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Poetry to persuade COP26 delegates, and the world, to commit to tackling climate change

In the weeks before the Remembrance Day, the English Department guided students in their exploration of world poetry from the time of the First World War. We often begin with simple verses of Jessie Pope. 

Pope (1868 – 1941) was a popular journalist, whose poems for the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘Daily Express’ not only helped with army recruitment and sustaining of the war effort, but also fed into the jingoistic fever at the beginning of the conflict. 

This year, our students have applied Pope’s grand-sounding style to a most urgent purpose of persuading COP26 candidates  -  and all of us -  to make drastic changes made unavoidable by the climate emergency we are facing. You can read some of the pieces below.

Mr Plommer, Teacher of English