The natural tendency of the mind is to follow thoughts which are associated in their ideas. One thought leads to a second which is suggested by its close relationship to the first. By retracing the processes you can discover the connecting thought, or bridge, over which the mind naturally travels in order to connect two unrelated thoughts.
In memorizing, when coming to the end of a thought, form a bridge which will connect it and the following thought and thus guide the mind to the next line or paragraph. This is a most helpful principle in memorizing either poetry or prose. If you seek for it you can find some similarity or contrast, a visual association, or some sequence, or repetition, which can be used as the necessary bridge, or connecting link between the two lines or paragraphs.
Always connect the last thought, the last word, or phrase of the line, sentence or paragraph with the first word in the succeeding thought. The process is much shorter and simpler than its explanation, as you will learn by practice. Try this plan once or twice and it will be well nigh impossible for you to memorize without it.
From "The Buccaneer" by R. H. Dana the last line of the second verse, and the first line of the third verse are easily connected by one word, Sand, thus--
"And silver waves go noiseless up the beach." (Sand) "And inland rests the green, warm dell;"
The last word "beach" naturally suggests sand, drop the s and you have the first word of the next verse, "and", also the "beach", sand, and "inland" suggest a natural sequence. Sand here becomes a bridge of thought over which your mind will easily travel. It is not always easy to find one word for a bridge, but a visual picture, a thought, a word, or repeated letter can be found to aid you.
The poem "Things Divine" by Jean Brooks Burke is used by students of elocution as ideal for practice because of the difficulty which it presents. The thoughts cover a wide range with apparently no relation one with the other. Often two thoughts are expressed in one line, and to get them all well fixed in mind so as to repeat them makes the poem difficult, to say the least, yet you, who know how to apply your memory intelligently, may learn it with comparative ease. Read slowly and note the visual pictures and then go back and "bridge" them together. This is an excellent example of a difficult poem to practice upon. It will be an opportunity to use all of the principles given in this chapter.