A Poem for Every Night of the Year

Product Information

Most of the poems were not really my piece of cake, but that's what you get with a collection: a variety of poetic doems, themes, and writers. And the good thing is, a collection makes discovering new writers easy. It kind of forced me out of my small bubble and I added some poets on my to-read-more-of list :) The celebration of ridiculousness in a nursery rhyme. Vintage image for Hey Diddle from WikiMedia Commons What might we find surprising in your notes alongside the nursery rhymes in A Nursery Rhyme for Every Night of the Year? So why a three star rating? It just isn’t a numbers game with those kind of books. Rating poetry is highly subjective anyway. And three stars feels about right for the overall experience. Allie Esiri has put together a really strong collection. The poems match the time of the year with the themes reflecting the seasons and its associated mood. This is especially so during the December part of the book with many festive pieces being used. She has also used many extracts from larger works to give a taste of longer more developed poetry throughout, which I think is very important because many of the major poetical works in the English language are thousands and thousands of lines long. Short poems are more accessible, but longer ones often carry much more with them.

A friend bought this for me for Christmas last year, and I can honestly say it’s one of the best presents I’ve ever received. It’s introduced me to quite a few poets I never heard of and it has also reacquainted me with some of my all-time favourites. The poems are varied and they tend to match the time of year perfectly. There are special poems for Halloween and Christmas and for the changing of the seasons. Finished this 10 days early. I was trying to read one a day but now I want to wrap up my challenges at the end of the year, lol. Das Konzept "ein Gedicht pro Tag" für das ganze Jahr finde ich richtig schön und sowohl die generelle Auswahl als auch die Gestaltung dieses Buches (jeder Monat wird von einer Baum-Illustration eingeleitet, die sich den Jahreszeiten entsprechend verändert) ist äußerst gelungen. Mich haben aber hier und da einige Kleinigkeiten gestört: OK my new year reading resolutions, I obviously did not reach my goal this year, yet I'm still going to try read 30 books next year 😂 My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends– / It gives a lovely light!” -Edna St Vincent Millay

So starts the last poem in "A Poem For Every Day of the Year" edited by Allie Esiri. The poem being "Ring out, wild bells" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Allie Esiri, described in a Tatler profile as 'a poetry powerhouse', is a former English stage, film and television actress, now a writer.

Beautiful collection of poetry. It took me nearly four years to finish, occasionally reading some poems, but I loved this volume and will be looking for something similar to read in the future. Allie Esiri's delightfully eclectic anthology takes you on a poetic journey through every night of the calendar year. A fun book for all the family to enjoy. Tatler

The OCD side of my bookworm self had to physically be restrained so as to read only one poem every night as the title suggests. *lol* But it was kind of a nice reading experience and definitely a little different from how I usually read so it was absolutely worth it.