Desert Island Discs is one of the great survivors of the airwaves. What about a poetic equivalent? If one had to choose 8 poems to be on a desert island with, what would it be?

It's an artificial exercise, and making it even more artificial, let's assume that memory doesn't come into it and one can choose no more than one work from any one poet. Which written poems would one take on the island?

Mine are below. Stuck on the island I think I would need poems that were truly durable, which lifted my sights, and which would keep making me look afresh at my natural surroundings. It's a wrench not to have a Shakespeare sonnet, and I'd have loved to have found room for the world's best bad poet, William McGonagall, who always makes me smile. And there is no modern poetry, and nothing from WOL - great gaps. But the rule is 8.

For A' That and A' That - Robbie Burns

Prayer - George Herbert

Naming of Parts - Henry Reed

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Psalm of Life - Longfellow

When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be - Keats

Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins

Idleness - Andrew Young

What an appealing idea! Now I have to get my thinking cap on...

Dover Beach - Arnold
The Burning of the Leaves - Binyon
Sonnet No. 8 - W.S.
Upon Westminster Bridge - Wordsworth
Recessional - Kipling
The Darkling Thrush - Hardy
Morning Glory - Thomas
Margaritae Sorori - Henley

Thanks MC. I was hoping someone would come up with a load of poems I don't know (not that hard). Looking forward to reading these when I've got a minute

I seem to remember Benjamin Britton appearing ot Desert Island Discs and choosing eight of his own pieces of music! Of course none of us on WOL would ever do that, but how honest of him! (Or just how incredibly conceited!)

This has been an eye-opener, MC. Some great poems. I particularly liked The Burning of the Leaves. Couldn't track down Morning Glory online. Do you have a link?

No doubt this links with your Discussion thread elsewhere -

'Do Modern Poets care about being remembered?'

You seem to be asking how many poems written in the last few years would be in anyone's Desert Island Poems in years to come. Good question.

Off the top of my hat

London - William Blake
Dover Beach - Matthew Arnold
Bagpipe Music - Louis Macniece
The Waste Land - T.S.Eliot
A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford - Derek Mahon
Beasley Street - John Cooper-Clarke
Going, Going - Philip Larkin
Kissing - Fleur Adcock

I call that eclectic.

1.Vitai Lampada – Sir Henry Newbolt

This was one of the first poems I was ever introduced to. Although some may find it rather jingoistic and overly patriotic (a recruitment anthem for the World War I) as a child of about eight it spoke to me, in that it got a message across. Although it’s not, I concede, of any great quality in terms of content or style, I would have to include it in my list as it was the poem which inspired me to attempt to create my own naïve verses.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/newbolt.htm

2 Kubla Khan – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I would take this poem for several reasons. Coleridge led a very interesting life and was local to Devon, where I live. The poem itself had an interesting genesis, fuelled it is said, by opiate consumption and recalled only as fragments of what was intended as a much longer work. I see it as great feat of imagination – conjuring up a picture for the reader from nothing. The last lines, for me, are priceless:

“Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.”

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Coleridge/kubla_khan.htm

3. Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Shelley’s “Ozymandias” is also a poem with a distinct and important message. It speaks of mortality, the inevitability of time and the futility of man’s struggle to hold on to wealth and power. It should be inscribed, writ large, over the doorways of all political and financial institutions.

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Shelley/ozymandias.htm

4. Timothy Winters - Charles Causley

Simply because it reminds me how important compassion is – and how fortunate my life has been. Causley was also relatively local, living just over the border in Launceston, Cornwall. A “bring you back down to earth” poem.

http://allpoetry.com/poem/8493705-Timothy_Winters-by-Charles_Causley

5. Digging – Seamus Heaney

I see this as a hymn to individuality and change; an acknowledgement that, despite traditions and customs, we are all unique with varied interests and talents. These talents make us no better – or worse than anyone else; simply different.

http://www.wussu.com/poems/shdigg.htm

6. Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not) - Keith Douglas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Douglas

There are many “war” poems and poets I could have chosen – Owen, Sassoon, Brooke etc. Perhaps the one positive legacy of modern conflicts is the volumes of verse that attempt to describe the tragedy, horrors and pointlessness of it all. Douglas is, perhaps, one of the lesser known war poets. This particular work illustrates, for me, that no one, ally or enemy, soldier or civilian, escapes war unscathed.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vergissmeinnicht/

7. No Road - Philip Larkin

I like Larkin for his “honest” writing. He doesn’t seem to shrink from self-parody and “telling it like it is.” This poem I find particularly heart-breaking. Out of all the things the world can throw at us, love is the one which has the greatest power to enrich our lives – or to mortally wound us. This poem provides the perfect illustration.

http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/no-road/

8. The Parrot/The Hencote – Bill Froggat

Cheating a bit here – two for the price of one. Stuck alone on a desert island I would need a laugh. These two remind me of northern roots, and just how ridiculous life can be!

http://monologues.co.uk/1960-2000/Hencote_The.htm

http://monologues.co.uk/1960-2000/Parrot_Froggatt.htm

I haven't placed these in any particular order of preference, neither would I claim that they are, and will remain, my all-time favourites; they are just the ones that come to mind at present – besides, some that I would have chosen have already been nominated.

Great thread by the way Dave!

Have you ever listened to Desert Island Discs, Steve? You're on your own. And in the solitude how would one fill all the time with just surviving? Keeping the brain active, remembering what it meant to be human - poetry could be invaluable.

Ray's and Anthony's poems are fascinating. A few of them are long and/or enigmatic and, on reflection, there's a lot be said for that as the years pass. DIGGING was shorter and simpler but was the one that particularly grabbed me.

Sorry Dave - the Thomas poem is more accurately named "The Glory" - and begins..."The glory of the beauty of the morning,-The cuckoo crying over the untouched dew;The blackbird that has found it, and the doveThat tempts me on to something sweeter than love;"It made an appropriate "pairing" with the moving W.E. Henley poem,the last entry on my list. The Binyon poem was read to superb effect in a grand BBC film of yesteryear called "The Queen's Realm" (Edward Mirzoeff) which was a helicopter ride over England through the 4 seasons, to the music and poetry of England. Wonderful stuff!

For many years now I have been lucky
to have a three disc (vinyl) set of
famous poems read by some famous names, including Gielgud and Flora
Robson. But my favourite is a superb reading of "Dover Beach" by
Stephen Murray. It is as perfect as
a poetry reading can be and is one
of the reasons I included that poem
in my own list.

'God Save The Queen' John Lydon
'Howl' Allen Ginsberg
'The Day Lady Died' Frank O'Hara
'Briggflats' Basil Bunting
Well that's four.

Well that explains it - I was looking up R S Thomas and The Glory is by Edward Thomas!

I was very struck by The Day Lady Died; and Briggflats and Howl are great poems which would while away time interestingly on a desert island. God Save the Queen is probably the most surprising choice so far. Are you just being mischievous, Steven? If not it would be interesting to know why you'd want to be cut off from civilisation with this as one eighth (or even a quarter) of your poetic input.

The delightfully irritating aspect
of this blog. is the ruthless
demand it places on our choices -
ONLY eight?! It is no accident that
I find myself thinking of others
that cry out "me, me" - like winsome
orphans begging for attention.
Good blog. Dave!

Shelley "Love's Philosophy"
Betjeman "Pershore Station"
Kipling "Gunga Din"
Alfred Noyes "The Highwayman"
JA Lindon "Scouring Out the Porridge Pot"
Lewis Carroll "Jabberwocky"
Bob Dylan "Every Grain of Sand"
(saving a place for one I'm bound to have forgotten)

John, I don't know, or have forgotten your first four and will look them out when there's a minute but the last 3 are also very much favourites of mine and would have made it into a top 20. It is impossible to read Porridge Pot without grinning, isn't it, no matter how many times you do it.

Dave
Gunga Din has become a by-word for racism. Anyone who reads the poem itself however will see that, despite the imperialist context, it is about the essential dignity of the so-called "inferior" Indian.
I found Porridge Pot in a children's anthology of my kids, along with "I Want a Doughnut" and
"A Peanut sat on a railway track
It's heart was all a-flutter
The 5.15 came roaring by
Toot toot
Peanut butter!"
I wish I'd known of "Love's Philosophy" when I was 17. I reckon I'd have got rid of my cherry sooner! (Still trying!)

Finally got around to reading John's first four poems. Tremendous choices. Well worth looking up, all of them. Thinking of the discussion topic about whether modern poets want to be remembered - does anyone write such vivid, intense and beautifully crafted poetry now?

Dave - I must also look these up. Your choice of the word "crafted"
carried a huge resonance.

In poet alphabetical order, poems chosen were

Kissing - Fleur Adcock
Dover Beach - Arnold (twice)
Pershore Station - Betjeman
Slough - Betjeman
The Burning of the Leaves - Binyon
London - William Blake
Briggflats - Basil Bunting
For A' That and A' That - Robbie Burns
Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll
Timothy Winters - Charles Causley
Kubla Khan – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Beasley Street - John Cooper-Clarke
Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not) - Keith Douglas
Every Grain of Sand - Bob Dylan
The Waste Land - T.S.Eliot
The Parrot/The Hencote – Bill Froggat
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
Howl - Allen Ginsberg
The Darkling Thrush - Hardy
Digging – Seamus Heaney
Margaritae Sorori - Henley
Prayer - George Herbert
Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins
When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be - Keats
Recessional - Kipling
Gunga Din - Kipling
Going, Going - Philip Larkin
No Road - Philip Larkin
Aubade - Philip Larkin
Piano - D H Lawrence
Self Pity - D H Lawrence
Scouring Out the Porridge Pot - J A Lindon
Psalm of Life - Longfellow
God Save The Queen - John Lydon
Bagpipe Music - Louis Macniece
Prayer Before Birth- Louis Macniece
Snow - Louis Macniece
A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford - Derek Mahon
Anniversaries - Andrew Motion
Vitai Lampada – Sir Henry Newbolt
The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes
The Day Lady Died - Frank O'Hara
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfrid Owen
Naming of Parts - Henry Reed
Dolor - Theodore Roethke
Sonnet No. 8 - Shakespeare
Love's Philosophy - Shelley
Ozymandias - Shelley
Morning Glory (aka The Glory) - Edward Thomas
Song of Myself (from Leaves of Grass)- Walt Whitman
Upon Westminster Bridge - Wordsworth
Idleness - Andrew Young

Some notable ommissions -No Yeats, no Byron, no Maya Angelou, no Ted Hughes or Sylvia Plath, no Dylan Thomas or EE Cummings.
Larkin in three times, so is Macniece though that doesn't count cos Chris broke the rules by including him twice. Shelley, Kipling, Arnold, D H Lawrence and Betjeman in twice.

This has been great fun - and a long-overdue (on my part) education and introduction to some fantastic poetry. I wish more people had 'fessed up to their poetic peccadilloes. There's only one downside. After reading these "masterpieces" I'm left feeling "Why do I bother?" I'll get me coat . . .

Gee thanks Dave . . .

Some poets cited twice but any poems cited twice, Dave?

Yes - it's a good exercise. I'm going to copy the list down and go and read them all - though I may give the Wasteland a miss.

I think maybe more people haven't contributed to this thread because they feel they haven't read enough. I know that I'd hestitate to choose all time favourites for that reason. When I buy a dress, I have to look in every shop before I plump for it. It's the same with poetry. To make an informed decision, you have to be very knowledgeable. I also tend to forget the names and poems that I've read...

I quite like the humour of Billy Collins. 'Reasons not to keep a gun in the house' being one of my favourites. That might be the title - or it might be something else ;)

Dave - I recall that some guests have return appearances on Desert Island Discs. If they can have have two chances to choose "8", perhaps you will give us the same opportunity - in due course. :-)

Hi MC

Why not one of us start Desert Island Poems #2 in a few month's time? Whichever of us remembers, perhaps.

John - Dover Beach was chosen twice.

One of my choices isn't showing on Google so here it is

Idleness

God, you've so much to do,
To think of, watch and listen to,
That I will let all else go by
And lending ear and eye
Help you to watch how in the combe
Winds sweep dead leaves without a broom:
And rooks in the spring-reddened trees
Restore their villages,
Nest by dark nest
Swaying at rest on the trees' frail unrest;
Or on this limestone wall,
Leaning at ease, with you recall
How once these heavy stones
Swam in the sea as shells and bones;
And hear that owl snore in a tree
Till it grows dark enough for him to see;
In fact, will learn to shirk
No idleness that I may share your work.

Andrew Young

It seems a near impossible task this Dave.

All I can do is put down the poems I would take today; in the full knowledge that tomorrow some or all would be different.

Anniversaries- Andrew Motion

http://internettrash.com/users/athena/annivs.htm

(Note I would include the poem above- always.)


Snow- Louis MacNeice

http://www.artofeurope.com/macneice/mac5.htm

Aubade- Philip Larkin

http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/aubade/

Slough- Betjeman

http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/intuition/Slough.html

Piano- DH Lawrence

http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/piano.html

Dolor- Theodrake Roethke

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dolor/

Song of Myself (from Leaves of Grass)- Walt Whitman

http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/logr/log_026.html

Prayer Before Birth- Louis MacNeice

http://www.artofeurope.com/macneice/mac1.htm

I think that poems for this purpose
could be likened to the qualities
of someone you might be obliged to share that island with. Would you want someone "fractious", "vulgar".
"crude", "pompous", "presumptious" etc., I know I wouldn't. I would
prefer "calming", "caring"
"inspiring", "thoughtful" and
"stimulating" - but not necessarily
in that particular order.
Dave - thinking on Desert Island
Discs - part the second :-)

Sorry MC,But if I'm obliged to spend eternity sharing my desert island with someone else the qualities I'd be looking for start with nice t**s and b*m. After that I'm not really fussed!

Regards,
A.E. :)

You've got me stumped with your first word Anthony. I can only come up with balls so far - I suppose they do bounce!

Is that clearer?

List above updated for Chris' choices - must find the time to look them up! I hope they're calming and inspiring.

I only used up 7 choices because I knew something would occur to me after. This is it. For those times on the island when I was feeling sorry for myself. DH Lawrence "Self Pity"

I never saw a wild thing

sorry for itself.

A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough

without ever having felt sorry for itself.

Noted.

Desert Island Poems admin

Echoing the others, great idea for a blog, Dave.

.....When this blog's run its course I'll turn it round and start another - what's the most over-rated poem?

Over-rated poem president should be Maya Angelou.

Number 1 over-rated poem might be;

'IF'

Not yet, Chris! You're too eager. Wait for Dave's blog to run its course.

I wish I had the imagination, the
vocabulary, the control and the
discipline to write something like
"IF".
If only....:-)

Ok John, I'll keep all other such poems on hold.


'IF' though?

Mmmmm

As a technical piece of writing it is excellent. A perfectly metered (mimicing nature) call and response, of alternating lines of male and female ending iambic pentamter.

In terms of content though it is pompous machismo that builds up and up into a crescendo of utter nonsense.

Nobody could do what is asked for, it is a ludicrous ask. To not live upto or do what is asked for; makes nobody less of a person. Note I said person! History accepted- today it sounds vaguely sexist and certainly outdated.

Quote
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Unquote

The above is patronising, judgemental head pating from a would-be father character.

The prior line of course;

Quote
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
Unquote

Not bloody likely! Though likely- bloody! Sounds a little too much like Kiplings imperialism jumping out of the page.

Also while we are at it;

Quote
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
Unquote

That would make you a bloody idiot- not a great man or person!

Quote
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you
Unquote

Utter nonsense, stiff upper lip Victorian attitude! You cannot insulate yourself from pain if you love people. You can only insulate yourself in such a way by being cold, reserved and repressed.

The whole thing pompous nonsense! lol

The reason the poem is SOoooo over rated is because it has been labelled as the nations favourite poem. It is a favourite poem because it sounds better than it is! Too many people don't really think about the words, they're taken in by the mood music of the piece, something that is intrinsically related to its meter.

It builds up the ego in the way national anthems do. It appeals to the 'I did it my way' Chauchesku in all of us.

Quote
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
Unquote

This appeals not to objectivity, but to paranoid subjectivity. Everyone is wrong, losing it and they all blame you lol. And subjectively, the one making the assesment is keeping their head. Of course they are! Haha

I'm sure Hitler and Stalin would have loved this bit lol.


You can assume from the above that I do not like it lol.

Heh heh - for what it counts, I could never list 'If' as a favourite poem - even if I was better read.

There IS something dated about it - or maybe I have heard it so many times that it has lost its freshness. It seems corny, cliched by todays standards. I want to hear the Hovis theme tune in the background as I'm listening to it...

That's not to say that it isn't perfectly structured and metred - and such a person if they existed would be pretty perfect. I remember them quoting that poem in relation to Tony Blair - before the Iraq fiasco...

I'm afraid I can't help hearing "If" mumbled by Mike Bassett, and concluded with "4-4-fucking-2".

I recall from a national newspaper that "IF" had been voted the nation's favourite poem - and that within recent memory. Not bad for a bit of "pompous nonsense". It might have used the language of its age but the content is clearly understood by a great many people even now.
Its ongoing "plus" is that it talks things up, exhorting
us to be better than we are, however impossible some of its encouragement might seem to the contemporary mindset used to more malleable and negotiable modes of persuasion.

It's a bit like 'My Way' isn't it. People think YEAH! But then if everyone always lived like that there'd be no compromise. Nightmare.

Loved your selection, Chris, though I wouldn't like Dolor on the island, and probably not Prayer before Birth (which is a second for Macniece - naughty!)

It does feel like the thread is petering/meandering/digressing. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this can be by way of a last shout for 'Good' poems before John starts his 'Bad poems' thread, which is one to look forward to for sure.

'If' he still wants to.....

Maybe a list of "favourite bad poems" would be fun!!

Hi MC - see John C's post above - he's thinking of running one about over-rated poems. Over to him now

Received - we early birds must hope to catch the worm - no, not you J.C.! :-)- but anyone who has a "bad" poem in mind from whenever. Give it some thought.

Well it looks like this thread has run its course. Perhaps this would be a good time for me to chime in with the one and only line that has ever stuck in my head from any of the poetry that I read from school (apart from lines of Shakespeare).

I see that no war poets made it onto the list of favourites. For me, in order for it to be memorable, poetry has to be moving - connect to humanity in some way.

It helps of course, if I understand it without having to beat it about with a metaphorical iron crow bar...

I also like simplicity of language - it carries more punch.

'And each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.'

Wilfred Owen 1893-1918

I'd wondered about the lack of war poets, too. You've certainly chosen a good one - Anthem for Doomed Youth now included.

I've just noted that Anthony posted one (his No 6 by Keith Douglas). The language/flow isn't as moving as the famous war poems but it's good to be introduced to less well known poets. I'm trying to enrich myself by reading some of these but I think I'm reaching saturation point :)

War poetry remembered...
Isobel's choice of the Wilfrid Owen
line is exactly the sort that deserves to stay in the memory.
On a personal and somewhat wayward
note, it's funny how some can get upset about the use of language and
images in certain contexts. In one
poem to a small print poetry publisher, I used the lines...
"When you look at me like that,
I want to go and kick the cat..."
This earned me a resounding rebuke for using inappropriate language in the context of a sentient animal. There was a brief and short-lived
exchange of views in which I quoted
Sassoon's line from "The General" -
"And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine...".
There was no response and we ceased corresponding. A war poet was my
ally that day!

Making this list brought back a lot of fond memories for me. I thought your idea was great and thank you for allowing us to partake. I’ve picked poems that I like, but maybe others haven’t read.

1 “SNARLEYOW” by Rudyard Kipling. Most people know about the Charge of the Light Brigade, but very few appear to know about this poem or even read it. To me it portrays war as it really is. http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2714/

2 “From a Railway Carriage” by Robert Louis Stevenson. This was one of the first poems I learnt at school and in the late 40s on trips to the Blackpool I would recite this poem to my mother and father to the sound of the train wheels clicking over the rails.
http://www.lnstar.com/mall/literature/rls/FromaRailwayCarriage.htm

3 “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe I just love it’ double rhyming rhythm. Looking forward to the film coming out, though I doubt if it’s anything to do with the poem. http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

4 “The Cry Of The Children” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Another long poem, but written with lots of feeling. http://www.bartleby.com/246/260.html
5 “The Quangle Wangles Hat” by Edward Lear. Again lots of people know about the The Owl and the Pussycat but not about The Quangle Wangles Hat. http://www.poetry-online.org/lear_the_quangle_wangles_hat.htm

6 “Infant Land” is by a modern day poet and friend of mine, some of his poems can be read on the following site: http://paulpoet.co.uk/

7 “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I remember hearing this at school. At 4 0’clock I went to watch our local blacksmith as we still used horses to carry the bales of cotton from Bolton railway station to the mills. http://www.bartleby.com/102/59.html

8 “The Lion and Albert” by Marriott Edgar. I heard people say that this is not a poem it’s a monologue, but aren’t all poems monologues? http://monologues.co.uk/Albert_and_the_Lion.htm






appened in a battle to a batt'ry of the corps
Which at first among the women an' amazin' first in war;
An' what the bloomin' battle was I don't remember now'
But two's off-lead answered to the name o' Snarleyow.
Down in the Infantry, nobody cares;
Down in the Cavalry, Colonel 'e swears;
But down in the lead with the wheel at the flog
Turns the bold Bombardier to a little whipped dog!

They was movin' into action, they was needed very sore,
To learn a little schoolin' to a native army-core,
They 'ad nipped against an uphill, they was tuckin' down the brow,
When a tricky turrlin' roundshot give the knock to Snarleyow.
They cut 'im loose an' 'im 'e was almost tore in two
But he tried to follow after as a well-trained 'orse should do;
'E went an' fouled the limber, an' the Driver's Brother squeals:
"Pull up, pull up for Snarleyow 's head's between 'is 'eels!"

The Driver 'umped 'is shoulder, for the wheels was goin' round;
An' there ain't no "Stop conducter!" when a batt'ry's changin' ground;
Sez 'e "I broke the begger in, an' very sad I feels.
"But I couldn't pull up, not for you - yours 'head between your 'eels!"

'E 'adn't 'ardly spoke the word, before a droppin' shell
A little right the batt'ry an' between the sections fell;
An' when the smoke 'ad cleared away, before the limber - wheels
There lay the Driver's Brother with 'is 'ead between ;is 'eels
Then sez the Driver's Brother, an' 'is words was very plain,
"For Gawd's own sake get over me, an' put me out o' pain."
They saw 'is wounds was mortial, an' they judged that it was best,
So they took an' drove the limber straight across 'is back an' chest.

The Driver 'e give nothin' 'cept a little coughin' grunt,
But 'e swung 'is 'orses 'andsome when it came to "Action Front!"
An' if one wheel was juicy, you may lay your Monday head
'Twas juicier for the niggers when the case began to spread.

The moril of this story, it is plainly to be seen:
You 'aven't got no families when servin' of the Queen -
You 'aven't got no brother, father, sisters, wives, or sons -
If you want to win your battles take an' work your bloomin' guns!
Down in the Infantry, nobody cares;
Down in the Cavalry, Colonel 'e swears;
But down in the lead with the wheel in the flog
Turns the bold Bombardier to a little whipped dog!

how interesting, John that you should select two poems I would include:- The Lion and Albert (I was brought up on a diet of Mariot Edgar's monolgues ) and The Blacksmith which my mother was always quoting.I should think this explains my natural predisposition for rhyming, rhythmical poetry.
To the above I would add
The Lady of Shallot - Tennyson - wonderful material to say aloud
likewise
'The Destruction of Sennacherib' - Byron.
'A Nightmare' WS Gilbert, as, at last, I'd have time to practise getting this up to speed.
'The Wasteland' - Eliott
'The Nuns Priest's Tale - Chaucer
'Dulce et Decorum Est' - Owen.

I was interested to note Yvonne's choice of Gilbert's "Nightmare" song. Whilst not usually associated with poetry per se, the brilliance of WS's work is such that it should be. He was the inspiration for a number of the early lyricists associated with the great "standards" - like Cole Porter and P.G. Wodehouse.

Great idea for a thread. Prompted me to spend a night reading through several anthologies, reminding me of half-forgotten poems. Where to start? So much to choose from. But sorry nothing recent springs to mind.
Rimbaud's Seven Year Old Poet for sombre emotion and revolution.T.S. Eliot Wasteland only 'cos I have just read it for the first time and it could get my mind working.
Got to have Dylan Thomas maybe The Force that through the Green Fuse etc.
Adrian Holst The Ploughman 'cos I read this out loud at an old farmer's funeral and still cry when I read it.
Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen by W.B. Yeats
William Plomer for tragi-comedy, and his Mews Flat Mona reminds me of someone.
Ruth Pitter's But for Lust 'cos that was a fav of mine when a teenager.
Edward Thomas The Owl to remind me of cold nights walk to down pub.
Just realised these choices are all death and despondency - what a miserable old sod I am!

@Chris Co: Also the bull-shit in the following effort: The Lake Isle Of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats.
I have been on Innisfree and it would be hard to survive on this small Island never mind this upper-crust poet without his smoking-jacket, bow-ties and pomade.

Ian Parks was the writer in residence at Gladstone's Library, Hawarden in November. I missed all the workshops and other events but caught the final event on 22nd November in which he read and discussed his desert island poems.

These were -

The Collier – Vernon Watkins
At Castle Boterel – Thomas Hardy
As I walked out one evening – W.H.Auden
The Mask of Anarchy – Shelley (another fan - see Sophie's thread on this one)
Experience - Dorothy Parker
Comment – Dorothy Parker
Full Moon – Robert Graves
Roads – Edward Thomas
The Thoughtfox – Ted Hughes
Candles – Cavafy (as translated by Parks himself)

In Parks' view, Twentieth century poetry would have been different if Edward Thomas had lived – he rates him that highly and praised him at length. He also spent some time on The White Goddess by Robert Graves of which he approves highly, referring to it as a Bible for 20th century poets. In my ignorance, I'd never heard of it. Googling reveals that it is indeed influential but also controversial with its historical claims disputed by scholars.

It was a privilege to hear Parks and benefit from his remarkably well-stocked mind. Despite his status as a highly respected, established modern poet, he came across as pleasingly free of ego, and with a real love of poetry.

Personally, I like Edward Thomas but I wouldn't rate him very highly.

Of course 'If' is popular. It entirely fits into a certain mainly male view of white supremacy that the 'angry old man' likes. It's the poetic equivalent of a Mitt Romney speech. It's as lazy and ill-thought out as a Daily Mail editorial.

Personally, I couldn't do without:

Frank O'Hara: The Day Lady Died
John Ashbery: Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape
John Ash: Cigarettes
Elaine Randell: Diary of a Working Man
George Oppen: Psalm
Caroline Bergvall: Via
Denise Riley: A Part Song (won the Forward Prize for individual poem this year: wonderful, sad, intensely felt poem about loss and grief)

but that's just today: I'll probably have another list tomorrow.

An updated comprehensive list (88 poems)-

Kissing - Fleur Adcock
Dover Beach - Arnold
Cigarettes – John Ash
Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape - John Ashbery
As I walked out one evening – W H Auden
The Cry of the Children – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Via - Caroline Bergvall
Pershore Station - Betjeman
Slough - Betjeman
The Burning of the Leaves - Binyon
London - William Blake
Briggflats - Basil Bunting
For A' That and A' That - Robbie Burns
The Destruction of Sennacherib - Byron
Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll
Timothy Winters - Charles Causley
Candles - Cavafy
The Nuns Priest's Tale - Chaucer
Kubla Khan – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Another Reason I don't keep a Gun in the House – Billy Collins
Beasley Street - John Cooper-Clarke
Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not) - Keith Douglas
Every Grain of Sand - Bob Dylan
The Lion and Albert – Marriott Edgar
The Waste Land - T.S.Eliot
The Parrot/The Hencote – Bill Froggat
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
A Nightmare – W S Gilbert
Howl - Allen Ginsberg
Full Moon – Robert Graves
The Darkling Thrush – Hardy
At Castle Boterel - Hardy
Digging – Seamus Heaney
Margaritae Sorori - Henley
Prayer - George Herbert
The Ploughman – Adrian Holst
Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins
The Thoughtfox – Ted Hughes
When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be - Keats
Recessional - Kipling
Gunga Din – Kipling
Snarleyow - Kipling
Going, Going - Philip Larkin
No Road - Philip Larkin
Aubade - Philip Larkin
Piano - D H Lawrence
Self Pity - D H Lawrence
Scouring Out the Porridge Pot - J A Lindon
Psalm of Life – Longfellow
The Village Blacksmith - Longfellow
God Save The Queen - John Lydon
Bagpipe Music - Louis Macniece
Prayer Before Birth- Louis Macniece
Snow - Louis Macniece
A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford - Derek Mahon
Anniversaries - Andrew Motion
Vitai Lampada – Sir Henry Newbolt
The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes
The Day Lady Died - Frank O'Hara
Psalm - Goerge Oppen
Anthem for Doomed Youth - Wilfrid Owen
Dulce et decorum est – Wilfrid Owen
Experience – Dorothy Parker
Comment - Dorothy Parker
But for Lust – Ruth Pitter
Mews Flat Mona – William Plomer
The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe
Diary of a Working Man – Elaine Randell
Naming of Parts - Henry Reed
A Part Song – Denise Riley
The Seven Year Old Poet – Arthur Rimbaud
Dolor - Theodore Roethke
Sonnet No. 8 - Shakespeare
Love's Philosophy – Shelley
The Mask of Anarchy - Shelley
Ozymandias – Shelley
From a Railway Carriage - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Lady of Shallott – Tennyson
The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower - Dylan Thomas
Morning Glory (aka The Glory) - Edward Thomas
The Owl – Edward Thomas
Roads – Edward Thomas
The Collier - Vernon Watkins
Song of Myself (from Leaves of Grass)- Walt Whitman
Upon Westminster Bridge – Wordsworth
Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen – W B Yeats
Idleness - Andrew Young

also - Infant Land by paulpoet, John Silkstone's friend – link to poem no longer exists

Ode To A Nightingale - Keats
Lady Lazarus - Plath
Bookends - Tony Harrison
Columbine Massacre section of Killing Time - Simon Armitage
The Second Coming - Yeats
Villanelle for Our Time - F R Scott
This Be The Verse - Larkin
September 1st 1939 - Auden
Miracle - Thom Gunn

But this might change in the next hour.