SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh Dominic Bradley will broadcast a reading of W.B Yeats’ ‘Song of the Wandering Aengus’ on the Assembly website tomorrow to celebrate World Poetry Day.
Now in its 14th year, World Poetry Day aims to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry across the world.
And Mr. Bradley, member of the Culture Arts and Leisure Committee at Stormont, is urging people to focus on what he believes to be a “very important aspect of our culture”.
“Poetry gives us an opportunity to look at things afresh and to enjoy the richness of language,” he said.
“I choose to read ‘Song of the Wandering Aengus’ by WB Yeats because I was first introduced to the poem when I heard my former Primary School teacher the late Mr. Eugene Hannaway recite it to my Primary 6 class.
“This reading sparked an interest in poetry which I have maintained throughout my life.
“Ireland is internationally famed for its poets and Yeats is foremost among them.
“We should be proud of our literacy heritage and enjoy it by revisiting poems with which we are familiar and by experiencing and encouraging new poetry to flourish.
“I continue to be grateful to Mr Hannaway for the inspiration he provided and I would urge all teachers at both primary and post-primary school to read aloud to their pupils and make use of our great wealth of poems.”
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