Poet Laureate Simon Armitage marks Queen Elizabeth’s passing with touching poem
msn.comPoet Laureate Simon Armitage has marked Queen Elizabeth’s death with a touching poem. The 59-year-old writer paid his respects to the late monarch - who died at Balmoral on Thursday (08.
09. 2022) aged 96 - by penning ‘Floral Tribute’ using the metaphor of the lily of the valley, one of Her Majesty’s favourite flowers which was used in her coronation bouquet in 1952.
The first letters of each line of the acrostic poem spells out her first name, and Simon explained to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he attempted to be “personal and write a poem of condolence without being intrusive”.
The two-versed poem details the onset of a September evening and calls the arrival of the lily “a token of thanks”. Describing why he opted for a double acrostic format to spell her name, Simon said: "It's a lovely name but a name she probably rarely got to hear very much because everybody had to preface that with ceremonial nominals. " He added the poem was a chance to create something "outside of the language and commentaries we've already heard".
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