I’ve memorized some poetry in the past and it’s been very rewarding. I used to have a group of friends that would sit up late and at a certain point in the wee hours, and at a certain point of intoxication, we’d start sharing the poems we’d memorized. Those who didn’t know any poems would run to the bookshelves and page through volumes to find their favorites to recite. Good times.
I’d like to know “To a mousie” (or whatever its title) by Robert Burns; a couple more of the Psalms of David (already know 1 and 23); “Batter my Heart” by John Donne; “Power” by Adrienne Rich; re-memorize the first 40 lines of Canterbury Tales; “My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the Sun” by Shakespeare; “Archaic torso of Apollo” by Rilke (maybe); that “Black milk” poem by Paul Celan maybe some others.
Seems like that could easily be done about one per week, right? And by memorizing, I’d have to read and re-read so I could understand the structure of these pieces too, right? That’s my goal then; one poem memorized every week or so.
