The language of poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today's often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives.

But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poets, who brim with talent and verse, on a range of subjects and themes that we can all enjoy.

Where do you go from Shakespeare? The choice and talents of who to choose from among other classic poets is overwhelming. And yet many names cannot be left out. Once again choice is subjective in some cases but, in many others, there can be no argument.