Aristotle observed that humans first begin to learn by imitation (mimesis), and I think this holds true throughout our lives as well.

I say this not only because it never hurts to start a blog post by quoting Aristotle, but also because the principle of learning by imitation was what spurred me to begin memorizing several poems this year. Specifically, I want to enshrine in my mind beautiful phrases and eloquent sequences in the hopes of growing as a thinker, communicator, and preacher.

Here are the first five poems I plan to memorize this year, with a brief explanation of the reasons behind the choice.

1. “Love” by George Herbert

Herbert, a 17th-century Anglican priest, addresses a common and vexing struggle: the despairing thought that one cannot accept Christ’s invitation to enjoy a relationship with him due to one’s own unworthiness and shame. The modern solution to the feeling of unworthiness is to assert one’s own individuality, and but this approach leads to fruitless introspection and, ultimately, further despair. The stock religious approach is what the speaker in the poem at first tries: “My dear, then I will serve”—that is, to find some way to merit entrance into the presence of the Lord.

Neither approach will do, as this poem eloquently tells us. “Love”—referring to Christ—reminds the speaker that He has borne the shame, and that the speaker must simply sit “and taste my meat.”

I’m memorizing this poem because I myself need this reminder.

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
  Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
  From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
  If I lacked any thing.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
  Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
  I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
  Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
  Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
  My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
  So I did sit and eat.

2. “Light Shining Out of Darkness” by William Cowper

William Cowper, a close friend of John Newton, faced significant mental health challenges and would likely have been diagnosed with severe depression, which he battled throughout his life. His struggle with depression led him to attempt suicide multiple times. More than once, it was Newton who intervened to save Cowper’s life.

Despite their personal challenges, both men collaborated on a major project called “Olney Hymns.” Within this collection, Cowper contributed the exquisite hymn “Light Shining Out of Darkness.” Critics have observed that, while Newton’s lyrics were more straightforward and approachable, they rarely surpassed Cowper’s in poetic beauty.

I’m memorizing this poem because it memorably and pastorally communicates God’s good, albeit bewildering, providence at work in the lives of his children.

The first verse is familiar to many. You can find the rest here.

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

3. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost

I like poems whose meaning unfolds the more you think about them. Such is Robert Frost’s rich poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” I quoted this recently to my family, and we enjoyed analyzing it from a variety of angles. My kids brought out dimensions of the poem I hadn’t thought of.

Can you discern what Frost means by “nothing gold can stay?”

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

4. Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

I started memorizing this poem just this morning on the treadmill.

It is dense with allusions, offering a profound experience that goes beyond its surface meaning. While accessible on a basic level, it demands thoughtful contemplation to be fully grasped and appreciated. The captivating cadences and subtle allusions collude to convey a profound sense of enduring love and unwavering loyalty.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d

5. “God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins

This poem takes a bit of work to understand. (Hint: “reck” doesn’t mean “wreck.”) Once understood, however, it provides the reader (or quoter) with a majestic description of God’s creative handiwork, a voice to lament human’s wastefulness and indifference, and the thrilling hope of future restoration.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
  It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
  And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
  And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
  There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
  Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
  World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

What about you?

If you appreciate great poetry, or have profitably committed poems to memory, I’d love to know!