THE POEMS THAT SPEAK TO ME

John Anderson, my Jo, John by Robert Burns is one of the great poems and songs about love and friendship. And friendship has been very important to people in these difficult times. In Praise of Limestone by WH Auden, above, is one of the finest nature poems in the English language and, like many, I have felt myself getting closer to nature in this period. Homer’s The Odyssey is another favourite. Homer speaks to us across a gulf of thousands of years. In difficult times, it is always reassuring to go back to the great classics.