New beginnings in peace and friendship

In four years’ time we will commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising.

That year will also be the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Whether we quote Yeats or Binyon, we will look back and remember.

There will be still more to recall in 2016. It will also be the quadricentenary of Shakespeare’s death. He would quake at how the language he wrought has descended into the gibberish of text messaging. He would weep to see how his plays are forgotten in a world bent on commercial implosion and wail at how passing fads have usurped his legacy in the halls of modern learning. Let us prepare to make new beginnings in co-operation, friendship and peace. Poetry can soothe our savage minds to help us do that.