Andrew Motion Research Paper

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Andrew Motion a illustrious poet, author, critic, and novelist is known for his narrative style of writing and his clarity of context. (“Andrew Motion.”). Motion once famously said, “I want my writing to be as clear as water. I want readers to see all the way through its surfaces into the swamp.” Andrew Motion’s poetry is often made up of past events while using a reflective style. In 1999, he was named poet laureate of England. (Marsack). The title that he attained is a title that is only given to poets that have made a great influence on literature, such as Ted Hughes who was just before him. Considering his title and his several awards, he is being recognized for being one of the most accomplished English poets. (“Motion, Andrew 1952-.”). …show more content…

(“Motion, Andrew 1952-.”). His father was consistently working and not home, so he was raised by his mother. Motion had a very wealthy family, and this allowed him to live a comfortable life. (“Motion, Andrew 1952-.”). He attended Radley College, in this school is where he was first presented to poetry in the sixth grade by an English teacher. (“Andrew Motion.”). At the age of 17, his mother was in a serious accident, and became a paralytic and in and out of a coma for years. She later then died in 1978. (Potts 252). This loss of his however became the start of his career. He started to write in her memory and was the inspiration for his works. (Potts 252). He attended the University of Oxford, where he studied many great poets, and later then taught at the University of Hull. (“Motion, Andrew 1952-.”). The privileges to have such prestigious schooling really helped him further his education and meet some great poets such as, Philip Larkin. He who helped him kickstart his writing career. Andrew’s affluent adolescent years had a heavy impact on …show more content…

(Potts 252). Motion’s work often portrays thoughts of fatigue, anxiety, and depression. (Potts 253). He was always interested in the way Edward Thomas conveyed his own thoughts into his poetry. Motion admired, “the way in which [Thomas] refers to a variety of objects with such quick clarity that orthodox pictorial and narrative techniques are replaced by ... ‘disconnected impressions’ ”; this is referring to the admiration he has towards Thomas’ style of writing. (Potts 253). Thomas’s poetic techniques are very similar to Andrew’s in the way that they use personal events as a strategy to make the poem. (Potts 253).Motion also said, "I know who I'd like to be with when I'm dead--[A.E.] Housman, [Thomas] Hardy and, particularly, Edward Thomas." Philip Larkin, a poet that Motion met while teaching, was another one whom he believed had a great style. He developed a close relationship with Philip, to the point that when Philip died Andrew wrote his biography. This gained him a literary prize. (“Andrew Motion.”). His major works include Dangerous Play: Poems 1974-1984 (1984), which he received a Llewellyn Rhys Prize; and Natural Causes in which he won a Dylan Thomas Prize. (“Andrew Motion.”). The Pleasure Steamers (1977) is a collection of poems, and in it the poem Inland won the Newdigate Prize at Oxford. In another one of his collection of poems, Coming Home, won him The Ted

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