Q&A
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage celebrates the irrepressible exuberance of spring in his new collection of poems Blossomise
What is it about the blossoms of spring that you find inspiring?
I think it’s to do with irrepressibility, if that’s a word! No matter how severe the winter, no matter how dead the trees appear to be or how they seem to have turned to iron or stone when gripped by frost, these fragile blooms emerge with just the first gentle coaxing of warmth and light. Of course, the seasons are all over the place these days, so rather than just being an indicator of spring the blossom has become yet another marker of our damaged environment.
Has the environment become a stronger theme in your work in recent years?
Definitely. I think for long periods of my writing life I took nature for granted, probably because I grew up in the countryside and thought of it as a given. It’s only over the last couple of decades, when I’ve been travelling more and visiting big urban areas around the world, that I’ve truly understood the contrast and found the language to articulate what is precious and sacred about the natural world. Nature invites our imagination towards it and we learn more and dream more as a consequence. Without it, we’re
