Poetry can be a very soothing read when your psyche is damaged or your life is a bit adrift. But where to start? And how to find the best poems for your current mood? That’s where William Sieghart’s The Poetry Pharmacy Forever comes in. It’s the latest in the great series which groups poems by the theme they might help you with ~ we have loneliness, anxiety, self esteem etc.,

Mr Sieghart is very good at ‘hand holding’ through poetry’s complexities so you can find its universal message. Several of my favourite poems/poets are here (including the brilliant Being Boring by Wendy Cope and a favourite by WB Yeats) but for me the joy of the books is discovering new poets. I’m currently researching Danusha Laméris and Sheenagh Pugh.

Tony Harrison’s poem about the death of his parents is heartbreakingly beautiful…

…believe life ends with death, and that is all. You haven’t both gone shopping; just the same, in my new black leather phone book there’s your name and the disconnected number I still call…

I could quote from six or seven poems which really resonated with me, but better you read it and see what resonates with you. An excellent gift for a person of any age but would be ideal for a young person who’s a bit lost. They’ll realise that others have felt that way too, and it’s reassuring.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley.

The premise of the Poetry Pharmacy books, of which this is the third in the series, is that poetry has the capacity yo aid is through the ups and downs of life. Even if you are not an enthusiastic reader of poetry you undoubtedly will have experienced its capacity to capture the emotions of the moment, whether it be a funeral or a wedding. This however is not just another poetry anthology, William Sieghart provides both a "prescription" and an explanation of why a poem in appropriate for specific circumstances. The poems themselves are drawn from such a wide range of styles and time periods that there is sure to be something for everyone.

This edition covers such themes as Coming Together, Moving Apart, Grief, Checking Out and Tuning In, Finding Light, and Great Escapes. I appreciated so many of these poems and will be purchasing the hardback to sit alongside the other editions on my bookshelf. While it is a book well worth reading cover to cover it is one you are going to want to reach for time and again.

As usual, The Poetry Pharmacy knocks it out the park. A beautiful selection of poems to help you out in any predicament.

I thought the idea of the book was really great and quite liked the execution of it.

The prescription texts that introduced the subject of each poem were entertaining and gave great insight into the topic of the following poem each time. There was a good range of poems selected, so even though not all were exactly to my taste, I found some that I liked very much and did not know before.

I especially enjoyed "Long Distance II" by Toni Harrison which was very fittingly prescribed for "Grieving Differently", "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley for the "Need To Take Control" as well as "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W. B. Yeats for the "Need For Escape".

A very sweet and accessible poetry book. I love the concept of poetry as a prescription, and the introduction to each poem from the curator was really lovely. A great mix of poems.

Some brilliant poems in this, and such a brilliant concept. I enjoyed both this book and the first anthology.

This was my first poetry pharmacy book and it certainly won't be my last. What I loved the most about this lovely collection of poetry were the descriptions and explanations before the poems, it makes poetry so accessible to so many more people. I will definitely be recommending these to people in my life. There's poems being hope and calm to a chaotic world.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book

There are some brilliant and evocative poems in this anthology, and some great illustrative essays. It's a wonderful book and a very straightforward way to introduce some really good poems, and muse on how they connect with emotions.

This is a really interesting way to organise poems, to act as prescriptions. It includes a great selection of poems from a range of authors, both old and new.

This was a really great collection of poetry. I loved the way each poem was connected to a negative feeling and came alongside a short explanation of why the poem in particular has been chosen. A lot of collections feel quite impersonal and like they’re just thrown together but this introduction to each one made the poems feel even more poignant.

I’d recommend this to anyone - it would make a great gift, whether the recipient is already into poetry or not.

A balm for the soul! This is my first foray into the Poetry Pharmacy books and I'm completely blown away. Everyone needs to read this series. Or to at least keep it to hand so it's there whenever it's needed for a quiet, gentle dip in to reassure and reset.

** A copy of The Poetry Pharmacy Forever was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

I'm a big fan of William Sieghart and The Poetry Pharmacy. Their posts during the initial months of the COVID pandemic re-ignited my love of poetry, so I look at these books with fondness. The third instalment follows the same style and relies on Sieghart's great knowledge of poetry. I will come back to some of these poems again and again, and continue to gift the books to loved ones. My biggest criticism though is that the poems could be more diverse and inclusive.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

Having read the first Poetry Pharmacy collection, returning to Sieghart's style was comforting, knowing that Sieghart wields a great knowledge of poetry. This said, this collection lacks the novelty of the first and relies much more, this time, on Sieghart's often repetitive prescriptions than a wide array of poetry. Many poems chosen are often shared, anthologised and well-known, and while I appreciate this means they are popular and resonate, it did feel disappointing that so much of this collection seemed a rehash of previous collections seeking to do the same thing as Sieghart does with his pharmacy.

The prescriptions this time were long-winded too - focusing more on Sieghart espousing upon the 'ailment' rather than economically 'prescribing' the poem which follows. It simply felt like sitting more in the negative than in the hope, promise and joy of poetry, an experience I certainly felt when reading the first Poetry Pharmacy collection.

I have no doubt, however, many will still find a collection like this a good read to dip into, a lovely gift, and for newbies to poetry, it is a great first collection.