‘Patron Saint of Poetry’ reflects on his verses :
Speak from the heart
Ranali Fernando and Amalshan Gunerathne
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Roger McGough. Picture by Rukmal
Gamage |
Some of Roger’s poetry anthologies |
1967 Summer with Monika
1973 Gig Cape
1974 Sporting Relations Eyre Methuen
1976 Mr Noselighter André Deutsch,
1983 Sky in the Pie
1986 Noah’s Ark Dinosaur
1984 Crocodile Puddles New Pyramid Press
1987 Worry Toni Savage
1992 My Dad’s a Fire-Eater, Penguin
1992 Defying Gravity
1997 Bad, Bad Cats
1997 Until I Met Dudley Frances Lincoln
1999 The Way Things Are
2002 Everyday Eclipses
2005 Said and Done
2009 That Awkward Age |
As any reader of his poetry will know, McGough’s work uses every form
of comedy imaginable, from wicked irreverence to feigned solemnity, from
the profoundly wittiness to the ridiculously absurd. His compositions
are humorous and utterly entertaining. They have the glorious ability to
provoke a fit of chuckles and leave behind a delicious feeling of
exhilaration. We were curious to know if this comic energy and
lightheartedness was a reflection of his own personality. McGough
responded: “As a poet you take on the voice of different characters… Not
all of them are pleasant and not all those voices are really your own.”
He mentioned two of his poems where he adopts the voices of a
violent, murderous teacher and a misogynistic rapist which some of his
readers found disconcerting. He stated that channeling their point of
view did not amount to justifying or condoning their actions.
McGough went on to say: “There always needs to be honesty in the
voice of the poet but not necessarily truth.”
He is perhaps most famously known for his children’s poems like
‘First Day at School’, ‘Mafia Cats’ and ‘Let Me Die a Youngman’s Death’.
However his sophisticated and nuanced use of humour make his work
appealing to adults as well. In fact a significant majority of his poems
such as ‘A Fine Romance’, ‘40-Love’ and ‘You and I’ actually deal with
adult themes of death, raw sexuality and frustrated relationships. The
more intimate and acquainted you get with his work, the more you begin
to realize that the labels ‘children’s poet’ and ‘comic poet’ don’t
entirely do him justice. Although his unique and characteristic wit
pervades all his poetry, some of his poems deviate from the jovial and
cheerful and stray into the realm of the nostalgic, sentimental and even
poignant. He admitted he was ‘always wary of labels’.
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Some of
McGough’s books |
Although critics and irritated academics like to classify him as a
children’s poet, performance poet or funny poet, he prefers the easy
convenience of just ‘poet’: “It’s the only label that matters.” He also
mentioned that despite the overtly cheerful tone, some of his writing
dealt with themes that were ‘dark’ and that pure humour in itself was
insufficient to captivate an audience.
As a poet who has made several wickedly witty remarks about teachers
and the education system in his compositions, we asked how he felt about
the fact that his poems were being incorporated in school curriculums.
He responded saying that the “academic approach to poetry is too
off-putting and intellectual.” He reminisced about a physics teacher
from his childhood who would have the whole class transfixed when he
recited Yeats. He felt these moments were more interesting than the
poetry taught in English classes and bemoaned that it is a pity that
“poetry is not used enough for purely what it is.” He also believes that
children have a refreshingly original perspective of the world, and that
the rigid education imposed on them can limit this.
“At school if I ever gave a clever answer, they thought I was being
rude. Poetry is a way of getting back at the teachers who were horrible
to me.” McGough added laughingly.
Awards won by Roger McGough |
1984 Signal Poetry Award Sky in the Pie
1999 Signal Poetry Award Bad Bad Cats
1999 Cholmondeley Award
2005 CBE for services to poetry |
When we enquired as to what he thought of modern poetry that does not
use traditional rhyme and structure, he stated that he approved of the
fact that “poets are looking for creative and inventive ways of
expression.” He reiterated that “what matters most is finding an
authentic voice.” Although he was not able to comment on the cyber
culture of poems being published online on blogs and websites, he stated
that “Poetry too is a sort of Facebook where you have the license to
create a persona that is different to the real you.”
A frequent question posed by his readers is whether his poetry is as
effortless to write as it is to read. To illustrate his answer, he
whipped out his notebook and treated us to the privilege of hearing a
few lines of a poem that he “scribbled in the middle of the night.” He
said it was a work in progress that needed editing and went on to
explain that although poetic inspiration occurred unexpectedly, the
process of revision could take months. He added that as one gets older
“you get more cautious about avoiding bad clichés.”
A little known fact about his past is that McGough began his career
as a singer in a band named ‘The Scaffold.’ He has encountered famous
names in the industry including the Beatles. When asked if he believed
that all musicians were poets at heart, he responded saying “I wasn’t
much of a musician… musicians have different sensibilities to which I
couldn’t relate. I was just a sex symbol,” he added jokingly.
When we asked him if he was enjoying his visit to Sri Lanka he
responded with an enthusiastic ‘Yes’ and mentioned that he is looking
forward to visiting Kandy and Galle. Roger McGough will be making an
appearance at the Galle Literary Festival, for anyone who is interested
in meeting him in person.
Blurbs
“As a poet you take on the voices of different characters… there
always needs to be honesty in the voice of the poet but not necessarily
truth.”
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