized? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631 "2001-09-30T15:29:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/21 "2001-09-30T20:25:02Z")
For awhile I had “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” memorized, even the Italian epigraph. I want to memorize “The Raven.” ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/22 "2001-09-30T20:53:24Z")
I also memerized “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” I recited whenever I got the chance. Now occassionally a line or two will occur to me at appropriate times, which I think is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/23 "2001-09-30T21:13:04Z")
“The Walrus and the Carpenter,” also. Plus some other lengthy childhood favorites, which I keep in my noggin to amuse the five-year-old, including “The White Knight’s Song” from THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS (also known as “Ways and Means,” and a few other titles The First Fit from THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK “The Pobble Who Has No Toes” “The Quangle-Wangle’s Hat” “Little Orphant Annie.” Some shorter stuff too, like “Jabberwocky” and “Father William” and assorted Lear limericks. And “Mr. Apollinax,” and “Danse Russe,” and “Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and “Leda and the Swan,” and “Ozymandias,” for use when he’s older. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/24 "2001-09-30T21:46:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*2) the first part of the prologue to Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_ (ending with “that them hath holpen when that they were sick”); > \*\* I can get up to “…to Caunterbury with ful devout corage” – but that’s not as good a stopping point. 😉 I also know the climactic scene of the Miller’s Tale (about 45 lines) – it starts with “This Nicholas was risen for to pisse” and ends with “And turned al his harm into a jape.” This was for a class presentation. (The prof loved it.) And of course I’ve committed lots of Shakespearean speeches to memory – the longest ones I can think of are Hamlet’s “O what a rogue and peasant slave am I” (2.2) and Richard II’s “I have been studying how I may compare…” (5.5) (I know a _lot_ of _Richard II_ – I wrote my B.A. thesis on it.) Oh, and I know a lot of lengthy Child ballads (“Matty Groves” has 22 verses, which works out to 88 lines), too… And plenty of others that I can’t think of. I have a friend who tried to memorize Book I of _Paradise Lost,_ but gave up about 70 lines in. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/25 "2001-09-30T22:03:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nostradamus \* > \*\*_This thread of yours, with all propriety > Is better served in Cafe Society._ \*\* Although this thread is full of whimsey It seems to me more M P SIMSey. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/26 "2001-09-30T22:05:10Z")
For acting class when I was still in high school I memorized and performed “The Raven.” ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/27 "2001-09-30T22:17:28Z")
Part XXII: Hiawatha’s Departure of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Fifth or sixth grade if I recall correctly, sadly I no longer remember either in its entirety, just bits and pieces. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/28 "2001-09-30T22:29:38Z")
The longest that I’ve memorized is probably _My Dream"_ by W.S. Gilbert, the one that starts: The other night, from cares exempt, I slept, and what d’you think I dreamt? I dreamt that somehow I had come To dwell in topsy-turvydom. I had memorized _The Raven_ at one point, but I now break down somewhere in stanza seven. I also once knew _Kubla Khan_. And here’s the shortest poem that I’ve ever memorized: Curious fly Vinegar jug Slippery Edge Pickled bug ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yersinia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/29 "2001-09-30T23:37:29Z")
**Jabberwocky** , sort of inadvertently. Hey, it’s kinda catchy, and once you realize you know most of it…did **The Raven** the same way. Others:[ul] [li] **The Cremation of Sam McGee** and another Robert Service poem called **The Call of Wild** when I was hiking in Alaska. [_] **Birches** and **Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening** by Robert Frost, both in sixth grade. [_]**The Amazing Dancing Pants [? Not sure I have the title right.] by Shel Silverstein, and [\*]“Terrence, This Is Stupid Stuff”** by A. E. Housman. [/ul][/li] I can’t remember most of these, unfortunately, except for Jabberwocky and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I’m impressed by the Prufock memorizers–obviously, given the list above, I find it much easier to learn the stuff with a thumpety rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Chocobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Chocobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chocobo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/30 "2001-09-30T23:43:26Z")
I had The Raven memorized, and I think I still do. (Just tried to recite it and only tripped up in a couple spots) Yay! I love that poem… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/31 "2001-10-01T00:44:21Z")
I can still recite _Jabberwocky_ 30 years after I did it for a college class. The longest poem I’ve memorized would be [The Yarn of the ‘Nancy Bell’](http://www.jsward.com/shanty/poems/NancyBell.html) that I was prompted to look up by an incident when I was working the ore boats. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/32 "2001-10-01T01:00:58Z")
\*\*The Cat In the Hat \*\* & \*\*How The Grinch Stole Xmas \*\* Out of habit reading them to my children. and the ever popular: **Twas the Night Before Christmas** And lesser known:\*\* Twas the Night before Thanksgiving \*\*(kid’s book.) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/33 "2001-10-01T01:13:37Z")
I momorized the entire Star-Spangled Banner as written by F. S. Key. But have forgotten it. I’m also in the process of forgetting the Battle Hymn of the Republic. ---
**Author:** ![Bookworm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Bookworm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookworm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/34 "2001-10-01T02:11:51Z")
_Casey at the Bat_ by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (I think). I got bored one summer day and memorized it within a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![niwroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@niwroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/niwroc)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/35 "2001-10-01T02:37:50Z")
Probably Poe’s “The Raven.” Has always been a fave… ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/36 "2001-10-01T02:45:51Z")
Prufrock is my favorite, still remember some, but not all. It’s like a lovely song, really. Shortest: “Fleas” Fleas, Adam had 'em. (don’t know who wrote it) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/37 "2001-10-01T09:45:13Z")
It’s either Annabell Lee by Poe or the invocation to Paradise Lost, whichever is longer. I’ve heard other people do Annabelle Lee and manage to miss the fact that the narrator is clearly mad, which is an important fact about the piece. But I’ve got rising madness down pat, for whatever that’s worth. I used to be able to do Thomas the Rhymer from memory, but that’s gotten dicey. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/38 "2001-10-01T09:58:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Originally posted by leander \*\* > \*Shortest: > > “Fleas” > Fleas, > Adam had 'em.\* If we are doing _shortest_, I know one slightly longer, which is a clerihew: \*Sir Christopher Wren said, “I’m going to dine with some men. If anyone calls, Say I’m designing St. Pauls” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/39 "2001-10-01T09:59:37Z")
For me, 'twould be Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall,” though it’s not nearly as long as some of the aforementioned poems. I’ve always wanted to memorize “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and after reading it outloud to my Hungarian girlfriend last night who’d never heard it, I realized just how much of a task _that_ would be. Also on my to-memorize list would be Wordsworth’s poem popularly known as “Tintern Abbey.” ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/40 "2001-10-01T10:26:34Z")
[QUOTE] \*\*Originally posted by Eutychus55 \*\* _This thread of yours, with all propriety Is better served in Cafe Society._ Although this thread is full of whimsey It seems to me more M P SIMSey. _OK, you win. I do so 'ates To see this thread in Great Debates_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631.md?page=3)