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Usborne Quicklinks
Quicklinks for internet-linked books
Quicklinks
Click on the links to visit the recommended websites. To read many of the poems recommended in this book, scroll down to "More poems to read".
Inspiration for writing poems
Websites to visit
Top tips on writing poems
Poet Jerome Martin, author of "Write your own poems", reveals his top tips on how to write fantastic poems.
Listen to a poem about writing poetry
Go for a walk and create a collage poem
Helpful advice on how to get started
Poets share writing tips
Help with writing about "place" or how to edit your poem.
What kind of poem do you want to write?
Websites to visit
Watch a cartoon poetry lesson
Learn about four poetic techniques - similes, imagery, onomotopoeia and personification.
More examples of poems and poetic techniques
Explore the menus for poems and video readings by poets.
Helpful tips on to how to write a haiku
Browse a rhyming dictionary
Tick the box next to "Rhyming", type in a word and click on "Go".
More poems to read
Click on the links to read – or listen to - many of the poems in the "More to read" boxes in Write Your Own Poems.
Getting started (pages 4-5 )
Websites to visit
“I Started Early – Took my Dog" by Emily Dickinson
Click on the red play button next to the title to hear the poem.
Watch an animation of Emily Dickinson's poem
Ludicrous limericks ( page 9)
Websites to visit
“A young lady of Lynn” by Anonymous
“How awkward when playing with glue” by Constance Levy
A is for alphabet (page 10)
Websites to visit
“Abecedary” by Tom Disch
Click on the right arrow to continue.
“Alphabet Poem” by Edward Lear
The shape of a poem (pages 14-15)
Websites to visit
“Christmas Tree” by James Merrill
“Swan and Shadow” by John Hollander
Sonnets (pages 16-17)
Websites to visit
“Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Click on the red play button next to the title to hear the poem.
The perplexing pantoum (pages 20-21)
Websites to visit
Peculiar self-portraits (pages 38-39)
Websites to visit
“Fifth Grade Autobiography” by Rita Dove
“A Girl Named Jack” by Jacqueline Woodson
Who might you be? (pages 40-41)
Websites to visit
“Mummy of a Lady Named Jemutesonekh” by Thomas James
“Crusoe in England” by Elizabeth Bishop
The great outdoors (pages 44-45)
Websites to visit
“Sleeping in the Forest” by Mary Oliver
“the earth is a living thing” by Lucille Clifton
“Plea to the Wind” by Alice Oswald
“Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath
A poem is a time machine (pages 48-49)
Websites to visit
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
An ode to something great or small (pages 50-51)
Websites to visit
“To the Light of September” by W. S. Merwin
“Ode to my Socks” by Pablo Neruda
“To the Rain” by Ursula K. Le Guin
The call of the wild (pages 52-53)
Websites to visit
“The Kraken” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
“Cedar Waxwings Unmasked” by Jane Yolen
Making art out of art (pages 54-55)
Websites to visit
“Fountains of Aix” by May Swenson
“An Arundel Tomb” by Philip Larkin
“Why I Am Not a Painter” by Frank O’Hara
A map to unseen worlds (pages 56-57)
Websites to visit
“Directions to My Imaginary Childhood” by Nick Carbó
“Five Directions to My House” by Juan Felipe Herrera
Don’t make a long story short (pages 58-59)
Websites to visit
“Beowulf” by Anonymous
Read an extract from "Beowulf" translated by the poet Seamus Heaney.
“Omeros” by Derek Walcott
Read chapters from the poem.
Stop making sense (pages 64-65)
Websites to visit
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
Read by Michael Rosen.
“The Jumblies” by Edward Lear
Read by Michael Rosen.
Singing the blues - (pages 72-73)
Websites to visit
“Po’ Boy Blues” by Langston Hughes
“Riverbank Blues” by Sterling A. Brown
Johnny Cash sings “The Banks of the Ohio”
(By Anonymous)
Bob Dylan sings “Barbara Allen”
(By Anonymous)
“Levee Camp Blues” by Son House
“I Ain’t Superstitious” by Howlin’ Wolf
Tantalizing titles (pages 86-87)
Websites to visit
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens
“I Was Sleeping Where the Black Oaks Move” by Louise Erdrich
“Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich
Click on the audio icon next to the title to hear the poem.
“What My House Would Be Like If It Were A Person” by Denise Levertov
Click on the red play button next to the title to hear the poem.
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For more on internet safety, see Internet advice for adults.
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Websites with interactive content may not work on your tablet or smartphone, but you can view them on a computer. Find out more…
About this book
Write your own...
Write your own poems
Whether you want to dash off a limerick, ponder a sonnet or plot an epic poem, this write-in activity book is here to help. Each page is bursting with tips and inspiration for writing all kinds of poems – and inventing brand new styles too. With links to websites where you can listen to many of the poems in this book, and find more helpful writing tips.
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PDF links
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Sound files
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Midi files
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