Poets Corner
“Learning by heart” is a strange phrase. Perhaps it means that when you memorise a poem or a passage from a sacred text, as is still done in Moslem countries, you form a relationship with it so it can become a friend. When I was a child we learned masses of poetry by heart and this has been a real blessing over the years. It’s a shame it has gone out of fashion and younger generations have been deprived. I thought I would share some of the poems that have been my friends, and if you have the time, why not learn some of them by heart ? Partly as exercise for the memory and partly so that you have them when you need them. As with other things, the more you practise the easier it gets. I could easily find enough poems I love to fill a couple of books, but I will stick with just a few.
I make no apology for the fact that these poems are very well known. They are not well known to everybody. There was a time when you could rely on everybody knowing certain poems and Biblical passages, but this is no longer the case as the old cultural consensus has broken down. But whether you know them or not, I hope it will give you pleasure to see them here.
