📖 Book Review ~ Ten Poems about Daffodils from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
February 2026

My thanks to the publisher for the copy of this pamphlet 

  

The most famous flowers in poetry must surely be William Wordsworth’s Daffodils , expressing the surprise and delight of stumbling upon unexpected beauty.

And being beautiful is something that daffodils just can’t help… In this mini anthology we encounter a whole host of varieties, from “dainty white dancers” to “saffron flouncers”. Over and again the poems celebrate the flower’s gloriously jaunty yellow-ness, which seems to spell hope at a time when spring has barely got going – sometimes even in mid-winter 

“They wait for me

holding out the sun like a gold watch

against the shortest day…”

from ‘Winter Daffodils’ by Phoebe Hesketh

The poems are guaranteed to gladden the heart, encouraging us to pay attention to the everyday splendour of this much-loved herald of spring.

Selected and introduced by Di Slaney

Poems by Jason Allen-Paisant, Moyà Cannon, Gillian Clarke, Isobel Dixon, UA Fanthorpe, Phoebe Hesketh, Clinton Scollard, Favid Scott, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Wordsworth.

Cover Illustration by Jane Burn

📖 My Review

My heart gladdens in late winter/early spring when the daffodils start to appear. It is my favourite flower and whilst the season is in full bloom, I fill my house with vases of them. This delightful collection of ten daffodil inspired poems brings with it a hint of promise and a glimpse into the magical world of this most beautiful of flowers.

©️Jaffareadstoo

No anthology about daffodils would be complete without the most famous of poems ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth and yet it was also rather special to see his sister Dorothy featured in her lovely poem

I Never Saw Daffodils so Beautiful 

“ I never saw daffodils so beautiful

They grew among the mossy stones -

About and about them..”

There is so much to enjoy in the simple beauty of a vase of golden yellow daffodils and this delightful poem by Isobel Dixon captured the essence so beautifully:

March

“ is the month of

daffodils

in jam jars 

on windowsills

slim shafts 

of home-sap

greening

our sight lines”

This mini anthology of Ten Poems about Daffodils is the perfect choice as we come out of the dark days of winter and inch our way towards spring. It would be a perfect gift instead of a card to anyone who has a spring birthday or just for the simple pleasure of reading some beautiful poems about daffodils in all their golden glory.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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