8th Memorization Poems & Audio

Listen to "Come to the Edge" by Christopher Logue

Listen to "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

Listen to "I'm Nobody, Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson

Listen to "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Listen to "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Listen to "Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne

Listen to "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Listen to Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

Listen to excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

Listen to excerpts from John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Listen to the St. Crispin's Day speech from William Shakespeare's Henry V, Act IV, Scene III

Listen to Hamlet's Soliloquy from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene I

Death Be Not Proud (PARAPHRASED VERSION)

Death, don’t get cocky. Even though some people

Have said you are powerful and scary, you are not.

For those who you think you’ve conquered

Don’t actually die. And you can’t kill me either.

Rest and sleep, which are kind of images of you,

Give us much peace. So, it follows that we’ll get a lot of peace from you too.

The best people encounter you and they achieve

Rest to their bodies and their souls are saved.

You are a slave to the uncertainty of life, rulers, and killers,

And you are buddies with poison, war, and sickness.

Drugs and medicines can make us sleep better than you can

So why do you think you’re so amazing?

After we sleep for a bit, we will wake up to eternity

And then you won’t exist anymore. Death, you’ll die

Sonnet 29 Paraphrase (PARAPHRASED VERSION)

When nobody cares about me and everyone thinks I’m dumb

And I’m crying about my loner state

And I’m praying to heaven but I’m not getting an answer

And I’m looking at myself and cursing the way my life has turned out,

And I’m wishing that I was more like that guy (who’s hopeful),

Or that guy who has a lot of friends,

And I want the talents and abilities of the people I see

Because I’m sad and I don’t even like the things I usually like anymore—

Yet, even while I’m despising myself,

I suddenly think about you, and then everything changes

And my emotions rise like a bird at sunrise

That flies from the Earth to heaven and sings a song.

Because when I remember your love and kindness, I feel like I have a great treasure.

One that I wouldn’t exchange for a kingdom or a crown.

Paraphrase of the St. Crispin’s Day Speech from William Shakespeare’s Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii

(This speech comes near the end of the play; King Henry V is rallying his troops. He is leading a small English army against a large French army. He’s trying to inspire them before they go into battle.)

Who wishes for more men?

You, cousin Westmoreland?

No, cousin. If we’re going to die, we’re a big enough loss.

We don’t need more men to die.

But, if we are meant to live and triumph,

then we will get a greater share of honor.

I don’t care much about treasure or money;

I don’t care about my clothes or

outward material things.

But, if it is a sin to desire honor and glory,

well, then I’m the greatest of sinners.

In fact, if any of the men in this army are nervous

about going into battle today,

tell them they can depart.

We don’t want to fight with men who

fear to die with us.

Today is St. Crispin’s Day; whoever lives to see

tomorrow and returns home will stand with pride

every time this holiday comes around.

This holiday will never go by without the world

remembering who we are and what we did today;

our deeds will link us together as brothers.

Whoever sheds his blood today is my brother,

and all the men left in England,

still snoozing in their beds

will feel ashamed and cursed

that they could not be here with us

whenever people speak

of what we do today on St. Crispin’s Day.

Paraphrase of Hamlet’s Soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act III, Scene i

(This speech comes mid-way through the play. Hamlet’s father’s ghost has told Hamlet that King Claudius murdered him for the crown; the ghost tells Hamlet to avenge the murder. Hamlet has feigned insanity to buy time; he’s feeling overwhelmed by his life.)

Here’s the greatest problem we face:

should we continue to exist or not?

Is it better to suffer here on this earth, or

to take charge of your fate and end it all?

I could avoid all problems, worries, and frustrations

I face if I were to leave.

That would be wonderful!

But, there’s one problem:

I’m not sure what I would encounter next.

What would I face after I die? That’s what worries me.

That thought makes me pause, makes me want to avoid

the risk of the unknown.

Think about it! Who would continue to put up with

all of the ridiculous things about life—

other people’s pride, the pain of rejection,

the injustice of the legal system,

the posturing of people who think they’re better than you are—

if you could end it all with a dagger?

No one would put up with any of it,

if it wasn’t for the fear of what comes next: the unknown.

It’s that mysterious land that nobody returns from that

troubles us and makes us put up with problems here,

rather than risk stepping into the unknown.

Not knowing what comes next paralyzes us.

Our ability to act, to make a choice, is overshadowed

by our second-guessing, our fear.