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Poet Laureate Simon Armitage marks death of Queen with poem Floral Tribute-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The poem uses the acrostic form, meaning the first letter of each line spells out Elizabeth when taken together.
Armitage was appointed to the prestigious post in 2019 (Picture: Getty)
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has written a poem to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who died at the age of 96 at Balmoral on Thursday.
Floral Tribute is composed of two stanzas of nine lines each, describing the coming of a September evening and the appearance of a lily as ‘a token of thanks’.
The lily of the valley was one of the Queen’s favourite flowers and appeared in her coronation bouquet.
Since then, it has held special associations and grows in the garden of Buckingham Palace.
The poem employs the form of a double acrostic, meaning the first letter of each line spells out Elizabeth when taken together.
In the first stanza, Armitage writes of ‘A promise made and kept for life – that was your gift’.
Queen Elizabeth II presenting Simon Armitage with The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry upon his appointment as Poet Laureate during an audience at Buckingham Palace on May 29, 2019 in London, England (Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The Queen with at her coronation in 1953 with her lily of the valley bouquet (Picture: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A replica of the Coronation Bouquet is presented to the Queen for the 60th anniversary of her coronation in 2013 (Picture: Jonathan Brady/AFP via Getty Images)
Later he adds: ‘The country loaded its whole self into your slender hands / Hands that can rest, now, relieved of a century’s weight.’
Armitage has served as Poet Laureate since May 2019 when he met with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
He succeeded Dame Carol Ann Duffy, who was also at the palace for an audience with the Queen to relinquish the role.
For the Platinum Jubilee, Armitage wrote a poem, Queenhood, to mark her 70 years of service.
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Armitage with the then Prince of Wales in 2021 (Picture: Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)
The poet, who was brought up in Marsden, West Yorkshire, has published some 30 collections of poetry and his work is studied by children as part of the national curriculum.
He worked as a probation officer in Greater Manchester until 1994 before focusing on poetry.
Floral Tribute by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage
Evening will come, however determined the late afternoon,
Limes and oaks in their last green flush, pearled in September mist.
I have conjured a lily to light these hours, a token of thanks,
Zones and auras of soft glare framing the brilliant globes.
A promise made and kept for life – that was your gift –
Because of which, here is a gift in return, glovewort to some,
Each shining bonnet guarded by stern lance-like leaves.
The country loaded its whole self into your slender hands,
Hands that can rest, now, relieved of a century’s weight.
Evening has come. Rain on the black lochs and dark Munros.
Lily of the Valley, a namesake almost, a favourite flower
Interlaced with your famous bouquets, the restrained
Zeal and forceful grace of its lanterns, each inflorescence
A silent bell disguising a singular voice. A blurred new day
Breaks uncrowned on remote peaks and public parks, and
Everything turns on these luminous petals and deep roots,
This lily that thrives between spire and tree, whose brightness
Holds and glows beyond the life and border of its bloom.
Rehearsals have begun early on Tuesday morning in London for the procession of the Queen’s coffin through the capital.
Huge crowds are expected to line the route as the coffin is taken through the streets tomorrow from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state.
Final preparations for events in the capital following the death of the Queen are taking place before she is flown from Edinburgh this evening.
The procession will take place tomorrow afternoon, and then the monarch’s coffin will rest in Westminster until her funeral on Monday.
People will have the chance to file past her coffin and pay their respects – with thousands already queueing overnight to do so in Edinburgh.
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The London procession begins at 2.22pm tomorrow, and will last 38 minutes.
King Charles III, members of the royal family and senior staff of the Queen and King’s households are expected to walk behind the coffin.
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