Feature: Orwell and Poetry

'There can be no doubt that in our civilisation poetry is by far the most discredited of the arts, the only art, indeed, in which the average man refuses to discern any value.'

George Orwell, Poetry and the Microphone

Orwell's own poetry is not discredited, but it is largely unknown, despite its value: the insight it provides into Orwell, as well as its literary merit. One of Orwell's obituarists felt that had he lived, he could have become a great poet. What do you think? Have a look at his poetry here.

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To view the manuscripts of some of Orwell's poems, click the above link.

POEM: The Pagan

An early poem, addressed to friend Jacintha Buddicom, inspired by her agnostic family's battle with school authorities.

POEM: Suggested by a Tooth Paste Advertisement

A curious little poem that Orwell used to recite while brushing his teeth.

POEM: Summer-like for an instant

A poem of Orwell's published in The Adelphi in May 1933.

POEM: A dressed man and a naked man

Two men meet outside a kip-house.

POEM: On a Ruined Farm near the His Master’s Voice Gramophone Factory

Black and budless trees to the left of him, factory-towers to the right, Orwell finds himself stuck in the middle.

POEM: A Happy Vicar I Might Have Been

One of Orwell's more famous poems, it contrasts the 'pleasant haven' of the past with the 'evil time' to come.

POEM: Gordon Comstock’s poem from Keep the Aspidistra Flying

He may never have finished his epic poem, London Pleasures, but the main character of Orwell's novel did finish this work.

POEM: from 'Looking Back on the Spanish War'

Written in 1939 and published in 1943, Orwell recounts a meeting with an Italian soldier during the Spanish Civil War.

ESSAY: Poetry and the Microphone

Inspired by his wartime broadcasts for the BBC, Orwell considers how to popularise poetry.