10 Compelling Reasons to Memorize Poetry

While many of us have read poetry, either on our own time or at school, far fewer have ever endeavored to memorize a poem in its entirety. Yet memorizing a poem can be one of the most fulfilling and fun ways to explore poetry, even though rote learning has long since fallen by the wayside in the typical American classroom. Don’t believe us? Read on to learn why memorizing poetry can be an incredibly valuable practice, for your brain, career, and overall well-being.

1. It gives you access to poetry anytime, anywhere

   When you’ve got a whole host of poems on file up in your brain, you don’t need to carry around a book of poetry to appreciate amazing verse. This gives you access to something to think about and keep you occupied, whether you’re waiting in line, at the doctor’s office, or on public transportation. Being stuck in traffic might just seem a little more appealing if you spend it reciting poetry.

2. It’s a great workout for the brain

   Just like your muscles, your brain gets weak when you don’t give it regular exercise. Memorizing poetry can be a great way to keep your brain in fighting shape, challenging it to remember and recall sometimes large amounts of information. Many may not get a chance to push memorization skills in everyday life (when was the last time you had to memorize something?) so working out these aspects of our minds can be an amazing way to keep learning and maintain brain health.

3. It can be tackled bit by bit

   Memorizing isn’t as daunting as it might first seem, even for some seriously long poems. Why? Because it can be tackled in chunks. Each day you can work to memorize a few lines at a time, reciting the poem with the addition of those new lines as you go about your day. After a few weeks, you can have a long poem memorized or take on several shorter works. It’s not only easier to do this way, it gives you something to look forward to each morning.

4. It can help make a big impression under the right circumstances

   Knowing works of great poetry by heart won’t get you ahead in every situation (in fact, in some it may get you some dirty looks), but it can help you stand out under the right circumstances. For instance, Senator Robert Byrd, known for his great love of poetry, would occasionally recite a bit of poetry that related to a point he was making. Others might find poetry ripe for special occasions like weddings or births, or to impress a literary new boss. Whatever you choose to use it for, it never hurts to have a bit of poetry on file in your head, just in case.

5. It can be a foundation for learning other things

   Many poems are related to history, mythology, religion, philosophy, and art. Many are also full of unusual words and reference to historical people and places that may be pretty obscure to the modern reader. To really understand a poem, whether to just read it or to memorize it, you’ll need to look up anything you don’t know. This provides endless possibilities for learning, as pursuit of one bit of knowledge easily and naturally leads to another and another. Before you know it, you may be an expert on Greek mythology or the ins and outs of ancient warfare.

6. It can help you understand other people, places, and times

   By a great stroke of luck, we still have poetry and other forms of writing from civilizations that are thousands of years old, some of which are long gone. We also have access to poetry from every corner of the globe and that which has been written by people of varying races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and even mental stabilities. Studying, learning, and memorizing these kinds of poems can help you to see into another culture and can broaden your horizons. It may also shed some light on common human joys and dilemmas, many of which are shared around the world and throughout history.

7. It can expand your vocabulary

   Try to read a work of poetry, let alone memorize it, and you’re bound to encounter a few words that aren’t part of your everyday vocabulary. As you’re memorizing the poem, you can also memorize the meaning of these new words. Afterwards, you’ll not only know the poem but will have a bigger vocabulary to boot. Some studies suggest that memorization may also help improve your use of syntax, which is never a bad thing to be better at.

8. It can make you feel good about yourself

   Feeling down on yourself? Memorize a poem! This activity will challenge you to accomplish something, even if it’s just memorizing a couple of lines, every single day. You’ll be able to get satisfaction from the progress you make, and the more you learn, the better you’ll feel about your mind, your abilities, and yourself.

9. It can be easily connected to other art forms and disciplines

   Throughout history, many artists and poets have worked together, and today it’s still easy to draw connections between works of poetry and other art forms, not to mention major movements in history. Understanding and knowing poetry can open up not only literature, but a myriad of other disciplines to learners. For example, studying the poems of the Romantic era can easily be connected with studying the art of the period, which can also be connected to the philosophy, and the history, and so on. Poems open many doors to learning, some of which you might not have known you wanted to go through.

10. It may inspire you to write your own poetry

    If there is anything that will inspire you to dabble in poetry, it’s probably going to be hearing great, funny, or inspirational verse written by someone else. When you carry these poems with you in your head via memorization, you can draw on them for inspiration no matter where you are. You may never end up being the next Frost or Longfellow, but poetry memorization may give you a love and appreciation for the genre that drives you to create your own works, having fun and honing your language skills in the process.

Taken From Accredited Online Colleges