The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day, the lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea - Thomas Gray, 'Elegy written in a county church yard'

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. - Robert Burns 'Song: ae fond kiss and then we sever'

My true-love hath my heart and I have his. - Philip Sidney 'Song From Arcadia'

Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine. - Ben Jonson 'Song To Celia'

The composition stage of the poem is not finished until I am satisfied with how the poem works in the mouth and in the ear as well as in relation to its imagery and its meaning.

I'm drawn to what you might think of as traditional lyric poetry; it's an enduring, effective, powerful means of expression.

Adventurous, compelling and utterly original - The Times

Resonant and lyrical, linguistically precise and emotionally evasive, often at the same time - The Guardian

His poetry is what all poetry should be, the surprising and beautiful organisation of things that life has disorganised. John Fuller

Man differs more from man than man from beast.

'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight' Christopher Marlowe, 'Hero and Leander'

Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, lady, were no crime. Andrew Marvell, 'To His Coy Mistress'