Poems and Stories to Memorize

[Aosto]

It's been a while since I've posted here, but recently I have gotten back into druidry after some time away. I'm wanting to know, what are some stories and poems that Bards should memorize? I've recently committed to memory 'Stolen Child' by Yeats, but am looking for more. Please let me know!

[Aphritha]

You're from Des Moines! Another Iowan! Can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting another Iowan on here. I'm from Waterloo.
I would think anything that you have a love for and want to share with others is perfectly acceptable. I wanted to work on my storytelling a bit since joining the OBOD, and the first myth I picked was that of Hades and Persephone. That one always took me. Not sure where I'll go from there but the beauty of Druidry is its so adaptable...

[Aosto]

Nice to see another Iowan on here as well. I used to lurk about these forums many a moon ago, but fell from my path. I'm starting to regain it after I realized how much I missed it. A friend of mine has started an undertaking of writing a fantasy novel based on Druidry, I started to ramble on and on and this re-lite the flame for me. So, i'm back to it...studying and familiarizing myself again with the ways.

[Aphritha]

Its interesting how things pop up in life to keep us on track at just the right time...
I've been interested in Druidry for a few years now. It was brought to my attention by the gift of a book by some family members. I read, learned more, began to incorperate the ways into my life, and here I am! I joined the boards last summer upon joining OBOD.
Welcome back, and good luck to your friend with his novel! Let us know when he/she gets it finished...we can always use another good story.

[DaRC]

I think the aim is to find those that speak to you and you wish to bring into your heart & mind.
Have you ever read Fahrenheit 451?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451

[Aosto]

I haven't read it, it's on my list though. I'm looking for stories that not only speak to the heart, but present a lesson or some form of moral teaching, such as IF by Kipling. Also faery related poems such as those by Yeats.

As for stories, I don't plan to memorize them word for word. I want to memorize the details so I can spin the tale by memory and add some more detail. Anyone who has read the Mabinogion knows it's a dry read at times, but fascinating all the same.

[Crinia]

Hello Aosto

My favourite fairy story is Carolan's Concerto by Caiseal Mor

This is a story based on the tale of Turlough O'Carolan the harper who was said to have received his gift to play the harp from the Queen and King of the fairies.
As the books cover says it is "a toast to the three sacred past times of old Ireland: music, storytelling and whiskey"

At the moment I am working on remembering the story of Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnall, from the very enjoyable version performed by Claire Hamilton in podcast 22 of Druidcast.

Crinia

[Opal]

I think the aim is to find those that speak to you and you wish to bring into your heart & mind.

That is an excellent guide, though I also think poems can be memorised just for fun (I can remember several occasions with different friends laughing and reciting Jabberwocky or Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood).

I came across this poem by Lord Byron recently. I have several rather argumentative atheist friends who, err, quibble on Facebook, let's say, about their and other's beliefs. The first line of this poem strikes me as a much more beautiful and elegant way of talking about finding meaning without a divine guide.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

That is what I want to take into my heart.

This is another poem that is important to me. I'd have it read at my funeral

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

William Shakespeare
From The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1

Some poems are much easier to memorise than others. The Thought Fox by Ted Hughes gave me so much trouble! You do gain a deeper appreciation for any poem that you memorise though, it gives it new life to make it part of you.

How is the poem hunting going?