Archives from London's public art project Poems on the Underground donated to Cambridge University
In terms of the most-read poetry in the world, you might think of Shakespeare's sonnets or Dante's Divine Comedy long before your mind turned to the Tube.
But while the famous Italian poet wrote about the nine circles of hell, his modern-day counterparts are more likely to be found on the Circle Line itself.
That is largely down to one of the most successful public art projects in the UK - Poems on the Underground (POTU).
Every day three million people might get a glimpse of the poems which adorn the capital's tube trains.
And now, just as Dante has long been the subject of scholarly study, the tube project is about to follow suit - as the archive from the scheme, which was started in 1986, has been donated to Cambridge University Library.
Letters to organisers of the project, including from former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and from Nobel Prize winners Seamus Heaney and Louise Gluck, are among the collection given to the institution.
Co-directors of POTU have praised the move to house the archive, which also features hundreds of posters and memorabilia, at Cambridge University Library.
One poignant letter in the archive is from the much-loved poet Philip Larkin, who did not live long enough to see his poem The Trees take its place on the Tube in 1986.
Larkin, who died aged 63 in December 1985 following a cancer battle, dictated the letter dated 26 July 1985, due to his failing health.
In the letter to one of the organisers Judith Chernaik, Larkin said: “I am glad your project is being favourably regarded.
“It makes me wonder whether I shall ever actually see one of the poems in the proposed location!”
In separate correspondence, sent to Chernaik by Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet said that POTU had “made a difference”.
“I admire you for keeping the underground poems a priority: it is worth doing and has made a difference, I am sure, to the life-worth of poetry for many people,” he wrote in the 1999 card.
“Blessings on the work.”
Heaney’s poem The Railway Children was included in the first set of Poems On The Underground posters, in January 1986.
Writer Anne Stevenson was one of several to thank Chernaik for sending posters, stating: “I shall try to find a way of framing all three for my kitchen wall – to cheer me while I toil.”
Poems On The Underground was initially conceived and brought to life by writers Chernaik, Gerard Benson and Cicely Herbert. It is now co-directed by Chernaik, Imtiaz Dharker and George Szirtes.
Chernaik said it was “hugely gratifying to know that our archive is now housed and catalogued at one of the greatest libraries of the world”.
John Wells, senior archivist at Cambridge University Library, said that the “wonderful archive” also includes papers on schemes around the world that were inspired by Poems On The Underground.
Cambridge University Library is also home to the archives of Siegfried Sassoon, Anne Stevenson, Dante and other renowned poets.
News of the donation of the Poems On The Underground archive was announced earlier this week on the day of publication for the 116th set of poems, featuring works by Byron, Emily Bronte and contemporary British and Irish poets.
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