Poetry is often cited as our greatest use of words. The English language has well over a million of them and poets down the ages seem, at times, to make use of every single one. But often they use them in simple ways to describe anything and everything from landscapes to all aspects of the human condition. Poems can evoke within us an individual response that takes us by surprise, that opens our ears and eyes to very personal feelings. Forget the idea of classic poetry being somehow dull and boring and best kept to children's textbooks. It still has life, vibrancy and relevance to our lives today.

Where to start? How to do that? Poetry can be difficult. We've put together some very eclectic poetry, with a broad range of poets and themes, to entice you and seduce you with all manner of temptations. In this hour we introduce poets of the quality and breadth of Edward Lear and Robert Southey as well as themes on Heaven, death, the metaphysical poets and more. All of them are from Portable Poetry, a dedicated poetry publisher. We believe that poetry should be a part of our everyday lives, uplifting the soul and reaching the parts that other arts can't.