October Meeting

Our October meeting was very well attended, with the usual wide range of poems from the famous to the ‘utilitarian but fun’. We were trying to catch up with poems left over from last month, but once again discussions were so enthusiastic and varied in opinion that some members of the group did not get to read their poems. This will eventually work itself out in further ‘Favourite poems’ sessions.


The poems we did manage to cover this month were the very inventive ‘Recipe for a Salad’, by Sydney Smith – surprisingly modern for an 18thC poet; the famous and entertaining ‘A Smuggler’s Song’ by Kipling; a whimsical but untitled poem discovered as part of an advertisment for Dulux paint - this is the 'utilitarian but fun poem' created for a commercial purpose and none the worse for that. We also heard and commented on Andrew Motion’s clever comment on middle class complacency: ‘A Glass of Wine’; the insightful, beautifully restrained and very witty ‘A Message to My Grandson’ by the Australian poet Michael Thwaites; ‘Nettles’ by Vernon Scannell; and the renowned ‘Lady of Shallott’ by Tennyson. This poem caused more comment and controversy that might be expected. Disliked by some, loved by others, we almost ended up deciding on a whole session devoted to (1) this poem, or (2) Tennyson, or (3) similar works of the 19thC. In the end we agreed that the next meeting in November should take on the topic of Heaven and Hell – very appropriate for a meeting that will take place less than a week after the Feast of All Hallows!