Penguin's Poems by Heart

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The Poetry by Heart competition features a classic category where participants learn one pre-1914 and one post-1914 poem, and a freestyle category when they can choose any poem. A curated collection for them to choose from includes a wide range of poets, from Beowulf to contemporary poets such as Wayne Holloway-Smith, Roger Robinson and Romalyn Ante. Memorably recited in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral – the success of which led to a whole new generation discovering Auden’s poetry – this elegy actually started life as a parody of public obituaries, although its sentiment can be taken as sincere as well, which shows Auden’s genius. The four quatrains of this poem make it the ideal length to commit to memory. The grand final of the competion, which is now in its fourth year, will be held in March 2016 for students in secondary schools and colleges. This poem, which sees Housman’s ‘Shropshire Lad’ observing the cherry blossom on the trees and reflecting, as a young lad of twenty, that he has only fifty years left of his biblical three-score and ten, is a case in point: Dr Julie Blake, FEA, FRSL(Hon), co-directs Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition for schools. She researches and writes about the history of poetry for children, creates digital and print anthologies of poems for children and young people, teaches poetry pedagogy and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of poetry in the school English curriculum.

Housman (1859-1936) may not have revolutionised poetry in the way that some of the other names on this list did, but of all the poets included here, he is perhaps the one whose work most easily lends itself to being learned by heart. His fondness for regular rhyme schemes and verse forms, his plain and direct use of language, and his ability to articulate deeply felt sentiments in affecting and moving verse, all make Housman a join to learn, and carry around, ‘by heart’.Poetry is often taught through the rather mystifying lens of Latinate terminology. Fun for some but many children need more experience of poems to make sense of it. Learning a poem by heart seems to develop that experience in an accessible and embodied way through children feeling rhythm on their pulses, noticing how rhymes knit a pattern and hearing the music of sequences of words. Many of his poems are about the natural world, with woods and trees featuring prominently in some of his most famous and widely anthologised poems (‘The Road Not Taken’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘Birches’, ‘Tree at My Window’). Elsewhere, he was fond of very short and pithy poetic statements: see ‘Fire and Ice’ and ‘But Outer Space’, for example.

And then there's Kaiti Soultana, winner of the Poetry By Heart Competition in 2013, whose successfully committed a chunk of the early English poem Sir Garwain and the Green Knight to memory. He'll find out from her how the poetry learning initiative of the last few years has fared and whether his passionate enthusing will be well received. And then there's Michael Rosen, former Children's Laureate, who continues to encourage kids not only to read and learn poetry but to write it as well. The Poetry and Memory Project provides further reading on the value and experience of poetry in the memory, and the relationship between memorisation and understanding. The poems we learn when we’re young stay with us for the rest of our lives. They become embedded in our thinking, and when we bring them to mind, or to our lips, they remind us who we are as people, and the things we believe in. We call it learning by heart, and I think such learning can only make our hearts bigger and stronger.” Simon Armitage, Poet LaureatePoetry by Heart is a national poetry speaking competition for schools in England. It is open to young people in Key Stages 2-5. Pupils choose a poem, learn it by heart, and perform it. Tell people you’re asking children to learn a poem by heart and you get very mixed reactions. Some people will immediately start saying a few lines of verse they learned as a child; these lines usually come with a warm story, perhaps a memory of a family member who shared the poem with them or a particular teacher who brought poetry alive for them. Other people will tell a moving story of a loved relative able to recite a poem whole and intact through the ravages of dementia. A very small number of older people will shudder and remember being punished for faulty memorisation of a poem assigned to the class to learn. And others, like me, have no such stories: learning a poem by heart just wasn’t something we encountered as children, in school or at home. A Process in the Weather of the Heart’is a free-verse poem by Dylan Thomas. This poem taps on the theme of death. The dry and arid imagery of this piece makes a reader think of oblivion. After reading the text, it becomes clear that Thomas wrote this poem with a heavy heart, maybe lamenting his loved one’s death. In general, it is a topical poem about death that delves into the juncture when the heart gives up. Let’s have a look at the last few lines from the text:

In Poetry By Heart children choosing to learn a poem with others usually think they’re taking the easier option. In fact, speaking a poem with others demands cooperation, trust and coordination – and to do it well involves breathing together, being in the moment together and becoming part of something beyond yourself. Understanding Adults are regularly surprised by the facility children seem to have for learning by heart, with varied reasons proposed such as less fear, the pliability of young brains, and more time to devote to it. There’s a general consensus that once you’ve learned one thing it’s easier to learn more things, a poem being a very good place to begin. Oracy The competition is created by The Full English and supported by the Department of Education with a consortium of partners including The Poetry Society, Homerton College, the University of Cambridge, The Poetry Archive, Stephen Spender Trust, The English Association, National Poetry Day, CLPE, Shakespeare’s Globe, OED and NATE. Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition for students in England, recently announced the line up for the Grand Finale of the competition. Now in its tenth year, this was the biggest competition yet, with over 2,000 entries and more than 37,000 young people taking part in schools across England.The Poetry Society is part of a consortium of poetry organisations supporting the delivery of Poetry By Heart. In 2023, we are piloting an outreach programme, sending poets into schools in Hull, Luton, Rochdale and Walsall to support pupils in learning and performing a poem. About Poetry By Heart

The Poetry By Heart resource for primary school children is designed to help pupils and teachers find poems they love, and enjoy them together through reading aloud and learning them by heart. It encourages playful discovery and serious fun.” Here are the poems selected: This heart-breaking piece is about how a lady breaks up with the speaker. Their relationship has ended abruptly or quite humorously. In this poem, Bukowski describes how the lady toys with his heart. One day, she suddenly comes by and ends everything for a silly reason: In the poem ‘The Hope of My Heart,’John McCrae describes the love that exists beyond the grave and a speaker’s worry for his little, fair maiden. The speaker describes how he was forced to leave her loved one behind. He cared for her deeply. When he is absent, he thinks she is unsafe in this world. Hence, he prays to God to protect her. He has to make sure when she dies comes to heaven. The poet’s love for the maiden is best expressed in these lines: Julie Blake, co-director of Poetry By Heart, said: “In the last couple of years many teachers have asked us if we could develop some resources for younger children and we are delighted to have done that now. Between 2013 and 2016 Poetry By Heart was the principal educational initiative of The Poetry Archive, developed with The Full English and supported by the Department for Education. It was co-founded by Andrew Motion (Co- Director of The Poetry Archive) and Dr Julie Blake (Co-Director of The Full English and Education Director of The Poetry Archive) in February 2012. Since 2016 Poetry by Heart has been directed by The Full English.Teachers also tell us about younger children’s gains in reading fluency, vocabulary enrichment and the musicality of English. I prefer the description a teenager gave of the value to them of being able to articulate what they know they don’t yet have the words for and of trying out different adult voices to explore where they might fit. Memory The organisers of the Poetry By Heart competition, aimed at 14- to 18-year-olds, has published a set of 65 poems to support the teaching of poetry to younger children. His first port of call is the Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of the Royal Society of Literature, who shares a passion for poetry, and more particularly poetry learned by heart. He also calls on Dame Judi Dench for advice on learning and some insights into how she sustains her reservoir of learned verse. Poetry By Heart is the poetry recitation competition for English schools. We are open to students in Key Stages 2-5 across a variety of competition categories including showcase (with the opportunity to enter self-written poetry or poems in other languages) and freestyle, where you can get really creative with different elements such as music, animation and more! There is also a special round for teachers and librarians to get involved. No one can learn a poem by heart for you. You have to create your own relationship with the poem, discover what memory tactics work best for you, and keep going when it seems too difficult. More managed curriculum activities don’t always have this scope and teachers are often delighted by the gains in learning independence. Language