Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton, and I'm here to guide you through your learning journey today.

So today's session's called "How Simon Armitage writes about hope in 'We'll Sing' and 'Only Human'".

So we're going to listen to Armitage talk about the inspiration behind the poems and the process of writing them, and then think about how we can respond creatively.

So if you're ready, grab your pen or laptop, or whatever you're using for this lesson, and let's get started.

So, by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to respond to how Armitage writes about hope in "We'll Sing" and "Only Human." So, we have four words today we're going to be using as our keywords.

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

So our first keyword is poet laureate and the British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom.

Now Simon Armitage is the current Poet Laureate.

He began his tenure in 2019 and will end his tenure in 2029.

Our second keyword is commission, which means a formal request to do a special piece of work.

As the poet laureate, Armitage often gets commissioned to write poetry for specific events or organisations.

Our third keyword is esteem, which means to respect someone or something, or to have a good opinion of them.

When talking about the poet laureate, Armitage suggests it brings a certain esteem with it, and our final keyword is elegy, which means a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.

Armitage describes "Only Human" as an elegy.

So, I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions, so pause the video and write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So, we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about being the poet laureate and how it's influenced how he writes poetry.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about "We'll Sing" and the process of writing it.

For our third learning cycle, we're going to listen to Armitage talk about "Only Human" and think about how we can respond creatively.

So, Simon Armitage is the current British Poet Laureate.

The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the prime minister.

Typically, the poet laureate is expected to compose poems for special events and occasions, and can also be commissioned to write poems, so they can receive requests to write poems for events or organisations.

So, what I'd like us to start off by doing is listening to Armitage talk about being the poet laureate.

We're going to watch the video twice through so you can take in all of the information.

So on this first watch, I'd like you to answer following questions.

So question one, what does Armitage say is the benefit of being Poet Laureate? Question two, what sense of feelings does Armitage suggest the role of Poet Laureate brings? So let's watch Armitage talk about being the poet laureate now.

<v ->Being Poet Laureate is great.

</v> I mean, I don't wake up every day (giggles) thinking, "I am the poet laureate." I think, you know, "where are my car keys?" Like everybody else.

I live a normal, everyday life by and large.

The thing about being Poet Laureate is that it just gives you a chance to do things that you might not have got otherwise.

It gets you into rooms with people.

You get to have conversations.

It's a role that goes back to, you know, the late 1600s, there's a kind of esteem associated with it, so in the time that I've been Poet Laureate, which is nearly six years now, I've started an international prize for nature and environmental poetry.

I do a big tour of libraries every spring in support of, you know, the library as a great institution of free learning, and I'm trying to develop a national poetry centre in Leeds.

We've never really had a national home for poetry in the way that there's a national theatre or, you know, and a national gallery and so on and so forth, and I don't think I would've been able to get anywhere near completing those projects if it weren't for this role.

So I see myself as an ambassador and a diplomat on behalf of poetry, and I take it very seriously, but on a day-to-day basis, you know, I'm still a freelance writer and I'm writing my poems, and the poems that I think of as laureate poems are poems which are written about news events, or anniversaries for institutions, or things that are just happening in the world that I'm giving voice to.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> I really hope you enjoyed the video.

Now, Armitage says that being Poet Laureate offers you opportunities you wouldn't have had before, and it brings a sense of esteem, so it brings a sense of respect.

So, now we're going to watch the video again, and this time I'd like you to answer the following question.

What are the poems he thinks of as laureate poems written about? So let's watch Armitage talk about being the poet laureate again.

<v ->Being Poet Laureate is great.

</v> I mean, I don't wake up every day (giggles) thinking, "I am the poet laureate." I think, you know, "Where are my car keys?" Like everybody else.

I live a normal, everyday life by and large.

The thing about being Poet Laureate is that it just gives you a chance to do things that you might not have got otherwise.

It gets you into rooms with people.

You get to have conversations.

It's a role that goes back to, you know, the late 1600s, that there's a kind of esteem associated with it.

So in the time that I've been Poet Laureate, which is nearly six years now, I've started an international prize for nature and environmental poetry.

I do a big tour of libraries every spring in support of, you know, the library as a great institution of free learning, and I'm trying to develop a national poetry centre in Leeds.

We've never really had a national home for poetry in the way that there's a national theatre or, you know, a national gallery, and so on and so forth.

And I don't think I would've been able to get anywhere near completing those projects if it weren't for this role.

So I see myself as an ambassador and a diplomat on behalf of poetry, and I take it very seriously, but on a day-to-day basis, you know, I'm still a freelance writer.

I'm writing my poems, and the poems I think of as laureate poems are poems which are written about news events, or anniversaries for institutions, or things that are just happening in the world that I'm giving voice to.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> Now, Armitage says he sees the Laureate poems as being about news events, anniversaries for institutions, and things that are happening in the world that he's giving voice to.

So, what I'd like you to think about now is what impact do you think writing as the poet laureate might have on the way you write about news events or things happening in the world? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

And you might have thought that being the poet laureate would bring a sense of responsibility and pressure, 'cause it might feel as if you're writing for people and a country rather than just yourself.

So, now we're going to listen to Armitage talk about how being the poet laureate has influenced the way he writes.

As you're watching, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, what does Armitage say about the writing process? And question two, what does Armitage say about who he has in mind when he's writing? So let's watch Armitage talk about how being the poet laureate has influenced how he writes.

<v ->I think I've always written in that way.

</v> I don't think anything has changed for me as Poet Laureate in terms of my writing practise.

I mean, you might be viewed differently out there in the world, and occasionally you might have a different sense of yourself because of, you know, what is a sort of high-status position, but at the end of the day, or at the (giggles) beginning of the day, you sit down and it's just you and a blank piece of paper staring back at you, and, you know, no matter who you think you are, or how good you think you are, or how experienced you are at writing poems, that's always quite a confrontative situation.

Everything else seems to fall away.

It's just you and the 26 letters in the English alphabet, that's your toolkit, and, you know, there's nobody and nothing there to help you.

And I think I've always written with a readership or an audience in mind.

I want to communicate in my poems. I want people to understand what I'm writing about.

I want to meet them halfway.

I think some poets are more guarded and their poems can be very obscure and difficult, and they ask a reader to come right over to their side.

I think sometimes poets can give too much away and they can go too far towards the reader and then the poem's not much of a challenge or there's no reward, so I think finding that middle ground, pitching it somewhere into that middle ground is my job, and that hasn't changed from the day that I started writing to tomorrow.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> I really hope you enjoyed the video.

Now, Armitage says that the writing process is ultimately just you and a blank page, and the 26 letters of the alphabet, and he writes with a readership or an audience in mind.

He wants to communicate to the reader.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? Armitage suggests that being the Poet Laureate has changed the way he approaches writing poetry.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Now, the correct answer is false.

Now let's tell me why it's false.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said, Armitage says that being the poet laureate hasn't really changed the way he approaches writing poetry, as ultimately it's just you and a blank page.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're at the first task of the lesson.

Now, what I'd like you to do is write a summary of what Armitage says about his role as the poet laureate.

Now a summary is a short, clear description that gives the main facts or ideas about something, and they might include what Armitage says about the role of Poet Laureate, what type of poems he considers laureate poems, and what Armitage says about the impact that being the poet laureate has had on his writing.

So pause the video.

Write your summary now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

What I'd like you to do is think about Izzy's ideas.

Do you agree? Why or why not? So Izzy said, "Armitage suggests that being the poet laureate brings a sense of esteem to him and his work.

It's allowed him opportunities that would not have been possible otherwise.

Armitage suggests the poems he considers laureate poems are about news events, anniversaries of institutions, and things that are happening in the world that he's giving voice to.

In terms of his writing process, Armitage suggests that being the poet laureate has not changed the way he writes or approaches poetry.

So pause the video.

Think about whether or not you agree with Izzy.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, moving on to the second learning cycle.

We're going to listen to Armitage talk about his poem "We'll Sing".

Amazing work, everyone.

We're at the second learning cycle.

We're going to listen to Armitage talk about the inspiration behind "We'll Sing", and the process of writing it.

So, what I'd like you to do is listen to Armitage introduce "We'll Sing." As we're watching, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, what does Armitage say about the commission of "We'll Sing?" Question two, when was the poem written? Question three, what does Armitage suggest was a particularly cruel thing about the lockdowns? And question four, what does Armitage say he wanted for this poem? So let's watch Armitage introduce "We'll Sing" now.

<v ->This next piece was commissioned as a song lyric.

</v> I write a lot of song lyrics and sometimes try and write pieces which are kind of hybrid things between a poetic lyric and a song lyric, that they seem to work in both contexts, and this was written during lockdown.

One of the very cruel things about lockdown was that it was a barrier to communication, and this request came from a choir, and of course, choirs were completely outlawed at the time of lockdown and COVID, because singing was seen as a way of spreading the disease very rapidly by breathing it out, and I just wanted to try and write something positive, hopeful.

I knew that this lyric would be taken and set to music, and then they were going to film individual members of the choir, the Huddersfield Choral Society singing it, and then they were going to splice them all together to make it choral, to give it harmony, to do something in unison, which of course, we couldn't do at the time 'cause we were all locked away in our rooms and houses.

So there's an element of resistance and defiance in this poem, and hope and optimism.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> I really hope you enjoyed the video.

Armitage says the poem is commissioned as a song lyric.

It was written during lockdown.

He says the lockdowns were particularly cruel because they're a barrier to communication, and he says he wanted the poem to be something positive and hopeful.

So, now what I'd like us to do is listen to Armitage read "We'll Sing," and while you're listening, what I'd like you to do is think about whether you'd know it's designed to be sung rather than read.

Why or why not? So let's listen to Armitage read We'll Sing" now.

<v ->A train in the sidings aches with rust.

</v> A motorway makes an emergency stop.

A single vapour trail drifts and melts.

Wilson has swapped his pipe for a mask.

'Til the world discovers its voice again, we'll sing.

We'll sing.

The shopping centres are overgrown.

It's always Sunday except in church.

A traffic light runs through its range of moves but nobody stops and nobody goes.

'Til the world discovers its voice again, we'll sing.

We'll sing.

A downpour drums on the bandstand roof.

The west wind strums the trees in the cups.

Sunlight fingers, the cobweb harps.

A blackbird stirs and opens its throat.

'Til the world discovers its voice again, we'll sing.

We'll sing.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> Now, I think there was some agreement we can see musical elements in the poem, especially in the refrain "'Til the world discovers its voice again, we'll sing.

We'll sing." So, now for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? Armitage's "We'll Sing" was designed to be sung.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now, I'd like you to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said.

Armitage's "We'll Sing," was commissioned by a choir who intended to sing it individually, then edit it into a harmony.

So very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now at the second task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is read, Armitage's "We'll Sing." There's a copy of the poem in the additional materials.

Now Armitage uses the following words to describe the poem, resistance, defiance, hope, and optimism, and what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions.

So question one, would you associate those words with the poem? Why or why not? Question two, which images from the poem would you associate with each word? So pause the video.

Answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great work there.

What I'd like you to do now is share your ideas with a peer and reflect on the following questions.

So did you have similar or different ideas when it came to the words? Why or why not? Did you have similar or different images that you associated with each word? Why or why not? So pause the video.

Reflect on the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now moving on to the third learning cycle.

We're going to listen to Armitage talk about "Only Human." Amazing work, everyone.

We're now at the final learning cycle.

We're going to listen to Armitage talk about "Only Human," then think about how we might respond creatively.

So, what I'd like you to do is listen to Armitage introduce "Only Human." While you're watching, I'd like you to answer the following questions.

So question one, who commissioned "Only Human?" Question two, why did they commission it? And question three, what emotions did they want it to represent? So let's watch Armitage introduce "Only Human" now.

<v ->This poem is called "Only Human."</v> It was a commissioned poem by the people at York Minster.

If you don't know York Minster, this is an enormous cathedral in the city of York, and I was told that they were creating a garden of contemplation and remembrance just outside the cathedral, and wanted a poem that described lockdown and COVID, and represented something of an elegy for those people that we'd lost during that time, and something hopeful for the future.

Something positive.

<v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> I really hope you enjoyed the video.

Now, Armitage says the York Minster commissioned "Only Human." They wanted a poem to describe lockdown and COVID, and to remember those who were lost during that time, an elegy.

He says they wanted it to be hopeful and positive.

So, now what I'd like you to do is listen to Armitage read "Only Human." So let's listen to him read the poem now.

<v ->Creatures of touch.

Creatures of torque.

</v> We were busy telling the world what was what.

Moulding the earth to our shape when a front rolled in.

Some invisible weather infused with a harm that leapt from hand to hand or spread by word of mouth, made its lair in the lungs, its roost on the tongue.

For weeks, then years, it was hard to belong, to be whole, and months in between of holding our nerve, the soul treading water in heavy mist, the mind in amber, time keeping step with the drumbeat of grief and hurt, the daily count.

A great many lost.

So here we pause.

We came through, kindled the heat in the dark, cradled our own hearts 'til the air was fit to breathe again, and witnessed a dawn of sorts where we sang, spooned, snogged, smooched, walk with a finer sense of the beings we are and what being is, gathered together, unmasked, as creatures of thought.

In parks around the globe, blossoms were called to keep admirers away.

Two years on, those trees are budding louder and fuller with fruit to come, apple and cherry, peach, pear, plumb.

In the public gardens the poet wrote, "We are better now.

That is the hope." <v ->Welcome back, everyone.

</v> Now what I'd like you to think about is which word or phrase sticks in your mind after hearing the poem? Why do you think that might be? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, it's likely that everyone will have completely different ideas about which words or phrases stick in their minds, 'cause it's very subjective.

So, now what I'd like you to do is read Armitage's "Only Human." There's a copy of the poem in the additional materials, and what I'd like you to think about is which image do you think is the most evocative of ideas of hope? Why? So pause the video.

Read the poem now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now again, everyone's likely to have very different ideas about which image they find the most hopeful, because we all have different associations of hope.

It's a very personal response.

For me, I think the image of something being kindled is the most hopeful, because it suggests ideas of warmth, light, and of something being started.

So, now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So, is it true or false? Armitage's "Only Human" was a commissioned poem.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said Armitage's "Only Human" was commissioned by the York Minster to be an elegy for those who lost their lives during the pandemic.

So very well done if you got those right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now at the final task of the lesson.

Now, Armitage uses the word hope to describe both "We'll Sing" and "Only Human." So what I'd like you to do is choose one image that represents the idea of hope to you.

Write down five reasons why you think that image represents hope, and then manipulate the language and structure of those reasons to create a poem about hope.

Now, to manipulate the language you might alter where the line breaks and punctuation are, tweak the language to help it communicate to the reader.

So here's an example to help you.

One of our Oak pupils, Alex, chose the image of a lit candle as his image of hope, and his reasons were, first and foremost, candles are a way of bringing light to dark places.

They provide us with guidance and comfort in the darkness.

They remind me of celebrations such as birthdays.

A flame represents ideas of passion and inspiration.

I think of those creating beautiful smells such as lavender and rose.

Then Alex manipulated those reasons with the language and structure, and turned it into this poem, A flame flickering in darkness, bringing light, bringing guidance, bringing comfort, sparking moments of passion, of inspiration.

Wafting lavender and rose bringing memories of celebration.

So pause the video, write your sentences, and then manipulate them into a poem now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic work there.

What I'd like you to do is reflect on your poem of hope and think about the following questions.

So do you think it would communicate the idea of hope to a reader? Is there anything you could change about the poem to make it communicate the idea of hope more effectively? So pause the video.

Reflect on the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I really hope you enjoyed listening to Armitage talk about the poems and the inspiration behind them in this lesson.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Simon Armitage is the current UK Poet Laureate.

Armitage was commissioned to write "We'll Sing" by the Huddersfield Choral Society.

Armitage suggests there are elements of resistance, defiance, hope, and optimism about "We'll Sing." Armitage was commissioned to write "Only Human" for a service at York Minster in remembrance of lives lost during COVID-19.

Armitage suggests that "Only Human" was trying to communicate ideas of hope and positivity.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.