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Summoning sadness?

next week, i am having my poetry recital exam. the theme of my poem is Love/Death- it basically is about the speaker who has lost his loved one and this poem sees his mourning and pining for the lost loved one. i have spent weeks practising for this exam, and i have memorised it perfectly; but instead of performing better at each rehearsal, i become the reverse. my classmates said i was good, but my lecturer said that i seem to have lost that touch. point is, i am just sick of feeling sad for this poem. how do you suggest i refresh my feelings towards this poem? and how do i effectively immerse myself in a role of a person who has lost a loved one if i had not really done so in real life?

Additional Details

8 months ago
My poem is "Stop all the clocks; cut off the telephone" by W.H Auden.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Either go with method acting, channeling the pain of something else in your life, or use a cheat. For method acting, think of the death of someone you know and love. Imagine it carefully, in detail. Think of what you would say to that person before they died and convince yourself that it's too late, they're gone, and you can do nothing about it. Dig into that pain, that loss, that sorrow and remorse and pull it into your face. You'll deliver.

...or you could just cheat by pulling out a few nose hairs before reading. Tears up your eyes every time.