There seems to be a natural connection between walking and poetry.
 
For William Wordsworth, the regular rhythm of walking was a stimulus to writing, and he said that “nine-tenths of my verses have been poured out in the open air.”
 
This beautiful mini-anthology of Ten Poems About Walking contains William Wordsworth’s heart-stopping ‘Old Man Travelling’ alongside contemporary poems that capture the delights of a walk with a dear friend and of walking in solitude.
 
There’s a poem about setting off through city streets to find a river and a heron, and another featuring a surprising encounter on the top of Helvellyn.
 
One by one then as a whole, these poems remind us that being on foot is one of the best ways of experiencing the world:
 
“Sole self I bedded down close as I could To listen: lapping, birdlife homing, settling …”
 
from ‘Lake’ by David Constantine.
 
Selected and introduced by Sasha Dugdale, an award-winning poet and translator – and a keen walker.
 
Poems by Matthew Clegg, David Constantine, Sasha Dugdale, Choman Hardi, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Stephanie Norgate, MR Peacocke, Stephen Watts, William Wordsworth and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch.
 
Cover illustration by Hugh Ribbans.
 
Dimensions (cm): 21.0 x 13.7 x 0.3
Weight (kg): .066