# Which poem should I memorize? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899 "2009-01-05T02:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/61 "2009-01-06T18:39:16Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I’m amazed more E. A. Poe hasn’t come up here. _The Raven_ is wonderful around Halloween, and I’ve always loved _Annabelle Lee_. Great rhythm and meter, and that makes them easier to memorize. Am I being whooshed? UPDATE: I’ve done **Jabberwocky**. **Kubla Khan** is next. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/62 "2009-01-06T19:55:43Z")
I love Sam McGee and Dan McGrew, but a less-commonly heard Service poem I love is [The Ballad of Pious Pete](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/8336/robertservice/piouspete.html). It’s about a severe case of cabin fever. I’ve spoiled the last verse below. They’re taking me out with an escort about, and under a sergeant’s care; I am humbled indeed, for I’m 'cuffed to a Swede that thinks he’s a millionaire. But it’s all Gospel true what I’m telling to you – up there where the Shadow falls – That I settled Sam Noot when he started to shoot electricity into my walls. One that I memorized in school and still know is [The Thinker](http://www.bertonbraley.com/id530.htm) by Berton Braley. When I searched for it for the link, I discovered it shows up on a lot of Objectivist websites. But I still like it as a celebration of human intellect. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/63 "2009-01-06T20:01:12Z")
[The Man With a Hoe, by Edwin Markham](http://fiat.gslis.utexas.edu/~wyllys/manwhoe.html) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/64 "2009-01-06T20:31:10Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > One that I memorized in school and still know is [The Thinker](http://www.bertonbraley.com/id530.htm) by Berton Braley. When I searched for it for the link, I discovered it shows up on a lot of Objectivist websites. But I still like it as a celebration of human intellect. Hey, thanks! I hadn’t seen that before. Since I’m more than a bit of an Objectivist bent myself, I liked it a lot. For any who’ve read _Atlas Shrugged_, it immediately reminded me of Hank Rearden, almost like it was written about him. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/65 "2009-01-06T22:47:29Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > I love Sam McGee and Dan McGrew, but a less-commonly heard Service poem I love is [The Ballad of Pious Pete](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/8336/robertservice/piouspete.html). It’s about a severe case of cabin fever. I’ve spoiled the last verse below. > > They’re taking me out with an escort about, and under a sergeant’s care; > I am humbled indeed, for I’m 'cuffed to a Swede that thinks he’s a millionaire. > But it’s all Gospel true what I’m telling to you – up there where the Shadow falls – > That I settled Sam Noot when he started to shoot electricity into my walls. > > One that I memorized in school and still know is [The Thinker](http://www.bertonbraley.com/id530.htm) by Berton Braley. When I searched for it for the link, I discovered it shows up on a lot of Objectivist websites. But I still like it as a celebration of human intellect. LOL f! Googling The Ballad of Pious Pete. TY **Heartland.** ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/66 "2009-01-06T23:30:05Z")
_The Highwayman_, _Kubla Khan_, and _The Charge of the Light Brigade_, all previously mentioned, are personal favorites that I’ve memorized in the past. Another favorite, not yet mentioned, is [Lochinvar](http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Lochinvar.htm) by Sir Walter Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/67 "2009-01-07T03:41:56Z")
[The Day the Saucers Came](http://www.spiderwords.com/feature1.htm) by Neil Gaiman In a more general suggestion: have you thought about memorizing any of the Psalms or other poetic Bible bits? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/68 "2009-01-07T04:01:20Z")
Here’s one I’ve always liked: The Whistling Train When we were children, you and I, sometimes in bed we used to lie and listen to the whistling trains that rolled their way across the plains and over mountains, rivers, too, and crossed the oceans (for all we knew). Their hollow hooting seemed to be alluring, filled with mystery. It summoned us to go with them to Babylon or Bethlehem and be prophet, prodigal or seer in cities. Pastoral among our herds, in self-distrust, we named our longing wanderlust and, believing all things good and right came of living on the land, we were able to withstand the calls that pierced the lonely night. Now, in another age, we know why, how far, and where trains go and read no promises of fame, of destiny, or sin, or shame into their calls. Yet, to this year, this very hour, when I hear the whistles, sad, insistent, sharp, my heart trembles like a harp! Helen Harrington ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/69 "2009-01-07T15:17:38Z")
What would be good method for someone who doesn’t have a memory fetish to memorize a poem? Let’s say:” The Raven" I actually have a bad memory and have trouble memorizing my own phone-number, Pi? I sometimes check the Alphabet in Excel Oh …and English isn’t my first language(well truth is it was, but has not been my main language since I was nine) ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/70 "2009-01-07T16:57:58Z")
I second ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling. Not particularly long or unique, but it takes some practice and feeling to recite it well. I have heard many people recite this poem, but few did it justice. Although the work stands well on its own, it is a masterpiece when performed correctly. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/71 "2009-01-07T17:05:18Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > What would be good method for someone who doesn’t have a memory fetish to memorize a poem? Let’s say:” The Raven" > > I actually have a bad memory and have trouble memorizing my own phone-number, > Pi? I sometimes check the Alphabet in Excel > > Oh ..and English isn’t my first language(well truth is it was, but has not been my main language since I was nine) Whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/72 "2009-01-07T17:08:58Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > What would be good method for someone who doesn’t have a memory fetish to memorize a poem? Let’s say:” The Raven" Some people find it easier to memorize something they hear than something they read, so one thing to try would be to obtain (or make) a recording of someone reciting the poem, and listen to it over and over until it sinks into your memory. “The Raven” shouldn’t be hard to find a recording of; one possible source is the Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episode that featured the poem. Setting it to music might also help. I find it easier to memorize songs than poems, and there are literally thousands of songs that I’ve memorized some or all of the lyrics to without even trying, just from hearing them. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/73 "2009-01-07T17:09:19Z")
> [@Sonnenstrahl](#): > > . Someone I know won a talent show for reciting the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. A bit more literary value, as well. IMHO the Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the finest poem ever written in the English language,get that right and you’ll have the audience eating out of your hand. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/74 "2009-01-07T17:30:24Z")
> [@stanger](#): > > I second ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling. > > Not particularly long or unique, but it takes some practice and feeling to recite it well. I have heard many people recite this poem, but few did it justice. Although the work stands well on its own, it is a masterpiece when performed correctly. [“The Thousandth Man,”](http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/The_Thousandth_.htm) also by Kipling, is another good choice. ---
**Author:** ![CurrlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CurrlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurrlyD)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/75 "2009-01-07T17:36:09Z")
Y’all have already mentioned many of my favorites: _Jabberwocky, The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Raven, The Highwayman, The Ballad of East and West, The Owl and the Pussycat_. Here’s one I love, and it can be quite impressive, with the added benefit of the yuck factor. [**Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out**](http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407su01/students/north/kristy/Project/K-Poem-Net.html), by Shel Silverstein. ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/76 "2009-01-07T18:56:42Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > [“The Thousandth Man,”](http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/The_Thousandth_.htm) also by Kipling, is another good choice. Damn. Took me a few tries just to get past the first verse. Had a hard time being able to clearly see the rest. Having little left to hold me to this world other than one true friend of 45 years, this poem glimpsed my soul. Note to self :: Read more Kipling. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/77 "2009-01-07T19:21:57Z")
Fun fact of the day: Kipling’s _If_ is Governor Blagojevich’s favorite poem. He has recited it semi-regularly to rapt audiences of thousands of Illinois registered voters. If you are going to do Poe, for EAP’s sake do _The Conqueror Worm_ (as previously championed on these boards by those with particularly high-minded tastes): But see amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude: A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes—it writhes!—with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And over each quivering form In human gore imbued Mimes, people! > [@](#): > > IMHO the Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the finest poem ever written in the English language,get that right and you’ll have the audience eating out of your hand. The whole thing? Well, it may be, but I bet they won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Badmojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Badmojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badmojo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/78 "2009-01-08T00:51:56Z")
One of my favorites: **Crossing the Bar** Alfred Lord Tennyson Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Man\_A\_Plan\_A\_Canal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/839c29/32.png) [@A\_Man\_A\_Plan\_A\_Canal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Man_A_Plan_A_Canal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/79 "2009-01-08T01:02:51Z")
Two works I like knowing by heart: Seuss’ “The Lomax” and T. Lynch’s “To the Ex-Wife on the Occassion of Her Birthday.” Especially the Lynch. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899/80 "2009-01-08T01:07:49Z")
Kipling! [http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/tommy.html](http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/tommy.html) _Tommy this, and Tommy that_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-poem-should-i-memorize/479899.md?page=5)