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I have often used the verb "recite" to mean reading from the memory. But just recently found that the accurate meaning is doing it aloud or in front of an audience:

Cambridge dictionary:

to repeat aloud from memory.

She recited a poem in front of the class.

Oxford Learner's:

[transitive, intransitive] to say a poem, piece of literature, etc. that you have learned, especially to an audience.

So is there another synonymous verb that means just saying/repeating a poem, not aloud and by oneself?

For example:

I was ________ this poem while walking back home.

2 Answers 2

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"Subvocalize" may be the proper terminology but it would not be my first choice. I don't have a single neat word for it; instead I would use "recite" and modify it to make it clear I wasn't actually speaking aloud:

I was reciting this poem in my head while walking home.

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You could use ‘subvocalise’.

Utter or form (words or sounds) with the lips silently or with barely audible sound, especially when talking to oneself, memorizing something, or reading.

[Lexico]

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