By Heart
We've all heard the accusations: Rote memorization is oppressive, ineffective, and boring.
Wrong on all counts, says Michael Knox Beran. His article In Defense of Memorization is a spirited apology for traditional memory work and includes references to specific works that earlier generations learned by heart.
That last phrase is telling: We think of memorization as a mental activity - and it surely is that. But it is more. It speaks to the heart. Beran writes:
The memorization and recitation of the classic utterances of poets and statesmen form part of a tradition of learning that stretches back to classical antiquity, when the Greeks discovered that words and sounds—and the rhythmic patterns by which they were bound together in poetry—awakened the mind and shaped character. (emphasis mine - D.C.)
C. S. Lewis writes of the chest - the heart, the emotions - as a mediator between the head and the belly, the mind and the appetites. Fine poems, uplifting speeches, the wisdom of Scripture: all these our children must have "by heart" if we want to avoid creating another generation of "men without chests."
(HT to Jennifer J.)