Poetry

[Dr.Poisonfreak]

Hello there escapists.

I will keep this short and sweet, i am attempting to learn "the raven" by Edgar Allan Poe in all it's entirety and was just wondering if any of you could offer me any advice on how to do so.


Also for discussion value , have you ever had to memorize something , and been really impressed with yourself when you finally managed to do it?

 

[PureChaos]

repetition. The Raven is a great peom and of you can learn it then awesome. go over it over and over and over. learn 1 section, say a couple of lines, then the next couple. then put them together. go through it like that bit by bit. once you've lined a few lines and a few lines, put those 'few lines' together in one, then continue. gradually you'll get through it putting all the parts together.

that's how i managed to learn Yakko's World start to finish. best of luck to you

 

[Crystalite]

learning poetry by heart is not really hard, as rhymes make things easy to memorise.
Just read it again and again.
Then cover it with your hand and say it aloud.
Then read it again.

Your main problem will be to remember what stanza comes next, as they are only loosely connected. Try using the overall story to guide you there.

Have fun!

Edit:
Ah, yes, the discussion...
For some weird reason I really enjoyed learning poetry as a kid, and I pride myself in beeing able to recite every Poem from Tolkiens books by heart.
Its fun, and somehow I like the thought that I can carry my favorite poems around with me...

 

[StellarViking]

Read it a whole lot and recite it right after. If you do it without missing a word, try it again. Then wait a day or so, read it again, and recite it again.

I had to memorize the Major General's song from "The Pirates of Penzance" for a theatre class and it was hard, but I just did that and it worked well. I was so proud.

<youtube=zSGWoXDFM64>

(Around 50 seconds in, and no, this wasn't me)

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I find putting it to a tune in my head helps. What tune you pick depends on the beats in the poem.

Repetition too, but I think I've been royally ninja'd there.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Ah, yes, the discussion...
For some weird reason I really enjoyed learning poetry as a kid, and I pride myself in beeing able to recite every Poem from Tolkiens books by heart.
Its fun, and somehow I like the thought that I can carry my favorite poems around with me...

You... you... you sad little man, you!
Though, I'm honestly impressed, the poems just seemed so extraneous to me for all I enjoyed LotR.

Most of the advice I was going to give (repetition, association with a melody etc.) has already been given, and just say that I thought your opening sentence was 'Hello three Escapists.'

 

[StellarViking]

Read it a whole lot and recite it right after. If you do it without missing a word, try it again. Then wait a day or so, read it again, and recite it again.

I had to memorize the Major General's song from "The Pirates of Penzance" for a theatre class and it was hard, but I just did that and it worked well. I was so proud.

<youtube=zSGWoXDFM64>

(Around 50 seconds in, and no, this wasn't me)

I knew a guy who did the same thing and thought he was the greatest person on the planet because of it. Not saying your a twat. The guy was just annoying with it. When ever someone would bring something up about memorizing something he would talk about how he quoted it. He never knew where it came from i don't think.

And now that i watched some of that he didn't even remember the whole thing lol. Didn't even get to the first part where he stops and thinks for a second lol.

I know, there was another kid in my class that picked the same thing and he memorized it and did it all just like the musical, and he would sing it in the halls and brag about it every chance he got. It pissed me off. I suppose the video was just there 'cause I like the song.