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Place: Edinburgh

The Prows o’ Reekie - by Lewis Spence

{ Poem }

O wad this braw hie-heapit toun Sail aff like an enchanted ship, Drift owre the warld’s seas up and doun, And kiss wi’ Venice lip to lip, Or anchor into Naples’ Bay A misty island far astray Or set her rock to Athens’ wa’, Pillar to pillar, stane to stane, The cruikit spell o’ her […]

Stevenson’s Edinburgh - by Andrew Neilson

{ Poem }

Robert Louis Stevenson,
/ the author in his jimjams,
/ wrote about the New Town,
/ its draughty parallelograms…

Craiglockhart - by Brian Johnstone

{ Poem }

Sassoon, the elder, Sunday golfer; / Owen, bookish, gangly, pale – mingling / with the queue for the refectory.

Gone but Not Forgotten - by Maud Sulter

{ Poem }

On leaving
you playfully punched
my left
shoulder…

Six O’Clock in Princes Street - by Wilfred Owen

{ Poem }

In twos and threes, they have not far to roam, / Crowds that thread eastward, gay of eyes…

Embro: Southside Ditties - by Gordon Jarvie

{ Poem }

Tune: Ti, ti, ti, ta (wi’ apologies tae Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony)
/
/ I
/
/ Duddingston Loch
/ Skate ower…

A Month on the Mile - by Christine De Luca

{ Poem }

On day 1, explore Edinburgh Castle sitting proud: / find the modest crown of a far from quiet country, /…

To Edinburgh - by Valerie Gillies

{ Poem }

Stone above storms, you rear upon the ridge:
/ we live on your back, its crag-and-tail,
/
/ spires and tenements stacked on your spine,
/ the…

Embro to the Ploy - by Robert Garioch

{ Poem }

The auld Assembly-rooms, whaur Scott
foregethert wi his fiers,
nou see a gey kenspeckle lot
ablow the chandeliers.

Edinburgh - by Margot Robert Adamson

{ Poem }

If they should ask what makes the stuff of us
/ We should call up such idle things…

From a Window in Princes Street - by William Ernest Henley

{ Poem }

Above the Crags that fade and gloom
/ Starts the bare knee of Arthur’s Seat;
/ Ridged high against the evening bloom,…

Staying In - by Charlotte Runcie

{ Poem }

I watch the city shrug its clothes back on.
/ An appaloosa spatter gathers scent
/ that hits the brain the way it hits…

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Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2021.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
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