I used to love doing (voluntary) recitation - mostly poems with a strong rhythm and rhyme, like Robert Service, Poe, or Kipling. It was what I did at open mike/campfire type venues. But then somebody gave me a guitar and that was the end of recitation.

Stage fright IS a funny thing. I remember once when in the same day I recited the "Raven" and made an announcement in front of a group over about a meeting; I wasn't nervous at all about the poem, but I was very nervous about the announcement. I think it's something about being more confident in somebody else's words than in your own.

In grade 10 English we had to memorize a chunk of Julius Caesar (the play, not the man). We then had a choice: we could show our stuff by reciting it (just in our seats, not having to get up in front of the class) or by writing it down. Strictly speaking, the writing option was more demanding because then we were responsible for the punctuation as well as the words. But I was the only one in the whole class who chose to present it orally. This surprised the class and myself, since I was very quiet and shy and dreaded most oral presentations. But I wasn't even slightly nervous - Shakespeare's words, not mine. There's probably a lesson here.

Marion