Hmmm...
In theory, I think it's a great idea. In practice though, I have a feeling it may have the same effect in some that Jayne describes. First of all, some people (I daresay most people) will never have an interest in poetry, no matter how you try to sell it to them. It's probably the most cerebral of the arts, and there's really not a lot of escapist value in poetry like there often is in other arts.
For those who could derive value from poetry, rote memorization doesn't strike me as a positive route for a number of reasons. I don't believe that knowing a poem by heart makes one a better poet, or even a better appreciator of poetry. Some people just aren't good at memorizing things. I'm one of them. My wife can prattle off lyrics or lines of songs / movies / plays after hearing them once or twice. There are scant few songs I know all the lyrics of (and I'm big into music), relatively few movie lines I can quote (and I've seen countless movies), and when it comes to poetry...well, I think I have ONE of my own poems perfectly memorized, and a small handful of others that I can partially recite. Does that mean I have less of an understanding or appreciation of those poems? No, I don't think so. It just means that my mind isn't good at memorization. I'm very bad at repeating things back verbatim, but I can always convey the gist.
Ultimately, I agree with Jim's assessment that it can be downright cruel to force kids to memorize a poem to read aloud. Honestly, if someone is going to have an interest in poetry, the best way to nurture that interest is by getting that person to think about tropes and how the meanings are packed into the form...and how the form and meaning support each other. Memorization can be a helpful tool (for some) to bring this end forward, but it should never be imposed.
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