The Essay - Poems of Love and Ageing
Download Poems of Love and Ageing
Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a lifetime to the art of poetry and won numerous poetry prizes.
He is recognised as a very fine love poet and in this episode of Michael Longley's Life of Poetry, first broadcast in 2024, he reads poems that address the gift of a decades-long love and marriage and the inevitability of ageing. After a lifetime dedicated to poetry, he says, 'I can't imagine that I would be alive now if I hadn't had poetry propelling me forward.'
He reads his poems The Pattern, The Linen Industry and Age from his collection Ash Keys: New Selected Poems (Cape Poetry), published to mark his 85th birthday on 27th July 2024, and Foam from his collection The Slain Birds.
Presenter: Olivia O'Leary Producer: Claire Cunningham Executive Producer: Regan Hutchins
Michael Longley's Life of Poetry is a Rockfinch production for BBC Radio 3.
Published on Thursday, 13th February 2025.
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