In my poetry class, I’ve always had students memorize something, a few things. I feel that if they’ve forgotten everything I’ve said, if they haven’t written anything down all semester and just stared out the window, at least they’ll come away with a poem memorized.
So one day, years ago, I was on the subway in New York, and a guy across the aisle kept kind of looking at me and finally he came over and said he recognized me as his teacher. I’d taught him about 10 years before that, or more. He’d since become an oncologist, and I congratulated him on his success. Then he said, “You made us memorize a poem.” And I said, “Yes.” And he said, “I’d like to say that poem for you.”
And it was a little poem by Emily Dickinson that he’d carried in his head, and maybe in his heart, for all those years. Over the roar of the six train, he yelled that poem in my ear, and I think it was probably the most satisfying pedagogical experience I’ve ever had.
Billy Collins
As a retired public school teacher, who used to have pupils and older students memorize poetry, I can so relate to this! I wen to school in the 50's and 60's and I still remember most of the poems we had to recite as well! Sweet moments like this are extremely gratifying and make me very thankful that I chose the profession I did. I have a lot of former students on my Facebook and I love keeping up with them!
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