Every year on March 21st, the world comes together to celebrate World Poetry Day, a day dedicated to “one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity.”
We’re big fans of the poetic form here at Nosy Crow, and are glad to have published a number of wonderful anthologies over the years: I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree, And Everything Will Be Glad to See You, Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright and, most recently, A Whale of a Time. These three, amongst our other books filled with poems, are perfect collections to begin a lifelong love of poetry.
This year, to celebrate World Poetry Day, we asked the team to pick their favourite poems, and tell us a little about why they made their choice. Here are their selections!
Our favourite poems
Kate Wilson, Group CEO, picked Days by Philip Larkin. She said that, ‘it feels as if it has much more resonance for me four decades later, in which time I have a whole lot more lived days behind me, and, I guess a bit of a sense that the gift of future days, which, when I was a teenager felt like an endless promise, is not entirely a foregone conclusion.’
Rhianna Sanford, HR and Office Manager, picked George, Who Played With a Dangerous Toy, and Suffered a Catastrophe of Considerable Dimensions by Hilaire Belloc. She said: ‘it was a favourite of mine when I was a child and I used to get my mum to read it to me over and over.’
Lara Kelly, Social Media Executive, picked The Orange by Wendy Cope. She said: ‘The simplicity in life can be so magical. Finding joy in the mundane can be difficult but when you do, it makes life so much more enjoyable. Simply existing can be the best feeling in the world.’
Kellie Balseiro, Field Sales Manager, picked Valentine by Wendy Cope.
Viola Ugolini, Audio Assistant, picked One Art by Elizabeth Bishop. She said: ‘I love its locked structure and rhythm, the refrain that reads like a mantra of self-conviction, and the delicate images of both material and abstract objects building up a list of things we all have to learn to lose; I find it such a lovely, bittersweet exercise in acceptance and letting go.’
Lauren Fairgrieve, Editor for Non-Fiction and Activity, picked The Problem With Travel by Ada Limón. She said: ‘This poem captures that restless feeling I often get. Sometimes I think I want drastic change and freedom and adventure to shake things up, only to realise that I have a lot of things to love in the familiar and the routine of my everyday life.’
Joanna Jordan, Senior Production Manager, picked An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by William Butler Yeats. She said: ‘I have always loved this poem for its sense of the beauty of flying combined with the awful reason for it.’
Avery Cook, Marketing Associate, picked Tin Woman’s Lament by Yolanda Wisher.
Anna Pauletti, Production Manager, picked This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams.
Xeni Soteriou, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, chose Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. She said, ‘It’s such a powerful, moving piece that inspires self-respect, confidence, and strength.’
We hope this selection has resonated with you and that you’ve discovered something new and inspiring to read. If your favourite poem doesn’t already feature on this list, do let us know what it is, and why you love it, on socials!
