How to Memorize Poetry

Learning to memorize poetry is a skill that spills over into many areas of life and education. The ability memorize anything in a systematic way will help train the brain to remember facts, statistics and names. The brain loves repetition, and memorizing a poem not only enriches literary knowledge, but makes memorization fun.

Things You'll Need

• A poem that has special meaning to you and isn't too long

Instructions

1. Decide what kind of poem you want to memorize. It should be something you like or are inspired by. Don't choose something too long for your first try.

2. Determine how long you have to memorize the poem. If this is for a school assignment, put the date on your calendar.

3. Study the poem to find its natural breaks. Most poetry has some types of divisions, like couplets, stanzas or sections.

4. Set a goal for a certain amount each day, dividing up the piece by how much time you have to learn it.

5. Start at the beginning and read through the entire poem out loud. Read out loud again, stopping at your designated mark.

6. Read the first part out loud several times, then close the book or look away from the text and see how much you remember. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't go very well the first time.

7. Read through the first part again looking at the text. Go back and forth reading and saying what you've learned so far several times.

8. After memorizing the first part, stanza or first few lines, add one line at a time from there. Go back to the beginning and start completely over each time you add a new line. This reinforces what you've already committed to memory and adds more in very small amounts.

Tips & Warnings

• Going back to the beginning each time gives your brain what it loves most, repetition.

• Try starting with poetry that rhymes. This will give you an advantage as it's a little easier to get rhyming lines to stick in your memory.

• Look for natural breaks in the poem you choose. Poetry usually tells a story of some sort. Memorizing and stopping at natural breaks will help everything fit together better.