How to recite a poem

Reciting a poem is not a memory test. The judges, and the audience, want to feel that you understand the poem and enjoy saying it. Here is a simple way to choose, learn and perform one.

Choose the right poem

Class	Length	Good choices on this site
Nursery to Class 2	4 to 8 lines	New rhymes for children, Rain, Who Has Seen the Wind?
Class 3 to 5	8 to 16 lines	The Swing, Bed in Summer, The Arrow and the Song, nature poems
Class 6 to 8	12 to 24 lines	Leisure, Invictus, Daffodils, Where the Mind Is Without Fear, poems on India
Class 9 to 12	Up to 32 lines	If, The Tyger, Ozymandias, Sonnet 18

Pick a poem you like. If two poems are equally good, take the shorter one. A short poem said well beats a long poem rushed.

Understand it first

Read the poem aloud once, slowly.
Look up every word you do not know.
Say in one sentence what the poem is about. If you cannot, read it again.
Mark the feeling of each stanza in pencil: proud, sad, playful, calm.

Learn it in four evenings

Evening 1: learn the first half, two lines at a time. Say them without looking, then add two more.
Evening 2: learn the second half the same way. Then say the whole poem once.
Evening 3: say it standing up, to a family member. Fix the lines where you stumble.
Evening 4: say it three times with expression. Stop. Sleep early.

Writing the poem out by hand once helps more than reading it ten times.

On the stage

Begin properly: greet the audience, then say the title and the poet's name. Pause. Then start.
Slow down. Nervous speakers go fast. Speak at half the speed that feels natural.
Pause at punctuation, not at the end of every line. A comma is a short breath, a full stop a longer one.
Look at people. Choose three points in the hall, left, middle and right, and speak to each in turn.
Use your hands a little. One or two natural gestures are enough. Do not act out every word.
If you forget a line, stay calm, take a breath and go on from the next line you remember. Most listeners will not notice.
End properly: pause after the last line, say thank you, and walk off without hurry.

What judges usually mark

Memory: the poem said fully and correctly.
Pronunciation and clarity: every word heard at the back.
Expression: voice and face matching the feeling.
Confidence: posture, eye contact, a steady start and end.
Choice of poem: suited to the age of the speaker.

Marking schemes differ from school to school, so ask your teacher for the rules of your competition.