Swimming and sea poems with special guest Sinéad Kehoe

Poetry captures the sensory delights and desires (and sometimes death and despair) of swimming and the allure of open water. In this episode, returning guest Sinéad Kehoe and I take turns reading some of our favourite swim poems, mostly organised by theme, location, or general vibe. Mermaids, grottos, drowning, thrashing waves, darting fish, and naked swims are all captured in these verses. We also got inspired and penned a couple of our own poems!

There are no deep dives or literary deconstructions here, and we only read a few lines of the longer poems, so even if poetry isn’t your usual gig let the words wash over you – enjoy the rolling tides and shades of blue conjured by these poems. 

Here’s the full list, in reading order:

‘Mana of the Sea’ by DH Lawrence

‘Sonnet to the Sea’ by John Keats

‘The Sea’ and ‘Ode to the Sea’ by Pablo Neruda

‘E Rere Kau Mai’ Māori whakatauki/proverb (Whanganui iwi)

‘And My Heart Goes Swimming’ by Roma Pōtiki

‘Sea Swimming in Spring (Instant Poem)’ by Rachel McAlpine

‘Morning Swim’ by Maxine Kumin

‘Water is my Prayer’ from the blog Swimming at Dawn

‘From Sauna to Sea on a Rainy Autumn Day’ by Shona Riddell

‘Full Moon’ haiku by Matsuo Basho

‘Maggie and Milly and Molly and May’ by ee cummings

‘Not Waving but Drowning’ by Stevie Smith

‘The Mermaid’ by William Butler Yeats

‘Swimming’ by Mao Zedong

‘Aquatic Nocturne’ by Sylvia Path

‘Nude Swim’ by Anne Sexton

‘The Otter’ by Seamus Heaney

‘The Swimmer’ by Mary Oliver

‘Salted’ by Pippa Best

‘Pearl Diver’ by Lady Nakatomi

‘Winter Swims, Saturday Morning, Claude’s Cove’ by Sinéad Kehoe

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Swimming With Lord Byron episode with John Hancock

Kate Camp’s episode about her swimming and sea poems

Swimming films, books and music episode (also with Sinead)

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Thanks for listening! :-)