“Begin Afresh….”

I have some gorgeous poetry for you today.

Take a look at this wonderful BBC-commissioned animation of Philip Larkin’s poem “The Trees”.  A perfect marriage between the spoken word and accompanying imagery.

If you are outside the UK, you should be able to access this via the BBC’s Britain site.

And here, if you fancy more Larkin, is an edition of the BBC’s South Bank Show featuring the man himself.

It includes his own analysis of the writing of one of his many famous poems, “The Whitsun Weddings”, inspired by the sights he encountered on a stopping train journey between Yorkshire and London.

It is said that this is somewhat reminiscent of W H Auden’s poem “Night Mail”.  I’m not sure about that – the main connection between the two is that they are both about trains, it seems to me.  But they are both fantastic pieces of writing in their own right.  What do you think?