This book changed my perspection about poems. I learned how a poem can heal you unknowingly. I loved this collection of poems. I will read more books by this author. It was a good read.

The Poetry Pharmacy is an eclectic selection of poetry ranging from the ancient Persian delights of Hafez to the contemporary charms of Wendy Cope. The poems are ordered very usefully into the particularly peculiar afflictions that beset human beings of all ages and times - although 'Guilt At Not Living in the Moment' might be seen to be a mostly 21st century concern.
Poetry, for me, offers celebration of the joy of life and comfort for the pain of life. This seems to be more in need during this strange period we are currently living through. This book is a perfect companion for self-care and a helpful tool for supporting good mental health in others. I use it a lot in my bibliotherapy work in libraries, where the poems help people gain insight into the personal challenges they’re dealing with and helps them develop strategies to address their most concerning issues. In the ‘Book Chat’ group that I facilitate, reading these poems has helped promote problem solving, understanding, and self-awareness. I wouldn’t be without it.

A beautiful book. No matter what you’re feeling, this book will contain a poem to lift your spirits or help you feel less alone. From grief, to heartbreak to familial issues, this book covers it all and on each page is a new piece of poetry to discover.

Excellent entry point for beginners like me who aren’t very familiar with poetry. Don’t recommend reading page by page. Take what you need and leave the rest for another time.

The “prescriptions” are too long. I skipped them after reading a few.

Favourite poems from the anthology

The Way It Is by William Stafford
Love after Love by Derek Walcott
The Trees by Philip Larkin
Come to the Edge by Christopher Logue
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
The Present by Billy Collins
The Guest House by Rumi; translated by Coleman Barks
Your Task, attributed to Rumi; translator unknown
Defining the Problem by Wendy Cope
Cross by P.K. Page
Love is not all by Edna St Vincent Millay

3 stars

This anthology reminds me of the Being Alive series from Bloodaxe Books. Only on a smaller scale. I really enjoyed this anthology which offers a good selection of more recent poetry and older poems by the likes of Maya Angelou. Some of my favourite poems and poets around found in these pages and it was a treat to revisit old friends such as Celia Ceilia by Adrian Mitchell, Everything is going to be All Right by Derek Mahon, Wild Geese by Mary Oliver and Chemotherapy by Julia Darling. I also discovered some new voices. My only issue is that the anthology is too short. There is only one poem for each theme. I would have been happy to read a few for each one.

Sieghart prescribes poetry. Sounds slightly trite, doesn’t it? But it works. Even if the poem itself isn’t your thing the intro to go alongside it... somehow it’s as if the acknowledgement of what you’ve feeling, looking it up in the contents pages and settling down, the act of doing that and reading someone’s attempt to discuss the emotions, helps. Give it a go. The Poetry Pharmacy is open, and you can come as often as you like or need - it will be there.

The premise of this collection is as its title suggests. My initial fears that the poems would be organised under generic themes were quickly proven wrong; Sieghart is extremely thoughtful in his prescriptions, which are intuitively navigable. Particularly striking is the fact that in his introduction Sieghart discusses the value of carrying poems as talismans to be recited as sources of strength and comfort when a certain emotion or event arises. This , teamed with his accessible advice on 'How to Read a Poem', cleverly opens up a lot more of the book to a reader who may feel a lot of the poetry it contains is not applicable to their own experience. The preamble before each poem is varied in its utility. Often these designedly comforting passages are far longer than the poem they describe. No doubt this is helpful to a more tentative reader of poetry, but I found some of these introductions a little blinkering as they prevented me from responding as openly and genuinely as I would like to the poem that followed.

As a Literature graduate and now teacher, I like poetry. I don't always love it and think some of it is ghastly so I definitely was not a sure thing for loving this book. However, I really liked the premise that poetry has the power to express emotion and provide comfort at times. Sometimes, I agree with the writer, poems can express human emotions succinctly and in a way that makes readers realise they aren't alone.

In this book, William Sieghart prescribes poems for a range of problems and life situations ranging from unrequited love to news overload (very topical!), the need for moral guidance to loneliness. The problem is explained and a poem introduced for each issue. The poems are a lovely mix - there are some old favourites in there and a lot that were new to me. None of the poems are very long and all are quite accessible - not too much grappling with incomprehensible bits at all! There's also a mix of old and new poems, although the collection definitely leans more towards the more contemporary, I think.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is happy to give headspace to poetry - if you are open to the idea that poetry can make you feel better then this is absolutely worth a shot! I discovered some great new poetry, felt a bit better about some of my problems and enjoyed the process of reading and thinking. My only quibble was that I think humour has much more place in improving mental health than this book affords - there are some funny poems but I'd have liked to have seen a few more. Maybe in The Poetry Pharmacy Returns...