By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Our thoughts here at IL Towers during the recent lockdown period have, perhaps naturally, turned to plague, pestilence, and pandemics. How did poets of previous generations deal with, and respond to, plague and mass illness? How are poets of today writing about the current pandemic?
Here are some of the best poems to deal with this terrifying topic. We’d like to thank Caroline Collingridge for suggesting a number of these poems to us here at IL Towers; a poem by Caroline, reflecting the mood during the current pandemic, concludes this selection.