Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at each calendar month through the eyes and minds of our most gifted poets to bring you a guide to the days within each. This volume of Poetry is all about May—the fifth and fertile month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and popular for May day and Workers Rights celebrations. For our poets including Milton, Longfellow, Hopkins, Tennyson, Lowell and Van Goethe much else is on their minds as Spring continues it re-working of the landscape and of course, it's beautifully expressed.

Many of the poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. Among the readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe.