She stood upon a continent of ice, which sparkled between sea and sky, endless and dazzling, as though the world kept all its treasure there; a scale which balanced poetry and prayer.

I still read Donne, particularly his love poems

I think poetry can help children deal with the other subjects on the curriculum by enabling them to see a subject in a new way.

You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what's in your heart.

Having a child takes you back to all those parts of your own childhood that you had hidden away.

If I felt, in the event of a royal wedding, inspired to write about people coming together in marriage or civil partnership, I would just be grateful to have an idea for the poem. And if I didn't, I'd ignore it.

Better off dead than giving in; not taking what you want.