Belinda Hakes

Street Lamp

November 2011 Nomination: Street Lamps [September 1939. From Collected Poems (1988)] With so many superb mature works available, why have I chosen a poem written when Larkin was a sixth-former? Because I teach sixth-formers, and although Larkin isn’t on any of our current syllabuses

The Explosion

January 2005 Nomination: The Explosion [5 January 1970. From High Windows] Not the first time this has been chosen, I know, but particularly and tragically relevant. What originally drew me to this poem had been an adolescent, D.H. Lawrence inspired fantasy which may