Poems you've memorized

My attempt:
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Ate of his heart.
"Is it good, friend?" I asked.
"It is bitter, bitter," he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter
And because it is my own heart."

In the Desert


By Stephen Crane In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”


Ahhhh! I need to brush up!

I used to think that poetry was supposed to be quoted, supposed to be recited, that this was how it lived, how it breathed, how it extended its powers, that this was why it was designed to be memorable.

But I don't want to infringe on anyone's intellectual property rights.

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and many others besides.

Dream Within A Dream (Edgar Allan Poe)
Two Shakespeare Sonnets

And of course, some of the stuff I write myself. ^_^

Remember what?

I can remember lines. Memorable lines. But that's about it I'm afraid.


lis

The Owl and the Pussycat. For some reason it's never left since school days.

Hahaha... Freud or Jung would have a field day with that one, G.

I can't give you the exact words because the last thing we would ever want to do is shut down this website because we were so silly as to quote a copyrighted poem without permission. *should be considered a less than subtle warning*

But what I can say is that under the right conditions, in front of the right people, and with the appropriate amount of liquid encouragement (a broody well chilled bordeaux if you're buying) I've been known to recite poems from Carl Sandburg, Sharon Olds, Richard Brautigan, James Wright, Gerald Stern, Allen Ginsberg, and Robert Bly...

although I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

'I can't give you the exact words because the last thing we would ever want to do is shut down this website because we were so silly as to quote a copyrighted poem without permission. *should be considered a less than subtle warning*'


An interesting comment AG. But if a poem is copyrighted and also available in the public domain, would that not make it available for public viewing/advertisement without authorial consent if it is cited properly?

Adore your avatar btw.

lis

lostinspace said:

Hahaha... Freud or Jung would have a field day with that one, G.

Click to expand...

Have always said I need my head read. O and the P is the tip of my warped iceberg.

I saw a shrink once. She asked me what my problem was... to which I replied, 'You're the expert, you tell me'.

lostinspace said:

But if a poem is copyrighted and also available in the public domain, would that not make it available for public viewing/advertisement without authorial consent if it is cited properly?

Click to expand...

1. If it is under copyright it can not be public domain; public domain means that all rights in the work have been returned to the public. It has no copyright.

2. Authorial consent is meaningless; the author may or may not have some or all of the rights to a work since they may have licensed some or all of those rights to a publisher(s).

3. A citation does not protect a use from being a possible violation of copyright; that is determined by a judge at an expensive trial.

4. We appreciate members being respectful about the intellectual property rights of other artists.

Hmmmm, even more interesting AWA. Then one must assume that all universities and higher education institutions are breeching intellectual property rights on a daily basis?

lis

... Prisoner of Chillon, by Byron
and Nantucket, by Lowell and
that one James mentioned.

lostinspace said:

Hmmmm, even more interesting AWA. Then one must assume that all universities and higher education institutions are breeching intellectual property rights on a daily basis?

lis

Click to expand...

Not on my watch, speaking as a former DMCA officer for the humanities division of large university.

In case you're not understanding me, you're damn well not going to do infringe on the intellectual property rights of others here.

Though my memory is full of holes now, I had at one time memorized Poe's El Dorado and The Raven as well as the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V. Currently I'm fond of reciting The Tyger for the kiddo.

AWA, that will never be my conscious intent. In fact, once upon a time, I use to go out of my way to hunt down plagiarists on the net.

Would you prefer we provide links instead? Although they may allow bugs in.

lis

A weird mix:

Holy Sonnet X -- John Donne
The Flea -- John Donne (funniest pick-up line EVER!)
The Ballad of The Brand -- Robert Service, but primarily the ending.

ETA: I asked my hubby, and he recited the full Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat from Alice in Wonderland.

At one time I knew the entire poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee." At this point can only get 3/4 of the way through. I also know Ogden Nash's "The Octopus" by heart, but it's only four lines long. It makes me giggle.

Yay! Another Service fan!

Poems I have memorized have all been accidental. They've been the ones that sink in and start ripping you apart very slowly, before you even realize that it's happening.

The only poem I still remember is "Hope is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson. I never intentionally tried to learn it though.

I had learned other poems in school but I can't quite recall them, only scattered lines and verses of Heaney, Wordsworth and Wilfred Owen.

Gods of the Copybook Headings - Rudyard Kipling
Opportunity - Edward Rowland Sill

I memorized Invictus after coming back from a hike with a group where someone asked me to recite one of my own poems.
That wasn't going to happen, so I thought I'd better start getting some backups!