Customer Reviews

Committed to Memory

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the idea of memorizing one hundred great poems; to carry around in your head always, ready for any situation.

Unfortunately, "Committed to Memory" is not a big help with such a project. The subtitle, "100 Best Poems to Memorize" is misleading, because for every good choice (like Byron's "So We'll Go No More A' Roving") there are at least two no-so-great ones ("Lord Randall" and "The Owl and the Pussycat") and a few selections are downright inexplicable (Why would anyone want to memorize "The Song of the Mad Prince"?). An ideal poem for memorization should combine deep meaning with a strong rhyme, making it easier to burn into your mind. "A Mending Wall", by Robert Frost, while a great poem, in my mind is just too hard to memorize. "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" would have been a better Frost choice. Tennyson's "Ulysses" is just way too long, and other selections suffer from plain old mediocrity. The only truly excellent choice here in my view is actually the first one, Elizabeth Bishop's "Sonnet". It's down hill from there.

In conclusion, if you really want to memorize one hundred wonderful poems I recommend just checking out "Committed to Memory" from the library, gleaning what you can, and then buying "Poems to Read", by the Favorite Poem Project; a terrific anthology that has at least fifty poems well worth committing to memory. As for "Committed to Memory"; it's strictly rental quality.

GRADE: C

Many of these poems are just simply not lyrical, rhythmical, nor visual. Memorizing many of these poems will be like eating sawdust.

When we think of great poems to memorize, (there are great poems, and a subset that are worth memorizing.) We think of poems like Blake's "The Tyger". Who can forget the beautifully put together poem of Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"? What about Thomas' "Do not go Gentle into that Good Night"?

To be sure, these poems have been included in this book, but where is John Donne's "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning"? Frost' "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

When I think of poems I would like to memorize, I search for those poems that have something to say about human condition. That is mostly a given for great poetry. But to memorize them, I look for poems that are musical -both lyrical and rhythmical, and having good imagery.

So to my excitement, I thought this book would be a good collection of such poems. I was sadly disappointed. There maybe 10 poems in here that are worth committing to memory. The others are just great to read.

To add to more of my frustration, there is no author index at the end of the book.

If you want a much better collection of poems, with a much higher percentage worth remembering, I strongly suggest Laurence Perrine's Sound and Sense.

Although I never considered memorizing anything to be fun or profitable in lower school, the idea of memorizing wonderful poetry appeals today. Intrigued by the title, I picked up a copy of "Committed to Memory: 100 Best Poems to Memorize." Although the idea is a worthy one, the poetry selection disappoints. I am sure that poet, and editor, John Hollander put considerable thought into which poems to include in this book. I just do not care for many of his choices.

I did find various old, (and dear), favorites that shine, and inspire, in an anthology such as this: William Butler Yeats "The Song of the Wandering Angus," E.A. Robinson's "Richard Cory," Percy Bysshe Shelly's "Ozymandias," Richard Lovelace's "To Althea, From Prison," Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning," Oliver Wendell Holmes "The Chambered Nautilus," and Elizabeth Bishop's extraordinary "Sonnet."

I would never think of committing to memory many of the editor's other selections. They're either too long, too difficult to memorize, or just plain not to my taste. With all of Emily Dickinson's magnificent poetry, why "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass?" And why Robert Frost's "A Mending Wall," which is a wonderful poem, but not the best for memorization purposes? Why "The Owl and the Pussycat" or "The Song of the Mad Prince?" There are, of course, selections from Shakespeare, and even The Old Testament, included. In general, there are too many better poetry anthologies around, to give more than a glance to this one - a disappointing 3 Stars.

Several years ago, upon learning that a certain young woman enjoyed the poetry of Robert Frost, I began to memorize some of Frost's poetry. While this effort to impress her did not produce the desired outcome, it did introduce me to the pleasurable experience of memorizing poetry. I found that the act of committing a poem to memory brought out many of the poem's subtleties that I missed on previous readings. It's been quite a while since I've seen the lady who inspired my efforts at memorizing poetry, but I still enjoy coming to a closer understanding of a poem through memorization.

It's hard for any poetry fan to take someone else's list of the "100 best" without balking at some of the choices, and I certainly had some question concerning many of the poems included in the anthology. On the whole, however, I enjoyed the collection, and found some new insight into some old poems.

Rote memorization grows into performance, where you find the voice, the cadence, and the character of the poem. This book selects poems which are ideally suited for aural performance.

Repetition unlocks the subtle insights, ironies, and delicate perceptions interwoven in the poem. My interpretation and understanding of the poem evolves throughout the memorization process, and sometimes is dramatically changed (even completely opposite!) from my first reading.

Readers may not completely enjoy committing to these poems to memory, but they are some of the best poems ever written. I'm pleased to have them all in one easy-to-carry book.

This physically handsome book has an excellent concept: a selection of poems that are not just wonderful to read, but also ideal for memorization. While some of the memorization is too difficult -- like other reviewers, I think Frost offers better candidates for memorization than "Mending Wall" -- other poems are well suited to committing to memory, like cummings' "anyone lived in a pretty how town;" Hopkins' "Spring and Fall;" and, yes, Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat." The act of memorization gives ownership to the poem unlike other reading experiences, and provides sustenance long after the book is read.

Physically this is a lovely book. It sits well on a kitchen countertop and invites memorization as you wash the dishes and prepare food. The poems are indeed fun to memorize. My only wish is that it included poems from a more diverse pool.

If the readers intention is to play a game of memory then this selection of poems can play the trick. But if your expectation is to have a first-rate selection of poems, then this book will run short of your objective.