Craig Raine

"Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings And some are treasured for their markings – They cause the eyes to melt Or the body to shriek without pain."

"In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps, That snores when you pick it up. If the ghost cries, they carry it To their lips and soothe it to sleep With sounds. And yet, they wake it up Deliberately, by tickling with a finger."

"The task of the artist at any time is uncompromisingly simple – to discover what has not yet been done, and to do it."

"Great writers arrive among us like new diseases – threatening, powerful, impatient for patients to pick up their virus, irresistible."

"I used to carry a copy of Ulysses with me everywhere just in case I was knocked down by a bus. It seemed more important than having clean underwear."