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Author: Nicola Watson
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  • 5 minutes

Poetry prescription

Updated Monday, 3 July 2023
Feeling loving, adventurous or scared? Poetry Prescription will find you the perfect poem to reflect your mood. 

This content is associated with The Open University's Creative Writing courses and qualifications.



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Poetry prescription interface with the text 'Poetry Prescription prescribes a poem to suit your mind. What's on your mind?' embedded in the image.

Find a poem to suit your mood

 

Acknowledgements

‘What if this road’ by Sheenagh Pugh, from Id’s Hospit (Seren, 1997)

From ‘Drysalter’ by Michael Symmons Roberts. Published by Vintage. Reprinted by permission of the Random House Group Limited

Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Group Ltd., London on behalf of The Trustees of the Pooh Properties. Copyright © Trustees of the Pooh Properties 1927

Fleur Adstock ‘Against Coupling’, Poems 1960-2000, Bloodaxe Books, 2000. Reprinted with permission of Bloodaxe Books, on behalf of the author

Clare Brant, ‘Eggs’ from Dark Egg, Shoestring Press, used with permission

Jane Kenyon, ‘Happiness’ from Collected Poems. Copyright © 2005 by the Estate of Jane Kenyon. Used with the permission for The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org

All images in Poetry Prescription were provided by Unsplash except:

'Baby Shoes' by Nedra under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 licence.

'Yoho Road' by James Wheeler under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 licence

'Bunratty Castle Jacobean Bed' by B y Fredi under CC-BY-2.0 licence.

'White Corset Closeup' by Photowitch | Dreamstime.com

'Snowscape Over Scottish Loch' by Bred2k8 | Dreamstime.com

'Haze Hills Landscape' by Andriy Markov | Dreamstime.com

Study a free poetry course 

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    What is poetry?

    Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.

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  • Approaching poetry

    Approaching poetry

    Do you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn ...

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  • The poetry of Sorley MacLean

    The poetry of Sorley MacLean

    Sorley MacLean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This free course, The poetry of Sorley MacLean, will introduce you to his poetry and give you an insight into the cultural, historical and political contexts that inform his work. MacLean wrote in Gaelic and the importance of the language to ...

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