One of the most beloved of British wildflowers, bluebells are a brief glory in our ancient woodlands. They dazzle us for a short while with their scent and
colour, making us think of other blue places such as the sea and the sky. No wonder they are so beloved of poets.

The ten poems gathered here offer heady encounters with bluebells in woods, on hillsides and under bridges. They reflect the fact that even if we go looking for them, bluebells always manage to astonish us:
'there! - a flood of sky in the under-wood,
thousands of cloudless blues on strings.
Wait for a wind to play them. Wait for them to ring -"
from 'Bluebells' by Cheryl Pearson