Poems on the Underground


Travelling on the London Underground recently I picked up this leaflet. Glad I did.... it is a collection of 30 poems from among the 500 which the Foreword says have featured on the Tube since 1986.

Poems in the Underground started 30 years ago when a group of friends, writers and poets, with the support of the London Underground had the idea of sharing favourite pieces of poetry with colleague commuters.  The programme has since been adopted over the years by many cities around the world.

Some of my old school favourites are among these thirty: Shelley's Ozymandias, Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 and Keats's Endymion and of course some new to me.

Poems on the Underground has been published by Penguin Books in different versions, a hardcover and an e-book in 2012 and a paperback in 2015.  Check out this link to Penguin for more information.

I wonder if some of your favourites are in there and what for you is the poetry pearl in your oyster.