Janice Hall Heck

Finding hope in a chaotic world…

19 Mar 2012
12 Comments

Do You Remember This Poem from High School?

English class was always my favorite class in high school.

I enjoyed the required readings, at least, most of the time. But I especially remember a number of poems we studied, and sometimes bits of them pop back into my mind.
I remembered one poem on my way home from meeting with our tax man the other day. On a backwoods country road, we passed a white clapboard cottage with a weathered, split-rail fence surrounding the yard. And under the fence was a multitude of daffodils, the first of spring. I had my husband stop the car so I could take a picture.

When we got home, I looked up poems about daffodils and found the one I remembered: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth. Then I found a video of Kevin Geary reading it. It brought back lots of memories of my favorite teachers and the wonderful poems they taught us.

YOUR TURN

Do lines of poetry that you learned in high school pop into your mind from time to time? What memories do they trigger?

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12 thoughts on “Do You Remember This Poem from High School?”

  1. Cynthia Eppley on said:

    this was just delightful!
    Both the pictures, the poem: and yes, the memories!

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  2. Mike Schulenberg on said:

    Great video, Janice. Thanks for sharing.

    I actually don’t remember any of the poems we read in school. In my youth I had pretty specific tastes, so I didn’t have a proper appreciation for poetry back then. Now that I’m older, it would probably be different.

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  3. Janice Heck on said:

    Thanks, Mike. It’s funny, because I have bits and pieces of poems floating in my head, either from my own schooling or from my teaching. I’ll probably write more about these bits and pieces at some point.

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  4. justjacqui2 on said:

    I didn’t study this poem in high school, but I did come across it in The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. If I had to get trapped in a poem, this one would be high on the list.

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    • Janice Heck on said:

      Thanks, Jacqui. Funny, I even remember where I sat in English class when we read this poem! I’ve always had good English teachers, well, one was eccentric, but I do remember the poem he had us memorize. But that’s for another blog. I have to track that one down on Internet to get all the words.
      Have a great day!

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  5. hmcmullin on said:

    I don’t remember reading much poetry in high school English, except Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” but my favorite poem then was “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes. Its still probably my favorite, along with anything by Robert Service.

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  6. Alina Sayre on said:

    I love this poem! When I visited England two years ago, seeing those fields of golden daffodils really brought it to life for me. The Kevin Geary narration is pretty great as well 🙂

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    • Janice Heck on said:

      I can picture the field in England. I will visit my hometown in NJ tomorrow and check on a batch of daffodils growing in a woodsy area near my brother’s house. I love that scene and will probably post a picture of it. Happy day to you.

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  7. Glenda Mills on said:

    Jan,
    I loved the daffodil poem by Wordsworth…and yes I love and write poetry also. I share your love of travel also! Been to places like Turkey, Pakistan, Cyprus, Hawaii, Ephesus…maybe I will pull out pictures one of these days and post them.
    Thanks for sharing!

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