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
Link to
poem. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven
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