Anyone Read Crossword Poetry?

Stephan Anstey -- on Feb. 10 2007, from Lowell, MA
Owner, Proprieter, Publisher

Back a hundred years ago...

There used to be this cultural assumption that certain poems were common knowledge and thus, in the NY Times, they would quote poems -- leave words out, etc, in crossword puzzles. I just got a couple of little books full of poems -- most of them semi-famous -- that used to be used this way with the lines most often used in the puzzles colored red so you can see the famous lines.

It was rather interesting.

Anyone else hear of this?

What about that cultural phenomenon whereby we've lost our poetic mojo -- people just can't quote poetry anymore -- is this the great tragedy of the "age of me?"

Jones, Paganinifrom Hyde in Cheshire
385 posts

on Feb. 11 2007

YES - I bought those two books off e-bay a while back.

Over here crossword setters used the poems everyone learned at school in this way too. But do people learn poetry any more? We had to learn poems now and again. I can still quote all of the owl and the pussycat - a handy skill with a toddler about. I was less successful with the obligatory passages of Shakespeare though.

Stephan Ansteyfrom Lowell, MA
Associate, 6232 posts

inspired from Pags on Feb. 11 2007

The more I think about it, the more it breaks my heart that we've lost that skill. I am thinking maybe I might try to memorize a poem a month or something. Just to work on my memory and poetry skills together.

stephan

Sarin

on Feb. 22 2007

I had never heard of that! How nifty!

I love to read poems & when I find one that really gets me I try to commit it to memory, but I've got a bad one & it doesn't work much of the time

unless it's a small poem. I like small poems,

Yes I'm some kind of freak, as they all sit & stare w/ their hallow eyes ~ I'm just a girl, No Doubt