This is an updated list of the poems I’ve memorized in alphabetical order of the poet’s first name. In choosing poems to memorize, I sometimes select seasonally appropriate verse. I also balance light with serious. I memorize poems suited for certain moments, like a toast, or saying something nice about someone at a farewell event or birthday, or on a holiday like Christmas or the Fourth of July. A fitting, apropos poem heightens my awareness of a moment and marks it for future reference. Glance at the list and you’ll see Robert Burns is my favorite poet, autumn is my favorite season, and love, my favorite sentiment. As I post the poem texts in the blog, I will add the link to this page.
The Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln
To An Athlete, Dying Young – A.E. Housman
With Rue My Heart is Laden – A.E. Housman
Loveliest of Trees – A.E. Housman
Caroling, Caroling – Alfred Burt
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree – Anonymous, (Early American)
Autumn Movement -Carl Sandberg
Joy – Carl Sandberg
A Visit From St. Nicholas – Clement Moore
I Have Longed To Move Away – Dylan Thomas
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night – Dylan Thomas
love is thicker than forget – e.e. cummings
Winter is Good – Emily Dickinson
A Little Madness – Emily Dickinson
Besides the Autumn – Emily Dickinson
The New Colossus – Emma Lazarus
When the Frost is on the Punkin – James Whitcomb Riley
To Autumn – John Keats
Trees – Joyce Kilmer
Dream Deferred – Langston Hughes
Dreams – Langston Hughes
A Strange Wild Song – Lewis Carroll
The Folk Who Live in Backwards Town – MaryAnn Holberman
Psalm 121 – Michael Wigglesworth
When I’m Standing Next to You – (from the movie, “A Mighty Wind”)
Eleven Animal Poems – Ogden Nash (The Ant, the Cow, The Centipede, The Firefly, The Guppy, The Llama, The Ostrich, The Shrimp, The Termite, The Turtle, The Wasp)
A Drink With Something In It – Ogden Nash
A Word to Husbands – Ogden Nash
To a Louse – Robert Burns
Address to a Haggis – Robert Burns
Table Prayer 1 – Robert Burns
To A Mouse – Robert Burns
Afton Waters – Robert Burns
Grace for After a Meal – Robert Burns
My Girl She’s Airy – Robert Burns
Ae Fond Kiss – Robert Burns
Scots Wha Hae – Robert Burns
The Parting Kiss – Robert Burns
Red, Red Rose – Robert Burns
Auld Lang Syne – Robert Burns
Of A’ The Airts – Robert Burns
Green Grow the Rashes – Robert Burns
My Wife’s a Winsome Wee Thing – Robert Burns
Selkirk Grace – Robert Burns
For a’ That and a’ That (Is There for Honest Poverty) – Robert Burns
Nothing Gold Can Stay – Robert Frost
Stopping by Woods on a Winter’s Evening – Robert Frost
The Road not Taken – Robert Frost
Smart – Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein
Out of the Rolling Ocean the Crowd – Walt Whitman
I heard you solemn sweet pipes of the organ – Walt Whitman
Lake Isle of Innisfree – William Butler Yeats
To a Friend Whose Work has Come to Nothing – William Butler Yeats
Sonnet 128 – William Shakespeare
Sonnet 116 – William Shakespeare
Sonnet 99 – William Shakespeare
I Wondered Lonely As a Cloud – William Wordsworth
