How to Memorize a Poem: Learn It by Heart in a Week

Most of us carry a few lines we never meant to learn: a nursery rhyme, a chorus, a verse from school. Memorizing a poem on purpose is the same thing, done on a schedule. It takes less talent than people think and a little more patience. Ten minutes a day for a week is enough to learn a short poem by heart.

Pick a poem you want to keep

Choose something you would be glad to say out loud a year from now. Short is best for a first try: Nothing Gold Can Stay is eight lines, "Hope" is the thing with feathers is twelve. If nothing comes to mind, browse by mood or open a collection and stop at the poem that makes you read it twice.

Read it aloud before you memorize it

On the first day, do not try to remember anything. Read the poem slowly, then read it aloud. Notice where the sentences end, which lines rhyme and where the poem turns. Understanding comes first: lines you understand are far easier to keep than lines you only repeat.

Learn one stanza at a time

Take the first stanza alone. Read it aloud a few times, then look away and say as much as you can. Check the page, and try again. Move on only when the stanza comes without a glance.

The part that matters is the looking away. Rereading feels like progress, but it is the effort of pulling a line back from memory that makes it stay.

Join the stanzas

Each time you finish a new stanza, say everything you have learned so far from the top. The seams between stanzas are where most people stumble, so pay attention to the first words of each one. They are the handles you reach for when you recite.

Review it so it stays

A poem learned once fades within days. Say it again the next day, a few days later, then after a week and after two weeks. Each review takes a couple of minutes. Always start from memory, and open the page only when you are stuck.

Small habits that help

• Say it out loud. A poem is sound first.
• Write it out by hand once from memory, then compare.
• Recite while you walk. Rhythm in the feet helps rhythm in the lines.
• Practise at the same time each day, even for five minutes.

A faster way: the PoemShip trainer

A page and a pencil are enough. The hard parts are testing yourself honestly and remembering when to review, and that is what our trainer is for.

The Learn by heart trainer on PoemShip takes you through a poem stanza by stanza and hides more of the words as you remember more, so every round is a real test and never a reread. When a poem is about to slip, it tells you it is time to review. It works with any poem in the library: open a poem and choose to learn it.

The same trainer is in the free Learn Poems app for iPhone and Android. The app also reminds you when a poem is due, and lets you record yourself reciting, so you can listen back and hear where you stumble.

A poem you know by heart goes everywhere with you: on a walk, in a waiting room, at three in the morning when sleep will not come. Start with one.