An anthology of poetry selected by our Get Into Reading group members, volunteers and staff from across the UK. Buy your copy today and help to support our valuable outreach work.

You can buy Poems To Take Home direct from us for only £6. Send us a cheque (made payable to The Reader Organisation) to the address at the bottom of this page. All proceeds will be used to support our outreach work.

How much people love and can relate to poetry has been one of the big surprises of Get Into Reading. It’s a great thing to see this wonderful resource being used and valued, treasured, by group members.” Jane Davis

Poems To Take Home is a carefully selected anthology of classic poems, perfect for reading aloud with others. In a vote for their favourite poems, readers chose this fine bunch as the most memorable and enjoyable, combining old favourites with some more modern works. From William Shakespeare and John Keats, to Kate Miller and Gill McEvoy, this collection crosses centuries and continents, reproducing some of the finest poetry ever written. Interspersed with the poetry are comments from readers responding to individual poems, and group members describing the effect of reading on their lives. Thus, in essence, Poems To Take Home represents the print version of the Get Into Reading experience.

To give you a taste of some of the classic poetry within these pages, here’s one of our favourite “poems to take home.”

“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant”

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant -
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind -