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Return to Main Library Room I Like it Because...We asked all the librarians working on the Poetry On Loan initiative to recommend a favourite poem, and to say why they like it so much. They themselves also asked their managers and various local dignitaries to do the same. Here is a list of the titles that people put forward, with the reasons for their choices. We don't have the space to print all the poems in full, but we have included a few excerpts as tasters, and occasionally the whole poem. POETRY ACTIVISTS' CHOICES Annus Mirabilis - Philip Larkin
"I like this poem because its wonderfulness, its
setting in time, corresponds to my personal feelings for
that time (1960-1963). Larkin perfectly conveys the
general celebration that was to become the hallmark of
the 60s, while maintaining his individual
self-deprecation, which gives a comic touch to the
verse." Cargoes - John Masefield
"There are dozens of poems that could have been
chosen, from oldies like Masefield as well as
contemporary, but I have chosen this because of the
beautiful language and rhythm that drips off the page and
is an evocation of a long disappeared world." "Cargoes is THE poem I remember from
school. The sense of place and adventure conjured up by
the quinquereme and the galleon always stirred my
imagination; set against this the mundane British coaster
always brought a smile." Woodchucks - Maxine Kumin
"What knocks me out about Maxine Kumin is the way
she jumps straight into the middle of the action, her use
of selected details - 'needle teeth still hooked in a
leaf of early Swiss chard'- and the surprising
constructions - 'she flipflopped in the air'. And of
course the solid but inconspicuous frame of
end-rhymes." Valentine - Carol Ann Duffy
"I love the imagery in this - all the things the
onion represents." "I like Valentine because my first sight of it on
a poster stopped me in my tracks. Forget sloppy romance,
it is the most accurate and unsentimental description of
love I have ever seen. A copy now lives on my kitchen
wall, for obvious reasons if you know the poem, above the
onion basket." Memorial - Norman MacCaig
"I came to Norman MacCaig's poetry in a rather
roundabout way. Developing a taste for jazz I heard a
copy of Tommy Smith's 'Misty Morning and No Time', which
was inspired by the work of Norman MacCaig. I enjoyed the
music so I went to find the poetry, and the only copy in
Birmingham libraries was on the shelf where I work
(spooky). I have to confess ignorance of this poet before
this event, but I have been a passionate advocate since!
Wonderfully evocative language, humorous, poignant, and
always rewarding. I have chosen Memorial for
very personal reasons, the grief and emotions are raw and
almost touchable. When my father died six months later,
this poem echoed through my mind like a tolling
bell." Before Sherratt & Hughes Became Waterstones - Sophie Hannah
"I like this poem because it creates an immediate
image, it is witty, and it involves the use of double
entendre - a much neglected art form!" High Flight (An Airman's Ecstasy) - John Gillespie Magee
"I love the sense of freedom and exhilaration
this poem creates. How wonderful it must be to 'dance the
skies on laughter-silvered wings'. It seems all the more
moving to realise that the poet was only nineteen when he
died." LIBRARY MANAGERS' CHOICES Salutation to the Dawn - Anonymous Look to this day, for it is the very
life "I find it very moving." The Journey of the Magi - T.S. Eliot
"This was the first poem that showed me the
possibilities of rhythm in writing for adults as opposed
to rhythmic pieces I loved as a child, such as The
Owl and the Pussycat. It also triggered a curiosity
to seek out and delight in new words like 'refractory'; I
love the poem's atmospheric qualities as well as the
unsentimental religious appeal. For some reason I hear it
in a Welsh accent!" Dulce et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen "I first encountered the 'war poets' at school,
and I can still easily recall the vivid imagery of many
of the poems that conveyed the horror of war (and as a
child, I was not terribly receptive to poetry!). Of them
all, this one stands out in my mind and for me it
captured the horror, despair, hopelessness and hypocrisy
of war in a way a textbook never could. It still stands
as one of my favourite poems." The Lady of Shalott - Alfred Tennyson "I have always been fascinated by the stories of
King Arthur and his knights, and for me this sums up the
romance and mystery of those tales." Spring and Fall: To a Young Child - Gerard Manley Hopkins "I like it because, as in all his poems, Manley
Hopkins invents his own vocabulary which is wonderfully
evocative and in a very few words, he can create an
atmosphere which I find stays with me, long after I have
read the poem. This is a poem about death, and it is sad,
but there is something satisfying about the circular way
he links youth and our understanding of our own
mortality, which in this case the child unknowingly sees
in the autumn leaves falling from trees and is sad,
without really knowing why." Musee des Beaux Arts - W. H. Auden About suffering they were never wrong, - Richard Honeysett, Senior Assistant Director of Libraries and Leisure, Solihull Trouble in a Tavern - Dafydd ap Gwilym (trans. Bryan Walters) "Chosen because Dafydd is tremendously modern in
his style, with a wonderful sense of humour." I Started Early, Took My Dog - Emily Dickinson.
"I love this poem for its strange imagery, told
in such simple language. It always seems to me
extraordinary that Emily Dickinson could lead such a
quiet, reclusive life as a New England spinster, only to
be revealed after her death as unique and original genius
of poetry. Her work defies any attempt to categorise it -
and why try? Just read her for her own sake, and enjoy
it." LOCAL 'CELEBRITY' CHOICES All You Who Sleep Tonight - Vikram Seth
"I love this poem because it is very accessible,
expressing so much in a tiny space, speaking of the
sadness of the human condition, and of the comfort and
solidarity of shared experience, even when there is no
actual communication between the particular sufferers.
That I have to write such a long sentence to explain it
illustrates how pithy it is! It also pleases in that it
scans and rhymes perfectly." Tyger, Tyger - William Blake "Chosen because it appeals to all ages and
inspires awe in nature." Casablanca - Felicia Hemans "A poem about desperate, lonely courage, and the
trust that only a child can have in a parent." One Foot On the Sea, and One on Shore - Christina Rossetti "Christina Rossetti is one of my favourite poets.
She uses language in a simple way but the message is a
powerful, if poignant, one. The emotions of the reader
are fully engaged." This article was written by Christine Bridgwood and
the many 'poetry activists' from the consortium of 16
West Midlands Libraries in the Poetry
on Loan project. This project was supported by the
Arts Council of England (through Poetry Places) and West
Midlands Arts. Top | Return to Main Library Room |