[1143] Causa Belli

Guest poem sent in by Steve Axbey <steve@>, who writes:

A bit late for your series on war poems, but topical nonetheless is the
latest poem by Andrew Motion the Poet Laureate.  (The United Kingdom's
poet laureate I should say).

They read good books, and quote, but never learn
a language other than the scream of rocket-burn
Our straighter talk is drowned but ironclad;
elections, money, empire, oil and Dad.

   -- Andrew Motion

Here's some references, with some commentary
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2641477.stm#quote
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,871251,00.html

The role of Poet Laureate is an odd one, and I have been unable to
Google out an official definition.  However here's an interview with
Andrew Motion who talks a bit about what he thinks the role is
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/840752.stm

The poem itself I find disappointing - I've thought about it a bit now,
but I'm not at sure I know what he's really trying to say...or is that
just me?

But it must be anti-war, anyway - it says so in all the newspapers :-)

Cheers
Steve Axbey

[Martin adds]

Apparently Steve wasn't the only one disappointed - take a look at
http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=3E20FAB8.C94A1B82%40arvig.net&rnum=1

My favourite quote: "Call me old-fashioned but I don't think you can
extensively parody a poem without a guest turn from at least one dear
gazelle."

Amen, say I :)

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From: Rebecca <ktm_rebecca@>

May not be great but I found it succint. R. Thomas

From: Therold Farmer <ttexasfarmer@>

Our own former Laureate, Mr. Pinsky, published his
response to this poem in January, in the midst of much
saber rattling but before Baghdad was bombed.  If
anyone knows of his or other U.S. poets' later
reactions to Motion's Causa Belli, I would appreciate
knowing of them.  

In January I found the poem interesting.  In April I
find it powerful to the point that my eyes water a
bit.  "Our straighter talk is drowned . . . ."  

Ours, ours, indeed.

TF

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From: Amit Chakrabarti <amitc@>

> The poem itself I find disappointing - I've thought about it a bit
> now, but I'm not at sure I know what he's really trying to say...or is
> that just me?

Actually I think it's clear what the message is. "They" quote and give
elaborate reasons justifying the attack [on Iraq, which eventually
happened in March 2003], whereas "we" know that it's all simple: it's
really about "elections, money, empire, oil and Dad."

Maybe some people can't identify with the "we" in this poem, but those
who can will have no doubt about what Andrew Motion's message is.

Speaking for myself, the first couplet has an unfinished feel whereas
the second I find sublime.  Note, especially, the simple rhythm of the
final line, underscoring the point that "our" talk is "straighter."

--Amit

From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Don_José?= <donjose09@>

> Actually I think it's clear what the message is.

Some still find it a smidge turbid.

Consider an interesting analysis found here:
<http://members.tripod.com/stromata/id398.htm>.  It's the passage from 11
January.

Some of it is a stretch, but the analyst makes a good case that Motion was
instead implicitly mocking the liberal derision of the then-impending war.

However, this idea doesn't really mesh with the sentiment Motion expresses
in his later war lament [Poem #1215], as the BBC explains here:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2912557.stm>.  An interesting
twist anyway, I reckon.

DJ

From: Amit Chakrabarti <amitc@>

In the ``analysis'' provided by Don Jose, the ``analyst'' wonders
whether Andrew Motion's last name is pronounced "mutton", describes the
British newspaper The Guardian as "idiotarian" and concludes with a
parting shot at the "pro-Islamofascist Left".  Such infantile
name-calling and naked hate for a popular viewpoint do not belong in
literary criticism at any level.

I cannot give this ``analysis'' better than a C.

--Amit

From: "The Happy Reaper" <p.carter@>

"Such infantile name-calling and naked hate for a popular viewpoint do not
belong in literary criticism at any level."

Here, here. An infantile response to a largely infantile and utterly
simplistic poem methinks.

Peter Carter