Andrew Motion recites his own and other poets' works

Andrew Motion recites his own and other poets' works

07 Apr 2011

Speakers: Andrew Motion

Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate between 1999 and 2009, reads a selection of six poems: three by other authors and three of his own. He starts with Edward Thomas’ As the team’s head brass, then moving on to Elizabeth Bishop’s The Shampoo, and Tennyson’s great In Memoriam, focusses on themes of war, loss, love and grief. He then goes on to read three of his own poems, The Death of Harry Patch, Passing, and Lunch, ‘shadowing’ the themes from his selected poems whilst delivering a thoughtful, personal perspective. On his own work, Motion writes: ‘I want my writing to be as clear as water. No ornate language; very few obvious tricks. I want readers to be able to see all the way down through its surfaces into the swamp’.