“If
I were to die thinking that I'd written three poems that people might read
after me, I would feel that I hadn't lived in vain. Great poets might expect
the whole body of their work, but most of us - well, I would settle for a
handful.” – Andrew Motion
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
from 1999 to 2009, Motion’s poems are known for the insightful way in which
they explore loss and desolation. He
has been a champion for poetry readings and supporting poets in the reading of
their own work. Toward that end he
founded “Poetry Archive,” an online resource of poems and audio recordings of
poets reading their own works.
Motion, whose 63rd
birthday was yesterday, is also the author of several acclaimed biographies
including The Lamberts: George, Constant
and Kit, which won a Somerset Maugham Award; and Keats: A Biography.
“Keats writes better about poems
than anybody I've ever read,” Motion said.
“The things that he says about what he wants his own poems to be are the
ideals that I share.”
Diving
By Andrew
Motion
The moment I tire
of difficult sand-grains
and giddy pebbles,
I roll with the punch
of a shrivelling wave
and am cosmonaut
out past the fringe
of a basalt ledge
in a moony sea-hall
spun beyond blue.
Faint but definite
heat of the universe
of difficult sand-grains
and giddy pebbles,
I roll with the punch
of a shrivelling wave
and am cosmonaut
out past the fringe
of a basalt ledge
in a moony sea-hall
spun beyond blue.
Faint but definite
heat of the universe
flutters my skin;
quick fish apply
as something to love,
what with their heads
of gong-dented gold;
plankton I push
quick fish apply
as something to love,
what with their heads
of gong-dented gold;
plankton I push
an easy way through
would be dust or dew
in the world behind
if that mattered at all,
which is no longer true,
with its faces and cries.
would be dust or dew
in the world behind
if that mattered at all,
which is no longer true,
with its faces and cries.
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