The Land of Grimney - The Illustrated Adventures of Cora Pearl, aged 12

For me it has to be William Blake! Any thoughts?

Chrstina Rosseti writes beautiful stuff. Prefer poets that write in rhyme rather than prose.

my favourite poets are the bands i listen to (do they count??)

What time is it in England? Yes bands count too! What bands?? X

Anything from Kings of Leon, Linkin Park (modern day artists) to bands from the seventies...Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, etc., Forget cheesy pop acts though!! Proper lyrics - sung poetry with the added benefits of great music

I don't read a lot of poetry, and I can't write it! I have tried many times but just can't do it. As for poems, I am with Nadira I like song lyrics mainly!

POETRY. I like some of it. Im not stupid. Shakespeare sucks. So does Burns. Byron. Keats and Wordsworth. Read loads of the stuff on here, some good some bad. I like the website. I hate the Banquet poem. What the hell is that about?????????

The Banquet poem is quite strange, I would agree with that Mr Fett. I read it, think its about purgatory, not sure though. It's weird

Christina Rossetti is phenomenal. I used Next of Kin in a novel.

Shelley does it for me. The Cloud is one of my all-time favourites. Also like The Witch of Atlas, if you've got a spare week to read it

I do like a spot of Byron too - Darkness and his Incantation were fairly exceptional.

Blake's A Poison Tree is just...well, cheeky and clever. And that film with Helena Bonham Carter put to use the best parts of his Broken Love:



Someone recently introduced me to A. E. Housman (not literally - he's dead). If you like Blake, you'll probably love Houseman. In fact...dare I say it? Perhaps he's even a little better. He certainly does the same occult numerology and symbolism trip though. Must have been in that season.

Umn... hmm. Oh gods, I could go at this all day. Enough with the classics...

Carol Ann Duffy's collection The World's Wife was very good. One, in particular - Queen Herod - absolutely knocked my socks off. Just an awesome twist of history set to handsome verse. Up on my list of all-timers.

And, nobody boo-hiss me for this - I rather like Ted Hughes, to be honest. I first dipped my toe in with short stories - The Dream Fighter. Curiosity piqued, I took a running start with Birthday Letters. There's one in there (haven't got it to hand) where he's talking about their courtship - standing outside her window, only it wasn't her window... damn, can't remember it - but it was very good. A very human portrait of the start of a love affair.

Oh dear, this does all read like a drab list of 'the usual suspects' doesn't it? Our poor poets of today, how can they ever hope to get their break? Anaesthetised by television, who has time to listen? Ho hum.

I'm actually really hard pressed to name anyone I've read more than one poem by who's appeared in the past decade...

Suggestions?

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Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. - E. L. Doctorow

Roger McGough! How could I have forgotten Roger McGough!!?

The one with the squashed fly

And The Pope Blesses the Cosmic Force.

Class.

_________________
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. - E. L. Doctorow