recommend a poem!!

[HermioneWeasley]

I'm doing forensics(public speaking) at school this year, and i was thinking of perhaps doing poetry. do you have any ideas for poems that aren't terribly old fashioned that coup be read in 3-5 minutes?

 

[Mari]

Can't go wrong with Sylvia Plath. She's in right now, and I think a lot of her poems would be the right length. My favorite is "The Mirror," but there are many more. When you read them out loud, be sure to put some bitterness into it. She sure did.

 

[KristoCat]

If you want to get some laughs, go for Billy Collins. His Smokey the Bear poem is one of the best I've read in a long time. You can find that poem and many others in his collection "The Apple that Astonished Paris."

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I was always a Poe fan, but from what I know of you, you don't have as dark of tastes as I do, and he might not suit you. He had a few pieces that weren't as dark, but I don't think they were very interesting.

You can't go wrong with a nice Frost piece, but do not under any circumstances read "The Road Not Taken." It's a wonderful poem, but I can guarantee you that the teacher will hear it at least three other times that day.

You might want to check out Emily Dickinson as well. She wrote some interesting pieces, although I think most of the Dickinson I read was short.

 

[Flor]

Yep, Hermione, I'll second Valkyrie's Frost suggestion. Birches is a bit long, about 5 minutes to read out loud and gorgeous.

 

[Libre]

The Shooting of Dan McGrew
That's if you like westerns - which I do.

 

[jcsoblonde]

ok. i LOVE these two poems here: The Hoard by JRR Tolkien yes u may say im prejudiced but truly its a good one and its not that long...i think its his best...another one is Maud Mueller (think thats how its spelled...) by John Greenleaf Whittier...

 

[jaybe]

The secret – Charles Bukowski.

Don’t worry, nobody has the
beautiful lady, not really, and
nobody has the strange and hidden power , nobody is
exceptional or wonderful or
magic, they only seem to be.
It’s all a trick, an in, a con, don’t buy it, don’t believe it.
The world is packed with billions of people whose lives
and deaths are useless and
when one of these jumps up
and the light of history shines
upon them, forget it, it’s not
what it seems. It’s just
another act to fool the fools
again.

There are no strong men, there
are no beautiful women.
At least, you can die knowing this
And you will have the only possible victory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love it.

 

[Rien]

I really like Wilfred Owen's works, especially "Dulce et Decorum Est". It's not all that well known, so no-one else will do it, probably, and it's got some Latin in it. Teachers love Latin!

 

[savvyambrose]

Can't go wrong with Sylvia Plath. She's in right now, and I think a lot of her poems would be the right length. My favorite is "The Mirror," but there are many more. When you read them out loud, be sure to put some bitterness into it. She sure did.

I find Sylvia Plath amazing. Her poem "Daddy" is amazing - anything in her collection of poems called Ariel is great.

If you're doing forensics, and you can be passionate and raw in reading poetry, Sylvia Plath is a good choice. Good luck with forensics!

 

[HeraSee]

Can't go wrong with Sylvia Plath. She's in right now, and I think a lot of her poems would be the right length. My favorite is "The Mirror," but there are many more. When you read them out loud, be sure to put some bitterness into it. She sure did.

I was also going yo recommend Sylvia Plath, my favorite for public performance is Lady Lazarus. I used to have a great audio book of Sylvia Plath reading her own poetry which really put the raw emotion into it. You can probably find it at a big library or bookstore. Who knows, you may even be able to find the mp3 of the poems you want online.

Good luck with your class!