Poetry and memory

Those of you who have been following my musings for a while may remember that in the second lockdown, Mike, Liz and I all resolved to learn a poem a week. We kept it up for the best part of a year, and I learned some thirty poems off by heart.

Of course, my intention was to keep learning more, and to remember those learned.  I did not do either.

I was lamenting that recently to my patient and long-suffering wife, Jane, who suggested that I could re-learn those I had learned, as a start.

When I had calmed down sufficiently (after a few weeks) I realised the wisdom of her suggestion, so I have started to do so.

And here's the interesting bit (I think, at least).  Although I thought I had forgotten them all (and even forgotten that I'd ever learned some of them) they are coming back extremely quickly. It used to be a bit of a struggle to learn one a week (and that in lockdown, when time was much less committed than it is now).  However, In the last 10 days I have re-learned the first six poems I learned, and found it easy to do so.

So four years on, the residual memory (if that's a suitable term) is actually quite strong, which says something interesting about the endurance of learning even when not used for a while.

And the other thing I am remembering is the great pleasure I take in having poetry available to me in that way, when I am walking the fells, out on my bike, wakeful at night or whenever...

And lest you think this post is not relevant to you, I will end with a Call To Action as all the gurus on Linked In recommend: learn a poem off by heart!