The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and miraculous thing in my life was the arrival in it of poetry itself - as a vocation and an elevation almost.

I might enjoy being an albatross, being able to glide for days and daydream for hundreds of miles along the thermals. And then being able to hang like an affliction round some people's necks.

Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. ~from the poem "Digging

At home in Ireland, there's a habit of avoidance, an ironical attitude towards the authority figure.

Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.

I shall gain glory or die.

Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.