Great Regulars: In this week's poem, the Puppet is one

of those significant objects. He tells his own story, a little autobiography beginning with an expression of humility and collectivism: "There are many like me." This is perhaps already a cue to imagine vaster populations, displaced by war or political cataclysm. This Puppet is an enigmatic symbol--but his puppet-presence is lightly and beautifully sketched in.

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Poem of the week: Puppet by Gillian Allnutt

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To Germany is a tightly constructed sonnet. Sharp, nerve-jangling sounds (blind, designed, pain, rain) contrast with the broader, gentler chords of land, stand, warm, firm, form. If "blind", as both adjective and noun, rules the octet, then "peace", also repeated three times, is the dominant noun of the sestet. Yet the hope [Charles Hamilton] Sorley expresses in this repetition remains measured and unassertive.

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Poem of the week: To Germany by Charles Hamilton Sorley

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