I'm with Stephen on this one with his big shirts and adoring fans. Even 100 years ago poets and poetry had a far higher profile than today. Poems in newspapers were common, children learnt poetry at school and there was a culture of knowing verse by heart. People from all areas of life knew the names of the great poets and could make jokes about them - 'Kelly and Sheets'. Our public has long deserted us and modern verse has little attraction for kids who prefer pop music, cinema, computer games etc. And when did you last see an hour-long mainstream TV programme with poets talking about what they do?
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