ON THE CUTTING EDGE: Motion In Poetry
Carol Ann Duffy, 53, has taken her place amongst an illustrious group that includes such poets as Dryden, Tennyson and Wordsworth, having been named poet laureate of Britain, reports The New York Times:
Back in the days of Dryden, the first writer to take the job officially, poets laureate were glorified courtiers, writing flattering odes to royal occasions both significant (coronations, deaths) and banal (returns home from journeys abroad). …
When her name was mentioned for the job 10 years ago, she was quoted as saying: “I will not write a poem for Edward and Sophie. No self-respecting poet should have to.”
That was a reference to the marriage of Prince Edward, the Queen’s youngest son, and Sophie Rhys-Jones …
On Friday Ms. Duffy seemed to soften her position, saying that there are “echoes to be found between poetry and monarchy,” in that both have the ability to transform the ordinary into the magical. But if she weren’t moved by a royal event, she added, “then I’d ignore it.”
Duffy is the first woman appointed poet laureate in the 341-year history of the post.
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