On the occasion of the wedding of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall poet laureate Andrew Motion wrote a poem. Mr Motion told he had tried to acknowledge the range of feelings people felt about the marriage. He said the relationship "was now running its proper course" and he had used the image of a stream to convey the difficulties the couple had faced. Prince Charles had sent him a letter, and the couple "seemed to like it very much", he added.
Spring Wedding
I took your news outdoors, and strolled a while
In silence on my square of garden-ground
Where I could dim the roar of arguments,
Ignore the scandal-flywheel whirring round,
And hear instead the green fuse in the flower
Ignite, the breeze stretch out a shadow-hand
To ruffle blossom on its sticking points,
The blackbirds sing, and singing take their stand.
I took your news outdoors, and found the Spring
Had honoured all its promises to start
Disclosing how the principles of earth
Can make a common purpose with the heart.
The heart which slips and sidles like a stream
Weighed down by winter-wreckage near its source -
But given time, and come the clearing rain,
Breaks loose to revel in its proper course.