Copy - Explore Poetry

Let us know what you think of the poetry you have explored.

Explore this year's theme: Counting.

Check out some recommendations for further reading.

Watch Academy 21's very own performance poet!

Get some guidance on writing your own poems.

Listen to some of your English teachers' favourite poems.

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National Poetry Day 2024

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Poetry!

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Inventory

Paean

One

Pomegranate

Defying the Odds

National Poetry Day is a UK-wide celebration of poetry. It is a chance to enjoy, discover and share poetry with others. This year, it takes place on Thursday 3rd October. There is a different theme every year. This year the theme is: COUNTINGCheck out these poems on the theme of counting.

‘National Poetry Day 2024’

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About the Poet

About the Poet

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About the Poet

About the Poet

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About the Poet

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About the Poet

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Video 3: Michael Rosen's Top Tips

Video 2: The Origin of the word 'Yes'

Video 1: The Duck and the Kangaroo

Performance Poetry

What is performance poetry?Performance poetry, also known as spoken word poetry, is a form of artistic expression that combines poetry, storytelling, and performance. It's meant to be performed live in front of an audience, and can be exciting, funny, sad, fast, or furious. Click on the links opposite to see performance poetry and learn a bit more about it.

VIDEOs

Performance Poetry

What is performance poetry?Performance poetry, also known as spoken word poetry, is a form of artistic expression that combines poetry, storytelling, and performance. It's meant to be performed live in front of an audience, and can be exciting, funny, sad, fast, or furious. Watch Academy 21's Mr Coppola get the audience involved in performing some poetry

VIDEO

Performance Poetry

What is performance poetry?Performance poetry, also known as spoken word poetry, is a form of artistic expression that combines poetry, storytelling, and performance. It's meant to be performed live in front of an audience, and can be exciting, funny, sad, fast, or furious. Watch Academy 21's Mr Coppola get the audience involved in performing some poetry

VIDEO

Performance Poetry

What is performance poetry?Performance poetry, also known as spoken word poetry, is a form of artistic expression that combines poetry, storytelling, and performance. It's meant to be performed live in front of an audience, and can be exciting, funny, sad, fast, or furious. Watch Michael Rosen's top tips for performing a poem

VIDEO

Refugee

The Road Not Taken

The Orange

Still I Rise

Have You Got a Biro I Can Borrow?

When You Are old

Macavity the Mystery Cat

Sonnet 130

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

Chocolate Cake

Do Not Go Gentle

The Confirmation

This is Just to Say

The Raven

Discover the Academy 21 teachers' favourite poems

The Ravenby Edgar Allen Poe

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

This is Just To Sayby William Carlos Williams

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The Confirmationby Edwin Muir

Chocolate Cakeby Michael Rosen

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I'm Nobody! Who Are You?by Emily Dickinson

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nightby Dylan Thomas

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Macavity the Mystery Catby TS Eliot

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Sonnet 130by William Shakespeare

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When you are Oldby W.B. Yeats

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Have You Got a Biro I Can Borrowby Clive James

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The Orangeby Wendy Cope

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The Road Not Takenby Robert Frost

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Still I RiseMaya Angelou

RefugeesBrian Bilston

Want to keep reading? Click on the book covers to find out more about these new poetry books, recommended by The National Poetry Day team.

Reading Recommendations

Or... you can just do free verse! No rules - yay!

Sonnets

Cinquain Poems

Diamante Poems

Limerick Poems

Haiku Poems

Ten Minute Poem (Video)

There are so many different types of poem to play with - explore some of the different forms here and see what you can produce!

Grab a pen and have a go!

1. Get a pen and paper at the ready, then hit play. 2. Type your finished poem into the text box below.

Grab a pen and have a go!

TIPS

Example

Friends,Trustworthy, respectful,Laughing, smiling, loving,Always there to support and protect me,Families.

Line 1 - TitleLine 2 - Two descriptive wordsLine 3 - Three action wordsLine 4 - A feeling about the topic or objectLine 5 - A synonym for the topic or object

Cinquain poems were created by American poet, Adelaide Crapsey, and are very similar to Japanese poetry forms like haikus. Cinquain poems are a verse of five lines that do not need to rhyme. Each line of the poem contains descriptive words and phrases to create images of a topic or object for the reader.

Cinquain Poems

Example

MountainsQuite beautiful and very, very highSo scared that I don’t want to climb up thereSo high that I’ll reach up and touch the skyUp those steeps hills I walk, I stare, I dareI take a look out with my fears all hereTerrified, scared, completely unawareI am part of this land, I shall not fearClimb up the top, this feeling I can bare.I wish I could learn to trust you right nowSo lovely, so high, so steep and so stillI’m there, I did it, let me take a bowForever as one, a powerful fill You may not know that my fear is strongBut I knew I could climb it all along

A sonnet is made up of 14 lines with 10 syllables in each. A sonnet can be written about any thoughts or ideas that a poet has. They have a strict rhyme pattern. Usually there are four stanzas, the first three with 4 lines, with the last stanza with 2 lines.

TIPS

Sonnet

TIPS

Example

BabyLoud, smellyScreaming, Crawling, EatingCrying very loudly, taking care of their youngProtecting, Watching, TeachingLovely, caringParents

Line 1 – Starting subject. Line 2 – Two words describing ine 1. Line 3 – Three doing words (verbs) about Line 1. Line 4 – A short phrase about Line 1, and a short phrase about Line 7. Line 5 – Three doing words (verbs) about Line 7. Line 6 – Two describing words (adjectives) about Line 7.Line 7 – Ending subject.

A diamante poem is a poem that is written in the shape of a diamond. It can be written based on a topic of interest, or an object or person. A diamante poem is made up of seven lines. Each line has a set structure which creates the shape of the diamond which this poem is well known for.

Diamante Poems

Example

The Beach Sand, sand everywhere,Waves come crashing on the shore,Beautiful blue sea.

TitleLine 1 = 5 syllablesLine 2 = 7 syllablesLine 3 = 5 syllables

A haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. They can be written to describe a particular topic or object. Haikus consist of three lines with a total of 17 syllables. The first and last lines of the poem contain five syllables. The middle line contains seven syllables. Haikus can sometimes rhyme. However, this is not necessary.

TIPS

Haikus

Example

MummyThere once was a very odd mummy,Who always lied down on her tummy,She looks very weird,And everyone feared,She would never cook anything yummy.

TitleLine 1: 7-10 syllables (A)Line 2: 7-10 syllables (A)Line 3: 5-7 syllables (B)Line 4: 5-7 syllables (B)Line 5: 7-10 syllables (A)

A limerick poem is a short, nonsense poem. These types of poems aim to entertain people and to make them laugh. Limerick poems consist of five lines. The first, second, and fifth lines must have seven to ten syllables. These lines must also rhyme and have the same rhythm as each other. The third and fourth lines must have five to seven syllables. These lines must also rhyme and have the same rhythm as each other. Limerick poems are known to follow an AABBA rhyming pattern.

TIPS

Limericks

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Joshua Seigal

Joshua Seigal is an internationally renowned poet, performer and educator. His first book with Bloomsbury, I Don’t Like Poetry, was nominated for the Laugh Out Loud Award, an award Joshua has subsequently won twice. He is also a recipient of The People’s Book Prize, and has performed at schools and festivals around the world. He is an Official Ambassador for National Poetry Day, and has been commissioned to write and perform for the BBC. He can normally be found running poetry workshops and performances in schools, either online or in real life.

Choose Love

By Nicola DaviesA moving collection providing insight into the real-life experiences of refugees. The poems invite us to build empathy for the struggles of others, and to choose love as our response.

James Berry

An award winning and distinguished poet, James Berry was born in Jamaica and grew up in a tiny village on the coast. He moved to the UK in 1948 where he became a leading campaigner for black people. One of the first black writers to achieve wider recognition, he was awarded an OBE in 1990 and was a strong advocate for young black writers. He divided his time between Great Britain and Jamaica until his death in 2017.

I'm nobody! Who are you?Are you nobody too?Then there's a pair of us! – don't tell!They'd banish us, you know!How dreary to be somebody!How public, like a frogTo tell your name the livelong dayTo an admiring Bog!

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

And I Climbed And I Climbed

By Stephen LightbownEight-year-old Cosmo falls from a tree and becomes paralysed. These are the poems he writes to that tree, as he comes to terms with becoming a wheelchair-user.

Before you begin writing your diamante poem you should start by writing down different ideas that you have about your two subjects. Remember that these topics should be connected in some way.Choose a beginning topic. What are some adjectives that define your beginning topic? What are some verbs that your beginning topic does?Write down some ideas/sentences about your beginning topic.Choose an ending topic. What are some adjectives that define your ending topic? What are some verbs that your ending topic does? Write down some ideas/sentences about your ending topic.Now, put it all together using the correct structure.

Tips for writing a Diamante Poem

Step 1 - choose a topic or obect for your poem. Step 2 - List some adjectives that describe your topic or object.Step 3 - List some of your feelings and thoughts towards your topic or object.Step 4 - List some synonyms (words that mean the same) for your topic or object.Finaly, choose the best ideas on your lists to write your poem - following the proper structure.

Tips for writing a Cinquain Poem

Somehow, Somehow

By Nyanda FodayAfter spending 79 days alone during lockdown, 19-year-old Nyanda pours her loneliness into this powerful collection of poems – a testament to the experiences of young people during the pandemic.

Anna Gilmore Heezen

In 2020, Anna Gilmore Heezen, a 17-year-old sixth form pupil at Kilgraston School in Perthshire, became the only Scottish winner in the global Foyle Young Poets of the Year award. Only fifteen young poets were crowned winners out of the 6,000 people who entered.Her poem, Total, is about exam stress and is written in the style of a supermarket receipt.

Red Sky at Night, A Poet's Delight

By Alex Wharton Poems that are funny and full of heart, about seeing the poetry that exists in the ordinary world around us.

The Hidden Story of Estie Noor

By Nadine Aisha JassatA page-turning mystery novel in verse about learning to use your voice, told through our adventurous, 12-year old protagonist, Estie Noor.

Before you begin writing your limerick you should start by writing down different ideas that you have about your particular topic or object. Try to make them funny or light-hearted.List some words that rhyme with your topic or object.List some adjectives that describe your topic or object.Write some interesting facts about your topic or object.Now, pick your favourite ideas and put them together using the correct structure.

Tips for writing a Limerick

Where the Heart Should Be

By Sarah CrossanAn outstanding and moving novel in verse, exploring love and family during The Great Hunger – for older readers.

Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face. I in my mind had waited for this long, Seeing the false and searching for the true, Then found you as a traveller finds a place Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong Valleys and rocks and twisting roads. But you, What shall I call you? A fountain in a waste, A well of water in a country dry, Or anything that's honest and good, an eye That makes the whole world seem bright. Your open heart, Simple with giving, gives the primal deed, The first good world, the blossom, the blowing seed, The hearth, the steadfast land, the wandering sea. Not beautiful or rare in every part. But like yourself, as they were meant to be.

The Confirmation

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

When You Are Old

Before you begin writing your haiku you should start by writing down different ideas that you have about your particular topic or object.Choose a colour for your haiku.List some adjectives that describe your topic or object.List some verbs to do with your topic or object.Write some interesting facts about your topic or object.Now, pick your favourite ideas and put them together using the correct structure.

Tips for writing a Haiku

You Are Not Alone

By Shauna Darling Robertson Thought-provoking, heart-breaking and reassuring poems on mental health and wellbeing – from diagnosed conditions to the everyday personal challenges faced by young people [some mature themes].

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange— The size of it made us all laugh. I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave— They got quarters and I had a half. And that orange, it made me so happy, As ordinary things often do Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park. This is peace and contentment. It’s new. The rest of the day was quite easy. I did all the jobs on my list And enjoyed them and had some time over. I love you. I’m glad I exist.

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Imtiaz Dharker

Imtiaz Dharker’s poetry often deals with themes of identity, separation and home, reflecting the experiences of her own life. Born in Pakistan, she was moved to Scotland when she was very young and brought up in Glasgow. She currently lives between India, London and Wales. She describes herself as a ‘Scottish Muslim Calvinist’.

For the first three stanzas, alternate lines must rhyme. Then the last two llines should be a rhyming couplet.

• Before you begin writing your sonnet, choose a thought or idea to base it on - maybe nature, or love, a pet or a friend?
• List some words that rhyme with your thought or idea.
• Create some sentences about your idea using the rhyming words at the end.
• Write them down, following the sonnet structure
• Good luck!

Tips for writing a Sonnet

Oh give me a pen and some paper Give me a chisel or a cameraA piano and a box of rubber bands I need room for choreography And a darkroom for photography Tie the brush into my hands ​Have you got a biro I can borrow? I’d like to write your name From the belt of Orion to the share of the PloughThe snout of the Bear to the belly of the Lion So when the sun goes down tomorrow There’ll never be a minute Not a moment of the night that hasn’t got you in it

Have you got a biro I can borrow? I’d like to write your name On the palm of my hand, on the walls of the hall The roof of the house, right across the land So when the sun comes up tomorrow It’ll look to this side of the hard-bitten planet Like a big yellow button with your name written on it Have you got a biro I can borrow? I’d like to write some lines In praise of your knee, and the back of your neck And the double-decker bus that brings you to me So when the sun comes up tomorrowIt’ll shine on a world made richer by a sonnetAnd a half-dozen epics as long as the Aeneid

Kate Wakeling

Kate Wakeling is a writer and musicologist. Her debut collection of children’s poetry, Moon Juice won the 2017 CLiPPA and was nominated for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal. Kate’s second collection for children, Cloud Soup was shortlisted for the 2022 CliPPA and selected as a Book of the Month by the Guardian and the Scotsman. Kate’s work for adults has been commended in the Forward Prizes for Poetry and published widely, including in the Guardian, Magma, Oxford Poetry, The Rialto, Butcher’s Dog and Stand Magazine.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?

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My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

Sonnet 130

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.

Heroes and Villains

By Ana SampsonA glorious collection of poems about legends, knights, giants, sea monsters, dragons, wise women and much more.

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,