I love the idea of memorizing poetry. Perhaps I should add that as a requirement in future literature courses. However, on second thought, the revolt among 21st century undergraduates might be too brutal to withstand. (Another instructor recently required that his students do a public reading of Beowulf in Old English, and I can only imagine the resentment he encountered on that adventure.) So, on second thought, perhaps I will instead rededicate myself to my own poetry memorization program. And, to be particularly perverse about the challenge, perhaps I will focus only on William Blake. The Songs of Innocence and Experience should be rather easy as a starting point, but I suspect my brain will short-circuit when I get to Jerusalem, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas, and his other mind-bending works.
I love the idea of memorizing poetry. Perhaps I should add that as a requirement in future literature courses. However, on second thought, the revolt among 21st century undergraduates might be too brutal to withstand. (Another instructor recently required that his students do a public reading of Beowulf in Old English, and I can only imagine the resentment he encountered on that adventure.) So, on second thought, perhaps I will instead rededicate myself to my own poetry memorization program. And, to be particularly perverse about the challenge, perhaps I will focus only on William Blake. The Songs of Innocence and Experience should be rather easy as a starting point, but I suspect my brain will short-circuit when I get to Jerusalem, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, The Four Zoas, and his other mind-bending works.
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