Top ten Christmas poems

Allie Esiri is an award-winning anthologist and curator and host of live poetry events at London’s National Theatre, Bridge Theatre, and at major international literary festivals.

Esiri's bestselling anthologies Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year, A Poem for Every Day of the Year and A Poem for Every Night of the Year have lit an explosion of interest in poetry, are regularly chosen for National Poetry Day and have been picked as best books of the year in the Observer, New Statesman and The Times (London).

"When it comes to the wonder – or dread – of Christmas," she writes, "we find that there’s a poem for pretty much everything, from profound expressions of love and loss right down to the troubled ruminations of a turkey."

At the Guardian Esiri tagged her top ten Christmas poems, including:

"A Christmas Poem" by Wendy Cope

Christmas is not a merry time for all, as Wendy Cope makes clear in this perfectly executed poem, reproduced below. Comedic talent is as underrated in the world of poetry as it is in other art forms, but Cope is a virtuoso whose highly skilled work dazzles with irony, wit, and parody. She has been called “a jet-age Tennyson” for her pitch-perfect common touch:

At Christmas little children sing and merry bells jingle,

The cold winter air makes our hands and faces tingle

And happy families go to church and cheerily they mingle

And the whole business is unbelievably dreadful, if you’re single.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue