If you think you're outclassed, you are; You've got to think high to rise; You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize. Life's battles don't always go To the stronger or faster man; But soon or late the man who wins Is the one who thinks he can. Poetry Easier Than Prose To quote poetry is usually easier than to quote prose because in the former you have the added helps of rhyme and rhythm. See the pictures painted by Robert Loveman in the following verses; note the repetition, alliteration and the help of the rhyme and see how easily you can learn a few verses of this poem: "April Rain" It isn't raining rain for me, It's raining daffodils; In every dimpled drop I see Wild flowers on distant hills. The clouds of gray engulf the day And overwhelm the town; It isn't raining rain to me-- It's raining roses down. It isn't raining rain to me, But fields of clover bloom When any buccaneering bee May find a bed and room. A health unto the happy, A fig for him who frets; It isn't raining rain to me, It's raining violets. See a man in the rain who points out the fact that it isn't raining rain, "but daffodils". See the daffodils. See big "dimpled drops" and paint upon them the "wild flowers on distant hills." Repeat the picture a couple of times and then say the verse. Do the same with the other verses. Do not learn this by repetition. Be true to the method, make a picture and see it each time you review. If a single word is omitted or substituted, put special auditory emphasis on it, speak it louder than the other words of the line, and you will have no trouble with it after that. Bridging the Gaps The greatest difficulty which is experienced in memorizing poetry is to get from the end of one line to the beginning of the other, or from one verse to the other. In prose, when you start a paragraph it is not difficult to follow through to the end, because all of its sentences are associated in thought. But the new paragraph begins with a new thought and there is no association between the old thought and the new one, consequently there is a gap between thoughts across which the mind does not easily travel. The natural tendency of the mind is to follow thoughts which are associated in their ideas. One thought leads to a second which is suggested by its close relationship to the first. By retracing the processes you can discover the connecting thought, or bridge, over which the mind naturally travels in order to connect two unrelated thoughts.