Mixed messages

The BBC has been trying to persuade us to enjoy poetry, and I sense Lord Reith lying still and contented in his grave. It could have been embarrassingly high minded, or, worse, patronising: ‘Hey, kids, this poetry thing, it’s wicked, innit.’

But the programmes I’ve seen have got the balance neatly. A Poet’s Guide To Britain (BBC4, Mondays) relates poems to the landscape where they are set. Owen Sheers is an excellent presenter, informative and enthusiastic without being intrusive. This week he discussed ‘Dover Beach’, which is about Matthew Arnold’s loss of faith, but which is set firmly beside those cliffs, and we could hear the same ‘melancholy, long, withdrawing roar’ that he did 15 decades ago. Odd that he came up with the poem on his honeymoon: after he says to his bride, ‘Come to the window,’ you can almost hear her saying, ‘No, for heavens sake, you come to bed.’ Best of all they actually recite the poem. This is arts programming for people who want to rise to the challenge, not to hear there is no challenge to rise to.

My Life In Verse (BBC2, Friday) was similarly affecting. Sheila Hancock related how poetry had helped her cope with the death of her husband, John Thaw, after what seems to have been a turbulent marriage. Poems had helped her make the decision to survive, she said, though I reflected that must be an easier choice for a widow who has two lovely homes, stacks of money and a bunch of lively grandchildren.