Poems to Learn by Heart

by Ana Sampson

A collection of some of the finest and memorable poems to learn by heart " Paths of glory ," " Theirs not to reason why ," " When you are old and grey and full of sleep ," " A handful of dust ," and " Shall I compare thee to a summer's day "—these and many others are famous lines of poetry that often occur in everyday speech. However, most people find it difficult to recall the rest of the poem, and that is where this book comes in handy. An anthology to warm the coldest heart or charm the least romantic soul, this is a collection of poems (or in some cases, extracts) that are not only memorable, but allow themselves to be easily imprinted in the mind. This is the perfect book for anyone with even the vaguest interest in poetry, providing a wonderful opportunity to revisit those much-loved lines remembered from earlier days.

Genres: Poetry, Contemporary

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Ana grew up in Kent. She studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield and gained a BA and MA before starting a career in publishing PR. Ana has contributed articles to various publications including Writers’ Market UK, The Book Club Bible (Michael O’Mara, 2007), Cringe and The Bookseller. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud: And Other Poems You Half-Remember From School, her first anthology of well-loved poems, was the third bestselling poetry book of 2009. This was followed by Tyger Tyger Burning Bright: Much-Loved Poems You Half-Remember, Poems to Learn by Heart, Green and Pleasant Land: Best-Loved Poems of the British Countryside and Best-Loved Poems: A Treasury of Verse. She has appeared on television and radio discussing books, book clubs, teenage diaries and poetry. Ana lives in Surrey with her husband, two daughters and two demanding cats.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you are sat in the dentists chair it is wonderful to be able to recall memorised poems and send your mind well away from the drills and blinding lights. Happily this book has many poems that are both easy to memorise and satisfying to recite. The selected poems cover a variety of subjects both serious and comic and there are many short rhyme-heavy poems that make memorising easy for the beginner, and some that would challenge the most accomplished.
If I'm going to learn a poem I want it to be something I will enjoy repeating over and over, and so I would have liked a few more comic or cheerful poems. There are also very few contemporary poets featured, though this is probably because the rhymes that make poems easy to read are so out of fashion.
This book is likely to be within arms reach for many years as there are so many poems I intend to learn from it, and so many dentist appointments!

[Caleb Loh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know if committing poetry to memory is still relevant/useful, but the selection of poems here is broad and introspective, certainly representative of the Western canon at least

[Famke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great poems and personal favourites of mine in here!
I generally enjoyed reading this - it's not too long, so a quick read, and all the poems are very readable, which suits the key notion of the poem which is memorising poetry.
I feel that it could have been improved with less thematic sections, and more poems for each subsequent section. Some themes felt a little redundant or not completed to their full potential.
Some classic poems for memorisation and general pleasure here. However, I would have liked to see a greater degree of shorter poems, as a lot are quite long, and many are extracts from a much longer poems. It would have been great to see some shorter and single verse poems.

[Leoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought this to act as an introduction to poetry and it absolutely worked (introduced me to some new favourites like Dorothy Parker) if you want to start reading more poetry and want a good sampler with lots of different poets and themes this is a great option!

[Maitreyee Gupte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not into poems but this one brought back old times! @sanikajoshi- thanks for the book from your shelf:)

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection with some recognisable poems. The poems are organised by theme, some which I really enjoyed and others I just don't personally enjoy, but either way there was a good selection of some great poems.

[Arkadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for a book of true, unabashed poetry classics, in the truest sense of the word. Classic as in, enjoyed by most everyone for generations. Not overly precious, not needing to be a *poetry fan* to be in the know (though I am - a poetry fan - and, I suppose, somewhat in the know, as far as knowing goes). But I wanted a volume of poetry I could read with my young son and have almost every poem engage him rather than confuse him or ostracise him, a book of poems that was not meant for just children or just adults but that was for everyone, that invited him into the club instead of let him know he was decidedly out of it. I've combed the bookstores and libraries for that volume for quite a while now, and finally, I have found that volume. And this is it. A book full of thoroughly enjoyable classics, of poetry full of deep meaning that doesn't obscure itself beneath pedantry and scoffing wit, of rhyme and rhythm that kicks openly and joyously and without hardly ever tripping itself up.

A true joy to read, both alone and with a friend, or a dearly loved young one, as I was fortunate to enjoy the experience. If you only own one collection of poetry (heathen!), I don't think you'd do too wrong making this your one.

[Jood · Rating 5 out of 5]

For two days I did nothing but enjoy poems that discuss courage, reflection, loss, and war. The chapters were simple and the chosen themes were topics everyone can relate to.

Most of the mentioned poets were English, but the poems varied from short to long. Also, were from different years and centuries.

I have to say, I loved that the selected poems were not the conventional and classical ones. I was able to learn a few new poems that quickly became some of my favorites.

[Sanika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I noted down the poems I liked best:

The Lady of Shalott, by Alfred Tennyson
The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe
High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee
Night Mail, by W.H. Auden
Dover Beach, by Matthew Arnold
Sonnet 116, by William Shakespeare
Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, by W.B. Yeats
My Heart Leaps up When I Behold, by William Wordsworth
The Fallow Deer at the Lonely House, by Thomas Hardy
Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, by Edward Lear
The Darkling Thrush, by Thomas Hardy
Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat, by T.S. Eliot
Ode on Solitude, by Alexander Pope
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost
This Be the Verse, by Philip Larkin
Afterwards, by Thomas Hardy
Warning, by Jenny Joseph
Funeral Blues, by W.H. Auden
Remember Me, by Christina Rossetti
O Captain! My Captain!, by Walt Whitman
In Memoriam (Easter, 1915), by Edward Thomas
Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen
In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae
Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth, by Arthur Hugh Clough
Invictus, by W.E. Henley
If—, by Rudyard Kipling
Résumé, by Dorothy Parker
Inventory, by Dorothy Parker
The Character of a Happy Life, by Henry Wotton
The Sluggard, by Isaac Watts
The Spider and the Fly, by Mary Howitt
Henry King (Who chewed bits of String, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies), by Hilaire Belloc
Observation, by Dorothy Parker
Kirkcudbright Grace, by Robert Burns
"Faith" is a fine invention (202), by Emily Dickinson
Bagpipe Music, by Louis MacNeice
A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement C. Moore
Mending Wall, by Robert Frost
How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear, by Edward Lear

Much to my surprise, html lists do not work on Goodreads.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems to Learn by Heart is a wonderful collection of poems — although, I think it important to qualify that my intention with this collection was never to memorise poems.

The poems throughout seem carefully selected and are clearly ones that Sampson has a connection to. I enjoyed how the poems were grouped by theme, and though I distinctly remember dragging through Chapter 7, From Dappled Things to Stinking Sprats: Nature, in Town and Country, I otherwise liked the other chapters. There was also, blessedly, a nice mix of different poems from comedic to conventional to creative, which gave the collection some life; didn't let it drag.

Perhaps my one complaint would be the random notes at the start of some poems; I would have preferred the notes to be all or nothing, although preferably none at all. Nonetheless, Poems to Learn by Heart is a strong collection. I can't speak to the plausibility of memorising these poems — though some did strike me as a bit long — but I enjoyed it as a poetry collection.

[Ruth Garlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems to Learn by Heart, by Ana Sampson, is a beautiful collection of such lovely poems. Good for all occasions, like when you’re angry, seeking adventure, falling in love, or merry-making, this collection has poems from the 1600s to the 1900s. Absolutely wonderful.

[Rachel Baldie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't fully read this book, so much as flick through it to see what poems caught my eye. But it's a great collection of poems for someone like me, who doesn't know where to start with poetry. And one day, I might even learn some of them off by heart.

[Lillabelle Aikins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was nice for some light reading, it was a lovely little collection of memorable poems.
Sometimes I do not like reading poetry collections in a few sittings as the poems start to blend into one another, but I tried to mark some of my favourites in the book. I will list a few here:

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll -
I really liked this poem as a kid and memorised it for school. I also had a memorable part in Alice in Wonderland in my drama school's annual performance, and so have a soft spot for Lewis Carroll. I love how he plays with sound and language.
Air Raid by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson -
Growing up in a country without much physical historical evidence, I am constantly in awe at the history in London. This poem is so tender and beautiful, and it makes me feel a sense of togetherness with the people who used to roam the same streets I do. The poem is nostalgic, it's innocent, it's sad and vulnerable and bittersweet. I really love it.
Afterwards by Thomas Hardy -
Once again, so bittersweet and lovely. It reminds me to be more present.

That's not all of the poems that spoke to me, but enough to get a picture. The whole collection made me feel very reflective. I also associate this with a recent visit to the V and A, where I was reading poems about death with a friend- some which came from this book. I associate the book a little with that- it made me feel a bit overwhelmed at times. Overall, pretty sweet collection.
55/100

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, it does contain excellent poems to learn by heart (Edward Lear!).

[Zoé · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the way Ana Sampson knows how to organise poems so that you can later find them easily when you need them.

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Nilendu Misra · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio”

And it gets 5 stars on it alone! ❤️

[h · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best collections I’ve read. Introduced me to some great poets and most beautiful poems. I would highly recommend it as a starter.

[Joel]

Good

[Winifred]

Liked the poems I just dipped in and out of this book

[Elias Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second reading complete. Notes and scribbled margins made. A third reading due.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best poem title award goes to T.S. Eliot for "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"

‘Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they’ll make your soul impervious to the world’s soft decay.’ Janet Fitch, White Oleander.

some of my favorites:

The Song of Wandering Aengus, William Butler Yeats

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Her Kind by Anne Sexton

I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.

I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.

I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where your flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.

Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B. Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Afterwards by Thomas Hardy

When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,
And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,
Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,
"He was a man who used to notice such things"?

If it be in the dusk when, like an eyelid's soundless blink,
The dewfall-hawk comes crossing the shades to alight
Upon the wind-warped upland thorn, a gazer may think,
"To him this must have been a familiar sight."

If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,
When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,
One may say, "He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no harm,
But he could do little for them; and now he is gone."

If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at the door,
Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,
Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,
"He was one who had an eye for such mysteries"?

And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,
And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings,
Till they rise again, as they were a new bell's boom,
"He hears it not now, but used to notice such things?"

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

'To store up a memory bank of poems is to build up your own unique library for life. The verses are your personal armoury…' - Ana Sampson

I don't read as much poetry as I'd like to, so when I do read some, I often reach for a collection like this, which offers a mix that I can dip in to, and then prompts me to revisit my shelves/a bookshop/the library to read more from a favourite or someone I have newly discovered. I personally found this an interesting, varied, enjoyable and satisfying selection, with some of my favourite poems included, as well as some I knew a little of, and then some that I didn't know at all before reading them here.

The poems here are grouped into nineteen chapters, each with a theme, and each theme has a short passage introducing it and relating it to the medium of poetry. There's magic, adventure, love, reflection, family, death, war, courage, faith, advice, anger, nature and more. At the end of some of the sets of poems grouped under a particular theme, there is a quote relating to poetry and to learning it. At the back there's an index of poets and an index of titles, first lines and well-known lines.

When I pick up a book like this, it always reminds me of the joy of poetry and how some poems capture a moment, a dream, a thought or an emotion perfectly sometimes.

The focus here is on the idea of having some of these poems that you love, or connect most with, stored in your mind so that you can bring the words to mind whenever, wherever you are. The compiler writes: ' I hope that you will discover and cherish the pleasures of learning and knowing poetry by heart.' I remember learning a lot of poems as a schoolchild, and though there was always the element of 'having' to know them for the purposes of reproducting elements of them in essays and exams, I've found as the years have gone by that some of the poems I learnt back then have always stayed with me, and indeed mean more to me now than they did then.

As with any such collection, there are always omissions, but there is certainly a broad enough selection here to prompt me to investigate some of the poets further, and also to return to my own copies of more in-depth collections by my favourites, such as Dylan Thomas and John Donne. For some of the longer poems featured here just an extract is given.

This is a very nicely presented hardback volume; it would be lovely to give as a gift to someone special, to someone who is interested in poetry and is looking for an accessible place to start, or indeed as a gift to yourself! There's a place on the endpaper to write who it is a gift for, and who it is from, should you wish to. This is a book that I will treasure.

Some of my favourites from this collection are:
The Good-Morrow - John Donne
To His Coy Mistress - Andrew Marvell
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Dylan Thomas
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfred Owen
The Soldier - Rupert Brooke
Night Mail - W.H. Auden
Not Waving But Drowning - Stevie Smith
This Be the Verse - Philip Larkin

[Martha Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! And I love when verses return to you years later while lying the dentist's chair or while stuck in a boring conversation of friends' travel journeys!

[Cece Roh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I picked this book up because I recognised some poems but the whole collection is fantastic. Poems are split into 'themes' and every so often, there's a little foreword which puts the poem into perspective, or gives a little context. A really good compilation of poems - ones definitely worth learning by heart.

[Howard Dickins]

A good selection of poems, which spurs me to collect a few more favourites and actually learn some of them. My initial browse through the pages in a bookshop brought me to Shelley's "Ozymandius" (I met a stranger from an antique land...) and from that moment I knew I had to read more poetry.
And falling asleep with poetry swirling around my head has proved a great experience.

[Kat Scarr Vaño · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of poems for reading aloud and memorizing. In the words of the author, "Knowing poems by heart means they will become a part of your consciousness in a way that can never be replicated by calling them up on a smartscreen".

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice looking book, a Christmas gift from my Mum and perfect for the coffee table. Lovely to dip into during quiet moments over a cuppa.

[Tadhg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read, not yet learnt by heart :)

[Terragyrl3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't be memorizing these poems, but this is a fine collection--much easier to read in bed than Norton's Complete Poems!