The first letter of each line of “Floral Tribute” spells out Elizabeth in honour of the late monarch.
The Poet Laureate has written a poem to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Floral Tribute, by Simon Armitage, describes 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 late Queen’s favourite flowers, appearing in her coronation bouquet in 1953.
Earlier this year, Armitage wrote another poem, Queenhood, to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
In the first stanza of Floral Tribute, Armitage writes of “A promise made and kept for life – that was your gift”.
The poem employs the form of a double acrostic – meaning the first letter of each line spells out Elizabeth when taken together.
Floral Tribute by 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.”