Memorisation:

"next to of course god america i love thee
land of the pilgrims and so forth
o say can you see my country tis of
centuries come and go and are no more
what of it we should worry
in every language even deaf and dumb
thy sons acclaim thy glorious name
by gory by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful
than these triumphant happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they never stopped to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute,"
he spoke, and drank rapidly a glass of water
-ee cumings

I had to memorise this poem my senior year of high school for English, then we were supposed to recite it for a poetry reading that never happened. Surprisingly, I still remember it; I was able to type this from memory.

I've always been pretty good at memorising things. At ScavHunt this year, I memorised a Shakespearian sonnet in half an hour (which I completely don't remember, I think it started "Why didst thou tempt me with such a beautous day,/ to make me travel forth without my cloak"). I'm just not sure how helpful that talent is.

Memorisation of poetry is something that sort of went out with the druids. In our written world, is memorisation still necessary?

Maybe. For poetry, I think it can be easier to say it from memory rather than reading it. It makes it easier to ge tthe rhythm right when you don't have to think about saying it. "This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper." doesn't work when you read it.

On the other hand, memorisation also encourages the sort of rote reading that you hear so often, people droning on about poems that don't understand. Sometimes reading the poem makes the reader think about it a little more.