Esther Sandys: Collaborating, Memorising, Empowering – the Synergy of Sharing Poetry

As an English teacher, I feel positively self-indulgent bringing a poem to a class: listening to it with pupils, observing the looks on their faces as they hear how it ends, or seeing the penny drop when they understand a subtle meaning or masterful pun. Or – just as often – witnessing the look on their faces when my penny drops and they experience the empowering epiphany that they too are agents in the ancient process of poetry interpretation; they too have valid views on these verses; they too have something to offer because they’ve been given the freedom to process the poem themselves.

This activity of sharing poetry can be a personalised pastime which any of us can undertake, simply by listening to a poem that we haven’t hitherto encountered. Without yet looking at the written form, listen to an audio version of the poem three or four times, letting the images and intonations roll over you and seep into your psyche. Once you feel you have grasped the overall message and possess probably not a few questions, then permit your eyes to peruse the written form, which usually elicits an audible “Wow” or “No way”.

This happened to me recently, after listening with a student to Ozymandias for the umpteenth time; I had even learnt the poem by heart years earlier. It was only when we looked at the written version together that the stalwart rhyme scheme strikingly came into view: “Of course: it’s a sonnet. Silly me! Isn’t it cool that the rhyme pattern was there lurking in the lines, though we didn’t notice it?!” As you can see, there is something synergistic about a shared poetry experience, something richer than when we read poetry on our own.

To think I can actually be paid to do this is quite special. It does take some courage, though, I must confess, as this necessitates exposing my literary weaknesses and the confines of my limited imagination to a group of 25 or 30 students (or even one). But this humility, this willingness to learn is surely a most valuable resource, for in it the teacher is empathising and identifying with the students.

Part of my effort to empathise with students is learning poems off by heart. The discipline and determination to do this is well worth the pains. We were created to be verbal and to learn by heart Great Truths that once were distributed solely via the oral-aural highway. This is something that strikes at the very marrow of what it means to be human. Choose a short poem or a long one, or a rhyming one. But choose one that you really do like, because it will be with you for life. (Find tips on memorising a poem and see some benefits of memorisation.)

For these reasons and more, I have been delighted to be involved with Poetry by Heart since its naissance in 2013. This national schools’ poetry recitation competition and celebration provides a platform for individual and shared poetry, learnt by heart and proffered as a gift to anyone who will listen.

Perhaps you can enter your school, if you haven’t already done so? If you go into schools to run workshops, maybe you could include group poetry performances in your repertoire with the children or even run a Poetry by Heart competition at a school near you? The PBH team are most amenable and will gladly help you with this. And why not join me in the self-indulgence of visiting the rich and beautifully curated Poetry by Heart timeline collections?

Esther Sandys

Esther Sandys is a secondary English teacher and veteran Poetry by Heart ambassador who seeks to empower students of all ages with literary and linguistic tools to enjoy and appraise whichever texts they encounter in life.