Am I being whooshed?
UPDATE: I’ve done Jabberwocky.
Kubla Khan is next.
I love Sam McGee and Dan McGrew, but a less-commonly heard Service poem I love is The Ballad of Pious Pete. 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 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.
LOL f! Googling The Ballad of Pious Pete. TY Heartland.
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 by Sir Walter Scott.
The Day the Saucers Came by Neil Gaiman
In a more general suggestion: have you thought about memorizing any of the Psalms or other poetic Bible bits?
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
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)
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.
Whoosh.
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.
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 Thousandth Man,” also by Kipling, is another good choice.
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, by Shel Silverstein.
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.
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!
The whole thing? Well, it may be, but I bet they won’t.
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.
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.