Lesley Duncan

The place was a poetry meeting in St Andrews; the time more than a decade ago. The audience watched, bemused/amused, while the distinguished poet set fire to the slip of paper in his hand, a copy of the poem below. It was a playful gesture of complaint about the poem's popularity; it certainly catches that dourness in the face of beauty or good fortune that can be a characteristic of the Scottish psyche! Reid, born in Whithorn in 1926, died in Manhattan iin 2014, was a fascinating character, for decades a New Yorker essayist, champion of Borges and Neruda, as well as being himself a notable poet. LESLEY DUNCAN

Wrapped in its author’s subversive simplicity, this poem by New Englander Robert Frost poses, in what seems to be autumn, a dilemma for a philosophical traveller, or merely a dithering one. One tangential choice will of course lead to countless others.

Edward FitzGerald was a wealthy Victorian eccentric with a wonderful way with words. His interpretation of the verses of the Persian Omar Khayyam (1048-1123) – poet, mathematician, and astronomer – are one of the landmarks of English literature, with memorable images ranging from the Sultan's Turret caught in a Noose of Light to the implacable Moving Finger whose words cannot be erased. All this and wine, women, and existential philosophy.

Autumn has won out in Edward Thomas’s garden, as he revels in the scents of fallen leaves and purgative burning. And, final delight, he has the company of a robin with its sad songs of autumn mirth.                  

This little poem is memorable in its simplicity yet wisdom and a certain grace.  The Welsh poet, WH Davies (1871-1940), described himself in his 1908 autobiography as a super-tramp. He spent some years in the USA and Canada and, in a curious coincidence with last week’s poet ,WE Henley, lost a leg, though in Davies’s case train-hopping. Both were in their different ways undaunted.

The sixth Invictus Games take place for the first time in Germany from September 9 to 16 with the admirable cause of rehabilitating and aiding wounded or injured servicemen and women. The poem below, bearing the same Latin name, meaning unconquered or invincible, was written by R L Stevenson's friend W E Henley (1849-1903), after his leg was amputated. His fierce spirit of defiance has been quoted by Churchill, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela among others. LESLEY DUNCAN

Rowan trees are sporting their red berries at the moment, waiting for winged Scandinavian plunderers to nourish themselves on their autumn journeys south. What admirable trees they are, writes Lesley Duncan, at all times of the year, whether standing bravely on a mountain ridge or decorating a suburban garden. The 18-century poet Lady Nairne wrote this affectionate tribute to them.

This is not only festival time in Edinburgh but the season for Highland games. Norman MacCaig is a reflective bystander at one of these northern festivities in this week's poem. It comes from the comprehensive volume of his work, from 1947 to 1992, edited by his son Ewen and published by Polygon.

The festival season hits Edinburgh again, filling her streets with crowds of the eager young and culture seekers. In contrast, today's poem by Norman MacCaig catches the sleepy capital city on a sabbath morning more than 60 years ago. It comes from the superb posthumous volume of his poems, edited by his son Ewen and published by Polygon.     LESLEY DUNCAN