In our eighth programme we look at Wordsworth’s famous poem ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.’ That poem is the climax of Lance’s Guided Poetry Walk along the Banks of the Thames. One of the things Lance shows visitors is a series of paving stones with poem extracts that are on the walkway near the Festival Hall. So on this program Lance reads all four paving stone poems before finishing with Wordsworth’s famous words – just as he does on the walk!
In our seventh programme we look at three of the so-called Metaphysical Poets. ‘The Baite’ by John Donne, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell, ‘The Pulley’ by George Herbert and ‘Holy Sonnet X’ by John Donne.
In our sixth programme we read our first listener-nominated poem – ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Since he wrote it while he was Poet Laureate Lance also reads two other poems by famous holders of that office. ’14th November 1973′ by John Betjeman – on the occasion of Princess Anne’s wedding to Mark Phillips. And Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Last Post’ – written to commemorate the deaths of two veterans of the First World War.
‘Last Post’ from 1914: Poetry Remembers by Carol Ann Duffy. Publilshed by Faber & Faber, 2015. Copyright (c) Carol Ann Duffy. Recorded by permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN
The music at the end of the podcast can be found here. Love Bade Me Welcome (Five Mystical Songs) by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Jamie W. Hall – Bass baritone. Richard McVeigh – Piano.
In our next three programmes we hear three of Lance’s favourite poems. We begin today with a deeply personal poem by John Betjeman: Before the Anaesthetic or A Real Fright
You can find most of Betjeman’s poems in John Betjeman, Collected Poems, published by John Murray. There is a fuller list of books at betjemansociety.com/booklist
You can hear 72 of his most famous poems on: ‘John Betjeman: A First Class Collection’, BBC Audio and the best of the rest on ‘The John Betjeman You Never Knew‘ by Lance Pierson
Click here to find out more about Lance’s poetry CD (Sing in My Mind)
Follow these links to find the words to each poem (where no link exists we encourage you to buy the book!)
James Carter
Shed Feverby Malcolm Guite (from After Prayer published by Canterbury Press. Used with the author’s permission.)
Preliminary Ritualby Malcolm Guite (from After Prayer published by Canterbury Press. Used with the author’s permission.)
After the Book is Closed by Gerard Benson (from Swings and Shadows, edited by Anne Harvey, published by Random House. Copyright Control)
When there was nothing by Stewart Henderson (from Homeland published by Hodder & Stoughton. Copyright c 1993 Stewart Henderson. Used with the author’s permission.)
Take a Poem by James Carter (from Zim Zam Zoom – zappy poems to read out loud published by Otter-Barry Books Ltd. Used with the author’s permission.)
In our first programme we look at three poems (see below) to help get us through hard times (since the podcast was launched during the Corona Virus lock-down of 2020).