Ranking Every Single Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom

[@gavinreid2741]

I think Seamus Heaney deserves special mention. He was offered the poet laureate position but refused. He was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1995.

[@Gorboduc]

John Masefield is still known for "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,/ And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by" etc. He's sort of in the AE Houseman line, hardly fashionable these days but liked by those who like it. Colley Cibber had more influence as a playwright and theater manager.

[@exildoc]

Glad you’d put Lord Alfred Tennyson first. I do so much agree.

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield!

[@rabbit5000]

oh my god i think this video was made for me. literally making my way through the poet laureates atm

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

That's so cool!! I'd love to know which ones you love the most :)

[@thatretrogamer3100]

I think the reason so many revile Ted Hughes is because he burnt the last writings of Plath after her tragic death. His mistress also committed suicide in the exact same way soon after, which is noteworthy; the story is quite relevant to the context of some of his works. He and Plath were close friends with W.S Merwin who was an American poet laureate and a fellow nature poet worth all the praises one can offer.

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Wow. I didn't know that. The revilement makes a lot more sense now - thank you for explaining!

[@crissyphoenix4594]

This was a really interesting video to watch, thank you so much for the recommendations of other poems! Armitage is my favourite but I'm a fan of many others on this list and you've convinced me to read more! Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Thank you, Christina :) Armitage is wonderful! I'm enjoying a reread of his Sir Gawain and the Green Knight at the moment. Happy reading 😊

[@floriandiazpesantes573]

Very thoughtful. Thank you for reminding me of Ben Johnson, the few lines I’d read of him, I much appreciated. I haven’t read much of him. The lines he wrote about the late Duke of Edinburgh didn’t impress me much and I decided there are others I should dedicate my limited time to. “Come, Time, and teach me”

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Very nice, Florian. You're on such a literary adventure - I love it :)

[@reaganwiles_art]

I came to Tennyson at age eighteen/nineteen via George Barker-I, a social nobody in rural North Carolina buying second hand at Rainbow News and Cafe and the unnamed used-book shop next door. "Tintern Abbey" moved me very much once, I stood alone in my dorm room at UNC Greensboro where Randall Jarrell, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell had taught. NC laureate and excellent poet Fred Chappell was teaching there then. 👏

[@BUKCOLLECTOR]

Very much enjoyed your reading and laureate analysis. I, too, am a poet ( and also a children’s teen fiction writer which I’ll elaborate later) but for now my poems specializing in Japanese forms i.e. haiku , senryu, tanka/kyoka, haibun. I hope you don’t mind me sharing a tanka, a haiku dedicated to Matshuo Bashō’s frog with added insightful commentary by the late AHA founder and poet Jane Reichhold and a tanka. Here’s the Bashō poem and commentary: Bashō’s frog four hundred years ripples At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA forum. The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing about realism-ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work, are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of the sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger ponds, its ripples are wider-including us all. But his last word reminds us all that we are only ripples and our lives ephemeral. It will be the frogs that will remain. Now the tanka: returning from a Jackson Pollock exhibition I smear paint on my face and turn into art ~~ Now for the fictional story that not only should appeal to Afro-Americans but all individual and groups that experience racial injustice. It’s based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s when racial inequality was rampant. It’s based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s and has an inspirational ending that coincides with my own belief akin to Dr Martin Luther King’s in a non-violent approach and resolution to racism. Titled “ Eloise , Edna And The Chicken Coop” ELOISE, EDNA & THE CHICKEN COOP There was once a Black woman named Eloise who inherited from her grandmother a parcel of land in the suburbs of Compton California at a time when there was strong racial prejudice against women of color-especially those Black women who owned property in predominately white neighborhoods. It happened there lived adjacent to Eloise’s land a white woman named Edna who did not like the fact that this Black woman owned land next to hers. Eloise would try to be friendly because she believed Jesus when He said “Love Thy Neighbor” and to Eloise that meant even if your neighbor was unfriendly. But whenever Eloise saw Edna, Edna would turn her back in disdain. In fact, ever since her husband died a decade ago, Edna became mean and unfriendly to everyone in the neighborhood. But to Eloise, she was so hateful and full of animosity that one night when all the lights in Eloise home were off Edna went to her own backyard where she kept her chicken coop and gathered up all the manure and dumped it on Eloise land and upon her tomatoes and her greens and everything she was growing, in an attempt to destroy it. And when Eloise realized the next morning that there was all this manure, instead of becoming angry, she decided to rake and mix it in with the soil and use it as fertilizer. Every night Edna would dump the manure from her chicken coop litter box and Eloise would get up in the morning and turn it over and mix it. This went on for almost a month until one morning Eloise noticed there was no manure in her yard. Then one of the neighbors informed Eloise that Edna had fallen ill. But because Edna was so mean and unfriendly , no one came to see her when she was sick. But when Eloise heard about Edna’s condition she picked the best flowers from her garden, walked to Edna’s house , knocked on her front door and when Edna opened the door, she was in complete shock that this Black Woman who she had been so cruel to, would be the only neighbor to visit her and bring flowers. Edna was deeply moved by Eloise kindness. Then Eloise handed the flowers to Edna who said, “These are the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen! Where’d you get them?” Eloise said, “You helped me make them, because when you were dumping in my yard, I decided to plant some roses and use your manure as fertilizer.“ Tears flooded Edna’s eyes. This genuine act of kindness opened the floodgate of Edna’s heart that had been closed for so long. “When I’m feeling better, I would love to have you over for tea,” Edna told Eloise. “Thank you, “ Edna replied , assuring her she would come. And then added “ I will pray for your speedy recovery every night” And with those words Eloise departed. It’s amazing what can blossom from manure. There are some who allow manure to fall on them and do nothing. But then there are others-like Eloise -who “turn the other cheek” when abused or in this case “turn over the soil” to make something new like those bevy of beautiful red roses that opened a white woman’s heart. ~~ -All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, -Al

[@HundreadD]

Amen to your speech on not judging a writers work on their biography. And as someone who's not English I think your ranking is quite fair as no one out of the top 4 has made any impression here in the US really outside of the absolutely most specialist readers. Well, I have heard of Southey only because of Byron excoriating him at least

[@ahmedhijazi6412]

Hi Benjamin, I admire your passionately-made videos. I love classics and I read them in English, which is my second language, but sometimes I encounter many unfamiliar words in one page that make me frustrated, and ruin the joy of the smooth reading. How can I solve this problem?

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Thank you :) Persevere through the difficulty. Only look up 1 word per page maximum, and try to understand the rest through context. You'll get there!

[@aliasshaheer9868]

Great video like always. What you think about eastern poets like Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, Muhammad Iqbal etc… if you have read them? Thanks

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Thank you, my friend. Rumi is one of my all-time favourite poets. I even made a podcast about him. Wonderful stuff. Hafez is terrific too, but think we need better translations. I haven't explored much of the others but I'll check them out thanks to your recommendation :)

[@aliasshaheer9868]

@@BenjaminMcEvoy I agree, we don’t have good translation of Hafez right now. Dick Davis translations are not bad but we need better translation. Also when poetry is translated from one language to another it losses some of its “artistic features” if we can call it that. I will definitely check your podcast about Rumi. If you checked other poets make a video and tell your thoughts about them if you can. Thanks.

[@jackjohnhameld6401]

Ted Hughes will never drop into oblivion but some critics think that accepting the position of Laureateship did him no good.

[@susprime7018]

I loved Idylls of the King, Charge of the Light Brigade, so I agree about Tennyson and Wordsworth. I remain silent on Hughes.

[@BenjaminMcEvoy]

Silence can speak volumes!

[@reaganwiles_art]

To have had a PL as great as Tennyson is sweet. Dryden was a great favorite of T.S. Eliot. Scott and Tennyson influenced Whitman.

[@elizabethli8565]

Hi~I like this video very much. Would you mind if I ask your permission to share this video on another website in China and translate the subtitle into Chinese because KZbin is blocked in China. And I will display the website of your video when I share it. Thank you!

[@reaganwiles_art]

Was Geoffrey Hill an England laureate? and what do you think of him?

[@BUKCOLLECTOR]

Very much enjoyed your laureate discussion and reading. I, too, am a poet ( and also a children’s teen fiction writer which I will elaborate later) but for now my poems specializing in Japanese forms i.e. haiku , senryu, tanka/kyoka, haibun. I hope you don’t mind me sharing a tanka, a haiku dedicated to Matshuo Bashō’s frog with added insightful commentary by the late AHA founder and poet Jane Reichhold and a tanka. Here’s the Bashō poem and commentary: Bashō’s frog four hundred years ripples At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA forum. The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing about realism-ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work, are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of the sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger ponds, its ripples are wider-including us all. But his last word reminds us all that we are only ripples and our lives ephemeral. It will be the frogs that will remain. Now the tanka: returning from a Jackson Pollock exhibition I smear paint on my face and turn into art ~~ Now for the fictional story that not only should appeal to Afro-Americans but all individual and groups that experience racial injustice. It’s based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s when racial inequality was rampant. It’s based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s and has an inspirational ending that coincides with my own belief akin to Dr Martin Luther King’s in a non-violent approach and resolution to racism. Titled “ Eloise , Edna And The Chicken Coop” ELOISE, EDNA & THE CHICKEN COOP There was once a Black woman named Eloise who inherited from her grandmother a parcel of land in the suburbs of Compton California at a time when there was strong racial prejudice against women of color-especially those Black women who owned property in predominately white neighborhoods. It happened there lived adjacent to Eloise’s land a white woman named Edna who did not like the fact that this Black woman owned land next to hers. Eloise would try to be friendly because she believed Jesus when He said “Love Thy Neighbor” and to Eloise that meant even if your neighbor was unfriendly. But whenever Eloise saw Edna, Edna would turn her back in disdain. In fact, ever since her husband died a decade ago, Edna became mean and unfriendly to everyone in the neighborhood. But to Eloise, she was so hateful and full of animosity that one night when all the lights in Eloise home were off Edna went to her own backyard where she kept her chicken coop and gathered up all the manure and dumped it on Eloise land and upon her tomatoes and her greens and everything she was growing, in an attempt to destroy it. And when Eloise realized the next morning that there was all this manure, instead of becoming angry, she decided to rake and mix it in with the soil and use it as fertilizer. Every night Edna would dump the manure from her chicken coop litter box and Eloise would get up in the morning and turn it over and mix it. This went on for almost a month until one morning Eloise noticed there was no manure in her yard. Then one of the neighbors informed Eloise that Edna had fallen ill. But because Edna was so mean and unfriendly , no one came to see her when she was sick. But when Eloise heard about Edna’s condition she picked the best flowers from her garden, walked to Edna’s house , knocked on her front door and when Edna opened the door, she was in complete shock that this Black Woman who she had been so cruel to, would be the only neighbor to visit her and bring flowers. Edna was deeply moved by Eloise kindness. Then Eloise handed the flowers to Edna who said, “These are the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen! Where’d you get them?” Eloise said, “You helped me make them, because when you were dumping in my yard, I decided to plant some roses and use your manure as fertilizer.“ Tears flooded Edna’s eyes. This genuine act of kindness opened the floodgate of Edna’s heart that had been closed for so long. “When I’m feeling better, I would love to have you over for tea,” Edna told Eloise. “Thank you, “ Edna replied , assuring her she would come. And then added “ I will pray for your speedy recovery every night” And with those words Eloise departed. It’s amazing what can blossom from manure. There are some who allow manure to fall on them and do nothing. But then there are others-like Eloise -who “turn the other cheek” when abused or in this case “turn over the soil” to make something new like those bevy of beautiful red roses that opened a white woman’s heart. ~~ -All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, -Al