I Remember Poem Rubric
Criteria
Poem is at least ten lines
Each line is a strong and clear thought with pure description about a memory of a setting,
object, event, or character.
Poet uses senses to describe taste, smell, feeling, sight, or sound.
There are lines that provide context of the situation that provide detail of the past or state
showing place and time.
There are one or two lines that show a change in focus on the dominant emotion evoked of
the memory and what occurred, or a marked difference that shows why it is a memory.
There are lines that shift to the present tense describing the self in present life, paralleling
actions or emotions now to those in memory.
Concludes the poem with a line or two providing a resonant image of one part of the
memory. For example, give a glimpse of the character as you remember him or her now, a
glimpse of the natural setting that you did not show originally.
The piece fits one page.
There is a title that somehow reflects the content of the piece and the feelings it evokes. (“I
Remember” is not an acceptable title.)
Points
20
10
5
10
5
5
5
3
2
I Remember, I Remember
I remember, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon
Nor brought too long a day;
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.
I remember, I remember
The roses red and white,
The violets and the lily cups-Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,-The tree is living yet!
I remember, I remember
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then
That is so heavy now,
The summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow.
I remember, I remember
The fir-trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from Heaven
Than when I was a boy.
-Thomas Hood