The poem I chose for my final presentation on Monday

[belladonna]

It has to be 100% memorized and I haven't even started to memorize it..... what do you guys think of it? Think it's doable?

The War Works Hard
by Dunya Mikhail
Translated by Elizabeth Winslow


How magnificent the war is!

How eager

and efficient!

Early in the morning

it wakes up the sirens

and dispatches ambulances

to various places

swings corpses through the air

rolls stretchers to the wounded

summons rain

from the eyes of mothers

digs into the earth

dislodging many things

from under the ruins..

Some are lifeless and glistening

others are pale and still throbbing..

It produces the most questions

in the minds of children

entertains the gods

by shooting fireworks and missiles

into the sky

sows mines in the fields

and reaps punctures and blisters

urges families to emigrate

stands beside the clergymen

as they curse the devil

(poor devil, he remains

with one hand in the searing fire)..

The war continues working, day and night.

It inspires tyrants

to deliver long speeches

awards medals to generals

and themes to poets

it contributes to the industry

of artificial limbs

provides food for flies

adds pages to the history books

achieves equality

between killer and killed

teaches lovers to write letters

accustoms young women to waiting

fills the newspapers

with articles and pictures

builds new houses

for the orphans

invigorates the coffin makers

gives grave diggers

a pat on the back

and paints a smile on the leader's face.

It works with unparalleled diligence!

Yet no one gives it

a word of praise.

[miss_american_pie]

1. I'd start practicing if I were you

There are an awful lot of s's to get caught up on reciting it. :hi:

[belladonna]

2. Exactly what I'm thinking

It seemed like a good idea when I chose it too. Looks harder every time I read it now :scared:

[miss_american_pie]

3. Something with a lot of alliteration

and end rhyme might be easier to memorize. Good luck. :hi:

[belladonna]

4. Heh, I wish I could do something like Raisin in the Sun

Unfortunately, it has to be at least 2 to 3 minutes long.... argghhh :cry:

[miss_american_pie]

5. What else are the requirements?

[belladonna]

8. Mostly just that it's 100% memorized

We were given the freedom to choose whatever we wanted for the final... I had to go and pick that :banghead:

[wildhorses]

6. good luck...let us know how it goes

:hi:

[AllegroRondo]

7. Start memorizing with the last line

then keep adding lines from last to first. It always helped me, because you get to the stuff you know better at the end.