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Poetry Please
BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please is the longest-running broadcast of verse anywhere in the world. First aired in 1979, the programme, a request show which broadcasts to two million listeners a week, has become a unique record of the country's best-loved poems over the decades since its inception.
The BBC has looked back through its rich archive of recordings to produce a poll of the most asked for and most broadcast pieces ever: it is those poems that this anthology brings together here. A showcase, in effect, for the nation's favourite verse, Poetry Please is a treasure trove for our most requested and most listened to poems of all time. It is a compelling invitation for readers of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate the verse that we care so much about: from new readers to old, from schools to reading groups, this a book for giving, a book for cherishing.
The BBC has looked back through its rich archive of recordings to produce a poll of the most asked for and most broadcast pieces ever: it is those poems that this anthology brings together here. A showcase, in effect, for the nation's favourite verse, Poetry Please is a treasure trove for our most requested and most listened to poems of all time. It is a compelling invitation for readers of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate the verse that we care so much about: from new readers to old, from schools to reading groups, this a book for giving, a book for cherishing.
618 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
61 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 28, 2022
This is an essential, beautiful and great poetry anthology, it has a soothing and calming effect on me and I would highly recommend it!
December 30, 2014
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.” – Robert Frost
I've recently realized that I cannot read poetry when my head is full and my mind is racing, spinning with thoughts, concerns and decisions I need to make. I cannot read poetry when I'm feeling stressed; I cannot concentrate and I read the words instead of their meaning.
This is odd as I suspect many people feel differently. Poetry is liquid beauty and does for some people invoke a sense of escapism, of calmness and meditation. Poetry offers a way to read deeply, one word at a time, to taste every sentence and enjoy the melody the combined letters is able to produce. For many people poetry is a way of reading that makes them forget stress; for me it is a way of reading that is hindered by stress.
I began reading this monumental volume of exquisite poetry in September. I have only just finished it now; in these quiet and snowy days after Christmas. Sadly, I haven't had the time nor the quietness of mind to appreciate this anthology during September, October or November.
“Cats, no less liquid than their shadows,
Offer no angles to the wind.” – A. S. J. Tessimond
"Poetry Please" offers a vast collection of poetry. BBC has collected some of the most loved and wellknown English poems. Magnificent writers such as Yeats, Tennyson, Keats, Lord Byron, Shelley, E. E. Cummings and of course Shakespeare are represented fully throughout this volume, but lesser known poets have found their way in as well. I was delighted to meet some new names among these pages.
“The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.” – W. B. Yeats
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.” – Robert Frost
I've recently realized that I cannot read poetry when my head is full and my mind is racing, spinning with thoughts, concerns and decisions I need to make. I cannot read poetry when I'm feeling stressed; I cannot concentrate and I read the words instead of their meaning.
This is odd as I suspect many people feel differently. Poetry is liquid beauty and does for some people invoke a sense of escapism, of calmness and meditation. Poetry offers a way to read deeply, one word at a time, to taste every sentence and enjoy the melody the combined letters is able to produce. For many people poetry is a way of reading that makes them forget stress; for me it is a way of reading that is hindered by stress.
I began reading this monumental volume of exquisite poetry in September. I have only just finished it now; in these quiet and snowy days after Christmas. Sadly, I haven't had the time nor the quietness of mind to appreciate this anthology during September, October or November.
“Cats, no less liquid than their shadows,
Offer no angles to the wind.” – A. S. J. Tessimond
"Poetry Please" offers a vast collection of poetry. BBC has collected some of the most loved and wellknown English poems. Magnificent writers such as Yeats, Tennyson, Keats, Lord Byron, Shelley, E. E. Cummings and of course Shakespeare are represented fully throughout this volume, but lesser known poets have found their way in as well. I was delighted to meet some new names among these pages.
“The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.” – W. B. Yeats
March 27, 2024
Nice 👍
February 16, 2022
A collection of the most popular public requests from the BBC Radio 4 series. Old friends are here: ‘Innisfree’, Larkin pondering’Days’, the Rev. Hopkins’ ‘Windhover’, Frost and Auden.
Robert L. Stevenson’s ‘Lamplighter’ caught me off guard, though, even if I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve read it. Perhaps it was my mood, but very touching. Sentimental and happily so.
Take a plateful of Dylan Thomas or R.S. or Edward, a teaspoon of Belloc (not ‘To Dives’?!), or enjoy our very own Gloucestershire F. W . Harvey and his ‘Ducks’ of peace. Here is pretty much every classic poem you ought to own.
But it is a popular selection, bent towards a conservative review of the art. No haiku. No Beat Generation. A focus, as you’d expect from a radio programme, on those that read aloud particularly well, with plenty of rhyme but generally it’s all too familiar. But essential nevertheless.
Robert L. Stevenson’s ‘Lamplighter’ caught me off guard, though, even if I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve read it. Perhaps it was my mood, but very touching. Sentimental and happily so.
Take a plateful of Dylan Thomas or R.S. or Edward, a teaspoon of Belloc (not ‘To Dives’?!), or enjoy our very own Gloucestershire F. W . Harvey and his ‘Ducks’ of peace. Here is pretty much every classic poem you ought to own.
But it is a popular selection, bent towards a conservative review of the art. No haiku. No Beat Generation. A focus, as you’d expect from a radio programme, on those that read aloud particularly well, with plenty of rhyme but generally it’s all too familiar. But essential nevertheless.
January 28, 2022
Magnificent.
This beautiful book was filled with poems to listen to while falling into a dreamless sleep.
The perfect book for getting back into poetry!
This beautiful book was filled with poems to listen to while falling into a dreamless sleep.
The perfect book for getting back into poetry!
April 17, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
During the pandemic I restarted the hobby of reading poetry - something not picked up since I was a child and enjoyed filling the simple hours with words delivered with such range and randomness. There aren’t many audiobook anthologies that I’ve got on with though, as when there are multiple literary voices I feel that I need to consume the words with my own tone and pace to reflect the differences. However this was a wonderful familiar collection of words delivered by a fairly straight and level voiced narrators which made it a different experience - my eye wasn’t able to jump to the end to check the author, but the wait for the fullness of the poem made it a wonderfully calming experience. The order of the poems felt very well organised too. I don’t need many books like this, but definitely a title to go straight onto my ‘middle of the night soothers’ collection
“But I being poor have only my dreams, I have spread my dreams under your feet... tread softly because you tread on my dreams” WB Yeats
During the pandemic I restarted the hobby of reading poetry - something not picked up since I was a child and enjoyed filling the simple hours with words delivered with such range and randomness. There aren’t many audiobook anthologies that I’ve got on with though, as when there are multiple literary voices I feel that I need to consume the words with my own tone and pace to reflect the differences. However this was a wonderful familiar collection of words delivered by a fairly straight and level voiced narrators which made it a different experience - my eye wasn’t able to jump to the end to check the author, but the wait for the fullness of the poem made it a wonderfully calming experience. The order of the poems felt very well organised too. I don’t need many books like this, but definitely a title to go straight onto my ‘middle of the night soothers’ collection
“But I being poor have only my dreams, I have spread my dreams under your feet... tread softly because you tread on my dreams” WB Yeats
March 29, 2023
"Poetry Please" is an absolute treasure-trove of well-loved poetry, and I've loved reading it slowly over the last few months. Here, Roger McGough collects some of the most requested and most broadcast poems on BBC Radio 4's programme of the same name. This anthology contains so many of my favourite poems that I quickly abandoned my usual habit of tabbing pages to revisit in the future; in some sections, it would have entailed marking nearly every page. I'm also happy to have discovered several new favourites within these pages; in particular, Charlotte Mew's "The Farmer's Bride" and R. S. Thomas' "The Bright Field" are masterful, and I'm only sorry that it's taken me so long to find them. Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Time Does Not Bring Relief" and the excerpt from Khalil Ghibran's "The Prophet" are also wonderful, and I'm keen to seek out more of these poets' work.
I have a single complaint, however, namely the omission of some of the greatest poems in the ouevre of T.S. Eliot, my favourite poet of all time. Admittedly, four of his poems are included; nevertheless, I'm shocked by the absence of "The Wasteland", "Ash Wednesday", "La Figlia che Piange", and "Little Gidding". I suppose this is more a critique of public opinion than of McGough, so I'm still awarding this anthology a full five stars.
This is a collection I expect to return to again and again, and I'm delighted to have a copy close at hand on my poetry shelf.
I have a single complaint, however, namely the omission of some of the greatest poems in the ouevre of T.S. Eliot, my favourite poet of all time. Admittedly, four of his poems are included; nevertheless, I'm shocked by the absence of "The Wasteland", "Ash Wednesday", "La Figlia che Piange", and "Little Gidding". I suppose this is more a critique of public opinion than of McGough, so I'm still awarding this anthology a full five stars.
This is a collection I expect to return to again and again, and I'm delighted to have a copy close at hand on my poetry shelf.
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July 6, 2024Why do so many people love “If” by Rudyard Kipling? It always sneaks its way into these collections.
I love reading people’s favourite poems- and sometimes I discover new ones that are very good. The one downside with such a disorganised collection is that you could be in the mood for Romantic poetry (skimming through the poems impatiently for a hit) and come across a poem with a title like:
“When life fucks you over”
The next poem will be something quiet and pretty, the previous was something you’ve forgotten, but you can’t help but drift over this one. Every line begins with “fuck”, and you’re sure it’s about a scandalous politician from the 80s. The one with glasses that your grandad once called a twat.
The first line is the same as the last line, and it sounds something like:
“Fuck all the things that make me sad”.
The poet then invokes words like “mad”, “bad”, and of course- “dad”.
You’ve been raising your eyebrows so intensely now that they ache. You’re worried they will now be stuck in that position forever, and you’ll look like Will Poulter at your open casket funeral. Then you research the author, who was, inexplicably, the poet laureate. You finally lose your nerve and throw your long suffering cat out of the window.
I love reading people’s favourite poems- and sometimes I discover new ones that are very good. The one downside with such a disorganised collection is that you could be in the mood for Romantic poetry (skimming through the poems impatiently for a hit) and come across a poem with a title like:
“When life fucks you over”
The next poem will be something quiet and pretty, the previous was something you’ve forgotten, but you can’t help but drift over this one. Every line begins with “fuck”, and you’re sure it’s about a scandalous politician from the 80s. The one with glasses that your grandad once called a twat.
The first line is the same as the last line, and it sounds something like:
“Fuck all the things that make me sad”.
The poet then invokes words like “mad”, “bad”, and of course- “dad”.
You’ve been raising your eyebrows so intensely now that they ache. You’re worried they will now be stuck in that position forever, and you’ll look like Will Poulter at your open casket funeral. Then you research the author, who was, inexplicably, the poet laureate. You finally lose your nerve and throw your long suffering cat out of the window.
June 18, 2024
I've had this poetry anthology on my shelf for over a decade and finally managed to finish it all! All the poems are separated by topic starting with Childhood and ending with Death & Prayer. I really enjoyed how the poems were categorised but it did make it difficult to read them in order as they were all about the same thing for pages! So instead, I decided to number each poem and randomly read the poems that I liked the title of, or just opened and read on a random page, keeping track with ticks on the poems list and the pages themselves.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into poetry as it features some of the most famous and most loved poems (and a lot of them!), which guarantees you will like some of them. I also found it to be a good resource for finding what poets you would like to read next as some poets are featured several times so you get a real feeling for their style. It's also a good resource for finding out which famous poets you won't like too. Before reading this I probably would have decided to read some Plath or Keats in their own collection but now that I've had a sample of their poems, I don't think I will do that anymore haha.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into poetry as it features some of the most famous and most loved poems (and a lot of them!), which guarantees you will like some of them. I also found it to be a good resource for finding what poets you would like to read next as some poets are featured several times so you get a real feeling for their style. It's also a good resource for finding out which famous poets you won't like too. Before reading this I probably would have decided to read some Plath or Keats in their own collection but now that I've had a sample of their poems, I don't think I will do that anymore haha.
February 20, 2023
It's taken my partner and I around 18 months but we've completed this!!
A truly wide collection of poems - some wonderful, some not and some that are so ingrained in the consciousness of being British (Haii Philip Larkin and Siegfried Sassoon) that I had flashbacks to GCSE and A-Level English Lit. I think I could have done without the poems that focussed ostensibly on religion but then...that was the vibe back in the day so we just tried to enjoy the general lyricism of certain verses.
I definitely think poetry is meant to be read aloud, whether with someone or alone because reading it like standard prose you do miss the the rhythm and feeling of a verse.
A truly wide collection of poems - some wonderful, some not and some that are so ingrained in the consciousness of being British (Haii Philip Larkin and Siegfried Sassoon) that I had flashbacks to GCSE and A-Level English Lit. I think I could have done without the poems that focussed ostensibly on religion but then...that was the vibe back in the day so we just tried to enjoy the general lyricism of certain verses.
I definitely think poetry is meant to be read aloud, whether with someone or alone because reading it like standard prose you do miss the the rhythm and feeling of a verse.
May 29, 2019
I made it one of my new years resolutions to go back to reading poetry. I thought I’d try this multi genre of poetry for a change.All the classics are here; some modern stuff, some half-remembered-from-school-stuff, some should-know-but-don't stuff. Birth, death, love, all subjects are covered. Not every poem appears necessarily top notch, because that's what poetry is like - it touches different people in different ways. Of course, there were a few I skimmed over but that is the way with anthologies of poetry - not all poetry will appeal to the reader.
June 4, 2020
I like reading poetry, and this is a well-selected collection.
This year I have not been reading anything much at all - no concentration for books, but this helped me get back in the habit of reading. Picking it up with the aim of finding one poem to read, and to savour, often led to me finding three or four that looked interesting.
Not a book to read all at once, but great for flicking through and dipping into
This year I have not been reading anything much at all - no concentration for books, but this helped me get back in the habit of reading. Picking it up with the aim of finding one poem to read, and to savour, often led to me finding three or four that looked interesting.
Not a book to read all at once, but great for flicking through and dipping into
April 1, 2021
There's a lot of great poetry here and it's good value for money. But, it being such a large anthology does mean there are many peaks and also many troughs in terms of the quality of poetry within. It's a good collection but one that feels a little bit unrefined or even some sort of vanity project in which the publisher just wanted to show how many poets they could include.
September 30, 2021
Another audiobook, as feeling slightly under the weather. I really enjoyed hearing the different emphasis that the two narrators placed on the poems. I did miss reading and seeing the poems myself though. In regards to the collection, it’s a nice mix of classic well-known poems with a few lesser known ones too. A mix of styles too.
July 29, 2022
Normally, I won't go near poetry with a ten foot pole. For our library summer reading bingo, poetry is one of the books to be read. I picked this one because it said "most requested best loved poems". I listened to it as an audio book and found that if read by someone with feeling, I can "understand" the poems better and enjoy them. Who'da thunk it?
January 7, 2024
🎧 Made for lovely listening while on a Sunday long-run in the hills and sunshine. I’ll have to go back and revisit a few memorable ones: I Remember, I Remember; Kubla Kahn; Jabberwocky; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening; and more.
August 6, 2024
A good selection of favourite poems to dip in and out of, there are a lot of poems though, I picked it up to broaden my poetry horizons a bit but there are too many really. I read all of about the first 1/3 then just skimmed the rest looking for interesting ones.
November 27, 2025
A good starting point but if you read much poetry you will already know a large chunk of these.
A promising read from Messrs F. and Faber.
With contents from Aunty Beeb
A well known flavour with too little to savour
Became an uphill labour
of Hercules.
A promising read from Messrs F. and Faber.
With contents from Aunty Beeb
A well known flavour with too little to savour
Became an uphill labour
of Hercules.
August 21, 2018
Nostalgic! Takes me back to high school.
February 7, 2020
I want to like poetry, but I got about half way through the audio book and just couldn't anymore.
December 2, 2020
Used this to revise / fall asleep to, utterly lovely. Adjoa Andoh's voice very much a warm hug, the selection is great and I found a few more to read at work.
May 3, 2021
A good collection of all sorts of poetry which is bound to satisfy the mildly curious, the lunch time i've-nothing-else-to-read-so-i'll-give-it-a-go and the poets at heart, alike.
Read
September 19, 2022Read as an audiobook through my library. I'm leaving this unrated as it's a large collection from many authors.
April 2, 2023
A good range of poems with some surprises. Could have done with a commentary
July 18, 2023
One of my favourite books ever - a beautiful anthology.
Read
February 23, 2025The definition of regression to the mean.
October 7, 2025
I feel like big collections have their ups and downs, this had more downs for me.
November 4, 2025
My first ever poetry book! Though I kind of cheated since I listened to the audiobook instead.
January 17, 2014
I made it one of my new years resolutions to go back to reading poetry and Im so glad I started with this book. It took me back to being a teenager and reading 'serious' poetry for the first time. I forgot how calming and meditative it is to read aloud poems (on my own, of course!) I re-read poems I knew almost by heart and then read poets that I'd heard a great deal about but never read before. Of course, there were a few I skimmed over but that is the way with anthologies of poetry - not all poetry will appeal to the reader.
November 15, 2013
This thick tome belongs on every literary coffee table. All the classics are here; some modern stuff, some half-remembered-from-school-stuff, some should-know-but-don't stuff. Birth, death, love, all subjects are covered. Not every poem appears necessarily top notch, because that's what poetry is like - it touches different people in different ways. But as a collection this is top notch - and more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews