Poet laureate writes anti-war poem

January 18, 2006 The thirty-word poem, ‘Causa Belli’, speaks out against the impending attack on Iraq by American and British forces. It contrasts the voices of the leaders with the "straigher talk" of those recognizing the real motives of those leaders: "elections, money, empire, oil and Dad". The poem was first published in British newspaper The Guardian.

"This is not a poem about whether we should go to war," Motion told The Guardian. "We can't decide that because we don't yet know whether there are weapons. It's a poem about wishing to be more candid." The leaders’ rhetoric, he stated, hid "several of the motives which are actually driving the thing forward. In other words, it's as much to do with oil, imperialism and a sort of strange father fixation".

However, if there are weapons of mass destruction discovered in Iraq, the poet declared, "something needs to be done. In fact, if weapons do turn out to be there, I may well write a poem supporting going."

Motion, who was appointed poet laureate by the Queen in 1999, has frequently written on subjects not directly associated with the role of poet laureate, such as homelessness, the Paddington railway disaster, and Nelson Mandela. "My underlying feeling is that poetry ought to be part of general life rather than being ghettoised," he said.

There are several precedents in British literature of anti-war poems written by poet laureates, the most famous of which is "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, written after the Crimean war. However, the practice is far from common.


CAUSA BELLI by Andrew Motion

They read good books, and quote, but never learn
a language other than the scream of rocket-burn.
Our straighter talk is drowned but ironclad:
elections, money, empire, oil and Dad.