What poems do you poets think are the best to memorize?

3 classics for you:

'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes
'Cargoes' by John Masefield
'The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God' by J Milton Hayes

I love hearing these read out loud...

edit,

I just thought of another, Kipling's 'Tommy' (The Queen's Uniform) which seems as if it could have been written yesterday perhaps?

You could always do audiobooks. Not saying that you are bad at memorizing, I have no way of knowing this, but it may be better if you did something like this with audiobooks. There are so many options, poetry, stories (religious, action/adventure, myths/legends/fairytales, comdedy...) educational ones (science, geography, nature and so on).
Kids Audio Books, of course there are many other sites and such, but I don't know their ages and so it's just a jumping point...
Another idea, if you don't mind...You can do a book audio in the morning, and poetry in the afternoon. The first can be fun and a "get the day going" type and the last can be something to ponder. For example, do poetry in the afternoon with the goal of them to think about it and then everyone can talk about it during dinner. Or have them draw or write something that the poem makes them feel or think...It may help the learning process and make it more enjoyable.

When I worked as a cleaner I memorised Shakespearean sonnets. They have great structure and it occassionally lets you fake having a classical education

... Kemp Owen <--- A ballad. Particularly good for kids!

Ain't no poet myself. Just like to read the stuff, shameful as that is.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot:

Macavity, Macavity, there's no-one like Macavity
There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare
And whatever time the deed took place - MACAVITY WASN'T THERE

Prawn said:

Which one? It looks like there are two, or is that one long one?

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch034.htm

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... the first one of the two. Neat site!
ps The original Robin Hood in ballad form is really cool too.
Part of it from the site: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch119.htm

In college, I had the following memorized:
Helen by Christopher Marlowe
Shall I Compare Thee by Shakespeare
His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
Vital Spark of Heavenly Flame by Alexander Pope
A Poison Tree by William Blake
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be by John Keats
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickenson
Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron

Despite that, I still didn't get the chicks.

I realize this is a personal take on your question but one i've thought about, especially early in life.

I don't memorize poems. My reasons are that I feel i want the poem to be new and fresh every time I come back to it.
A memorized poem takes a lot of that away for me. It has the same feel every time I repeat it.
It's the same reason i don't memorize prose. I can come back and read a book many times over the years and always it seems new.
Same thing with a poem.

There's only one that I can remember as being specifically memorized., "Butte" by Berton Brayley, but there are dozens that I've memorized in part over the years, mainly because I've read them so often, such as "Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling, many of Frost's shorter poems, like "Fire and Ice", "Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening", and "The Road Not Taken", as well as parts of Eliot's Prufrock, Sandburg's "Chicago, Poe's "The Raven" and assorted others.

Just introduce them to the Poems you consider the best, the memorization will take care of itself to the extent the Poems appeal.

JRH

Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner if the car trip is REALLY long.

You have my favs in your list already: Ozymandias, Charge of the Light Brigade, and Snowy Evening.

Of course the kids will love Shel Silverstein. In all honesty, you will inspire them more if you choose poems you like and simply let your passion for them show. The time you spend with them will mean more than the content of the poems.

Oh. I skimmed your OP and didn't realize it was for your children.

Prawn said:

Jabberwocky

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"The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a great one for kids, too. I remember having to memorize that in the 2nd or 3rd grade.

And how about:
Dried Apple Pies
The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven

You could try This Be The Verse, by Philip Larkin. If you like.

somewhere i have never travelled by e e cummings

The Mending Wall by Robert Frost

My Legacy by Ryokan Taigu

Waga Uta (My Songs) -Yosano Akiko

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Dr. Seuss

The Children's Hour by H D Longfellow

Sea Fever by Masefield

The Lanyard by Billy Collins

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

The Creation by James Weldon Johnson

First, what a great idea of yours, Prawn.

Now then:

RobJ said:

You could try This Be The Verse, by Philip Larkin. If you like.

Click to expand...

Yes, oh yes! (well, yeah, maybe when they're older; Anne Clark recorded this about twenty years ago)

A couple of really, really good kids' poetry books:

Poetry Speaks to Children - an anthology of poems that kids might enjoy, including (from memory) William Blake, Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, Rita Dove, Billy Collins and many others. Comes with a CD of the poems being read, many of them by the original poets. Most are pretty short; all are great fun.

It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, by Jack Prelutsky -- very amusing poems, very well written and funny for kids and adults.