Poet | Robert Graves Interview |1975

[@vintagebrew1057]

Its a shame he and his great friend at the time, Sassoon had a big falling out over "Goodbye to all that". His daughter said even as an old man he used to jump out of his chair when a door slammed shut and the telephone ringing could send him diving under his desk. These veterans were still suffering years after the war. He has a lovely speaking voice. Thanks for shaing this.

[@ignatiussun3325]

Sassoon and Graves reconciled in their old age. Sources said that they met each other with their sons William Graves and George Sassoon by their sides. George died early, William is still alive today and looks very much like Robert in this interview.

[@basilthrush3537]

The problem was that Graves had included an unpublished poem by Sassoon in Goodbye To All That without his permission. Sassoon was furious. Jonathan Cape, the publishers, had to withdraw as many copies as they could of the first edition.

[@ignatiussun3325]

@@basilthrush3537 Including the one Sassoon wrote at end of the war about armistice celebration? Thanks.

[@regismck]

His decline of memories is of no importance. His character and wisdom shine through. He still enjoys life!

[@hugiefresh379]

He wore the steel helmet in a time and place unimaginable to us

[@jameshollyelsa]

A remarkable find, thank you so much for posting

[@AriaSuperBass]

I've read many works of Robert Graves, and a lot about him. How wonderful to see and hear him speak, old as he may be here. Thanks for posting.

[@MJosephism]

Poor Robert. Yet how gracious he is still: such a lovely, decent, man and poet.

[@anne-marienordin7636]

The Greek myth. One of the most important books I read.🌷

[@anne-marienordin7636]

One of the best ever. Now old.❤️

[@martinhanley9524]

@@anne-marienordin7636 What's poor about him? He's more insight than 99% of the louts out there !

[@RobRoyBoaz]

Amazing to think here is a giant of the war poets, someone who ranked alongside Owen and Sassoon et al. Despite his memory loss, this is an important link to the era of WW1. Thank you for posting.

[@blogdignag]

Brilliant post thank you. I actually love seeing interviews with real people who are not playing some kind of daft game of omniscience to comply with the media process. I actually think the interviewer does a good job here given that Graves is unwilling and sometimes unable to reveal specifics.

[@damiandominguez7757]

Thank you so much for this interview!!

[@Macca1000001]

A terrific fellow who was so proud of his connections to Ireland and Germany yet he was proud to be British too! A real European.

[@poetryreincarnations]

Blimey this is a great find poor old Graves was obviously suffering from memory issues,but its great to see him discussing his WW1 experiences which like so many of his generation he didnt much like to dwell on. The interviewer who I recall seeing numerous times on telly around this period but i cant recall his name is a bit scattered in his interview technique,but quite charming really,but does get a lot of interest out poor old Graves . Thankyou for sharing this is a real Gem. Kind Regards Jim Clark poetryreincarnations at youtube

[@anthonyrowe7805]

a wonderful gentleman.

[@emilybacon2654]

Graves is very funny and as always giving his interviewer a hard time! :-)

[@WintersWar]

Gardner is sweating a bit here.

[@StevenParrisWard]

Priceless. Thank you.

[@blogdignag]

"I think you're asking too many questions" brilliant.

[@alexarcadia7289]

His wits about him and up as ever for lively banter. And I say he is himself an act of love.

[@josephgray9020]

thanks, I love his voice!

[@suuperbus]

Thank you for sharing. Graves is one of my favourite writer and poet. Yes, in this interwiev he had memory problems but now Ican hear his voice feel his humour and so on. He is an important writer for me and influenced me through his novels.

[@geoffwilkins5274]

it was brave of him to do this when he knew that his memory was failing, but I think that the interviewer handles it well. Memory-loss is nothing to be ashamed of when you're 80.

[@geoffwilkins5274]

I have a hand-written airmail letter from him, responding to some ideas about myths that I'd sent him when I was an impoverished student - he enclosed a note with it saying, "If you take this to the right place you could get a few bob for it."

[@geoffwilkins5274]

I then wrote again offering to come and work for him as his secretary in Mallorca! He replied thanking me for the offer but saying that his wife could handle all the secretarial work.

[@louduva9849]

@@geoffwilkins5274 That's a great story. He sounds like he was a nice fella.

[@mikestirewalt5193]

Gertrude Stein is the name he was looking for when talking about T.E. Lawrence and their influence in convincing him to move to Majorca. The interviewer doesn't deserve all the criticism below. He does well. Those wanting to catch Graves at an earlier point, find the interview with Malcolm Muggreridge. What an ecclectic and hard working life Robert Graves had.

[@anne-marienordin7636]

Mysterious poet. Love him.

[@vepex7305]

Im 17. Watching this is so facinating to me. This mans wisdom is beyond my comprehension and age isn't even a factor of it.

[@37Dionysos]

Thanks for this, from a life-long Graves reader. Not surprising that here he often looks about 100 years out of touch with contemporary commercial culture---as he was happy to be. Try his truly delightful novel "Watch The North Wind Rise," about a future new beginning for humanity starting (again) in Crete. Hard to find but worth it. And of course, in this man's pages and shadow you find out what kind of writer you are---serious, or not.

[@weemalky]

"I don't like the word 'permissive'. If it's 'permissive' there must be the reason for the permission and therefore you must find out who does the permitting.".. drops mic...

[@RobCraig-wf3yi]

What a treasure to be able to access this

[@everest001]

A great man. His 'The White Goddess' is a truly remarkable book.

[@davidlyon1899]

The White Godess is a wonderful book of learning and even 30 years after i read it still effects me.

[@davidlyon1899]

@Seppi Seppsen could you explain,i am very interested in pre-christian religion.

[@joanhastings]

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

[@jamiejudd8018]

Glorious❤

[@jamesbernie9465]

It’s probably worth remembering that Graves, like Waugh, saw interviews as a game and a trial of wits. Graves didn’t see his interviewer as his social equal either.

[@21sungalute.42]

I believe his father was an engineer.

[@mickmaphari6606]

Everyone is Irish, and those who are not are wishing that they were!

[@novadrian]

Not a single question in detail about his poems and other writings. Why are interviewers so crap? The things I would have asked him.

[@plumjam]

Interviewer: You were killed weren't you? Graves: Well, only once. Proud to be British.

[@designxyz5007]

Irish are also Britons!

[@scottmcdonald9322]

Robert Graves is one of my favorite writers but this interview provides a true perspective in the decline of mental acuity caused by age related physical degeneration.

[@DavidStanford-c1n]

I think that, by the 1970s, a lot of the young men who might formerly have written poetry (and published it in books) where instead engaged in writing lyrics for pop songs (and even performing them), and this no doubt contributed to the death of poetry as a common pass-time among the young.

[@digitalsketchguy]

Had no idea interviewers in the mid 70's were just as shite as they are today. He didn't ask Robert Graves a single intelligent question that allowed the great man to reveal his sublime depth of knowledge of the classics, humankind's place in the world and the poetry that he could spin out like a spider. Shameful waste

[@johnworthington8360]

The Gardener is his garden. Message for today boys

[@EmileNolde]

It's an interesting historical record, and something like this nowadays would not be broadcast. The interviewer mentions that Graves did boxing. I don't think it was known back then that 50% of boxers experience early dementia due to the effects of head injuries although 'Punch Drunk' was a known phenomenon.

[@wordscapes5690]

In his later years, he often used his memory loss as an excuse not to discuss mistakes or embarrassments. Sometimes the loss was genuine and sometimes, convenient.

[@Chanelson2010]

I wonder if the second friend Graves referred to as having suggested his residence in Majorca was perhaps the late gnostic master Idries Shah, known to be Graves' teacher for many years. If it is I find it beautiful and becoming of Shah's enigma that he was referred to in this program as "My Dear Friend."

[@cesaraquino9471]

It was not Idries Shah, it was Gertrude Stein who told RG about: Majorca: "It's paradise if you can bear it."

[@duggiebader1798]

The host is terrible. No respect. "Is everyone going to be Irish in this conversation?" What a loaded question! Illustrates the effects of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland. You can see the "fuck off" in Robert's eyes.

[@MrConan89]

Very important record. As some comments below, I thought the interviewer could have been a little more tactful regarding his age and health.

[@WareBare]

Poor Robert , dementia has hold of him, he shouldn’t be doing an interview really, it makes him seem daft, when he was a genius, RIP mr Graves

[@21sungalute.42]

The slaughter this man and hundreds of thousands like him witnessed close up it’s a wonder they didn’t all end up as basket cases. It’s almost as though he & they were of a different breed I’m not sure that under similar circumstances today’s youth would be as stoic and so matter of fact about taking part in such a conflict.

[@kylej.whitehead-music309]

I couldn't agree more with what he said about too many foreign countries entering into swearing. I'm English and everyone I know says "ass" this and "asshole" that. No self respecting American says "arse", do they?

[@firstsowf]

Okay, I see others got something out of this interview, so I won't say don't watch it. Just please understand that the person you're about to see is not Robert Graves, but his ghost. He is clearly suffering from some sort of rather advanced senile dementia and can barely remember his own name. I found it incredibly painful to watch -- this great man, with his tremendous mind and poetic heart, reduced to a shell of himself. Perhaps I'm oversensitive, as watching my own father die of Alzheimer's was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Whatever, my last thought before hitting the "stop" button was: "Sure wish I could un-see this interview."

[@louduva9849]

A thoughtful, sensitive comment. Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm sorry to hear of your (and your father's) suffering. I'll heed your warning and avoid the interview. Cheers.

[@bartleyodonnell9564]

Lou Duva that’s a pity because there’s more enlightening than disturbing. The interviewer has more acceptance of Grave’s condition than many today would.. it’s not even an issue. I really don’t think interviewer is taking the cheap shots others have accused him of. These were different times. Please reconsider your decision and see past the awkward bits. I think it’s rewarding without being cheap...

[@bigballetlover]

So right about Judas.

[@MetMike]

Times have changed in respect to recognising and coping with dementia. One can only surmise, the production company and host were not aware of Grave's severe Alzheimer's disease before the interview, but it is surprising that they went ahead with the broadcast. I very much doubt whether the company intended to subject him to this oredeal and Graves ion his condition would have been oblivious, but it is difficult to watch.

[@mrh9635]

He seemed pretty lucid to me. Any vagueness more likely came from being bored with the interviewer.

[@ignatiussun3325]

Even if they knew of his condition, Graves was still able to communicate rather well for someone with dementia. Besides, early memories becomes more vivid for dementia patients.

[@bleebls1934]

Interesting, isn't it, how all the most intelligent and talented 'englishmen' aren't english - or at any rate they're all englishmen who had the good sense to leave england.

[@dickensbob6086]

Half an hour of teasing !!!!!!!!!!!!! an Irish poet and an English journalist ,

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Incredibly impressive head.

[@southafricandominion]

who was the interviewer

[@WintersWar]

Llew Gardner.

[@judidonegan9836]

Ooh dear a sad interview with a great poet in his declining years. Awkward Questions, eg : What's wrong with swearing ? Ans: Too many foreign countries entered in to it.... He was only 79 in this painful interview his mind is clearly not up to the task and he feels defensive .... Asked about the after life, and does one's soul going to a better place? ... Response: I don't think about it. Urgh horrible ... questions. The interview continues agonisingly trivial with stuttering responses, not how Robert graves should be remembered at all

[@kremesti]

This guy is a prodigy

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

Gosh... They should have left him be.. let him enjoy his thoughts.. at home.. not infront of a damn camera... He did an ok job

[@basilthrush3537]

This interview should never have gone ahead. Surely they must have realised he was in the early stages of dementia? Very sad to see his decline.

[@Allen1029]

I'm sorry, delighted by the interview. But the interviewer's coiffure is fucking killing me.

[@paigecat9104]

That was the 70s lol.

[@ianwarren7438]

+Allen Wilcox It's Benny Hill.

[@benw-king3380]

Tiny beads of sweat can be seen breaking out amidst the interveiwer's hairline....

[@WintersWar]

The interviewer barraged an 80 year old man with one question after another. It was too many questions. But, the interviewer was very professional too.

[@emilybacon2654]

Lawrence of Arabia brought me here! Graves is great

[@helloschoales]

🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@MrDavey2010]

The interviewer is absolutely horrid to a great man who is clearly having trouble remembering things. Total disrespect.

[@seanfree3821]

Great writer with a great comediant . thats benny hill isnt it?

[@dodie23]

❤❤❤

[@jimnewcombe7584]

It isn't for Graves to "judge" Shakespeare. "Britain's greatest poet"? His poetry - with the exception of one or two gnomic exceptions - is embarrassingly poor, especially as he makes grand claims for it - very close to doggerel. I thought I read a poem of his which I admired when I was about 27 (I'm now 47) at an old girlfriend's place - something to do with seven rivers flowing into (or out of) the mouth of a toad. Never found it since, so perhaps I hallucinated a poem he might've been capable of, while I was on some cocktail of intoxications. And a poet needs to be a gentleman? Byron wasn't a gentleman, despite his inherited aristocracy; nor was he himself one of the greatest English poets, but he was better than Graves. Aside from anything else, Graves was totally unenigmatic as an interviewee, and if anybody says he's deteriorating here then I'd invite them to show me an interview anywhere in which he says anything interesting at all.

[@leeetchells609]

Does this interviewer really think there were no atrocities in wars before ww1?

[@MacKenziePoet]

The condescending, dripping unctuousness of the interviewer!

[@sebastianverney7851]

Graves gives Llew Gardner a hard time, deservedly.

[@NFZ138]

Football you bet! Why the hell not!

[@HUSTLERBACK]

Christopher Hitchens brought me here.

[@mrh9635]

What did he say about Graves?

[@HUSTLERBACK]

@@mrh9635 Recommended "The Greek Myths" to an eight year old during his last public appearance. At the Texas Freethought Convention. Easy to find on here.

[@mrh9635]

@@HUSTLERBACK What a coincidence. I've just begun The Greek Myths and have only sought out his interviews here to learn more about the author. I'd better crack on with the book, then.

[@NFZ138]

If you r Irish be Irish!

[@Pastaface]

The Interviewer is weak.

[@charlescox5114]

A heartless interview. He was not fit for it.

[@ladyrotha5420]

The worst interviewer in broadcasting history!

[@sebastianverney7851]

but who is he?