# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/41 "2001-10-01T15:04:18Z")
Jabberwocky . . . in fact, I used to perform it with a few friends who also memorized it. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/42 "2001-10-01T15:08:08Z")
Another _Jabberwocky_ checking in. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/43 "2001-10-01T15:22:25Z")
Cremation of Sam McGee The Lorax And two by a guy named Guy Agranoff that I heard recited by the folk singer Bill Staines The Ballad of Jake and Ten-Ton Molly The Battle of Trenton ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/44 "2001-10-01T17:38:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leander \* > \*\*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) \*\* I’m not 100% on this, but I always thought “Fleas” was written by Ogden Nash. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/45 "2001-10-01T18:41:05Z")
I’ve memorized only a couple… and forgotten them again. The Night Before Christmas (Grade 5 Christmas Concert we recited this and had to memorize it) The Cremation of Sam McGee (Grade 7 Drama) and just cuz I love it The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas The road was a ribbon of moonlight, looping the purple moor And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding The highwatman came riding up to the old inn door. (I first read it in a romance novel because someone used it as a place to start from… then I heard Loreena McKennit’s version put to music and I had to learn it) ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/46 "2001-10-01T19:08:28Z")
Homer’s “The Iliad.” _Man_ was that a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/47 "2001-10-01T19:10:16Z")
I also memorized The Jabberwocky at one point. I used to be able to recite The Raven almost the entire way through, which I was quite proud of. But lately my memory seems to have turned to cottage cheese. It’s all I can do to remember the lame haiku I write. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/48 "2001-10-01T21:46:20Z")
Blake’s \Mad Song\ But I’ve forgotten it now. Poetry sucks. Except for the dirty limericks. ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/49 "2001-10-01T22:22:38Z")
Also done: Jabberwocky Kubla Khan The Highwayman (just because it’s a neat poem) & much shorter, Cargoes because my mother learnt it when she was young. I also know tons & tons of Spike Milligan’s silly poems, because they’re fun, but they’re very short. And I somehow ended up learning Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech from Romeo & Juliet for no real reason at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/50 "2001-10-01T23:48:42Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Nostradamus \* \*\* > [@](#): > > \*\*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_. \*\* Naughty words (just think of it!) Would send this thread straight to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/51 "2001-10-02T00:09:26Z")
Longfellow’s The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. I also know Casey at the Bat. Not a poem, but lately I’ve been working on M.L. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. ---
**Author:** ![ThatGuyWithPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@ThatGuyWithPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatGuyWithPants)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/52 "2001-10-02T01:11:22Z")
Hmmm, I do believe it was Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells” back in 5th grade. “The Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells, Bells…” on second thought…maybe it wassnt so hard to memorize as I remeber it being. ---
**Author:** ![Cumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@Cumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumber)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/53 "2001-10-02T10:07:13Z")
Some poem in French I memorized and recited for a statewide French poetry recital competition for year 9 students. L’Albatrosse, though I’ve probably mangled the spelling and I can’t remember who wrote it. I’ve repressed most of French class, so I can’t remember it anymore. I did win 2nd prize though. So now I have a great big impressive looking (and probably one day valuable) book of French poetry I can’t understand. [sub]NOTE: I live in Australia, not the US, so coming second in a statewide competition isn’t as impressive as it sounds.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![dave99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@dave99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave99)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/54 "2001-10-02T10:27:10Z")
Longest was “Locksley Hall”, but I’ve long since forgotten it. Next, probably “The Raven”, which has been slowly slipping away from me. I can still nail “Kublai Khan” perfectly unless I’m interrupted… Damn, you, Nostradamus, for beating me to that joke. You’re one hell of a clever prognosticator. The longest poem I still know by heart that is not yet listed: “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/55 "2001-10-02T13:10:31Z")
I did memorise, more or less accidentally [The Man From Snowy River](http://www.geocities.com/kingsideau/PoemSnowy.html) but that was a while ago. I have trouble getting through it all in one hit now although it only takes the slightest clue to pick up the thread again. It’s got that sort of rhythm that makes it easy to pick up and I firmly believe that every Australian is actually born knowing at least the first few lines: _There was movement at the station for the word had passed around That the colt from old Regret had got away…_ It’s not deep and meaningul or anything, but it’s a great yarn. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/56 "2001-10-02T13:30:39Z")
The Finn who wouldn’t tak a Sauna By Margret Haskins Derber the poet lauret of Lake Woebegone MN. ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/57 "2001-10-07T18:06:25Z")
[sup] [The Maven.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=91529) [/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/58 "2002-07-16T18:03:55Z")
I’m reviving this old thread. Let’s see, it’s really hard to **stop** me from reciting poetry… I wouldn’t mind being paid to do it. I’m working on _Four Quartets_, by T.S. Eliot. I’ve got the first two down- _Burnt Norton_ and _East Coker_. They’re about twelve minutes each, spoken. Also his _A Song For Simeon_, and I want to do _The Journey Of the Magi_ as well. Others… _To His Coy Mistress_- Marvell _Ulysses_- Tennyson A lot of Emily Dickinson _The Conversation Of Prayers About To Be Said, And Death Shall Have No Dominion, Fern Hill_, and bits of _A Child’s Christmas In Wales_- Dylan Thomas _Jabberwocky_ _To Lucasta, Going To The Wars_ _The River-Merchant’s Wife- A Letter_- Ezra Pound (my favourite love poem) _If_- Rudyard Kipling _The Donkey_- G. K. Chesterton And a bunch more that I don’t remember clearly. Mostly funny, short ones. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/59 "2002-07-16T18:09:21Z")
I’m reviving this old thread. Let’s see, it’s really hard to **stop** me from reciting poetry… I wouldn’t mind being paid to do it. I’m working on _Four Quartets_, by T.S. Eliot. I’ve got the first two down- _Burnt Norton_ and _East Coker_. They’re about twelve minutes each, spoken. Also his _A Song For Simeon_, and I want to do _The Journey Of the Magi_ as well. Others… _To His Coy Mistress_- Marvell _Ulysses_- Tennyson A lot of Emily Dickinson _The Conversation Of Prayers About To Be Said, And Death Shall Have No Dominion, Fern Hill_, and bits of _A Child’s Christmas In Wales_- Dylan Thomas _Jabberwocky_ _To Lucasta, Going To The Wars_ _The River-Merchant’s Wife- A Letter_- Ezra Pound (my favourite love poem) _If_- Rudyard Kipling _The Donkey_- G. K. Chesterton And a bunch more that I don’t remember clearly. Mostly funny, short ones. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631/60 "2002-07-16T19:28:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby \* > \*\*and just cuz I love it The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes > > The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees > The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas > The road was a ribbon of moonlight, looping the purple moor > And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding > The highwatman came riding up to the old inn door. > > (I first read it in a romance novel because someone used it as a place to start from… then I heard Loreena McKennit’s version put to music and I had to learn it) \*\* Yep, I just saw this as the backdrop of "The Most Wanted’ by Jacquelyn Mitchard (good summer read). My shortest and longest memorized? Sometimes when I’m lonely Don’t know why Think I might not be lonely By and by. -“Hope” by Langston Hughes [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-poem-youve-memorized/84631.md?page=4)