Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

Resting place of the Bard. World Poetry Day

‘How like a winter hath my absence been / From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! / What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! / What old December's bareness everywhere!’

So begins William Shakespeare’s chilly Sonnet 97. Today we celebrate World Poetry Day with a wintry look at the Bard’s final resting spot, Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although he was better known for his plays, Shakespeare began his literary life as a poet, writing 154 sonnets in total. The first 126 are addressed to a ‘fair youth’, the final 28 to a mistress known as the ‘Dark Lady’.

Unesco created World Poetry Day, which used to be celebrated on 15 October to honour the Roman poet laureate Virgil but moved to 21 March in 1999. Many countries continue to mark the occasion in October - the UK holds a National Poetry day on the first Thursday in October. However, there’s never a bad day to indulge in the poetry of Heaney, Wordsworth, Dickinson, Angelou or whoever’s writing stirs your heart.