TO LEARN BY HEART Our English teacher told us to learn a poem by Oscar Wild " The Harlot's House" by heart. I divided this poem into two equal parts. I am practically done with the first. The most difficult fragment for me is: "Like wire-pulled automatons, Slim silhouetted skeletons Went sidling through the slow quadrille". I cannot get rhythm of it and I hardly understand the meaning of "wire-pulled". I found some videos where English-speakers are reading this poem. I tried to imitate their pronunciation and it wasn't easy, I should say. It isn't my first experience of learning poems this way, but I cannot see any real progress. I hope some day I'll get rid of my accent.