Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

When we were in school, some of us were required to memorize certain poems, passages, or pieces. What are some of the poems, passages, or pieces you've memorized over the years?

Do you remember them?

Below is the piece we were required to learn in high school:
========================================
The Quality of Mercy

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.

-William Shakespeare

This beautiful piece on mercy is from his 1600 play, The Merchant of Venice, when Portia speaks to Shylock in Act IV, Scene I.
ABOVE FROM: http://maryourmother.net/Shakespeare....
====================================================

I remember only the first two lines.

I'm such a hopeless romantic.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

-Shakespeare

I love the last 2 lines. :D

Lucille wrote: "I'm such a hopeless romantic.
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all..."

Lucille, I wonder who inspired Shakespeare to such devotion.
It must have brought great pleasure to the one for whom he wrote it.

I know. If I were that girl, I would swoon. Hehehe... (That is so ages ago, "swoon"). He talked about her beauty that would never fade even though she grew old.

"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee."

What a lucky girl!

Yes, a lucky girl, indeed.
How about the lucky girl for whom Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 29?
The last two lines tell it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonnet 29
by William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

-William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm impressed. I can barely remember a few limmericks, none shareable in mixed company. Otherwise it's all geeky stuff.

"There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary & those who don't."

Jim wrote: "I'm impressed. I can barely remember a few limmericks, none shareable in mixed company. Otherwise it's all geeky stuff.
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary & those who don't"

Jim, it's the geeky stuff that's hardest to remember... and hardest to understand! (lol)
I'll have to ask our sons to explain that quote about "binary". I remember vaguely that it has something to do with bases different from the base 10 which we use in the decimal system.
It's easier to demonstrate than to explain. Wiki tries to explain it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(math)
My eyes glaze over. :)

As for limericks, here's one from my files. :)
====================================
There was an old man from Nantucket,
Who kept all his dough in a bucket,
His daughter named Ann
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nan took it.
====================================
Jim, that's one you can share in mixed company, although it may cause a few timid folks to hold their breaths until they hear the ending. :)

10 binary is equal to 2 decimal. People who program a lot tend to just count in hex & binary, so it's a geek joke.

Computers all work with binary - on/off or 1/0 - so, if you do any programming, you need to be able to work with binary (base 2) number system. Binary easily converts to hexadecimal (hex or base 16) which is easier to read & write for people. 110010 binary is 32 hex. Programmers can convert between Hex & Bin in their head. It's easy & requires very little memorization.

Converting to decimal - base 10 or what we normally use - often requires a calculator, so they usually don't unless they have to deal with humans who require it & then they often resent it. (32 hex is 50 decimal, BTW.)

@ Joy

Women really have power over men. Just thinking about that girl made him content with his sorry life. He began to be eloquent and passionate. Ordinary life turned into extraordinary. The beauty of nature suddenly became apparent and radiate. Love was spelled everywhere. Wow! What a blissful experience!

Jim, thanks for explaining about the different numerical bases. Eddie used to teach base 2 to the kids in his 8th grade computer class. So he was able to explain your post to me.

For the place value of each column you multiply the base number times the place value of the column before it.

So in base 16 the place value of the second column is 16 -- (i.e., 16 times the place value of the first column. (The place value of the first column, the "units" column, is always 1.)

The place value of the 3rd column is 16 x 16 (i.e., 256).

The place value of the fourth column is 16 x 16 x16.

Anyway, I think I get the idea.
Gee, it's really too early in the morning for this kind of deep thinking. :)

Lucille wrote (re Sonnet 29): "...Women really have power over men. Just thinking about that girl made him content with his sorry life. He began to be eloquent and passionate. Ordinary life turned into extraordinary. The bea..."

Well, Lucille, men can have the same power over women. Yes, love is "a blissful experience". Or is that "being in love"? :) The state of "being in love" seems to be an armor against all kinds of problems.

===================================================
"Tell me about love," he said.

And she replied, "To me it's a shining thing like a golden fire or a silver mist. It comes very quietly. You can't command it, but you can't deny it, either. It changes you, it changes everything.

"Colors are brighter, music is sweeter, funny things are funnier. You can't quite see it or touch it, but you can feel it--inside of you and around you and the person you love."

-Arthur Gordon, _Green As Emerald, Mysterious as Jade_ (1983)
===================================================

Love changes everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love is patient,
love is kind,
love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things.
Love never fails.

-Bible: 1 Cor. 13:4-8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just thought of something else I memorized, although it's been years; quite a few Dr. Seuss books & Hippos Go Berserk. This was due to years of reading them to the kids.

The Foot Book Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites
"Hand, hand, fingers, thumb. One thumb, one thumb, drumming on a drum. One hand, two hands drumming on a drum..."

Hippos Go Berserk
"One hippo all alone calls a second hippo on the phone..."

It's been at least 15 years since I read them, too.

Jim wrote: "I just thought of something else I memorized, although it's been years; quite a few Dr. Seuss books & [b:Hippos Go Berserk|815982|Hippos Go Berserk|Sandra Boynton|http://www.goodreads.com/images/no..."

LOL I love it!
I never read enough Dr. Seuss books to my kids. Hmmm - Were they out in the 1960s?

Answer: Yes they were. See the info re Dr. Seuss at: ====>
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

The page at the above link explains how the Dr.Seuss books got started. Interesting!
It explains how _The Cat in the Hat_ came about in 1955.

Below are a couple of excerpts from that page:
==================================================
The book, _And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street_, was "rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success."

"In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet."
==================================================

Green Eggs and Ham was a favorite of ours as kids. My uncle was a game warden & there were lots of Mallard ducks around. Their eggs have a definite green tinge to them, so we used to have green eggs & ham for breakfast. The inside of the egg is like any other, although duck eggs are bigger & richer than chicken eggs.

Jim wrote: "Green Eggs and Ham was a favorite of ours as kids. My uncle was a game warden & there were lots ..."

Jim, your kids were so lucky to have that great experience!
I didn't know that Mallard duck eggs were greenish.

I guess my kids did have that experience a couple of times, although Mom served Bantam, Guinea, duck, goose & peacock eggs, depending. It was me that grew up eating lots of green eggs.

Oh! So it was YOU who had the great experience of lots of green eggs. I'm going to look at that book at the library to see if Dr. Seuss mentioned the mallard ducks.

Speeaking of books in the children's area of the library, I went to the library looking for the original book, _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_.

I'm curious to know what the original art was like since the newer books are a bit different, according to the book flap.

So far I haven't seen the illustrations in the original book. The newer editions have been updated. The author, Eric Carle, is famous for his illustrations.

"This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was published in 1969."
Below is a link with more info: ====>
http://www.eric-carle.com/events.py

He didn't mention Mallard ducks at all, as I recall & I recall it fairly well. It was one of Brandon's favorite books.

Jim wrote: "He didn't mention Mallard ducks at all, as I recall & I recall it fairly well. It was one of Brandon's favorite books."

I wonder how many people related the "Green Eggs" with Mallard ducks.
I wonder if Dr. Seuss himself did! I guess we'll never know. :)

PS-Thanks for saving me a trip to the library. :)

Nantucket quote brought a smile.. nina Green Eggs was a favorite book at our house.. My "kids" still quote from it. Also, my two sons used to refer to themselves as, "Thing One and Thing Two." I forgot which Seus book they were in..nina

Nina wrote: "Green Eggs was a favorite book at our house.. My "kids" still quote from it. Also, my two sons used to refer to themselves as, "Thing One and Thing Two." I forgot which Seus book they were in"

LOL - Such a cute nickname for your twins, Nina!
They're from:

"I will pick up the hook.
You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
They want to have fun."
(Then, out of the box came Thing Two and Thing One)
-The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

And here they are in person, Thing One and Thing Two: ====>
http://www.ziasoftware.com/primate/~s...

Speaking of memorizing; I remember having to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution in seventh grade..I doubt any seventh graders do that now.nina my husband used to speak "The Raven," by Edgar Allen Poeand "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

I forgot how cute they were..They did remind me of my two red headed sons;rather than blue headed..When they grew older they teased me with references to the Smother Brothers with each saying, "Mom likes you best>" nina

Here is a quote I just got recently from a friend of mine. I think it will appeal to our author goodread friends; "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." Do you agree with this, Ilyn? nina

Nina wrote: "Speaking of memorizing; I remember having to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution in seventh grade..I doubt any seventh graders do that now.nina my husband used to speak "The Raven," by Edgar Allen Poe and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

Another standard for memorization is "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
My brother-in-law can recite the whole thing.
Here it is: ====>
http://ops.tamu.edu/x075bb/poems/case...

I couldn't recite Casey but oh, do I remember hearing it. A good one..nina

Nina wrote: "I forgot how cute they were..They did remind me of my two red headed sons;rather than blue headed..When they grew older they teased me with references to the Smother Brothers with each saying, "Mom likes you best"

Nina, that line is #90 on the list of "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases".
See the list at: ====>
http://www.tvland.com/originals/catch...

I like #97: "God'll get you for that." (Maude)

And who can forget #1: "Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")

Nina wrote: "Here is a quote I just got recently from a friend of mine. I think it will appeal to our author goodread friends; "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people..."

Nina, below are two quotes along those same lines:

"To be blessed with a mind that can write often means you'll be cursed with a mind that will torture you." -Caroline Aherne (one of Britain's best-loved comics)

and

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” - Joseph Heller

Nina wrote: "Here is a quote I just got recently from a friend of mine. I think it will appeal to our author goodread friends; "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people..."

Nina, what is the attribution to that quote?

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Nina wrote: "Here is a quote I just got recently from a friend of mine. I think it will appeal to our author goodread friends; "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is f..."Thomas Mann..Sorry I forgot to add the author..nina I especially identify with the quote of Caroline Aherne..nina

Nina wrote: "...'A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.' ... Thomas Mann. Sorry I forgot to add the author"

Thanks for the attribution, Nina.
Glad you liked the quote by Caroline Aherne, which bears repeating:
"To be blessed with a mind that can write often means you'll be cursed with a mind that will torture you." -Caroline Aherne (one of Britain's best-loved comics)

Gee, I'm a bit surprised no one's mentioned this: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol. My favouritest poem ever.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.



Ever wondered how it's even remotely possible to translate? More Jabberwocky goodness here.

Hi Whitaker. Thanks for adding "Jabberwocky" to this topic.
It's great that you were able to memorize all of that. Thanks for the link as well.

Below are a few more pieces of information about "Jabberwocky".
=====================================================
From Wiki:
" 'Jabberwocky' is a poem of nonsense verse written by Lewis Carroll, originally featured as a part of his novel _Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There_ (1871). It is considered by many to be one of the greatest nonsense poems written in the English language."
----------------------
"A few words that Carroll invented in this poem (namely "chortled" and "galumphing") have entered the English language. The word jabberwocky itself is sometimes used to refer to nonsense language."
ABOVE FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky
-----------------------
"Nonsense verse ... is the poetic form of literary nonsense, normally composed for humorous effect, which is intentionally and overtly paradoxical, silly, witty, whimsical or otherwise strange. It is particularly common in English, due to the typically absurdist streak in British humour."
ABOVE FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonsense...
----------------------
The poem can be heard via an audio file at the following webpage: ====>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jab...
=====================================================

As for myself, I've never been able to tolerate obscure, abstruse, or puzzling literature. For some reason, I find it baffling and annoying. Evidently there are a good number of folks who can handle this kind of brainteaser and enjoy it as well. I wish I could.

TRIVIA:
Whitaker's post has encouraged me to read
a bit more about Lewis Carroll's two different books:
_Alice in Wonderland_ (1865)
and
_Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There_ (1871).

I learned the following from Wiki:
"Whereas the first book has the pack of cards as a theme, [the latter:] book is based on a game of chess...".

I never realized this. An interesting distinction.
I know... I know... I should really read the books. :)

Wiki also says (about _Through the Looking Glass_): "There, she discovers a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky", which she can read only by holding it up to a mirror."

So now I know a bit more. :)

ABOVE WIKI QUOTES ARE FROM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_...

Shall I move this topic to the "About Books and Reading" topic?
I think it belongs there.
I should have placed it there when I started the topic.

(Right now it's in the topic called "Topics Other Than Bks-Pics-TV".)

What was I thinking of? :)

My mother and I could both do Alfred Noyes' blood-and-thunder epic "The Highwayman" from start to finish, although I don't think I can get through it anymore. Every year in grade school and high school there were things we had to memorize, but none of them really stuck except some of the speeches from Shakespeare plays. I *can* still do the first eighteen lines of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which we had to learn for my first English Lit course in college - with the correct pronunciation and accent!

I love and know most (though not all) of Shakespeare's sonnets #104 ("To me, fair friend, you never can be old/For as you were when first your eye I eye'd/So seems your beauty still..."), #116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds/Admit impediments...) and the achingly sad and beautiful #73 ("That time of year thou mayst in me behold/ When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang/ Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,/Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang...")

Here's another wonderful sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning - I always think it sounds like something Beatrice might say in Much Ado About Nothing:

"If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
`I love her for her smile -her look -her way
Of speaking gently -for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day' -
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee, -and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry -
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity."

The actor Simon Callow once upon a time did a one-man performance of the entire cycle of Shakespeare sonnets. Now *there's* a feat of memory!

Margaret, thanks for that beautiful post.

BTW, you must have a prodigious memory!

Below is a link to a photo of Simon Callow:
http://www.nndb.com/people/746/000108...

Here he is on a video with some acting tips: ====>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVGlT...

Here he is on another video... younger and with more hair. Quite handsome. ====>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VDnEW...

Jim wrote: "He didn't mention Mallard ducks at all, as I recall & I recall it fairly well. It was one of Brandon's favorite books."Jim, you are right; no mention of mallard ducks in Green eggs and Ham..It was also one of my kids favorites and mine too..We still refer to it when anyone in the family won't try something new to eat..He was a marvel..At one time I had read those books so many times I could recite them even in my sleep if need be..And my boys called each other thing one and thing two..nina

you

I had the first two chapters of James (Bible) memorized about 8 years ago. I don't remember any of it now. Isn't that sad?

Camerandi wrote: "I had the first two chapters of James (Bible) memorized about 8 years ago. I don't remember any of it now. Isn't that sad?"

Our memory is an interesting subject. There are many different kinds of memory. Some of us have more ability in one area of memory than another. I am currently getting more insight about this as I listen to the audio version of the following book: ====>
The Woman Who Can't Forget The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science--A Memoir
It describes the many different kinds of memory we store in our brains and a bit about how memory is stored.

Now that I understand more about the memory, I can forgive myself for forgetting so many things. :)

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Camerandi wrote: "I had the first two chapters of James (Bible) memorized about 8 years ago. I don't remember any of it now. Isn't that sad?"

Our memory is an interesting subject. There are man..."Speaking of memorizing the punishment for our two boys when they got out of hand was metered out by my husband..They each had to sit in a comfortable chair with a good lamp and read the dictionary starting at the beginning..They really did end up with excellent vocabularies; don't know it their punishment helped but I guess it didn't hurt; literally..nina

Nina wrote: "Speaking of memorizing the punishment for our two boys when they got out of hand was metered out by my husband..They each had to sit in a comfortable chair with a good lamp and read the dictionary starting at the beginning..."

LOL - That's an unusual punishment, Nina. I've never heard of that one. When I was teaching 4th grade, the students who misbehaved were required to write out the classroom rules.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Nina wrote: "Speaking of memorizing the punishment for our two boys when they got out of hand was metered out by my husband..They each had to sit in a comfortable chair with a good lamp and read th..."They used to laugh about how many words they knew and their meaning..Sometimes just for fun they would recite the first page of the dictionary. It usually caused an astounded look. nina