Poems by Heart

Memorizing great poetry is perennially recommended by educators. This recommendation is especially important for the incarcerated self-made scholar. Chicago’s legendary entrepreneurial educator Marva Collins encouraged students “to memorize famous poems of their choice, for example: ‘Abou Ben Adhem’ by James Henry Leigh Hunt, ‘House by the Side of the Road’ by Sam W. Foss, ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley, and ‘Keep a-Going’ by Frank Slanton.”

One Hundred and One Famous Poems is a book recommended by Marva Collins because it contains these classic and inspirational poems. “Invictus ” – one of the poems in this book – is so inspirational that an enlarged copy of it is displayed on the walls of The National Headquarters of Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago.

This book is a selection for our special collection.