Why Memorize a Poem?
Poets manipulate the relationship between the sound and sense of language--that is, the way that sound and rhythm contribute to meaning. This dimension of poetic language often fades when poetry is encountered on the page--as we hastily prepare for class, we often flatten the rich variety of poetry into the unspoken interior monologue of our thoughts.
To combat this flattening, I require all students in my poetry (337, 477) and survey (206) courses to memorize and recite creditably forty consecutive lines of poetry. (For lists of acceptable poems, click on your course number: 206; 337; 477.)
What does "creditably" mean? It means that the recitation should not be rushed, breathless, or halting, but rather should be sensitive to the rhythm and language of the poem at hand. Good reciters show, in subtle pauses, emphases, and other nuances, their understanding of the poem. If you have constantly to be prompted, or if you recite so quickly that the words blur into each other, you will need to re-perform your recitation.
You have the choice of reciting the poem in front of class or in my office.
Students sometimes believe that the memorization is pointless, because they won't remember the poem forever. But this misunderstands the point of the assignment: I don't much care *which* poem you memorize, but rather that you experience the material sensuousness of poetic language. In other words, the assignment is designed to help you think about the relationship between sound and meaning, not to learn a poem.
If you are genuinely interested in the relationship between sound and meaning, or if you are simply in need of some extra credit, then you might be interested in the prosody assignment.
Page created 1.23.2004.