Beethoven once supposedly chided a musician for playing one of his works "from memory," arguing that he should be looking at the score because he might see something new in it. Sounds like good advice to me.
I rarely memorize even my own poems, partly because I rework them so many times I am never quite sure where they stand, partly because I keep discovering ways to make them better--or at least different.
On the other hand, I have over the years a fair number of poems "by heart" from sheer repetition, and I encouraged students to memorize a few poems OF THEIR OWN CHOOSING because I do think it is a worthwhile discipline and because it's nice to have something to summon up and contemplate at odd or appropriate moments.
Jan
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