New Poems on the Underground February 2023

As we mark the 160th anniversary of London Underground, a new set of Poems on the Underground goes live on London Underground and Overground cars on Monday 27 February 2023, for four weeks.

Londoners will be greeted by a favourite Shakespearean heroine, Perdita, as she welcomes the flowers of spring: ‘Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares, and take the winds of March with beauty’ – from The Winter’s Tale.

Chaucer appears alongside Shakespeare in his ballad Truth (‘Flee from the press and dwell with truthfulness’) – as relevant today as it was in the 14th century.

Four poets new to the tube are also featured, in poems of love, separation and exile:

            What I know of the sea by İlhan Sami Çomak , a Kurdish poet writing from a Turkish prison, where he has been held for 29 years. His poems are translated by Caroline Stockford. ‘What I know of love is so little!  Yet I’m constantly thinking of you!’

            Bond by Diana Anphimiadi, a Georgian poet of Greek ancestry, translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters and Jean Sprackland: ‘When I leave, your words follow – you are mine! You know I’ll always come back.’

            For My Wife, Reading in Bed by the Scottish poet John Glenday: ‘What else do we have but words and their absences / to bind and unfasten the knotwork of the heart?’

            [Clearance] by the Zambian-born British poet Kayo Chingonyi, a light-hearted take on dispossession: ‘What need have we for these ornaments, old textbooks, the wedding dress you never wore?’

Poems on the Underground is supported generously by TfL, Arts Council England and The British Council.

 from The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

from The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare 'Perdita: Now, my fairest friend, I would I had some flowers of the spring, that might Become your time of day . . . Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty; violets, dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes; . . . pale primroses, That die unmarried ere they can behold Bright Phoebus in his strength . . . bold oxlips and The crown imperial; lilies of all kinds, The fleur-de-lis being one. O, these I lack To make you garlands of, and my sweet friend, To strew him o’er and o’er! '

What I know of the sea by İlhan Sami Çomak translated by Caroline Stockford

What I know of the sea by İlhan Sami Çomak translated by Caroline Stockford ' Rains wander your face, the gentleness of dew is in your voice. Let each and every spring be yours! May all mountains tire and arrive here! Here at the place where stars have spilled you where waters flow; the place where you say Curl up on my lap and let birds take flight In the place where we collected questions such as ‘what was before words?’ What I know of love is so little! Yet I’m constantly thinking of you!' Reprinted by permission of Smokestack Books from Separated from the Sun (2022)

Truth by Geoffrey Chaucer

Truth by Geoffrey Chaucer ' Flee from the press and dwell with truthfulness; Let what you have suffice though it be small. For greed brings hate and climbing trickiness; Fame means envy and wiles blind us all. Enjoy no more than what is right for thee. Rule yourself well if you would others rule, And sure it is that truth shall set you free. Fle fro the prees, & dwelle with sothefastnesse. Suffyce thin owen thing though it be smal. For horde hath hate & clymbyng tykelnesse – Press hath envye & wile blent overal. Savour no more thanne thee bihove schal. Reule wel thyselfe that other folk canst rede, And trouthe shal delyvere it is no drede. British Library MS 10340 by permission of The British Library Board

For My Wife, Reading in Bed by John Glenday 

For My Wife, Reading in Bed by John Glenday ' I know we’re living through all the dark we can afford. Thank goodness, then, for this moment’s light and you, holding the night at bay—a hint of frown, those focussed hands, that open book. I’ll match your inward quiet, breath for breath. What else do we have but words and their absences to bind and unfasten the knotwork of the heart; to remind us how mutual and alone we are, how tiny and significant? Whatever it is you are reading now my love, read on. Our lives depend on it.' John Glenday Reprinted by permission of Picador from Selected Poems (2020)

Bond by Diana Anphimiadi translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters and Jean Sprackland

Bond by Diana Anphimiadi translated by Natalia Bukia-Peters and Jean Sprackland ' The honey heather has dried up in my voice, the lullaby ivy in my throat. When I leave, your words follow – you are mine! You know I’ll always come back. I watch the migrating birds - their sign in the sky – and think of the old proverb: go, and your homeland goes with you; return, and it’s lost forever. I leave, and the house is empty without you. I switch off the golden fish as I go though I’d rather keep them flickering – on the ceiling, in the deep sea – for your return' Reprinted by permission of Bloodaxe Books from Why I No Longer Write Poems (2022)

Clearance by Kayo Chingonyi

Clearance by Kayo Chingonyi ' Your worldly possessions are gathering dust in a storage unit off Goodmayes High Road. No one will take the dressing table. What need have we for these ornaments, old textbooks, the wedding dress you never wore?' Kayo Chingonyi Reprinted by permission of Chatto & Windus from A Blood Condition (2021)

You can see the rest of our poems from this month here