0:00:14 > 0:00:17Flog It has taken me to all corners of the British Isles.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21It's been a wonderful opportunity to meet some fantastic people
0:00:21 > 0:00:24and delve into our illustrious past.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27In Britain we have a great literary tradition
0:00:27 > 0:00:29and poetry is a key part of that.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Over the years, I've had the chance to follow in the footsteps
0:00:32 > 0:00:34of some of my favourite poets.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And on this journey, I learn how the horrors of war
0:00:38 > 0:00:42have left their mark on two young writers and unearth the true passion
0:00:42 > 0:00:44of a Dorset poet best known for his novels.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48But firstly, I discover which of Britain's great romantic poets
0:00:48 > 0:00:51was inspired by this stunning landscape.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57The Lake District is home to some of the most spectacular scenery
0:00:57 > 0:00:59to be found anywhere,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03but for centuries, people didn't really see the beauty in the region.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Instead, they considered its peaks and crags
0:01:05 > 0:01:07wild, savage and terrifying.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13All that began to change in the middle of the 18th century
0:01:13 > 0:01:17when observers looked at the region with new eyes.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Amongst them was a great name in British poetry -
0:01:21 > 0:01:23William Wordsworth.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Wordsworth was a member of what became known as
0:01:26 > 0:01:29the English Romantic Movement in the arts.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32He and his fellow poets and painters found inspiration
0:01:32 > 0:01:36in the power of nature in all its awesome glory.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39The romantics moved away from the structural, intellectual
0:01:39 > 0:01:42approach of the 18th century - which is sometimes known now
0:01:42 > 0:01:45as the age of reason or the enlightenment -
0:01:45 > 0:01:48towards ways of looking at the world which recognised the importance
0:01:48 > 0:01:51of the imagination and the emotions.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56The epic themes of poems by their forerunners,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00such as John Milton's Paradise Lost, where rejected by the romantics.
0:02:00 > 0:02:06They felt that poetry should be inspired by just ordinary events.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14In fact, one of Wordsworth's most famous poems
0:02:14 > 0:02:17was inspired by a communal garden plant
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and it grows in abundance during the spring.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I wandered lonely as a cloud
0:02:22 > 0:02:24That floats on high o'er vales and hill
0:02:24 > 0:02:27When all at once I saw a crowd
0:02:27 > 0:02:29A host of golden daffodils
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Beside the lake, beneath the trees
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Continuous as the stars that shine
0:02:36 > 0:02:39And twinkle on the Milky Way
0:02:39 > 0:02:41They stretched in never-ending line
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Along the margin of a bay
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Ten thousand saw I at a glance
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
0:02:49 > 0:02:51And then my heart with pleasure fills
0:02:51 > 0:02:54And dances with the daffodils.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Place and family were central to Wordsworth.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Both in his poetry and his own life and he spent his happiest years here
0:03:06 > 0:03:10at Rydal Mount with his wife and children, his sister and his sister-in-law.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13The marvellous thing is, his descendants today
0:03:13 > 0:03:15still refer to this place as home.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32A servant once said to a visitor,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35"This is my master's library where he keeps all his books.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38"His study, well that, that's out of doors."
0:03:38 > 0:03:41And to this day, visitors come in their droves to Rydal Mount
0:03:41 > 0:03:45to pay tribute to one of English literature's greatest sons.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50300 miles south in Dorset, I had the pleasure of visiting the home
0:03:50 > 0:03:54of another of Britain's most famous poets - Thomas Hardy.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Although, as a writer, he's better known for his novels
0:03:57 > 0:04:01such as Tess Of The D'Urbervilles and Far From The Madding Crowd.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Hardy was born in this cottage just outside Dorchester in 1840.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07He lived here and grew up here
0:04:07 > 0:04:09with his family of stonemasons and builders.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13In his novels, he liked to describe real settings
0:04:13 > 0:04:14as the scenes for the plots.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18And in Under The Greenwood Tree published in 1872
0:04:18 > 0:04:20the cottage was described like this...
0:04:22 > 0:04:25"It was a long low cottage with a hipped roof of thatch
0:04:25 > 0:04:28"having dormer windows breaking up into the eaves,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30"a chimney standing in the middle of the ridge
0:04:30 > 0:04:32"and another at each end.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34"The window-shutters were not yet closed
0:04:34 > 0:04:38"and the fire and candle-light within radiated forth
0:04:38 > 0:04:39"upon the thick bushes..."
0:04:39 > 0:04:43After leaving school, Hardy became an apprentice to an architect
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and spent five years working and living in London.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47But his real passion was writing.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51So he returned to Dorset to try to get his books published.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Towns, villages and buildings throughout the county
0:04:54 > 0:04:56are all recognisable from Hardy's novels.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58In The Mayor Of Casterbridge,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Casterbridge is a thinly disguised Dorchester.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The story centres around Michael Henchard
0:05:04 > 0:05:07who sells his wife and his daughter when he gets drunk.
0:05:07 > 0:05:1018 years later, they return to the town to find out that he's become
0:05:10 > 0:05:15the Mayor and is presiding over dinner here, in The King's Arms.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20"A spacious bow window projected into the street over the main portico,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23"and from the open sashes came the babble of voices,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26"the jingle of glasses, and the drawing of corks."
0:05:30 > 0:05:32I've come to Dorset County Museum
0:05:32 > 0:05:34to see some of Hardy's treasured possessions
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and talk to museum director, Judy Lindsay.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Now, Hardy didn't come from a very wealthy background, did he?
0:05:41 > 0:05:43No, he didn't. He was born to a labouring family
0:05:43 > 0:05:45in the village of Bockhampton.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And, although he describes his cottage as seven-bedroomed
0:05:48 > 0:05:51and rambling, it was still very much a labourer's cottage.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53When did he start to write novels?
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Thomas Hardy published his first novel in 1871.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00He had written one previously, The Poor Man And The Lady,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02but he'd failed to find a publisher for that.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04So the first novel he wrote was Desperate Remedies.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07He followed that up, however, with a much more popular novel
0:06:07 > 0:06:10and the one which really bought him public acclaim -
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Under The Greenwood Tree.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Looking around the room, I notice a cello there
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and a couple of violins and there's one here.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Did he actually play the violin?
0:06:18 > 0:06:21He started to play the violin aged only eight.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24He played for the Stinsford Band, which was a church band
0:06:24 > 0:06:28and it was very much a family tradition for him to do that.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31His father, grandfather and uncle all played in the string band.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33This was his violin.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34- May I hold this?- Yes, you may.
0:06:36 > 0:06:37Wow, Hardy's violin.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40You really couldn't put a value on something like that.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43In antiques we talk about provenance and its history
0:06:43 > 0:06:47which adds to the value and I don't think it gets much better than this,
0:06:47 > 0:06:48- does it?- No.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52We're very lucky in that all of the items in our Thomas Hardy collection
0:06:52 > 0:06:54- come with excellent provenance.- Yeah.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Tell me a little bit about the pens.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Thomas Hardy was self conscious enough to label some of the pens
0:07:00 > 0:07:04that he wrote with so that we would know which pens he used
0:07:04 > 0:07:06to write which novels and poems.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09This one is labelled "Tess", as in Tess Of The D'Urbervilles.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11And this one is The Dynasts,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14which was his epic poem about the Napoleonic wars.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15Wow.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Thoughtful chap, passing on his legacy there and then, really.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20Very much so.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23You mentioned his manuscripts, can we have a look at them?
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- Of course we can.- You'll have to put your white gloves on to do that.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- So if I move the violin... - Thank you.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29..just to there.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32So this is the manuscript of The Mayor Of Casterbridge
0:07:32 > 0:07:36and this is a bound copy of the original manuscript.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- So it's extremely precious.- Wow.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42And one of the things I think is particularly lovely
0:07:42 > 0:07:45is that inside the cover, is says, "Presented by Thomas Hardy."
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Very distinctively his own signature.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51And there's also a note here saying, "Hand it on to the museum."
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Gosh, how exciting! Can you turn a page...please.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55I can, yes.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02When you research Thomas Hardy for any period of time
0:08:02 > 0:08:04you become so familiar with the handwriting
0:08:04 > 0:08:06it's absolutely distinctive.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08- Is he buried here in Dorset? - When Thomas Hardy died,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11his family were very keen that he would be buried here
0:08:11 > 0:08:13and his heart was actually taken from his body
0:08:13 > 0:08:15and interred at the church in Stinsford
0:08:15 > 0:08:18which is very close to Bockhampton where Hardy grew up.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25The rest of his body was cremated and the ashes were interred
0:08:25 > 0:08:29in Westminster Abbey in Poets Corner which is particularly fitting
0:08:29 > 0:08:31because many people see Thomas Hardy as a novelist.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Those who know his work better are aware that Thomas Hardy
0:08:35 > 0:08:37- saw himself first and foremost as a poet.- Yeah.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Some of the most arresting poetry of the 20th century
0:08:51 > 0:08:53was composed during the First World War.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen are two of the most celebrated authors
0:09:01 > 0:09:05of this period, but both with contrasting and opposing approaches.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10Brooke was a student here at the historic Rugby School
0:09:10 > 0:09:12where I met with English master, Richard Smith.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Richard, tell me a little bit about Rupert Brooke, the man himself.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19I know he used to mix with the Bloomsbury set
0:09:19 > 0:09:21so he was certainly in with the in crowd of the day.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Yes and even before he leaves Rugby and goes to London
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and starts mixing with that Bloomsbury group of writers,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33he was a popular man at school. He mixed with the in crowd at school.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Later he was described by another poet, Yates,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37as the most handsome young man in England.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40So perhaps that's one reason why he was so popular.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Very fashionable guy. So, school, he obviously had,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44what, a ball in one hand and a book in the other?
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Yeah, he was a bit of an all-rounder.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49And he went off to fight in the First World War?
0:09:49 > 0:09:50Did he see any action?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53No. He died before he saw any action.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55He died in 1915 on his way to Gallipoli.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57He was quite excited about joining in, listing up,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59representing his country, wasn't he?
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Yes, I think that's one of the reasons why Brookes poetry
0:10:02 > 0:10:05is so different from the other First World War poets
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- simply because his poetry reflects that early optimism.- Yeah.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12- Euphoria of fighting in a war. - Being the hero.- Yes.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Blow, bugles, blow!
0:10:14 > 0:10:16They brought us for our dearth
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Holiness lacked so long
0:10:18 > 0:10:20And love and pain
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Honour has come back as a king to earth
0:10:23 > 0:10:27And paid his subjects with a royal wage
0:10:27 > 0:10:29And nobleness walks in our ways again
0:10:29 > 0:10:33And we have come into our heritage.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36It was believed that the war would be over by Christmas
0:10:36 > 0:10:40so there was that gung-ho attitude of fighting for king and country.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Which is certainly reflected in his most famous war poem, The Soldier.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47If I should die think only this of me
0:10:47 > 0:10:50That there's some corner of a foreign field
0:10:50 > 0:10:52That is for ever England
0:10:52 > 0:10:56There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed
0:10:56 > 0:10:59A dust whom England bore shaped and made aware
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Gave once her flowers to love her ways to roam
0:11:04 > 0:11:07A body of England's breathing English air
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Washed by the rivers blest by suns of home.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Well, obviously, history tells us it was awful.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17In fact, it was a bloody mess and Brooke didn't see any of that.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Yes, you're right. He was removed from the very worst of it.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24There's nothing like sitting in a cold damp trench like
0:11:24 > 0:11:28other poets like Wilfred Owen. Perhaps Wilfred Owen's poetry
0:11:28 > 0:11:31is more arresting for a modern readership, simply because
0:11:31 > 0:11:33he describes those terrible conditions.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Wilfred Owen is probably Britain's most celebrated war poet.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41He enlisted in 1915 and was sent to the front
0:11:41 > 0:11:45where he saw heavy fighting and appalling conditions.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49His poems revealed how many soldiers spent much of the war
0:11:49 > 0:11:51huddled in trenches in all weathers.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Our brains ache
0:11:55 > 0:11:59In the merciless iced east winds that knife us
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient
0:12:06 > 0:12:12Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14But nothing happens.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21That winter of 1917 was particularly bad.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Icy cold winds, relentless rain,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26I mean, that must've cut right through you.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30It's quite amazing to think such poignant works were produced.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Yes and such beautiful words as well, from such horror.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Because of his experience of fighting,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Owen hated the idealistic views of writers like Brooke,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43who bought into the Latin philosophy -
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Dolce et decorum est pro patria mori -
0:12:46 > 0:12:49It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Am I right in thinking that Owen was sent home
0:12:56 > 0:12:58suffering form shell shock?
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Yes, he goes to a military hospital up near Edinburg
0:13:01 > 0:13:02called Craiglockhart.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05There he meets another famous First World War poet -
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Siegfried Sassoon - who had been decorated for bravery at the front,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11but had become disillusioned with the war.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15It's Sassoon who really encourages Owen to publish his works.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17- They formed a friendship, a bond.- Yes.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24So, what happened to them both?
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Sassoon survives, he lives into the 1940s.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Even during the Second World War he's writing poetry.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Owen, poignantly, dies the week armistice is declared.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40It's said that his mother opened the telegram on the 11th November.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- So it's quite a sad story. - That is so sad.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46A sad ending and a sad loss to English poetry.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47Yep.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56Subtitles By Red Bee Media Ltd
0:13:56 > 0:13:58E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk