Found an excellent article by Michael Knox Beran entitled In Defense of Memorization. And after reading it I took 15 minutes to memorize Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I’m finding that “She Walks in Beauty” is not sticking very well in my mind. Perhaps it’s because the poem didn’t really mean anything to me (emotionally) when I started memorizing it — I just chose a poem and got to work. With “Stopping by Woods,” however, there’s a particular setting of the poem to music that I heard as a child and still lingers somewhere back there in my memory, so it was really easy to memorize and it’s sticking quite well. Does this mean I should only memorize poetry I love? I suppose so, and in the case of poetry which I’m not familiar with, I can read it over and over again first to get acquainted and then decide if it’s worth my time to memorize it.

Last night I memorized Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”:

She walks in beauty, like the night
     Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that’s best of dark and bright
     Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
     Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
     Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
     Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
     How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
     So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
     But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
     A heart whose love is innocent!

After watching Willoughby recite a Shakespearean sonnet by heart in Sense and Sensibility last night, I’ve been taken with the idea of learning poetry by heart. So I started with the scriptures this morning, memorizing part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34). Good stuff. I’ll continue doing that in the mornings, and at night I’ll tackle various poems (the shorter ones at first, but I do want to build up to where I can retain some of the longer poems).

Why? As a writer, I believe that one can’t write well unless one reads well. When one comes across a striking passage, what better way to make it one’s own than to memorize it? I’d rather be known for quoting Wordsworth and Longfellow than for quoting Adam Sandler and Friends. (And it’s tempting to launch into a full tirade against the woes of modern pop culture, but alas, now is not the time. Soon, though, soon.) When the words of the poets are part of me, I feel fuller, richer, more alive than before. It’s great.