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The Nation's Favourite Poems
The Nation's Favourite Poems
In 1995 BBC Television's "Bookworm" programme conducted a poll amongst viewers to determine their favourite poems. The top 100 are presented in this book. They include the winner, Kipling's "If", and many other classics, as well as modern verse by writers such as Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Griff Rhys Jones
28 books4 followersGriffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith. With Smith, he founded television production company Talkback Productions, now part of RTL Group. He went on to develop a career as a television presenter and writer, as well as continuing with acting work.
While at Brentwood School he met Douglas Adams (who would later write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Rhys Jones followed Adams to Cambridge, reading history and English at Emmanuel College. While at university, Jones joined Cambridge Footlights Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976). He was also president of the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) during his time at Cambridge.
He then joined BBC Radio Light Entertainment as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending and Brain of Britain. An evening planned to spend watching his hero Frankie Howerd at the invitation of friends Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath, who were writing the show at the time, resulted in Rhys Jones replacing the show's producer, who had suffered from a stress-related illness from dealing with the comedian. He later produced Rowan Atkinson's show The Atkinson People for the BBC and has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News, and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham, alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson.
In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions, a company which has produced many of the most popular British comedy series of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge and Big Train. From 1984, Smith and Rhys Jones appeared in the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones (the show's title being a pun on the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones). After the first series, the pair appeared on the big screen in Mike Hodges' sci-fi comedy movie Morons from Outer Space and then in 1989, the LWT production Wilt.
Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. He presented Bookworm from 1994 to 2000 and is the presenter of the BBC's Restoration programme (he began filming its third series at Lincoln Cathedral on 3 June 2006), and has done a considerable amount of fundraising work for the Hackney Empire theatre conservation project. In 2004, he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge.
Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the programmes he has appeared in, and a number of spin-off books. In 2002, he started writing a book called To the Baltic with Bob, describing his adventures on the high seas with his sailing friend Bob, as they make their way to Saint Petersburg, port by port. Rhys Jones released the book in 2003. His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books. His book to accompany the BBC1 series Mountain was published in July 2007.
While at Brentwood School he met Douglas Adams (who would later write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Rhys Jones followed Adams to Cambridge, reading history and English at Emmanuel College. While at university, Jones joined Cambridge Footlights Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976). He was also president of the ADC (Amateur Dramatic Club) during his time at Cambridge.
He then joined BBC Radio Light Entertainment as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending and Brain of Britain. An evening planned to spend watching his hero Frankie Howerd at the invitation of friends Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath, who were writing the show at the time, resulted in Rhys Jones replacing the show's producer, who had suffered from a stress-related illness from dealing with the comedian. He later produced Rowan Atkinson's show The Atkinson People for the BBC and has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News, and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham, alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson.
In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions, a company which has produced many of the most popular British comedy series of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge and Big Train. From 1984, Smith and Rhys Jones appeared in the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones (the show's title being a pun on the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones). After the first series, the pair appeared on the big screen in Mike Hodges' sci-fi comedy movie Morons from Outer Space and then in 1989, the LWT production Wilt.
Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. He presented Bookworm from 1994 to 2000 and is the presenter of the BBC's Restoration programme (he began filming its third series at Lincoln Cathedral on 3 June 2006), and has done a considerable amount of fundraising work for the Hackney Empire theatre conservation project. In 2004, he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge.
Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the programmes he has appeared in, and a number of spin-off books. In 2002, he started writing a book called To the Baltic with Bob, describing his adventures on the high seas with his sailing friend Bob, as they make their way to Saint Petersburg, port by port. Rhys Jones released the book in 2003. His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books. His book to accompany the BBC1 series Mountain was published in July 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
March 16, 2020
More poetry :O)
To be fair, most of the ones I read leave me unmoved, but every so often, I find one that really talks to me. All of a sudden, these seemingly random words build a surprisingly powerful meaning. And that is why I’m widening my horizons in this genre, trying to find these little pearls of emotion.
This anthology from the BBC is a pretty good one, quite varied, with ‘classic’ and modern poets represented. Here are two of my favourites, quite different :O)
I actually felt this several times while walking through the capital in the early morning. Love it!
To be fair, most of the ones I read leave me unmoved, but every so often, I find one that really talks to me. All of a sudden, these seemingly random words build a surprisingly powerful meaning. And that is why I’m widening my horizons in this genre, trying to find these little pearls of emotion.
This anthology from the BBC is a pretty good one, quite varied, with ‘classic’ and modern poets represented. Here are two of my favourites, quite different :O)
This Be The Verse, by Philip Larkin
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, by William Wordsworth
Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
I actually felt this several times while walking through the capital in the early morning. Love it!
December 10, 2019
Years ago I studied poetry. Our teacher was a wonderful chap: a sweet, gentle poet himself, and passionate about sharing poetry with the young. He was once helping me muddle through some poems I was working on and said, "Well, that's enough on the sonnet now, let's move on to your other work."
"Hang on," I said. "I just really want to finish the real poem first."
He looked at me with a crestfallen expression of reproach, "If there was one thing I hoped to teach you, it's that free verse is real poetry, too."
Luckily for me, the nation seems to agree with me, and most of the poems in this collection are good old fashion stuff. But what I like best is that there's a great variety (with the limits of 'real poetry'!) Hopeful, melancholy, joyous, bitter - it's all here. Long and short. Some from poets still living, others hundreds of years gone. Best of all: some was new to me, but plenty gave me a very comfy nostalgia.
The nation's favourite, back in 1995, was 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, which is an absolutely thumping poem! My netball coach at primary school loved this poem and would recite it to us in booming tones if she felt we were slacking on the court.
Alfred Noyes 'The Highwayman' is here too, which my mother used to read to us before bed, and is still as thrilling now as it was then:
And good old Allen Ahlberg, whose poems I actually find quite twee and annoying, but I am still quite fond of him purely because as a child I had a illustrated collection of his poems which had great pictures. He was a great favourite for reciting at primary school.
It does make you wonder a bit about the nation though. What sort of people love 'Toilet' so much that they vote for it in a national competition? We're a bit odd. And while I can see why Philip Larkin's 'This Be the Verse' is famous, it's terribly sad that it should be a favourite of anyone.
"Hang on," I said. "I just really want to finish the real poem first."
He looked at me with a crestfallen expression of reproach, "If there was one thing I hoped to teach you, it's that free verse is real poetry, too."
Luckily for me, the nation seems to agree with me, and most of the poems in this collection are good old fashion stuff. But what I like best is that there's a great variety (with the limits of 'real poetry'!) Hopeful, melancholy, joyous, bitter - it's all here. Long and short. Some from poets still living, others hundreds of years gone. Best of all: some was new to me, but plenty gave me a very comfy nostalgia.
The nation's favourite, back in 1995, was 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, which is an absolutely thumping poem! My netball coach at primary school loved this poem and would recite it to us in booming tones if she felt we were slacking on the court.
Alfred Noyes 'The Highwayman' is here too, which my mother used to read to us before bed, and is still as thrilling now as it was then:
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
And good old Allen Ahlberg, whose poems I actually find quite twee and annoying, but I am still quite fond of him purely because as a child I had a illustrated collection of his poems which had great pictures. He was a great favourite for reciting at primary school.
It does make you wonder a bit about the nation though. What sort of people love 'Toilet' so much that they vote for it in a national competition? We're a bit odd. And while I can see why Philip Larkin's 'This Be the Verse' is famous, it's terribly sad that it should be a favourite of anyone.
September 26, 2023
judging some of the nation's taste. like. a lot. and a despicable amount of poems from our power and conflict analogy are in here.
that being said, 4.5 but am desperately trying to keep my average rating down (WHY GOD WHY) so if anyone has any really shit, we're talking 1 star books i can read ill love you forever or at least until it drops below 3.5 xxx
i love poetry, and some of the stuff in here may be like cliche but you cannot read tyger tyger without at least saying it under your breath because it demands to be read aloud because it was written for that and it has a pace and a pulse that almost runs away with you and it has to be read aloud to partially tame it and ughhhhh i need more
that being said, 4.5 but am desperately trying to keep my average rating down (WHY GOD WHY) so if anyone has any really shit, we're talking 1 star books i can read ill love you forever or at least until it drops below 3.5 xxx
i love poetry, and some of the stuff in here may be like cliche but you cannot read tyger tyger without at least saying it under your breath because it demands to be read aloud because it was written for that and it has a pace and a pulse that almost runs away with you and it has to be read aloud to partially tame it and ughhhhh i need more
January 24, 2008
poetry collection - like boxes of chocolates, best enjoyed as a wee dip in now and again rather than eating a whole tray at once.
fantastic clusters of language used to express ideas, hopes, fears, dreams ....
one example :
"But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You sieze the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white--then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Evanishing amid the storm.--
Nae man can tether time or tide;
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;"
from Tam O'Shanter :
http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/...
fantastic clusters of language used to express ideas, hopes, fears, dreams ....
one example :
"But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You sieze the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white--then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Evanishing amid the storm.--
Nae man can tether time or tide;
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;"
from Tam O'Shanter :
http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/...
November 15, 2020
I love this wee book of prose. Just like a good box of chocolates, there is something for everyone.
One of my favourite poems is the one that is in the foreword by Griff Rhys Jones. The story of how the poem was left in an envelope by a soldier to be given to his parents should he be killed in action is particularly poignant in this remembrance month.
DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints in the snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you waken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Credit for who wrote the poem is still divided. The story of how the poem was left in an envelope for the soldiers parents is quite beautiful and testament to his compassion in trying to give comfort to his parents in his untimely death.
One of my favourite poems is the one that is in the foreword by Griff Rhys Jones. The story of how the poem was left in an envelope by a soldier to be given to his parents should he be killed in action is particularly poignant in this remembrance month.
DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints in the snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you waken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Credit for who wrote the poem is still divided. The story of how the poem was left in an envelope for the soldiers parents is quite beautiful and testament to his compassion in trying to give comfort to his parents in his untimely death.
November 2, 2013
A vintage resident of my parents' bookcase. We love to read poetry aloud to each other and we know where all the good ones are in this book. Popular definitely =/= good, but there is certainly some overlap and some of our own favourites can be found among the... others (I was going to say Auden, but he's neither the only nor the worst author of less-than-deserving popular works). We all like the one about wearing purple when we get old. I'm already old with that woman who doesn't give a damn what fools think of her hat. We are a family of rebels and poems give us rallying cries.
March 13, 2015
A very good introduction to some popular poetry. I'm not really into really whole anthologies by various poet but found this book a great read. I've been going through the poems slowly, also reading them out loud and trying to savour the language. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to do the same. Obviously, my rating is for the book as a whole. There were some poems I loved, others less so. Some, I found very hard to get through.
January 12, 2025
I took this book from my Grandparents’ house for the train journey back up to Glasgow, as I finished my book on the way down.
A collection of poems which I’m quite intrigued by. It’s called “The Nation’s favourite poems”, but I would say it felt that there was a specific demographic voting for these poems, considering how many WW1 and WW2 poems were included. To be fair, considering I did take it from my Grandparents’ house is a telling sign.
There were a lot of these poems that didn’t really connect with me and some that I skipped, but there were quite a few ones that brought back some nostalgic memories, as they were part of my poetry anthology that I had to study for GCSE.
There were a couple that I did dog-ear as there were some nice ones I would like to read again.
All in all, a time-passer for something to read whilst on a long train journey up north :)
A collection of poems which I’m quite intrigued by. It’s called “The Nation’s favourite poems”, but I would say it felt that there was a specific demographic voting for these poems, considering how many WW1 and WW2 poems were included. To be fair, considering I did take it from my Grandparents’ house is a telling sign.
There were a lot of these poems that didn’t really connect with me and some that I skipped, but there were quite a few ones that brought back some nostalgic memories, as they were part of my poetry anthology that I had to study for GCSE.
There were a couple that I did dog-ear as there were some nice ones I would like to read again.
All in all, a time-passer for something to read whilst on a long train journey up north :)
September 15, 2020
I found this book during a declutter and realised I purchased it more than 15 years ago and never read past the first 10 pages. I have never been a huge poetry reader, but I gave this a chance. Once I started reading it, I realised I actually knew about 30 out of the 100 poems well. This book is a good mixture of familiar poems and poets but with some interesting additions as well. I found some new favourites in Jenny Joseph Warning and Thomas Hood I Remember, but it did remind me of my love of Wordsworth, Keats, Dylan Thomas and Edgar Allan Poe.
August 28, 2020
Will mark this as read because over the months I've been reading so many of these to the residents at work. Found a copy today and it indeed had so many of our favourites 💓 I've much more to explore when it comes to poetry but this here is an excellent start
December 9, 2019
A real mixture of poems, most of which you will have heard somewhere, often at school. Contains many gems and is enhanced by the comments of GR Jones. Good to have in your collection.
September 22, 2023
The nation chose well, mostly.
September 14, 2021
So nostalgic 💛💛 my mum has this collection and it reminds me of being a wee girl and learning my favourite ones off by heart
Read
May 2, 2022DNF. Most of the poems in here I’ve read elsewhere. There were one or two that were new to me but didn’t grab my interest (the one about the poet liking a girl and envisioning her seeing his face while she pees comes to mind).
September 21, 2021
sometimes... the british public... is right
April 21, 2015
For the first time ever, the book of the month for my local book group was a book of poetry. There is a poetry group in the village too, but this book was chosen for the book group, not the poetry group. There was some dissension in the ranks on this basis. I belong to both groups, and thought this made a nice change.The Nation’s Favourite Poems starts with a forward by Griff Rhys Jones. Griff Rhys Jones was born in Cardiff, Wales on 16 November, 1953. He was educated at Brentwood School, a a famous coeducational independent day and boarding school in Brentwood, Essex, England and at the University of Cambridge where he attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England. He is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner Mel Smith. He also champions architecture, literature and poetry of national importance.
The book is based on the result of a poll conducted in 1995 by The Bookworm, to coincide with National Poetry Day to discover the favourite poem in Britain, Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If...’ was voted number one. This unique anthology published by the BBC brings together the results of the poll in a collection of the nation’s 100 best loved poems. Among the selection are popular classics such as Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ and Wordsworth’s ‘The Daffodils’ alongside contemporary poetry such as Allan Ahlberg’s ‘Please Mrs Butler’.
Also included is one of my favourite poems, the poignant Unknown Soldier’s Poem ‘Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep‘.This is now generally attributed to Mary Frye as having been written in 1932. However this hugely popular bereavement poem has uncertain history and origins. Debate surrounds the definitive and original wording of this remarkable verse, and for many the authorship is unresolved too. It goes as follows:
Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there – I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints in snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush
I am the swift-up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there – I did not die.
However, my absolute favourite has to be a much more modern and excruciatingly funny poem by Jenny Joseph that reads as follows:
Warning
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Also included were several poems that I was familiar with, some I even remembered from school and others that were completely new to me. I really enjoyed The Nation’s Favourite Poems anthology and everybody in the group had different favourites. It was a very popular book. Whether you are a natural poetry reader or not, this book is well worth looking at. I highly recommend it.
The book is based on the result of a poll conducted in 1995 by The Bookworm, to coincide with National Poetry Day to discover the favourite poem in Britain, Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If...’ was voted number one. This unique anthology published by the BBC brings together the results of the poll in a collection of the nation’s 100 best loved poems. Among the selection are popular classics such as Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ and Wordsworth’s ‘The Daffodils’ alongside contemporary poetry such as Allan Ahlberg’s ‘Please Mrs Butler’.
Also included is one of my favourite poems, the poignant Unknown Soldier’s Poem ‘Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep‘.This is now generally attributed to Mary Frye as having been written in 1932. However this hugely popular bereavement poem has uncertain history and origins. Debate surrounds the definitive and original wording of this remarkable verse, and for many the authorship is unresolved too. It goes as follows:
Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there – I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints in snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush
I am the swift-up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there – I did not die.
However, my absolute favourite has to be a much more modern and excruciatingly funny poem by Jenny Joseph that reads as follows:
Warning
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Also included were several poems that I was familiar with, some I even remembered from school and others that were completely new to me. I really enjoyed The Nation’s Favourite Poems anthology and everybody in the group had different favourites. It was a very popular book. Whether you are a natural poetry reader or not, this book is well worth looking at. I highly recommend it.
February 14, 2017
While it was fun to occasionally come across a famous line i didn't realise was from the poem it was, there were only two that really jumped out at me and made me tab the page - Siegfried Sassoon's Everone Sang and Thomas Harry's The Ruined Maid. Otherwise, it was a mix of things I'd read for uni and well done but monotonous rhymes verse. Alas, I don't see to share the nation's taste in poetry.
April 4, 2021
All my favourite poems and more, easy to pick up and can lift my mood in minutes
June 30, 2022
It’s a little hard to dislike a selection of the nation’s 100 favourite poems unless you hate poetry in general, or have rather obtuse tastes. So this selection is an immediate winner for most of its target audience.
Of course that does not mean you have to enjoy every poem here, and you may be unhappy with some of the inclusions and some of the omissions. The grading of the poems will also raise hackles for many. Is ‘If-‘ by Rudyard Kipling really the greatest poem that was ever written?
Still a list of this kind is merely a popularity contest, and not a reflection of literary worth. Is Kipling better than T S Eliot? It is hard to explain in any artistic terms whether he is, or he is not. ‘If-‘may be a series of sententious homilies, but Kipling avoids the worst clichés, making the poem more thoughtful than it first appears, even if the standard of ideal behaviour he sets up is perhaps unrealistic.
By contrast Eliot’s poems in this selection are fragmentary and vague, something that is arguably easier to do than to write the concentrated and focused words in Kipling’s poem. So am I saying Kipling is better than Eliot? Not necessarily, but maybe the distance is not as great as snobs like to imagine.
A more serious complaint against the volume is that the longer poems are sharply edited so that they do not take up too much space in relation to the other poems, so we get truncated versions of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ and others. Poems of this kind should be reproduced in full or not at all.
Overall though the people who voted in the survey that led to this book showed fairly good taste. Some of the poems are disposable enough, but most are firm classics, and a few of my favourites are included.
In any case, I do not always take the time to read short poems of this kind, so it was nice to take the time to concentrate on the varied works in this volume, some humorous, some uplifting, some sad, and some sober. The artificiality and syntactic convolutions of poems often put me off reading them. Perhaps one day I will return to them again.
Of course that does not mean you have to enjoy every poem here, and you may be unhappy with some of the inclusions and some of the omissions. The grading of the poems will also raise hackles for many. Is ‘If-‘ by Rudyard Kipling really the greatest poem that was ever written?
Still a list of this kind is merely a popularity contest, and not a reflection of literary worth. Is Kipling better than T S Eliot? It is hard to explain in any artistic terms whether he is, or he is not. ‘If-‘may be a series of sententious homilies, but Kipling avoids the worst clichés, making the poem more thoughtful than it first appears, even if the standard of ideal behaviour he sets up is perhaps unrealistic.
By contrast Eliot’s poems in this selection are fragmentary and vague, something that is arguably easier to do than to write the concentrated and focused words in Kipling’s poem. So am I saying Kipling is better than Eliot? Not necessarily, but maybe the distance is not as great as snobs like to imagine.
A more serious complaint against the volume is that the longer poems are sharply edited so that they do not take up too much space in relation to the other poems, so we get truncated versions of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ and others. Poems of this kind should be reproduced in full or not at all.
Overall though the people who voted in the survey that led to this book showed fairly good taste. Some of the poems are disposable enough, but most are firm classics, and a few of my favourites are included.
In any case, I do not always take the time to read short poems of this kind, so it was nice to take the time to concentrate on the varied works in this volume, some humorous, some uplifting, some sad, and some sober. The artificiality and syntactic convolutions of poems often put me off reading them. Perhaps one day I will return to them again.
May 31, 2020
I first read this years ago, in fact both Mum and I had a copy, but it was hers that I’ve read. This time around I enjoyed it’s strange mixture of poetry, but I guess that’s what you get when you ask the public to name their favourite.
The poems I enjoyed enough to put a mark against are:
- The Daffodils by William Wordsworth
- He wishes for the cloths of heaven by W. B. Yeats
- Leisure by William Henry Davies
- Twelve Songs by W. H. Auden
- Jaberwocky by Lewis Carroll
- The owl and the pussy-cat by Edward Lear
- The glory of the garden by Rudyard Kipling
- Bloody men by Wendy Cope
- Diary of a church mouse by John Betjeman
- Let me die a youngman’s death by Roger McCough
- Chocolate cake by Michael Rosen
- Warming her pearls by Carol Ann Duffy
Some of these are because I remember them from school, or when I first read them. Some are because it’s interesting to revist a poem I thought I knew.
The poems I enjoyed enough to put a mark against are:
- The Daffodils by William Wordsworth
- He wishes for the cloths of heaven by W. B. Yeats
- Leisure by William Henry Davies
- Twelve Songs by W. H. Auden
- Jaberwocky by Lewis Carroll
- The owl and the pussy-cat by Edward Lear
- The glory of the garden by Rudyard Kipling
- Bloody men by Wendy Cope
- Diary of a church mouse by John Betjeman
- Let me die a youngman’s death by Roger McCough
- Chocolate cake by Michael Rosen
- Warming her pearls by Carol Ann Duffy
Some of these are because I remember them from school, or when I first read them. Some are because it’s interesting to revist a poem I thought I knew.
August 31, 2017
3 stars.
There were some good poems in this anthology. 'Snake' and 'The Highwayman' were two of my favourites. There were others that I wasn't particularly fond of, like 'Toilet' and 'Chocolate Cake'. I'm a person that appreciates rhythm and refined imagery when it comes to poetry and unless it's done spectacularly, I don't like free verse. Having words scattered all over the page with no rhyme or reason makes me uncomfortable.
Overall, not a selection of poetry I would have chosen myself but there were good ones in there and it was nice that the old-faithfuls made an appearance ('Charge of the Light Brigade', 'The Road Not Taken', 'The Raven', etc).
There were some good poems in this anthology. 'Snake' and 'The Highwayman' were two of my favourites. There were others that I wasn't particularly fond of, like 'Toilet' and 'Chocolate Cake'. I'm a person that appreciates rhythm and refined imagery when it comes to poetry and unless it's done spectacularly, I don't like free verse. Having words scattered all over the page with no rhyme or reason makes me uncomfortable.
Overall, not a selection of poetry I would have chosen myself but there were good ones in there and it was nice that the old-faithfuls made an appearance ('Charge of the Light Brigade', 'The Road Not Taken', 'The Raven', etc).
July 25, 2023
There were fewer than ten poems among the hundred in this book that I didn't know. It was a pleasure to reread those I knew, and two of my favouites--Louis MacNeice's "Snow" and Tennyson's "Ulysses"--came side by side. But ideally there would have been more I didn't know. I had read before Carol Ann Duffy's "Warming Her Pearls," a poem of lesbian passion, but it moved me in a way it hadn't before. It put me in touch with my inner lesbian, the shyest of creatures.
December 25, 2023
(3.5 stars rounded up to 4)
Like most selections of poems like this it often comes down to taste. Some of the poems I loved, others I rather liked, others were OK and some I didn't enjoy it all.
I thought the opening section of poem were largely excellent, the middle selection averaged out as quite good and too many of the final selection of poems weren't for me.
Overall a quite good selection of poems, but too many poems I didn't connect with to give anything more than 3.5 stars.
Like most selections of poems like this it often comes down to taste. Some of the poems I loved, others I rather liked, others were OK and some I didn't enjoy it all.
I thought the opening section of poem were largely excellent, the middle selection averaged out as quite good and too many of the final selection of poems weren't for me.
Overall a quite good selection of poems, but too many poems I didn't connect with to give anything more than 3.5 stars.
July 9, 2024
A real mixture! Interesting to see what poems come up in a public vote. Many were new to me. The Romantic poets generally did nothing for me. TS Eliot didn’t either (apart from Macavity!). Narrative poetry and more modern poems suited me better. I marked under half as ones I liked. A good selection to get a feel for the breadth of British poets and poetry, and to point me towards future reading.
February 26, 2022
Listened to on audible. Poems by Keats and Yeats are beautifully read, and far far outpace any beauty and sentiment esteemed these days in popular culture. Romance and poetry and the gentle grace and simplicity of the past and its greatest poets and artists, will, I hope never die, for if it does culture will be much worse for it.
November 11, 2024
I am not a poetry fan but thought I would have a look to see what the top 100 poems of 1995 were in UK. I was shocked to find I did not even recognise most of the poets never mind the poems - this is my failing not the book's. However, I guess all the favourites are there eg. Burns, Wordsworth, Owen,Coleridge. I enjoyed a few of the 'new' ones though some I could not get into at all.
August 16, 2018
This is a lovely anthology, scarcely a single poem that doesn't deserve its place - apart from the obvious Larkin, of course, what an awful way to be remembered - but the actual volume is let down by some appalling misprints. Don't publishers employ proofreaders any more?
August 1, 2021
I have taken my time to read this anthology, because so many of the poems deserved contemplation. I didn't enjoy them all, I have no idea why some were classified as favourites, but it is a fantastic eclectic mix and I will read it again and again.
October 5, 2017
A handy way to have the classics all in one place; and to discern the three favourite subjects of British poetry: love, war and nature (often all in one).
August 19, 2018
Good mix and easy to look up favourites or forgotten poems
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