Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0487: Memorize “Disobedience” (aka “James James Morrison Morrison”) by A. A. Milne

Episode Date: January 19, 2016

Patrick asks about memorizing poetry of AA Milne. I present tactics and resources for memorizing Milne’s poem “Disobedience” (“James james Morrison Morrison”). What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Master of Memory 487. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever. Patrick requested memorization materials for memorizing the poetry of A. A. Milne. So today let's look at the poem Disobedience, also known as James James Morrison Morrison. Now one of the reasons I picked this poem is because it's very different from a lot of the poetry that I've covered on the podcast. It's actually a very rhythmic and upbeat kind of poem.

It's a children's poem, but it's even more upbeat than pretty much any other poem that I think I've ever worked on. And for that reason, there are actually a lot fewer key words to memorize in this poem than is the case in a lot of poems for the number of words that are in them. So let me just give you an example. The main verse, or let's say, okay, so it's, you know, the first stanza, but it also comes back at the end. And it goes like this. James James Morrison Morrison, Morrison, whether be George Dupree, took great care of his mother, though he was only three. James, James said to his mother, mother, he said, said he, you must never go down to the end of the town if you don't go down with me. So you can almost hear music or a drumbeat behind that. It's so, you know, so triplet-y and so upbeat and fast. And for that reason, it's really

catchy. And so it's very easy to remember what to say at what points just because of the rhythm and the musical quality of this poem, as long as you have a few points of reference to keep you moving forward. So what I've decided is that really four words, four keywords per stanza are really probably going to be enough. So to remember James, James, Morrison, Morrison, whether it be George Dupree, you're probably, having said that a couple of times, going to remember that pretty well, as long as you just remember James. You start with James and you'll remember those, well, as it's written, three lines. And then we have took great care of his mother, though he was only three. And so my key word for that is just care. And then James James said to his mother, mother, he said, said he, well, we have the most frequent word there, said. And so we'll make that our key

word there. James James said to his mother, mother, he said, said he. And then we have never, because it's an order that he gives his mother. You must never go down to the end of the town if you don't go down with me. So if you just remember James, care, said, and never, and then you read this a couple of times while listening to it, you should be able to remember that entire stanza word for word pretty easily if you just remember those four prompts.

The next stanza, the keywords are gown, drove, said, and back. So in the case of said in this one, you'll remember that it's the mother that's saying this rather than James because of the context. So with said there, that's prompting James James Morrison's mother said to herself, said she. And then at the end, it's back. And this one was tricky because she says she can get down to the end of town and be back in time for tea. But basically what's going on is she's assuming that if she goes down to the end of town, she'll be able to get back safely. So that's what that prompts. I can get right down to the end of town and be back in time for tea.

So working from the end of this stanza to the beginning, just because I kind of like doing it that way sometimes. In fact, that's just as an insider tip. That's generally how I memorize almost any passage or any song lyrics that I memorize. I actually remember what's at the end of each stanza before the beginning, and it helps me to get into a more flow state when I'm reciting or when I'm memorizing because the action picks up rather than going down. So what I know better picks up. But anyway, so we have said and then back. James James Morrison's mother said to herself, said she, I can get right down to the end of town and be back in time for tea. Now, as I said, the key verse or the key word for the part before that is drove. It says James James Morrison's mother drove to the end of town. And then before that it's gown. So it's her getting dressed to go.

So that's the beginning of the, of the stanza. James James Morrison's mother put on a golden gown. James James Morrison's mother drove to the end of town. James James Morrison's mother said to herself, said she, I can get right down to the end of town and James James Morrison's mother said to herself, said she, I can get right down to the end of town and be back in time for tea. So if you haven't caught on yet, this is just a silly poem. It's the idea, you know, the title is disobedience. Oh, the mother disobeyed the three-year-old kid, and so she's going to get lost, which is what happens in the next stanza. The keywords are notice, mislaid, wandering, and town. So King John put up a notice, lost or stolen or strayed. James James Morrison's mother seems to have been mislaid.

Last seen wandering vaguely, quite of her own accord. She tried to get down to the end of the town. 40 shillings reward. In the next stanza, the keywords are Jim, because apparently that's what James James Morrison Morrison really goes by, then blaming, then said, then consulting. James James Morrison Morrison, commonly known as Jim, told his other relations not to go blaming him.

James James said to his mother, mother, he said, said he, you must never go down to the end of the town without consulting me. In the next stanza, the key words are mother, sorry, said, and people. And this is the last unique stanza. Mother, sorry, said, and people. James James, Morrison's mother, hasn't been heard of since. King John said he was sorry. So did the queen and prince. King John, Morrison's mother, hasn't been heard of since. King John said he was sorry, so did the queen and prince. King John, somebody told me, said to a man he knew, if people go down to the end of the town, well, what can anyone do? And then it repeats the original stanza again, although it spells it with a bunch of abbreviations just kind of for fun.

This is a very, I guess, early use of funny abbreviations in colloquial speech. So that's kind of interesting. You can look up the poem. At any rate, what you're going to do is, this is a very small number of key words, basically just 15 key words for the entire poem, as long as you can remember that the last stanza is the first stanza repeated. But then if you just store those 15 key words in a memory palace, you can memorize this entire poem very easily by listening to it and reading it a couple of times. For more information on poetry memorization and these tactics in general, as well as materials for memorizing a wide variety of poetry, you can go to masterofmemory.com

slash poetry. Or if you have a specific poem that you want me to do materials for memorizing and to give tips on and stuff like that, as I did in this episode, because of the new format of the show that will be starting in episode 491, you can just, you know, request a specific poem at master of memory.com slash question. And I'm very likely to address that poem on an upcoming episode because we've reserved Wednesdays for that sort of thing. So just leave your learning request at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll talk to you again soon.