Poetry Out Loud, Non-Traditional Poems, and the Poetics of Public Speaking

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

By Robert Oliphant
Columnist EducationNews.org

Alaska or Arkansas, Tennessee or Texas - participants in our Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest face a serious double bind in 2006 if they want to memorize and recite free verse masterworks. On the one hand, it's quite likely that American judges will favor the recitation of works by-non traditional free verse poets (mostly American) like Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, along with Li-Young Lee, Shirley Geok -Lin, N. Scott Momaday , Yusuf Komunyaka , and other well-regarded new arrivals.

On the other hand , it's also quite likely that contestants will have far more trouble memorizing and reciting works by non-traditional poets than those by memory-friendly poets like William Shakespeare and Robert Frost (is there anyone under forty who didn't learn "Stopping by Woods" in the eighth grade?).

By way of a test case, let's look at a marvelous non-traditional poem by Walt Whitman, "I Hear America Singing." It's relatively short, not much longer than a Shakespearean sonnet ; but it took me (I gave it a try recently) over twice as much time to learn, and it disappeared from my memory much more quickly than, say, "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments" (also included in the Poetry Out Loud 100-poem anthology).

Given the learning-time problem with free verse, here's a "mind's ear-and-eye" approach that may work for other poetry memorizers facing the challenge of learning and reciting non-traditional poems.

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING, BY WALT WHITMAN

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be, blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter's song, the plowboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission, or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day - at night the party of young fellows, robust friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

COMMENT. . . . Read aloud at home or in a classroom, this non-traditional poem comes across beautifully, especially the natural pauses that are built into what is essentially one long, dramatically effective sentence. But like our savage forbears with their systolic-diastolic heartbeats, we are still a rhythmic species with a natural left-right, left-right orientation, usually in units of four strong beats each.

By way of illustration, here's a sentence transcription of the Alphabet Song, followed by a six-line versions in which the four "beats" in each line are identified by accent marks over the vowel-letters in each stressed syllable.

The Alphabet Song: sentence transcription . . . .Ay, bee, see, dee , ee , eff , jee ; aych , igh , jay, kay ; el, em , en, oh pee; kyoo , ahr , ess ; tee yoo , vee ; duhb-uhl-yoo , ehks , wigh , aend zee. Now Igh noh migh ay-bee- seez . Tehl mee hwaht yoo think uhv mee [letter "names" are represented via the Scholastic Children's Dictionary phonetic transcription system].

The Alphabet Song: Poem-Format Transcription . . . .Four-beat lines with accent marks above each "beat" (1, 2, 3, 4 , "left, right, left, right"). . . . a four-line stanza followed by a two-line couplet.

Áy , bee, sée , dee , ée , eff , jée ;

Áych , igh , jáy , kay ; éhl , ehm , ehn , oh pée ;

Kyóo , ahr , éhs ; tée yoo , vée ;

Dúhb-uhl-yoo , éhks ; wígh , aend zée .

Nów Igh nóh migh áy-bee-séez .

Téhl mee hwáht yoo thíhnk uhv mée .

COMMENT. . . . I've used the Scholastic "keyboard phonetics" system here to emphasize the point that pre- schoolers learn lyrics by ear, including their march-along rhythmic patterns. Call it "sing-song," if you will; but it's our familiarity from childhood on with these patterns that hammers traditional-format poems into our mind's ear and into our memory, e.g. , " TI- ger , TI-ger, BURNing bright," . . . "I WANdered LONEly AS a CLOUD," etc.

MIND'S EAR AND MIND'S EYE LEARNING

For a natural, pleasing recitation, the learner must ultimately break away from sing-song. But overall, rhythmic sing-song learning is the fastest route to the brute-force memorization of traditional-format poetry. Hence the desirability of a rhythmic, memory-friendly representation of "I Hear America Singing," as in the following.

A Mind's Ear Transcription of Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing " . . . . Five 4-line stanzas with four beats to each line, closed by a 2-line couplet. . . . Individual beats indicated via accent marks, and key words underlined. . . . Accent markings in multi-syllable words based on Webster's New World Dictionary. . . .Length: 154 words.

I héar América sínging ,

the váried cárols I héar ,

Thóse of mechánics , each óne singing hís

as it shóuld be, blíthe and stróng .

The cárpenter sínging hís

as he méasures his plánk or béam ,

The máson sínging hís as hé

makes réady for wórk , or léaves off wórk ,

The boatman sínging what belóngs to hím in his bóat ,

the déckhand sínging on the stéamboat déck ,

The shóemaker sínging as he síts on his bénch ,

The hátter sínging ás he stánds ,

The wóod -cutter's sóng , the plówboy's on his wáy

in the mórning , or at nóon intermíssion , or at súndown ,

The delícious sínging of the móther , or of the yóung wife

at wórk , or óf the girl séwing or wáshing ,

Each sínging what belóngs to hím

or hér and tó none élse ,

The dáy what belóngs to the dáy - at níght

the párty of yóung fellows, róbust , fríendly ,

Sínging with ópen móuths

their stróng melódious sóngs .

COMMENT. . . . Our four-beat requirement does not exclude lines with only three accented syllables, since the fourth beat is still there as an "empty" beat in marching or singing. Rhythmically considered, it's amazing how neatly Whitman's phrases translate into a traditional verse pattern. The first stanza gives us two three-beat lines, followed by a four-beat line and a three-beat line - a total of 13 beats that in Shakespeare's time was called a " poulter's measure (i.e., "baker's dozen"). The pattern still turns up in hymns, limericks, and even Emily Dickinson ("I never saw a moor").

As might be imagined, one has to juggle a bit to come up with a rhythmic translation that works (a fast reading aloud is the best test). So different translators are bound to come up with different results as a first step toward bringing the mind's eye into play via a "visual frame" that retains the first and last words of each line, along with the initial letters for the remaining words, hyphens for extra syllables, and four dots as word-separators.

Thanks to these crossword-style clues, most readers can at this point achieve 70% accuracy or better - a giant step toward total memory mastery.

A Mind's Eye Visual Frame for "I Hear American Singing" . . . . First and last words are retained in each line, initial letters retained for others, extra syllables represented by hyphens, key words underlined.

I.... h.... A-- .... sínging ,

the .... v-.... c-.... I.... héar ,

Thóse .... o.... m-- ...., e.... ó.... s-.... hís

as .... i .... sh .... b...., bl .... a.... stróng .

The.... c--.... s-.... hís

as ... h.... m-.... h.... pl.... o.... béam ,

The.... m-.... s-.... h.... a.... hé

Makes.... r-.... f.... w...., o.... l.... o.... wórk ,

The.... b-.... s-.... wh .... b-.... t.... h.... i .... h.... bóat ,

The.... d-.... s-.... o.... th .... st -.... déck ,

The.... sh --.... s-.... a.... h.... s.... o.... h.... bénch ,

The.... h-.... s-.... á .... h.... stánds ,

The.... w- - 's .... s...., th .... pl-'s .... o.... h.... wáy

In.... th .... m-...., o.... a.... n.... i ---...., o.... a.... súndown ,

Th .... d--.... s- ....o.... th .... m- ...., o.... o.... th .... y.... wife

at .... w...., o.... ó.... th .... g.... s-.... o.... wáshing ,

Each.... s- .... wh .... b-.... t.... hím

or .... h.... a.... t.... n.... élse ,

Th .... d.... wh .... b-.... t.... th .... d....- a.... níght

the .... p- .... o.... y.... f-...., r-..... fríendly ,

S- .... w.... ó-.... móuths

Their.... str .... m---.... sóngs .

COMMENT. . . . Mnemonically considered, the concentration called for in making these mind's eye transcription decisions fixes the shape (and the sound) of our target in our mind much more forcefully than idiot-style repetition, written or spoken. Hence the surprisingly high (70%) mastery level achieved by the first stage of this mind's ear-and-eye method.

To be perfectly honest, though, reaching 100% mastery will take plenty of time and concentration, especially if one's goal is to recite the poem in front of strangers. Actors, ( Stanislavsky and others) have used a multi-tasking: reciting while walking or lifting weights, for example. Since learning styles are bound to vary, our most productive route should take the form of honest do-it-yourself testing - enough so to shove our natural fear into the corner when we find ourselves staring nervously into a sea of unfamiliar, potentially hostile faces.

THE PRACTICAL POETICS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. . . . All of us, repeat all of us, worry about public speaking, a topic which on Dec. 12, 2005 pulled up 6,670,000 Internet hits, as well as 1,420,000 hits for the more explicit topic, "fear of public speaking." So it's not surprising that Dana Gioia , in his introduction to the Poetry Out Loud program guide, emphasizes the importance of reciting poetry as a step toward building skill and confidence in general-purpose public speaking.

Going a bit further, it's worth pointing out here that memorization is also a key element in high stakes public speaking effectiveness. Winston Churchill, for example, memorized his key speeches, writing the text out on 4 x 8 cards which he could check unobtrusively. And Ronald Reagan, as recent studies have pointed, took Churchill's method one step further by using a distance-vision contact lens in his left eye for making audience contact, while checking his notes (also on 4 x 8 cards) via a close-vision lens in his right eye.

Write a speech you can memorize, memorize it, and conceal the fact of memorization when you deliver it - this classic oratorical technique is as old as Demosthenes and Cicero, as new as any high school student who truly wants to earn an A on his or her five-minute speech (roughly 500 words to compose and learn).

Our Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest seems to have come along at just the right time in American history. It's a time when Americans are shifting more and more toward personal-best growth through activities like running, triathlons, working out alone, doing crossword puzzles alone, etc. I'm confident this contest (finals in May 2006) will add memorization to our personal-best national repetoire - especially if it successfully reaches over four million of us, as opposed to its earlier, more modest estimate of 250,000.