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John Millen

An idea travels
 Every day, more than 3.5 million  passengers travel by the Tube in London. In 1985, three friends suddenly had a brilliant idea. They had noticed that passengers with nothing better to do idly read the adverts displayed in the Tube carriages. How much better would it be if they could read something more entertaining and worthwhile? How pleasant it would be if poems were scattered among the boring advertisements in carriages on the Underground! 
The friends  told the managers of the London Underground about  their idea, and surprisingly permission was given to begin the scheme. It was an immediate success. The first poems appeared in January 1986, and travellers were quick to tell Tube managers how much they enjoyed reading the 'Poems on the Underground'. The poetry scheme that began as a small idea 25 years ago is now a big part of travelling by the Tube in London. Take the Tube, read a poem and enjoy your journey ... and mind the gap!
Here's a poem on the London Underground.
 Ballad of the Londoner
 By James Elroy Flecker  (1884 - 1915)
 Evening falls on the smoky walls,
 And the railings drip with rain,
 And I will cross the old river
 To see my girl again.
 The great and solemn gliding tram
 Love's still-mysterious car,
 Has many a light of gold and white,
 And a single dark red star.
 I know a garden in a street
 Which no one ever knew;
 I know a rose beyond the Thames,
 Where flowers are pale and few. 
 Your thoughts
 What do you think about the poem you have just read on the Tube in London? Can you answer these questions about it?
 1 How many verses does the poem have and how long is each verse?
 2 What will limit the choice of poetry to be used on the London Tube?
 3 What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
 4 What is the very simple idea behind the poem?
 5 From the first two lines, how do we know we are in a city and not in the countryside?
 6 How many images are there in the first verse? Are these images simple or complicated?
 7 What is the single image in the second verse?
 8 What is the point of this?
 9 What sudden image appears in the last verse?
 10 What really is the rose?
 Public poetry
 a. Poetry should not simply be printed on the pages of a book. Poems can appear anywhere. Where else do you think poems could be presented for the general public to enjoy?
 b. Which of these elements will the people who choose the poems for the London Tube have to take into consideration?
 1 The poem can be of any length.
 2 A Tube poem should not be complicated in its structure or ideas.
 3 Its effect should be quick and immediate.
 4 The poem can be about any subject. 
 5 It must be a poem that appeals to all ages.
 6 It must not be a difficult poem that would put someone off 
 7 A Tube poem must be entertaining.
 8 A poem for the Underground must be written by a living poet.
 And finally ...
 a. Imagine the letter that  the three friends wrote to the manager of the London Underground back in 1985. What might have they written?
 b. Read Best Poems on the Underground (Published by Phoenix, ISBN 978 0 7538 2725 3)
Answers:
 Your thoughts: 1. 3 verses, 4 lines each, 2. the length of the poem, 3. BD/BD/BD, 4. A man journeys through a city to visit his girlfriend, 5. the walls are blackened by smoke and there are railings, 6. there are 3 simple images, 7. an image of a tram, 8. the tram will take the man to see his girl, 9. a city garden with a rose, 10. The rose could be his girlfriend
 Public poetry: 2/ 3/ 5/ 6/ 7



Poems on the Underground