Joseph's poem takes the title

Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning" has been chosen as the nation's favourite post-war poem in a BBC poll.

It is the second time the poem, which describes the delights of a reckless and irresponsible old age, has proved popular with BBC voters. In a poll last year to find the favourite poem of all time (won by Rudyard Kipling's "If") "Warning" was the only poem in the top 20 to have been written by a living poet.

The producer of The Nation's Favourite Poems, Daisy Goodwin, said: "It is a delightful, engaging poem which speaks to everyone who is facing the prospect of growing older with a sinking heart."

The top 10 poems were: "Warning"; "Not Waving but Drowning" by Stevie Smith; "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas; "This Be the Verse" by Philip Larkin; "The Whitsun Weddings" by Philip Larkin; "Stop All the Clocks" by W H Auden; "Christmas" by John Betjeman; "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas; "Let Me Die a Young Man's Death" by Roger McGough; "A Subaltern's Love Song" by John Betjeman.