I was walking through the house this morning when all of a sudden I found myself reciting a stanza of poetry I had to memorize in junior high.
"And what is so rare as as day in June then if ever comes perfect days. Then heaven tries earth if she be in tune and over it softly her warm ear lays." James Russell Lowell, the Vision of Sir Launfal.
Where did that come from? My 7th and 8th grade language arts teacher was a firm believer in having us memorize things, poems, pieces of literature etc. We had to stand up when called on and recite. I went to a public school in the Chicago suburbs and Dale went to a Lutheran school in the Chicago suburbs. He had to memorize as well, but his classes memorized hymns.
"On the 18th of April in 75, hardly man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year." Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow.
I'm glad she did this, memorization is a good discipline, but more than that, it keeps us grounded in history and thought. But it's still weird to be walking through the living room and having old poem stanzas pop into my head for no reason.
"This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks." Longfellow from Evangeline. Good times.
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