National Poetry Day: Ian McMillan

The bard of Bolton, Ian McMillan, has revealed his favourite poem on National Poetry Day (8 October 2009).

"There's a great poem by Ted Hughes about a gale called 'Wind'," he said.

"It starts with the line: 'This house has been far out at sea all night...'

"To me that's a fantastic image! You know, when the wind is blowing, you think 'Gosh! This house has been out at sea all night."

Ian McMillan, who is the visiting Professor of Poetry at Bolton University, also recalled an early poem he wrote about a budgie at the age of nine.

"I wish I could forget that poem but I can't," he said. "When I'm sat on the bus, I sit there going: "I have a little budgie..." But that's the great thing about poetry, it's memorable, people remember it."

Ian McMillan said he believed the need to recall and recite poetry reflected a deep-seated need to mirror the rhythms of life.

"Deep within us, within our DNA, there's kind of, hard-wired, the idea of rhyme and rhythm," he said.

"I think because our hearts beat, the sun goes up, the sun goes down, the seasons change, somehow rhythm is built into us so poetry stays with us."

Favourite poet

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The results of a national poll released on National Poetry Day has confirmed that TS Eliot is the Nation's Favourite Poet (8 October 2009).

The writer, best known for his book 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' came first in the online poll of more than 18,000 people.

TS Eliot was one of 20th century's most important poets.

He scandalised the literary establishment with the deconstructive 'The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock' and captured the post-war sense of loss in his poem 'The Waste Land.'

The top ten poets in order were: TS Eliot, John Donne, Benjamin Zephaniah, Wilfred Owen, Philip Larkin, William Blake, William Butler Yeats, John Betjeman, John Keats and Dylan Thomas.

Nation's Favourite Poet: results in full

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