Another excellent meeting where we welcomed Harry as a new member and Nora as a very recent member of the group. Susan Jones is joining us next time and then our group will be full. As ever, we read a wide variety of poems, although the Romantic movement was well represented.

There is a lot about Shelley on Wikipedia and it's well worth a read but the few bits of information I was struggling to remember are;

In 1819 he wrote a very political poem , The Mask of Anarchy, as a call to peaceful resistance against an authoritarian government soon after the Peterloo Massacre.

He drowned off the coast of Italy in a boating accident on the first of July 1822

I read Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth and 5th January by Di Slaney

Nancy read An Apple Gathering by Christina Rossetti (another Romantic poet) and Bed In Summer by RL Stevenson

Jane read a piece of poetry from a local dementia group - here are some examples from the Alzheimer’s Society

Christine read Love's Philosophy by Shelley and I Heard Your Voice In The Wind Today by Tim Edds

Nora read The House At The End Of The Woods by Mary Wilson

Ralph read My prime of youth is but a frost of cares by Chidiok Tichbourne and The Widower's Courtship by Elizabeth Hands

Sue read Young Women In Rollers by Douglas Dunn

Vicky read Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath

Lynn read The Shout by Simon Armitage and Mr. Strugnell by Wendy Cope

Carol read Nude Descending A Staircase by XJ Kennedy. A poem based on a painting by Marcel Duchamp

Irene read Spring Wind In London by Katherine Mansfield and A sepal-petal, and a thorn by Emily Dickinson

Catherine read Joy Chose You and 2025 both by Donna Ashworth

Our next meeting is on Septemeber 16th. I look forward to another lively exploration of poetry.