(H/B) THE POETRY PHARMACY

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Sometimes only a poem will do. These poetic prescriptions and wise words of advice offer comfort, delight and inspiration for all; a space for reflection, and that precious realization - I'm not the only one who feels like this.In the years since he first had the idea of prescribing short, powerful poems for all manner of spiritual ailments, William Sieghart has taken his Poetry Pharmacy around the length and breadth of Britain, into the pages of the Guardian, onto BBC Radio 4 and onto the television, honing his prescriptions all the time.
This pocket-sized book presents the most essential poems in his dispensary: those which, again and again, have really shown themselves to work. Whether you are suffering from loneliness, lack of courage, heartbreak, hopelessness, or even from an excess of ego, there is something here to ease your pain. (From the publisher)

Περιεχόμενα

With Thanks
Introduction
The History of the Poetry Pharmacy
How to Read a Poem
-Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
Anxiety
The Peace of Wild Things, by Wendell Berry
Compulsive Behaviour
from "New Every Morning", by Susan Coolidge
Depression
Everyone Sang, by Siegfried Sassoon
Psychological Scarring
'Although the wind', by Izumi Shikibu
Old Age
All That is Gold Does Not Glitter, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Glumness
Celia Celia, by Adrian Mitchell
Purposelessness
The Way It Is, by William Stafford
Need for Reassurance
Everything is Going to be All Right, by Derek Mahon
Hopelessness
from "You'll Never Walk Alone", by Oscar Hammerstein II
Feelings of Unreality
from "Of Gravity and Light", by John Burnside
Emotional Baggage
Burlap Sack, by Jane Hirshfield
Convalescence
Chemotherapy, by Julia Darling
Loneliness
from "My Brilliant Image", by Hafez
-Motivations
Inertia When Alone
Love after Love, by Derek Walcott
Stagnation
The Trees, by Philip Larkin
Lack of Courage
Come to the Edge, by Christopher Logue
Defeatism
Thinking, by Walter D. Wintle
Dissatisfaction with Life
The Price, by Stuart Henson
Lethargy
Nobody, by Michael Laskey
Feelings of Worthlessness
from At Set of Sun, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Loss of Zest for Life
Ironing, by Vicki Feaver
Failure to Live in the Moment
Golden Retrievals, by Mark Doty
Need for Moral Guidance
"If-", by Rudyard Kipling
-Self-Image and Self-Acceptance
Insecurity
Phenomenal Woman, by Maya Angelou
Self-Recrimination
Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver
Making Mistakes
The Mistake, by James Fenton
Guilt at Not Living in the Moment
The Present, by Billy Collins
Emotional Repression
The Guest House, by Rumi
Regret
The Ideal, by James Fenton
Sexual Repression
Look at These, by Helen Parish
-The World and Other People
Fear of the Unknown
What If This Road, by Sheenagh Pugh
Living with Difference
'I am in love with every church', by Hafez
Oppression
Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou
Fear of the Other
'No man is an island', by John Donne
Social Overload
Best Society, by Philip Larkin
Ageing Parents
Follower, by Seamus Heaney
Displacement
Front Door, by Imtiaz Dharker
Parental Protectiveness
Nettles, by Vernon Scannell
Longing for Beauty
from Endymion, by John Keats
Unkindness
It Happens All the Time in Heaven, by Hafez
News Overload
Sometimes, by Sheenagh Pugh
-Love and Loss
Infatuation
'I want to see you', attributed to Rumi
Unrequited Love
Two Cures for Love, by Wendy Cope
Seeking One's Soulmate
Your Task, attributed to Rumi
Obsessive Love
The Fist, by Derek Walcott
False Expectations in Love
Defining the Problem, by Wendy Cope
Rocky Relationships
Cross, by P. K. Page
Romantic Boredom
Atlas, by U. A. Fanthorpe
Complacency in Love
'Love is not all', by Edna St Vincent Millay
Losing the Spark
Voice, by Ann Samson
Heartbreak
Recension Day, by Duncan Forbes
Divorce
Failing and Flying, by Jack Gilbert
Bereavement
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep, by Mary Elizabeth Frye
Balanced Grief
My Funeral, by Wendy Cope
Maturing Grief
Into the Hour, by Elizabeth Jennings
Loss of Elderly Relatives
Maureen Durcan, by Paul Durcan
Index of First Lines
Index of Conditions
Acknowledgements