Carol Ann Duffy’s Unattainable Bees

I have probably spent about a year reading Carol Ann Duffy’s The Bees. I absolutely adored her poetry collection Rapture so I bought this one to explore more of her work. Unfortunately, it left me quite unimpressed and a bit disappointed.

The reason that this book took me so long to read is probably that I didn’t understand much of it. For every poem I read I felt that I had to google it extensively to make sense of the words, references and underlying meaning. This spoilt the enjoyment for me. I like researching poems and seeing what they meant to other people, but first I want to let the poem wash over me and muse on what I think it means. With most of these poems I was simply unable to do that.

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7 Places to Find Poetry You’ll Love

Finding new poems to read in this massive soup we call ‘the internet’ can be a very daunting, frustrating task. Where does one even start? Simply googling ‘poetry’ doesn’t always give the best results, and always reading the same authors may be a bit unfulfilling.

Here are seven places to find some new poetry; poetry to inspire you, comfort you or broaden your mind.

1. From your favourite films, books or series

If a poem is part of something you already love, chances are that you will enjoy it too. Look up (the full version of) a poem from your favourite film, and maybe try another one by its author. I, for example, learned Shakespeare’s 116th Sonnet by heart when I was sixteen because I was so moved by the scene in Ang Lee’s Sense & Sensibility where Marianne recites it in the pouring rain. (Pretentious drama queen much?)

Mansplaining: The Poem | Differences of Opinion by Wendy Cope

This poem both stirs up an infuriating truth and makes the angry feminist inside my chest purr like a cat on a radiator. It’s just so gratifying when a poet captures something you’ve been feeling in an eloquent and witty piece of art.

The Weather is Finally Getting Shitty (Emily Brontë Agrees)

I have always been that miserable friend who complains at the smallest trace of warm weather. Who says “let’s sit inside” when you want to have a beer in the sunshine. Who will not move a finger as soon as the thermometer hits 25 °C. Am I a vampire? Maybe. I prefer the term ‘bad weather enthusiast’.

As I was paging through my newly acquired A Poem for Every Night of the Year anthology, I came across this gem of an autumn poem. Good old Em, she gets it!

Poem | “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson

When the going gets tough, the tough read uplifting poetry.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of Me.

The Kind of Poetry I Like

Earlier this weekend one of my friends showed me some of the poetry she enjoys. As we were talking about it she said something along the lines of “I like this poet but I don’t think he writes the kind of poetry you like”. This made me stop and think. Although I had never realized it before, I am indeed a person with a certain taste in poetry. This makes me very happy: I am the kind of person who has read enough poetry to know which styles she enjoys, how cool is that?!