Memorize a Poem

I plan on trying this:

The [UK] government wants children to memorise poetry at school…

The challenge was prompted by a government initiative to get children to memorise poems called Poetry By Heart. No doubt the hand of Michael Gove is in there somewhere. The Department for Education has set up a website suggesting 130 poems, ancient and modern, for memorisation, and reciting contests are planned. [Stephen Moss, the Guardian]

When I was in grade school, our class had to memorize Robert Frost’s Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.  If I can recall, I don’t think I did too good a job of it but I’d have the opportunity to redeem myself a few decades later while I was a grad student at Hunter College.  We were asked to memorize Philip Larkin’s High Windows, and I remember growling through it at the bar at Donohue’s off 65th Street. 

Still today, I can pretty much grope my way through it.  It’s a good one, especially on a bright brittle hung-over morning.  An incantation to clarify the soul.

Now I know the competition is specifically for ten-to-thirteen-year-olds living in the UK, but lord knows my literary memory could use some exercising.  I’ve gone for The King of the Cats is Dead by Peter Porter.  Wish me luck.

Meet the challenge at www.poetrybyheart.org.uk