Easy Poems to Memorize

Before the introduction of print media, poems were remembered by memorizing line to line. However, nowadays, memorizing poems are considered to be a difficult task and not many people are keen on doing so. Moreover, people find it more easy to actually read the poem than memorizing it. However, most of us get an opportunity to participate in poetry events and competitions as students and reading poems at such events do not actually make the correct impression. Most people expect students to recite poems rather than reading it to them from the book. Nevertheless, if you have never memorized a poem, you may find this task of memorizing, a difficult one. But, its actually not so, rather there are several ways in which you can learn to recite a poem by heart. One way of doing this is by picking out an easy poem. However, before we take a look at the list of long as well as short poems, let us know some ways of memorizing them.

How to Memorize a Poem

• If you have the liberty to choose a poem, it would be better to select one that is short and easy. However, if your teacher selects a poem which is a long one, you can still learn the poem by diving it into different parts. Also, read the poem well and try to understand its deeper meaning, before you choose one that you want to memorize. Read more on memorization tips.
• Once you have decided on the poem that you are going to recite, the next step is to start learning it. Begin by reading the poem line by line, for at least five times. Try to understand each and every word of the poem. If you find some words which you do not know at this stage, look for its meaning in the dictionary. Reading the poem aloud for a few times will also help in memorizing it.
• Most of us find it easy to memorize a song because the lyrics have a tune to them. Though you do not have to set the song to a tune, reading it more than once will help you in understanding its rhythm. Here, you will also recognize the areas where you have to pause and where you have to add a stress.
• Once you have read the poem a few times, close the book and try to recall the poem. You may remember some words, phrases, lines or may be nothing at all. However, you do not have to worry, if you are not able to recall anything.
• The next step is the actual memorization process. As I said earlier, break the poem into several sections and then repeat each one of them line by line. After you do this for a couple of times, try to recite the line without looking into the book. Repeat this process till you are able to repeat the whole poem by heart.
• Once you have memorized the poem well, you cannot rest. Rather, you have to keep on practicing till you are able to recite the poem fluently. Practicing in front of an audience like your family, friends or teacher can also be helpful.

Easy-to-Remember Poems for Kids and Adults

As you now know the ways of memorizing poems, you should take a look at some of the easy poems that you can memorize without much effort. Here is a list of easy poems for you.

• Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
• The Blind Men and the Elephant - John Godfrey Saxe
• The Owl and the Pussy Cat - Edward Lear
• Tears Idle Tears - Alfred Tennyson
• Dream Deferred - Langston Hughes
• The Spider and the Fly - Mary Howitt
• Trees - Joyce Kilmer
• Purple Cow - Ogden Nash
• El Dorado - Edgar Allen Poe
• The Waking - Theodore Roethke
• Richard Cory - Edward Arlington Robinson
• Song to Celia - Ben Jonson
• Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love - W. H. Auden
• Iowa & other Accidents - Kate Northrop
• Because I Could Not Stop for Death - Emily Dickinson
• Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
• For Whom the Bell Tolls - John Donne
• Home - Edgar Guest
• Dover Beach - Matthew Arnold
• Song - John Donne
• Chartless - Emily Dickinson
• The Night Before Christmas - Clement Moore

These are a few easy poems which you can find in the library as well as on Internet sites. So, go through some of these poems and learn to memorize one which you find the easiest. All the best!