Tuesday, May 15, 2018

101 Poems, Number 61


Favorite Poems Throughout My Life


61: “The Raven,” 1845, by Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49)

“Once upon a midnight dreary”—
What a start to what a work! So
One day when my eyes were bleary
I resolved to learn this. “I know

Lots of lines,” I told myself then—
But it took a student, who said,
“I know lots of lines of this … when
Will you catch me?” I’m no retread,

So I vowed to learn those lines, man.
Learn them fast and thoroughly so
I could say them to my class—can
You perceive this motive. Too slow!

It was competition—clearly.
But it worked—I learned the poem.
Now those words remain—and dearly!
Words have value when you know ’em!

*Suneil Vallabh, Western Reserve Academy, 2003–04


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