30 POEMS TO MEMORIZE (BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!)

30 POEMS TO MEMORIZE (BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!) Edited by David Kern

AGES; 9TH GRADE - ADULT

I have a love/not so much love relationship for poetry. Sounds complicated, doesn't it? There are times that I enjoy reading it: crisp fall days while staring at "two roads'" that "diverge in a wood," or watching my "woods fill up with snow," etc, but the truth is, poetry can very quickly become frustrating to read and understand. Not always, but often, poetry is born out of a moment that moves the writer's soul, and words gush out that embrace or lament those moments. It can quickly become a turnoff if you really have no idea what the author is talking about. Enter 30 Poems to Memorize. This book is a collection of beautiful works of poetry from a variety of poets. Some poems you may recognize. Some poet's names you'll recognize. What makes this collection so valuable is the essay that follows each poem that helps us, the amateur poetry enthusiast or the mom who desperately wants to add poetry to her homeschool lineup but has no idea where to begin, unlock the meaning behind the words. Whether you choose to memorize the poems or just savor them, this book is a tool that will help you leave the table with some true understanding in what you've just read.

Some of the poets included are: Wendell Berry, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, William Shakespeare, Homer, Langston Hughes, John Keats, Wallace Stevens, and many more.