The title poem of Never Good With Horses reflects on a relationship doomed because the unnamed partner prefers the deadness of darkrooms and dried buttercups to the aliveness of horses in a field. The fact that I’m doing it now when it’s miles too late is very satisfying. I can’t play any instrument, and never did it in earnest. But, to be honest, I never gave it a try. Would he like to have been a pop star? “Well, I wrote a book about that called Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock-Star Fantasist where I test out the idea that I only became a poet because I failed in that world. The fact that I’m doing music now when it’s miles too late is very satisfying. The boy who stared absently out of class windows became interested in language and learning. Hughes grew up in the next valley to him in West Yorkshire, while Manchester was just across the Pennines. “These little packets of language, black shapes on a white page that conjured up these 3D sites.” What made both Hughes and the bands so special was that while they opened a new world to him, they were also local. He says reading Hughes’s poetry was hallucinogenic. Armitage didn’t realise language could spear and shock, transport and transcend like this. And did he succeed? “I did my best.”Īt the same time, Armitage discovered poetry, particularly the work of Ted Hughes, when studying English literature O-level. It had to be yours.” Was he a cool kid? “I was trying,” he says coyly. It had to be something that other people weren’t listening to. It became this incredible club that not everybody belonged to, a secret language. “I had a very normal village upbringing, and music came along and it was this accelerant into a different way of thinking. He says discovering the post-punks was a revelation. Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart could be coupled with Armitage’s fine poem To His Lost Lover.Īs soon as we get on to music, Armitage’s weariness dissipates. Armitage’s romance tends to be the romance of missed opportunities, regret and doomed love. His poems echo the starkness of the Fall and the kitchen-sink quality of the Smiths. He was particularly taken with Manchester post-punk groups Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and the Fall. His music education began in his mid-teens with John Peel’s late-night show. ‘I had a very normal village upbringing, and music came along and it was this accelerant into a different way of thinking.’ Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The GuardianĪrmitage has always loved his indie bands. He has performed with bands, the Scaremongers and LYR (Land Yacht Regatta), and now has published a book of song lyrics, Never Good With Horses. Over the past couple of years he has penned elegies for both Prince Philip and Elizabeth II. He is the former professor of poetry at Oxford, current professor of poetry at Leeds, and a busier than average poet laureate. As well as his many books of poetry, he has written plays and novels. It’s not surprising that Armitage is tired. It looks as if he’d happily spend the whole time sitting in the cafe, sipping tea. He points to the pot of tea, and says he’d like to finish it first. Having travelled 200 miles to be here, I’m keen to get my fill of sculpture. Did you think this interview was going to be difficult?” I think I see the hint of a smile. “No, thanks.” My final offer – a slab of Tony’s salted caramel chocolate. Perhaps one of these will liven him up? “No, thank you,” he says. I happen to have chocolate liqueurs with me. His voice is familiar – clear, dourly rhythmic, vowels hard and flat as paving stone. Armitage tells me he got back from Australia a week ago, has spent the past six days touring libraries country-wide and is knackered. He glances up at me, like a lugubrious owl. This time Armitage is sat at a table, perfectly settled, flicking through his phone, a pot of tea to the side. It feels like a Morecambe and Wise sketch. As I head for one, I’m sure he’s going to walk through the other. There are two huge entrances at either end of the visitors’ centre. In the cafe, where we are due to meet, flat whites sell at £3.90 a pop.īut there is no sign of the poet. It’s about as far from rough-hewn Yorkshire – the inspiration for much of Armitage’s poetry – as you can get. Dotted with Henry Moores and Barbara Hepworths and Damien Hirsts, this could be the world’s most opulent golf course. The park is just off the M1, seven miles from Wakefield. Simon Armitage decided we should meet at this beautiful outdoor gallery. I’m wandering around Yorkshire Sculpture Park looking for the poet laureate.
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