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When I was 11, I found | | | 50 | |
residence later in 1998 at Marks & Spencer’s |
| | a card a mystery man | | | | | department stores and London Zoo, and The |
| | had sent my mother. | | | | | British Poetry Society recently received a |
| | can’t remember the | | | | | £450,000 National Lottery grant to inject some |
| 5 | cover, but I can still | | | | | humanity into the nation’s bloodstream. Early |
| | see the inside | | | 55 | | plans include a Poems in the Waiting Room |
| | distinctly. A hand, in | | | | | scheme at dentists’ and doctors’ surgeries, in |
| | very elegant writing, | | | | | the hope they will match the humanitarian |
| | had penned two short | | | | | impact of London’s existing Poems on the |
| 10 | lines in black ink: | | | | | Underground. |
| | ‘She walks in | | 6 | 60 | | So it seems today’s writers of verse may |
| | beauty, like the night | | | | | not be drinking spirits for inspiration but |
| | Of cloudless climes | | | | | clocking in for work at law firms instead. |
| | and starry skies…’ | | | | | Volumes of poetry may soon be taking the |
| 15 | The words were | | | | | place of five-year-old copies of Hello! |
| | incomprehensible, but that just added to their | | | 65 | | magazine at the dentist. But among these |
| | mystique. Where were the ‘cloudless climes’? | | | | | modern-day developments, poetry’s original |
| | What happened after the dot, dot, dot? It all | | | | | lure should not be forgotten. It was neatly |
| | seemed much more exciting than a bunch of | | | | | articulated by the 17th-century Irish playwright |
| 20 | flowers, or even a box of Swiss chocolates. | | | | | George Farquhar, who declared that ‘Poetry’s |
2 | | Later, a photo of the mystery man | | | 70 | | a mere drug, Sir.’ |
| | emerged. He was a tubby teacher with dribbly, | | 7 | | | Following the success of poet-placement |
| | bloodhound lips. But that just confirmed my | | | | | films like Four Weddings and a Funeral (for |
| | idea of poetry as a force that could make even | | | | | WH Auden) and Il Postino (for Pablo Neruda), |
| 25 | ugly people desirable. | | | | | ‘poetry – the drug’ has really taken off. Verse |
3 | | Now lawyers and other executive types | | | 75 | | should not necessarily be consumed every |
| | have also adopted this train of thought. Bards | | | | | day, but a gin and tonic, solitude, a cashmere |
| | are being hired by companies to give their | | | | | robe and a couple of weird stanzas are the |
| | overworked employees an illusion of inner | | | | | perfect post-work pick-me-up. |
| 30 | spiritual life and outer glamour. Top London | | 8 | | | The right poems have useful applications, |
| | law firm Mishcon de Reya has hired poet | | | 80 | | too. A poem chanted silently to yourself as |
| | Lavinia Greenlaw to give its staff lessons, with | | | | | you plug away on your fitness equipment can |
| | a view to escaping the stress of working 18 | | | | | get you through the toughest of energy walls. |
| | hours a day closing deals and making | | | | | Shakespeare is perfect for such occasions, |
| 35 | conference calls. ‘We wanted to put some | | | | | especially his sonnets, recited with the correct |
| | humanity back into the workplace,’ says | | | 85 | | stress: |
| | Jonathan Cameron, a senior lawyer at the | | | | | ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? |
| | firm. | | | | | Thou art more lovely and more temperate…’ |
4 | | Greenlaw started running poetry workshops | | 9 | | | Many poets have cast off the mantle of the |
| 40 | in November; and Cameron says he is | | | | | stuffy bard and instead cloaked themselves in |
| | intrigued by how his staff are reacting: ‘They | | | 90 | | more accessible apparel. Poets such as Jenny |
| | love unleashing their personal thoughts, | | | | | Holzer specialise in easy-to-remember verses |
| | although many prefer to do it in private. One | | | | | that read like sharp headlines or twisted |
| | secretary refuses to attend the lessons. She | | | | | mottoes. Her catchy phrases - such as ‘Lack |
| 45 | goes to Lavinia secretly.’ And does poetry help | | | | | of charisma can be fatal’, or ‘Money creates |
| | lawyers write better love letters? ‘I’m hoping | | | 95 | | taste’ – would be perfect for impressing |
| | it’s going to help them write better legal | | | | | people in high-decibel nightclubs. |
| | letters,’ says Cameron. | | | | | |
5 | | There are also plans to appoint poets-in- | | | | | ‘Frank’, January 1998 |