Tweetspeak Poetry

Committing Prufrock: 6 Great Ways to Memorize a Poem

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6 Ways to Memorize Poem banana bread
I didn’t take much time to wonder, “Do I dare, and do I dare” when the editor suggested I memorize The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

The whole poem.

All of it.

I immediately bit the matter off with a smile because I’ve never met a dare I didn’t like, at least a Tweetspeak dare, and I knew it would be worthwhile. (More about that in a future post.) But how should I begin? And now, how can I pick up the pace and complete the matter so there’s time for more poetry dares before I grow old or sprout a bald spot in the middle of my head?

I finally settled on six weapons to finish off Prufrock—I mean, to complete this dare—and they each begin with the letter “R.”

1. Read

First, I read the whole poem. All of it. Several times. I read it out loud so I didn’t miss even a drop of its juice. I savored. I listened for repeated sounds and words and phrases and rhymes. I let my mind soak up images—a patient lying on an operating table under the stars, a bunch of men in grayed t-shirts hanging out of windows puffing on their pipes, Prufrock (I haven’t been able to give him a face) in white flannel trousers with peach juice dripping down his chin, mermaids riding waves while they comb their hair. Later I went ahead and read about the poem and how others approached it. Of course, that sent me off on rabbit trails.

Speaking of images… back in the day when I worked as a community health educator, I taught medical terminology to non-medical hospital employees using word association. The Memorise site offers ideas on using creative images to help you memorize text.

2. Relate

I’m not getting any younger, so all of Prufrock’s references to time stir something in me. I think many see this poem as dark and dreary. Maybe it is. But I tend to giggle a lot when I read it. I find myself drinking more tea and craving buttered toast and peaches. I like to sit outside on a dim, foggy morning and remember my past while I wonder what’s ahead.

3. Repeat

After I spent some time reading the poem and sitting with it, I began to work on the separate stanzas. I read a stanza several times before I begin to work on each line. I repeat the line over and over until I can say it without peeking. Then I do the same with the second line. Then I do both lines together before I move on to the third, then all three together before the fourth.

A Book About the Art and Science of Remembering Everything

4. ‘Rite

Writing a stanza out by hand, pencil or pen on paper, helps seal the words. Sometimes I type it, and I just found this nifty memorization tool where you can cut and paste text into a blank space. You work with that until you’re comfortable, and then you move on to another screen that gives you only the first letters of each word. The next screen gives you just the first words of each line. I’m also finding it helps to cut and paste those screens into a blank document and type in the rest of the text.

In other words this:

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

becomes this:

F__ I h___ k____ t___ a__ a______, k____ t___ a__:
H___ k____ t__ e_______, m_______, a_________,
I h___ m_______ o__ m_ l___ w___ c_____ s_____;
I k___ t__ v_____ d____ w___ a d____ f___
B______ t__ m____ f___ a f______ r___.
S_ h__ s_____ I p______?

which becomes this,

For I
Have known
I have
I know
Beneath the
So how

Using this technique will help me pick up my pace considerably.

5. Recite

The other day I leaned on the fence and recited my current verse to two turtles (mama and baby?) as they played just off our little lake’s shore. I didn’t hear my husband open the sliding glass door and step out behind me. I don’t know how long he stood there before he said hello, but I nearly choked on the butt end of my buttered five-grain. I prefer to do my practice recitations in private—outside, in the shower, in my car or for the cat.

6. Record

When I think I’m finally ready, I record a selfie video. Then I play it back while I compare my voice with the written word, trashing and repeating until I’ve gotten it practically perfect in every way. Once I’m fairly sure that “by Alfred, I’ve got it,” I record it on youtube for the world and reward myself with a barista badge. Soon—maybe—when (if) I get my brave on, I’ll do a Facebook Live recitation.

Oh, one more thing. Remember those things called “word clouds” where you can input text into a site and create a cloud or a shape with the most-repeated words printed in larger font? I’ve created a teacup filled with Prufrock. I figure if I forget a word, I can insert the word “time” and have a pretty good chance of being correct.

Prufrock Word Cloud

So that’s it. I’m committing Prufrock with these six weapons. What are some of your favorite ways to memorize text?

Photo by Sajia Hall, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Sandra Heska King.

Committing Prufrock Printable Barista BadgesEditor’s Note: In the coming weeks, Sandra will update us on her progress and strategies for committing Prufrock. Stay tuned on Facebook and/or Twitter, where she’ll feature live video updates. We’ve given Sandra the option to Phone a Friend, so be prepared in case she calls on you to help with some Italian pronunciations or to learn a little about a part of the poem, or even to recite a stanza with her. 

Want to commit Prufrock with Sandra? Download your own Committing Prufrock Poetry Dare Printable Barista Badges that you can cut out and color to celebrate all 15 sections as you memorize them. Tweet a photo with your badge to us at @tspoetry and use the hashtag #commitprufrock.

Explore more Poetry Dares

__________________________

How to Read a Poem by Tania RunyanHow to Read a Poem uses images like the mouse, the hive, the switch (from the Billy Collins poem)—to guide readers into new ways of understanding poems. Anthology included.

“This will be the main textbook for the poetry unit from now on.”

—Tom Hunley

BUY HOW TO READ A POEM NOW

Sandra Heska King
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Comments

  1. Maureen says

    Love the word cloud, and the 6 great memory techniques.

    I’m enjoying your recitation so much, Sandra. It’s spoken clearly and in an unstudied cadence that makes it natural-sounding.

    Reply

  2. Martha Orlando says

    What great techniques for helping us memorize something, Sandra! I really admire you for taking on the Prufrock challenge; don’t think I’d have the patience for it. However, the techniques you list here might just help me memorize some Bible verses.
    Blessings!

    Reply

    • Sandra Heska King says

      I’m thinking they’d work for that, Martha. As well as for shorter pieces. If I can work through this whole poem, I’ll have more confidence and success with smaller pieces, I think. Joshua Foer also has a video out there where he tells how he memorized every digit of pi. Yikes! :-0

      Reply

  4. Donna Falcone says

    This is wonderful! I love your discoveries, and your generosity in sharing them! The T cup filled with Profrock is terrific! I am feeling your fun and humor all along the way, in spite of the mouthful you have bitten off! I’m so impressed – you inspire me, Sandra. You are, like I said before, a super hero!

    Oh… and what lucky (and possibly bewildered) little turtles.

    Reply

  5. Bethany R. says

    Well, I love this. Your suggestions, humor, and voice are delightful, Sandra. Thanks for charging ahead with this challenge—it’s inspiring.

    Reply

  7. L.L. Barkat says

    Oh!

    I think Part 4 is my favorite yet. Great cadence and expression. Great lifting of the meaning into the voice and your aspect. 🙂

    Are you finding that the memorizing is getting easier the more you do it? I joined you by memorizing “From the Dark Tower,” by Countee Cullen. When I just added Neruda (in Spanish) yesterday, I found it easier than it had been two weeks prior with Cullen. So… I’m thinking that the practice changes things in our brains and maybe starts to help us skate along faster in similar endeavors, the more we try. Anyway, I’d be curious to know what your experience has been on this count.

    Reply

    • Sandra Heska King says

      I just googled Neruda, and the second entry was a movie. Should I know there was a movie? I think I should watch this movie. Maybe I’d learn some Spanish. I should know Spanish, especially now that I live in South Florida, and there are Spanish speakers all around me.

      So what exactly are you memorizing? Neruda wrote a lot of poems.

      I think you’re making faster progress than I am. It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to memorize anything, so I think I’m starting to wake up dormant cells. I’m only working on my sixth badge, but yes, I do think each stanza gets easier. I wonder how long I’ll retain it. I suspect probably not all, but parts? Though I still remember long sections of the Gettysburg Address from high school. I’m wondering how I’ll handle that first stanza. Maybe I can get Maureen to tape it for me in Italian. Or maybe I should learn the English translation. Or both. And afterwards… I think there will be reason to intentionally try to memorize something else, and then something else…

      Reply

      • L.L. Barkat says

        This morning, some of it has gone missing 😉 I think I have the right notations as to where. Also, I’m fairly sure I’ve mixed up (or missed) a few of the accent marks, which I find complicated to remember. 🙂

        Cuerpo de mujer, blancas colinas, muslos blancos
        Te pareces al mundo en tu actitud de entrega.
        Mi cuerpo de labriego salvaje te socavo
        y hacer saltar el hijo del fondo de la tierra.

        Fui sólo como un túnel. De mí huían los pajaros
        y en me la noche entraba su invasion poderosa.
        Para sobrevivirme te forjé como un arma,
        como una flecha en mi arco, como una piedra en mi honda.

        Pero cae la hora de vengaza, y te amo.
        [missing piece] leche avída y firme.
        Ah los vasos del pechos! Ah los ojos de auscencia!
        Ah las rosas del pubis! Ah tu voz lenta y triste.

        Cuerpo de mujer mía, persistiré en tu gracia
        [missing piece] indeciso
        Oscuros cauces [missing piece] ansia [missing piece] sigue la sed eterna,
        sigue la fatigua, y el dólor infinito.

        I didn’t know there was a movie. And I think the more meaning you attach to all of it, the more you’ll remember. It would have helped me recall the Spanish (which I don’t actually know well) here if I’d first taken the time to recall the English. And I am all for you memorizing more and more and not stopping with this dare 🙂

        Reply

        • L.L. Barkat says

          Now, for the mistakes:

          1. Te should not be capitalized.
          2. socavo should be socava
          3. sólo should be solo
          4. pajaros should be pájaros
          5. en me should be en mí
          6. invasion should be invasión
          7. de vengaza should be de la venganza
          8. missing piece is: Cuerpo de piel, de musgo, de leche…
          9. avída should be ávida
          10. pechos should be pecho
          11. auscencia should be ausencia
          12. missing piece is: Mi sed, mi ansia sin límite, mi camino indeciso!
          13. missing piece after cauces should be: donde la sed eterna sigue,
          14. sigue la fatigua should be y la fatiga sigue
          15. dólor should be dolor

          Reply

  8. Will Willingham says

    Really helpful suggestions, and always good to see someone else’s process. 🙂 I find the ‘riting part to be most helpful when I am working on something to memorize.

    Love the videos. Keep those badges coming. 🙂

    Reply

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