Do you remember those English classes where you hid behind the student in front of you to avoid being called on to recite a poem or describe a scene from a play or a book, because your memory was much too muddled? You may find that memory training gives you new access to poetry and prose and that you can learn a poem by heart just because you like it. Or you might memorize a quote or part of a book that impresses you.

I have discovered that my memory capacity increases if I memorize a poem or even a few lines of text from time to time. There are no effective systems for this type of exercise, but because you have been expanding your memory and improving your concentration through other exercises, you won’t need a system. However, there are still a few little memory aids you can use.

Memory Tip For Memorizing Poetry

Approach the passage in a focused way, and send signals to your brain that you’re motivated about learning it. Don’t let your mind wander and think about what you are going to do immediately after you’re done. Use your imagination and picture the content of every line of the poem or every sentence of text, include your own feelings as much as you can.

Always link the first word of a line or sentence with a route marker. This helps to prevent gaps in your memory.

Instead of associating just the first word with a marker, you can link an entire verse or paragraph to it using colorful, impressive images.

Remember to repeat what you have learned occasionally until it’s securely stored in your long-term memory, relive the images and emotions on each occasion.

Do Not Worry. It Is Easy To Remember Poetry With Memory Techniques

You will probably smile or shake your head when I tell you that some people in competitions remember each and every word of a poem or text selection using route markers.

memory tips and tricks to remember poetry

Memory Exercise For Memorizing Poetry

Try to memorize the first two verses of this poem by William Wordsworth in five minutes, even if you don’t intend to recite it in the near future. This poem really lends itself to striking and wonderful images, so try it!

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

—William Wordsworth

Another Exercise For Memorizing Poetry

The following selection is the well-known opening from Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre uses imagery to paint a picture of an unpleasant winter morning and is very appropriate for practicing text memorization.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so somber, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

You may also practice text memorization with the advertising slogans you see when you’re out and about or TV advertisements.

For Further reading you can read public speaking and mnemonics or How Memory training makes you a more disciplined person.